Never assume you’re the smartest person in the room
Howie is convinced he’s figured out the villagers’ nefarious plan, and how it all ties into the missing-child allegations he’s come to investigate. He’s secure in the idea that he’s smarter than all these backwater heathen weirdos. That makes it even more delicious when he realizes he’s been blind all along to what’s really going on, and his woeful misreading of his surroundings costs him the ultimate price.
