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Weaponized Soul

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"Weaponized Soul" is an episode of the series Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, the seventh episode of season 1.

Synopsis[]

Flung backwards through time, Dirk and Todd make a horrifying discovery about the nature of their case, and find themselves with a unique opportunity: solve their case before it even starts.

Plot[]

Intro: A series of television screens display parts of a man and parts of a mechanical suit, all of them moving out of sync from each other.

One Week In The Past
Dirk Gently and Todd Brotzman use the unlimited energy device to arrive in the Animal Transfer Unit. Todd is shocked that the device turned out to be a time machine, asking if Dirk knew, which he states was "kind of a hunch." They hear noises and hide, watching Gordon Rimmer enter, his men holding his corgi and dragging Lydia Spring. They watch as Rapunzel and Lydia are placed on opposite sides of the pillar and the machine is plugged in, shocking Lydia and the dog before the pillar rotates halfway, putting Lydia where the dog was and vice versa. It shocks them again, completing the transition of souls. Rainey and another group of bald men enter, accusing Rimmer of sacrilege and sentencing him to death. He insists that nobody has to die and that Patrick Spring has the other machine, waiting for them at the Perryman Grand to trade for his daughter. Rainey states that they no longer need the other machine and Rimmer starts to ramble about how Rainey has lost her way until her men take the dog to subdue him. Rimmer grabs the Soul Exchanger and threatens to smash it unless he gets his dog, and Rimmer leaves with the machine when she refuses to give it back. Immediately after Rimmer's group leaves, a man in a mechanical suit enters the building and kills all of Rainey's men. He holds her at gunpoint and asks "are you the body that houses the soul of Jake Rainey?", shooting her in the head when she answers yes. He spots Dirk and Todd and drags them out of hiding, holding them at gunpoint and demanding to know who they are. Dirk starts to explain that this has already happened until the man interrupts, again demanding to know who they are, and Todd asks who he is. Dirk smiles and states that he solved the case, and the man is Patrick Spring. He removes his helmet, revealing him to indeed be Spring. Dirk begs Spring not to kill them, promising to explain everything to prove them trustworthy.

Patrick Spring's real name is Zackariah Webb, who in 1886, attempted to build a time machine. The problem was that it only sent its users' souls through time, Webb fixing it but accidentally sending the machine forward in time, only to come back radically different. Wanting to figure out what happened, he jumped forward in time using the new machine to 1968, where Webb Manor had been long abandoned and inhabited by squatters, now in possession of the original machine. Webb demanded the machine back from their leader, Jake Rainey, but he refused, believing the machine came from across time and space and was meant for them. Webb assumed the name "Edgar Spring" and used his genius to turn his time machine into the unlimited energy device by 1981, having become accustomed to the future. Rainey's group began using a glitch in their version of Webb's machine to swap souls, using it to stay young forever. They approached Spring and demanded his machine, but he refused. They dubbed themselves the "Men of the Machine" and went to war with him. By 1995, Spring had adopted the name "Patrick", pretending to be Edgar's son, and was losing the fight. He was rescued from near-death after a shootout by a woman named Catherine, who he soon married and had Lydia with. In 2001, the Men of the Machine attacked the couple and killed Catherine. Wanting to end things for good, Spring donned his suit and jumped to August 3, 2016 to finish off the cult.

Spring is left aghast, revealing that Dirk got it all right. Todd insists that they are on the same side and they are also trying to save Lydia, Spring unaware of what happened to her. Dirk explains where she is and tries to warn him of the circumstances, but Spring ignores him and warns them not to get in his way before leaving. Todd grabs a discarded electric crossbow and they leave the building to find that Spring has shot out the tires on the vehicles in the area. Todd wonders if Spring knows this is the day his future self is killed, and Dirk realizes Spring's presence may be why he was killed. He concludes that "three questions, one answer" is the solution to multiple parts of the case: they used three different maps to find one machine, Patrick Spring, Edgar Spring and Zackariah Webb are all the same man, and his machine is a time machine, the Soul Exchanger, and the unlimited energy device all in one. Todd realizes that if today is Spring's murder, he is still alive, Farah Black is still being held above his apartment, and Amanda Brotzman does not yet know the truth about him, concluding that they can "fix everything." Despite Dirk asking him to slow down, he announces that they need to get to the Perryman Grand and runs off.

Rimmer's drones are shocked at him defying Rainey, but he reminds them that they came to him because they were unhappy with their positions. He plans to send Red to meet a man who will help them "change everything," promising his drones that they will get better bodies and no longer have to toil away under Rainey's rule. He announces that they will get both of Spring's machines and has one of his men give him the kitten, which he refers to as a "weaponized soul," warning his men to only use it as a last resort if things go wrong at the hotel. He watches Rapunzel in Lydia's body bark at him from inside his car, and declares that their top priority after the deal is done is to get his dog's body back.

Dirk and Todd sneak through the zoo and hide behind a cart when a staff truck rolls up. Todd looks at a clock and realizes they are running out of time, and to his shock, notices the gorilla mask the man from the hotel was wearing. He insists that he had a "vision" of himself wearing the clothes he is wearing now and that "I'm ahead of you for once," stating that "this could change everything." Todd throws on a giraffe mask and robs the zoo staff of his truck, Dirk clearly reluctant but following him. On the way to the hotel, Todd excitedly makes more and more connections, understanding that the Men of the Machine swapped a kitten's soul with a shark to make it a weapon, Rimmer's obsession with Lux Dujour stems from the fact that he used to be him, and they must have men inside the police force, thus the minimal response from them throughout the case. Todd joyfully declares that "everything is actually connected" and tells Dirk that he finally gets it. As they arrive at the hotel, Dirk encourages Todd to slow down and think about how they go about this. Todd reminds him that they only have about twenty minutes and Dirk starts to lecture him on not being seen, Todd becoming distracted when he notices the winning lottery ticket in the middle of the truck. Just as he realizes the implications of finding it in the truck instead of on the hotel floor, Dirk notes that they are running out of time and they don their masks. They go to the loading bay, only to find Rimmer and his men using the staff elevator to get to the penthouse. Todd realizes they can get into the penthouse regardless if they take the freight and use a master key. They sneak past Hermano Palacios and break into the office, stealing a key from Todd's cubby and hiding from past Todd as he enters, who sighs and leaves when he finds his key missing. They watch Spring take the freight elevator and agree to use the stairs.

Older Spring, now with a cane and goatee, meets with Rimmer and two of his drones. He immediately notes that Lydia's body is not occupied by her soul, and Rimmer insists that if he gives them the other machine, they will swap her back. Spring asserts that "it's already over" and takes Lydia's face in his hands, sighing that "fifteen years preparing for this moment, and I still took you for granted." He picks up his phone and calls Dirk, asking "where are you? It's time." Dirk tells him he is on his way, and he hangs up. Younger Spring bursts into the room, removing his helmet and stunning Rimmer when he realizes that there are two Springs in the room. Older Spring asks his younger self to not blame himself, stating that "it always ended like this." Younger Spring expresses disgust that he would deal with the men that killed their wife, putting his helmet back on and preparing to kill Rimmer and his men. Dirk and Todd rush into the room, Dirk taking his mask off to show older Spring that he made it as per his orders. Spring asks Dirk to tell Lydia that he loved her and that he is sorry, and that it never ended any other way, Todd being confused as to why Spring is speaking to Dirk. Spring apologizes for hitting Dirk and Dirk realizes what is about to happen, murmuring "oh, no" as one of Rimmer's drones pulls a gun on younger Spring. Spring shoots him and he drops the kitten, causing the shark to emerge, killing both the drones and striking younger Spring. Older Spring pushes Lydia to the ground to save her body from the shark, reaching for her before it catches and devours him. Dirk and Todd rush a weakened Spring out of the room.

Rimmer tries to follow them down the stairs and Todd fires the crossbow at him, accidentally hitting and frying a fuse box and dropping the crossbow as he runs. Rimmer finds Lydia gazing out the window, her hands covered in blood, and ushers her out. The blood from the room seeps under the door and stains the lottery ticket, which Todd had dropped as they fled. As Dirk, Todd and Spring descend the stairs and Todd asks what older Spring meant by "it always ended this way." They run into past Dirk, who is going up to the penthouse to help Spring. Dirk stops him and pulls his mask off to reveal himself, introducing Todd as "your best friend, hopefully he'll forgive us for this" and that he lives at the Ridgely, telling him to remember "three questions, one answer," and giving him the gorilla mask, telling him to hide his face and get the kitten from the penthouse. After past Dirk leaves, Todd slams Dirk against a wall, enraged that he knew they were in a time loop the whole time. He starts shouting that Dirk knew the device was a time machine, only to realize he is in the position he saw himself in—and turns to see past Todd in the elevator, staring at him in shock. The elevator closes and they run off.

Rimmer returns to Ed and Zed while Lydia in Rapunzel's body watches from nearby, hearing from Rimmer that her father is dead. He decides to regroup at another temple and find out what Rainey knows, telling them that "we still accomplished something." The dog runs off.

Dirk, Todd and Spring have driven to a harbor, where Spring throws his armor, piece by piece, into the water while Dirk approaches him. Todd stays in the truck, contemplating how Dirk telling himself where to find Todd involved him in the case and remembering him pretending he did things that he already knew about on a "hunch." Dirk explains to Spring that he and Todd are from the future, and that Spring himself left them instructions on how to find the parts of his machine. Dirk realizes that Spring chose to do nothing and become a billionaire while the Men of the Machine killed dozens of people, and concludes both parties have become undone by their own blindness and obsession with the machine's power, causing Spring to slap him. Todd approaches and Spring explains to them that when the machine first came back, it had a note attached with Dirk's name on it. He further explains that the tubes put into the machine correspond to different dates, and gives them the one that goes back to the day in 1886 when he sent the machine forward and got it back moments later, needing them to restart the loop. He begins plotting how to save Lydia using the time machine, telling them to bring him their machine, only for Dirk to realize they left it at the zoo. Spring berates them for their stupidity and Todd erupts at him, explaining that this is how it always ends, and that only uses the time machine one more time: to go back to 2001 and prepare for his death. He states his hope that Spring would have explained everything to them, but he realizes now that Spring is just as deluded as everyone else involved, so obsessed with his mistake of sending the machine to 1968 that he refuses to see everyone he was letting die along the way. He concludes that "you can't fix everything. Some choices you just have to accept, and try and rebuild as best you can. So...accept it." Spring sighs and accepts that Todd is right, deciding to leave for 2001 and spend time with his daughter while preparing for 2016, giving Dirk the tube to take them back to August 10th and shaking Todd's hand before walking away. He stops, turns around, and muses "certain things can't be changed. It's you. It will always be you. Please save her." Todd promises that he will, and Spring walks away, murmuring "never enough time. Never enough time to figure it all out." Dirk calls after him, asking if he can make the maps less complicated, but Todd reminds him that he is just going to do it the same way as before.

As Dirk and Todd walk back to the truck, the former concludes that Spring loses for all eternity, remaining trapped in a time loop where he is destined to send the machine forward, lose his wife, accidentally kill himself, and spend fifteen years traumatized and distant until he dies. He asks what Todd thinks they should do next, wondering if they should try to contact themselves, and Todd interrupts, finally remembering that his key was gone on the day of the murder because he himself stole it, and he found the lottery ticket because he dropped it. "Everything happened exactly the way it did before." He accuses Dirk of being a monster, having lied to him and putting him, Farah and Amanda in threatening situations over and over again, stating that "you ruined my life just to have a friend. You deserve to be alone, Dirk." Now tearful, Dirk insists that he never lied and that "you of all people know what a lie look like by now." Todd tells him to never speak to him again once the case is over. They head to the temple room in silence just as Rimmer and his men return to the Transfer Unit. Dirk removes the August 10th tube, hoping to randomly jump through time because "it worked last time." Todd places the tube back in and starts the machine, and they wrestle for control until the machine activates and sends them back to the future.

Five minutes before Dirk and Todd jumped back to August 3rd, Farah awakens in the trunk of Fred's car. She realizes Fred forgot to take her gun and fires it several times, trying to shoot through the actuator and pop the trunk. Rimmer and his men hear the gunshots while he talks to Dirk and Todd, sending Fred out to investigate. After Dirk and Todd barricade themselves in the temple room, Rimmer leaves Ed and Zed to deal with them and goes to check on Rapunzel. Farah uses her knife to cut through the lining of the backseat and crawls halfway out just as Fred exits the Transfer Unit and begins moving towards the car with his gun out. She sees him in the rear-view mirror and takes out her gun, being forced to hold it upside-down, and shoots him in the head through the back of the car. Rimmer finds Rapunzel barking at Lydia, the two in each other's bodies, and Estevez appears behind him and punches him. He begins beating him and demanding he swap the dog and girl back. Rapunzel bites his leg and Rimmer hits him in the face with her dog dish, abandoning both the dog and the girl as he flees from Estevez.

Dirk and Todd arrive back in August 10th, only for Ed and Zed to kick the door open and shoot Dirk in the chest with a crossbow. Todd pulls the wire out of the bolt to save him from the full force of the electrocution, and Zed flips the crossbow's switch, electrocuting Todd.

Behind the scenes[]

  • The episode title comes from dialogue spoken by Gordon, who calls the kitten-shark a "weaponized soul".
  • The flashback scene of Patrick Spring's wife's death was filmed on the Stanley Park peninsula in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The shot features the Lions Gate Bridge with nighttime lights on, filmed from Stanley Park Dr., a picturesque view northward out of the city.

Cast[]

Crew[]

Notes[]

Holistic Connections

  • It is revealed that Lydia was swapped with Rapunzel a week ago.
  • When Patrick threatens Dirk on how he knows everything, Dirk exclaims "I have magic powers". In Very Erectus it was shown that Dirk has limited psychic abilities.
  • Dirk and Todd forgot their time machine when they were running to find Patrick. In the previous episode, Dirk had berated himself for always running away and forgetting machines.
  • The dead bodies that Zimmerfield and Estevez discovered in the warehouse before were the same bodies that past Patrick Spring killed in this episode
  • Dirk took the cat in the first episode because he told himself to
  • Todd found the lottery ticket because his future self accidentally dropped it
  • Gordon Rimmer recognized Dirk and Todd because he met their future selves before
  • Todd's access key was missing because future Todd and Dirk took it
  • The man in the gorilla mask on the security tape was Dirk
  • Gordon's phone conversation about a Giraffe and Gorilla makes sense since though were the masks Dirk and Todd were wearing at the time of Patrick's murder
  • Patrick knew about his murder before it happened because his past self was the one who caused it

Deaths[]

References[]


External links[]

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