Ipsissimus

"Ipsissimus" is the third episode of season one of The Irregulars. It first aired on Netflix on 26 March 2021.
== Summary ==
A gruesome murder sends Bea and her crew undercover at a country estate to determine whether the killer is part of a secret paranormal society.
== Plot ==
At the London headquarters of the Order of the Golden Dawn, Bea meets with Mycroft Holmes. Mycroft reveals that his brother, Sherlock, is Watson's business partner, and that he has been trying to get Watson to introduce Bea's group to him. Mycroft explains that he needs their assistance. Richard Wynn, the leader, or "magus", of the Golden Dawn's London chapter, was recently found murdered, with his body posed like the Tarot card "The Magician". Mycroft suspects that as a new magus is only elected on the death of the previous leader, and only from among the elite members of the order's inner circle, the culprit must be among this group. Mycroft asks Bea and her friends to join him the following day, when he convenes the inner circle at his estate outside the city. In exchange, he promises to pay them double and tell them whatever they want to know about Watson.
The group arrives at Mycroft's estate after a tense morning between Billy and Leo, who did not return to the palace. Bea suggests they use the opportunity to investigate Sherlock as well as the murder. They are greeted by Mycroft's servants, who inform them that while Bea and Jessie will be posing as Mycroft's nieces, the boys will pretend to be servants. A maid shows Bea and Jessie to their rooms, where they dress for the evening. Downstairs, Leo and Billy work in a coal cellar and have another tense exchange around Bea, whom Leo realizes Billy has a crush on.
In the drawing room, Mycroft points out the various suspects to Bea and Jessie. The guests are Alan Crawley, the Golden Dawn's longest-serving member; the novelist R. P. Breakwater; Dion Cross, wife of a cabinet secretary; the engineer Gustav Felkin; and the actress Patricia Colman Jones. Mycroft briefly introduces the girls to the others before sending them out. Mycroft's butler shows them a hidden peephole, where they can keep an eye on the assembly. Crawley proposes voting for the next magus immediately and puts forward his own candidacy. Mycroft agrees to put it to a vote.
In the kitchen, Spike talks to the cook, Mrs Brown, to learn more about Sherlock. Mrs Brown reveals Sherlock left about 15 years ago after falling in with a "bad man" and moving to Baker Street. She also says that the last time she saw Sherlock was when he came back to hide something in his old room in the attic. Leo and Spike find the room, which looks like a laboratory. Higher up in the attic, they find an locked puzzle box.
Downstairs, Bea and Jessie witness the Golden Dawn's election ceremony, where Gustav Felkin is elected as the new magus. Following the ceremony, they head to bed, where Jessie teases Bea about choosing between Leo and Billy. They are roused by screams from downstairs. They find everyone gathered in the drawing room, where Gustav Felkin has been murdered, with his corpse posed among several swords.
The gang leaves, deciding to let the police deal with a straightforward case of murder. However, as they walk away they inexplicably find themselves heading back towards the house. No matter which way they go, they find themselves unable to leave the estate. Leo realizes Felkin was posed as the Eight of Swords, a Tarot card portending imprisonment. He realizes that someone is using the Tarot cards to access the Rip's power. Bea decides they need to determine why someone wanted to trap all the people there, and they return to the house.
Mycroft convenes a meeting, revealing the teenager's identity as special investigators. Crawley recognizes the spell on the house after noticing the sky has not changed for several hours. Bea and Billy set up in the library to interview the suspects. When Mrs Brown brings them tea, Bea notices an expensive bracelet on her wrist. They first interview Patricia Colman Jones, who discovered Felkin's body. She says that she had stayed up late drinking with Mrs Brown, and had found the body on her way back to bed. She also says that she saw R. P. Breakwater in the hallway. Bea goes upstairs to check on Leo, who is attempting to open the puzzle box. Together they solve the riddle, and find inside a Sherlock's grimoire, containing spells and methods to contact the dead.
In the drawing room, Crawley demonstrates the Tarot to Spike and Jessie. He explains that each card has its own power, and attempts a reading. However, Jessie accidentally touches him and reveals that Crawley stole the deck from his dying uncle. Crawley and Dion Cross recognize Jessie as an "ipsissimus", a psychic of exceptional power, and attempt to recruit her. However, Jessie is frightened and runs out of the room. Breakwater goes to look for her, where he runs into Billy, who asks him why he was walking the hallway at the time of the murder. Breakwater agrees to tell him, but makes him promise not to tell anyone else.
Spike looks for Jessie in the attic, and tells Bea and Leo that she is an ipsissimus. Leo finds an entry for ipsissimi in the grimoire, which reveals that one can steal an ipsissimus' power by sacrificing them with dark magic. Bea realizes that the whole meeting is a trap to catch Jessie. Downstairs, Jessie is cornered by Crawley, but manages to get away. Meanwhile, the other four friends look for Jessie. Billy insists Breakwater and Dion are not behind the killings, but Bea is unconvinced. However, they soon find the pair murdered in Dion's room. Bea realizes they were lovers, explaining why Breakwater wouldn't reveal his alibi. Leo explains "The Lovers" means infatuation. Spike also notices that Dion wrote the Roman numeral XV with her foot, corresponding to the card "The Devil". Bea remembers that Mycroft was dressed up as the Devil during the ceremony earlier, and the group rushes to find him. Meanwhile, Jessie hears a woman's voice calling to her, and leaves the house under an enchantment.
The group confront Mycroft downstairs, and Bea explains her theory of the crime. Mycroft learned about Jessie's powers from Sherlock and Watson. He killed Wynn to lure them to the estate, then killed Felkin to trap them there. When Breakwater and Cross learned discovered his plans, he killed them as well. However, Mycroft denies everything. He tells them he hadn't talked to Sherlock or Watson in a decade. He also denies telling anyone in the Golden Dawn about Jessie, but Bea realizes he did tell Mrs Brown. She connects Mrs Brown's diamond bracelet to Patricia, and realizes the actress is behind everything. Patricia then bribed Mrs Brown for information about Jessie, then used Wynn's murder to cast a manipulation spell on Mycroft so that he would bring the girl to her. After murdering Felkin, she bribed Mrs Brown again with the bracelet to provide an alibi for herself. With Mycroft's name cleared, Billy suggests that Dion died before she could finish writing the numeral XVI, corresponding to the card "The Tower".
Jessie reaches a tower-shaped folly on the estate grounds, where Patricia is waiting for her. Still entranced by the love spell, she follows Patricia to the top of the tower. Patricia places Jessie's hands on a lightning rod and tells her to hold on before summoning a storm. Spike and Crawley reach the tower and enter, but Patricia closes the door behind them, trapping the rest of the group outside. Crawley tells Spike to rescue Jessie while he deals with Patricia. However, Patricia is able to convince him to join her by promising to share her powers once she absorbs Jessie's abilities. On the roof, Spike is able to convince Jessie to release the rod by telling him he loves her and asking for a hug. Patricia and Crawley arrive, and Patricia orders Jessie to grab the rod again. Spike restrains her, so Patricia orders Crawley to shoot him. However, Crawley is unable to do so, so Patricia grabs his gun and aims at Spike. At the last minute, Crawley shoves her and she hits the lightning rod just as a bolt hits, killing her instantly. With Patricia dead, the spells on Jessie and the estate dissipate.
Back in the house, Bea and the others meets with Mycroft. He admits that he is the head of a government department overseeing paranormal research. While his job was initially considered a joke, he soon realized that the Golden Dawn was on to something. Needing someone who could bridge the gap between science and magic, he enlisted his brother Sherlock. Unfortunately, Sherlock became obsessed with the subject. Mycroft reveals that there was another Rip, fifteen years ago, though he does not know who opened it or how it was closed. However, Sherlock was never the same afterwards. Mycroft blames the change on Dr Watson, and suggests that he is probably involved with the current crisis. He pays Bea and the group leaves.
Back in the cellar at the Duck and Quiver, Billy informs Bea that he has met a girl. After he leaves, she goes over to Leo, who is reading the grimoire. He finds some old photos in the back, including one of Watson with a woman whom Bea immediately recognizes. She realizes the mysterious "A" mentioned in the grimoire as Holmes' assistant was none other than her mother, Alice.
== Cast ==
=== Main cast ===
* Thaddea Graham as Bea Cook
* Darci Shaw as Jessie Cook
* Harrison Osterfield as Prince Leopold
* Jojo Macari as Billy Chisup
* McKell David as Spike
=== Guest stars ===
* Charles Armstrong as Mr Bannister
* Emma Canning as Isabelle
* Pip Carter as Alan Crawley
* Shelley Conn as Dion Cross
* Olivia Grant as Patricia Colman Jones
* Kieran Hodgson as R. P. Breakwater
* Jonjo O'Neill as Mycroft Holmes
* Erich Redman as Gustav Felkin
* Mia Soteriou as Mrs Brown
== Trivia ==
* The members of the Golden Dawn in the episode are allusions to historical members of the group: Alan Crawley after Aleister Crowley; Richard Wynn after William Wynn Westcott; Dion Cross after Dion Fortune; Patricia Colman Jones after Pamela Colman Smith; R. P. Breakwater after W. B. Yeats; and Gustav Felkin after Gustav Meyrink and Robert Felkin.
== References ==
Category:Episodes: The Irregulars