The Worsted Viper
- Original Airdate: 6 February 2000
While attending a ceremony in honor of Inspector Christmas, two unpleasant shocks occur — George finds out his daughter has gotten engaged without telling him and the body of a young woman turns up on the beach. Mrs. Bradley suspects a copycat killer inspired by one of her earliest cases.
Tropes:
- Awful Wedded Life: Lester and his wife are very unhappily wed. She seemingly spends a fair amount of money at the hairdresser's and is having an affair with her brother-in-law. The marriage is still unconsummated.
- Children Are Innocent: Temperance Baines counts as this. The fact that she’s also a Preacher's Kid likely contributes to it.
- Chekhov's Gun: The reverend, who runs the "Miss Behavior" column, guesses the identity of one of the letter-writers (Cecily) by the stationery she used. When he realizes that Cecily's letter betrayed her virginal status, George panics, correctly concluding that if the reverend could figure it out, so can the killer.
- Death by Childbirth: According to Reverend Baines, Mrs. Baines died giving birth to Temperance.
- Ironic Name: Chastity was anything but chaste. Her autopsy revealed that she was pregnant.
- Papa Wolf: When George's daughter Cecily, who fits the killer's victim profile, disappears, George announces to the search party that he suspects one of them is involved and it'll be nasty for them when he finds out. He ultimately saves her life by running up several flights of stairs in the lighthouse and fighting the killer.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The worsted vipers inspire this reaction. Someone even sends Mrs. Bradley a live snake to scare her. However, she handles it calmly; it's the innkeeper who gets scared.
- Retirony: A variant; Inspector Christmas is having a retirement party at the beginning of the episode. He survives to the end credits, but, as the killer, he's likely going to the gallows before long.
- Theme Naming: Reverend Baines’ has two daughters named Chastity and Temperance, both of which are Christian virtues.
