To say that Mr. Pheasant was upset by the death of his mate would be a serious understatement, though if it’s any consolation, he wouldn’t outlive her for long. Of all the deaths in Series 1, his is the one that I find to be the most flat-out infuriating, for reasons that I’ll get to in due course. I will say that Fox's early naivety as a leader really shines through in this particular episode - not only does he make a very questionable decision regarding Mr. Pheasant (one that predictably ends in tragedy), but Owl points out how he could also be held responsible for a near-miss involving one of the younger animals, who winds up on the wrong end of a snare and is spared thanks to Owl's wisdom and Mole's talents as a tunneler.
Although most of the surviving animals are able to escape
from the barn by having Mole and Badger dig them to freedom, there is one
slight snag – Adder, who kept Bruno the dog occupied throughout the escape process, is left behind, something which nobody else cottons onto until they're all recovering in the safety of a copse. Now, of all the Farthing
predators, Adder is by far the most despised and least trusted (something
which Adder herself quite gleefully plays up to in her constant taunting of
the smaller animals), so a percentage of the group are quite happy to press on and leave her
behind. Fox and Badger point out that
Adder had played a vital role in their escape, and that they owe it to her not
to abandon her. Mr. Pheasant volunteers
to go back - motivated, he mournfully declares, by a desire to see his wife’s
final resting place, although Hare (who never really got along with Pheasant)
believes that Pheasant just wants to make an exhibition. All the same, Pheasant does return to the
farm and try to find Adder, and it goes every bit as disastrously as you would
expect.
Pheasant spies the
freshly-cooked body of his mate, which the farmer’s wife had left to cool upon
the windowsill, and breaks down into uncontrollable tears. His crying attracts unwelcome attention and,
worse still, the tears impair his vision, meaning that he cannot see the farmer
pointing his shotgun right at him. Adder
tries to warn him, but to no avail. Hearing
the gunshot all the way over in the copse, the animals suspect that the worst has
happened and send Owl to investigate.
She has more luck in finding Adder, and the two are reunited with the
main party. When Fox asks Owl what
became of Pheasant, she loftily replies, “You need me to tell you?”
HORROR FACTOR: 4. Not only is this a foregone conclusion
from the moment that Pheasant leaves the copse and struggles to even lift
himself off the ground, but the very deliberate sense of déjà vu in the build-up to
this death (once again it’s Bruno the dog who gives the unfortunate game bird
away) makes it a little less shocking and a lot more groan-worthy than his
wife’s death (in a bowl-of-petunias-oh-no-not-again kind of way). Still, the very idea of being confronted with
the chargrilled body of your recently-deceased partner is enough to make
anybody’s stomach churn.
NOBILITY FACTOR: 7. Hare’s cynicism aside, going back for
Adder was a highly courageous (if rather foolhardy) act on Pheasant’s part. That said, of all the Series 1 deaths, this
one does feel, more so than any of the others, like a shameless contrivance just to
be rid of the character in question. I do
have to question how Fox could have tasked someone as vulnerable and incompetent as
Pheasant with such a dangerous mission in the first place. Wouldn’t it have been far more sensible just
to send Owl from the start? Not one of
Fox’s better leadership decisions, I have to say. And yet it's the baby rabbit's horrific but non-fatal encounter with a snare for which he takes the most flack.
TEAR-JERKER FACTOR: 6. He may not have been the most sympathetic
character overall, but in the end you’ve got to feel sorry for Pheasant. He was doomed from the second he left Farthing Wood.
OVERALL RATING: 17
As a side note, Mr. Pheasant’s death is the only one that
Badger does not see fit to mention in his opening narration for the following
episode (and yes, that does include the Newts).
So you could have easily skipped this episode and never known what became
of him.
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