S4·E3 Electric Vendetta

Episode recap

The episode opens with the discovery of a naked male body lying in a crop circle on the open fields of Midsomer. The unusual setting immediately draws the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby, who is called in to investigate the death. Within a short time another victim is found, this time electrocuted while seated at the wheel of his own car, the fatal current suggesting a deliberate and technically sophisticated attack. A third corpse is later uncovered in a second crop circle, reinforcing the pattern of seemingly ritualistic killings that have taken place across the countryside.

Local speculation quickly turns to the extraordinary, with rumours circulating that the murders are the work of extraterrestrials, a theory that is amplified by the striking visual of the crop circles. Barnaby, however, remains skeptical of any paranormal explanation. Drawing on his experience in the fictional county of Midsomer, he is convinced that the crimes are the work of a human perpetrator who is exploiting the eerie setting to mislead the investigation.

As the investigation proceeds, Barnaby and his partner uncover a hidden history that stretches back four decades. A long‑standing rivalry in love, rooted in a dispute that began forty years earlier, emerges as a possible motive. The rivalry has produced a clear winner and a clear loser, and the evidence suggests that the loser may be seeking vengeance against the victor. The detectives must untangle the emotional legacy of the past, determining how the old grievance could have motivated the recent series of murders and how the surviving parties have attempted to defend themselves against suspicion.

Through careful examination of forensic evidence, witness statements, and the peculiar placement of the bodies, Barnaby pieces together a narrative that explains the crop‑circle scenes, the electrocution, and the personal vendetta that links the victims. The episode concludes with the revelation that the murders were orchestrated by a single human hand, using the mystique of crop circles and the fear of alien involvement as a smokescreen, thereby confirming Barnaby’s belief that, in Midsomer, even the most bizarre‑looking crimes have a rational, earthly cause.