Very Erectus

**"Very Erectus"** is an episode of the series *Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency*, the fifth episode of season 1.

## Synopsis

As Dirk and Todd embark on a hunt for Patrick Spring's dark enigmas, Todd reveals a deep-seated secret of his own. Detectives Estevez and Zimmerfield take big risks as they inch closer to the truth of their missing person’s investigation, and Amanda finally confronts the looming specter of the Rowdy 3.

## Plot

In an alley, Gordon contemplates throwing away his Lux Dujour fur coat but ultimately decides against it. He leaves with Lydia in the backseat of his car and is spotted from afar by Farah Black.

Bart and Ken arrive via an out-of-gas ambulance to Seattle. Not seeing Dirk anywhere, Bart decides she will stand there until he arrives but Ken convinces her to stop and eat at a Chinese restaurant. When he finds out that she carries a large sum of money around with her, he uses it to rent them a room. After a long shower, Bart becomes aggravated that she has not found Dirk yet. She leaves the hotel and seemingly chooses a random guy to kill. She calls to him to cross the street and when he steps of the curb, he is ran over.

Dirk and Todd are following the map from the previous episode. After stopping to eat at a diner, Dirk presents Todd with a gift that he bought: the stars and stripes shirt that Todd had seem himself wearing on the day of Patrick Spring's murder. After a change of attire (and vehicle), Todd and Dirk get back on the road and follow the map to several locations where they dig up a collection of strange objects.

Todd puts the pieces together to form some sort of machine with Dirk guessing that it's Edgar Spring's unlimited energy device. Todd asks Dirk if he sees the future, confessing that he's seen the shirt before. Dirk looks extremely guilty but before they can say anything they are attacked by some Men of the Machine. Dirk tosses the kitten and they discover that it has been energy swapped with a shark. The shark kills the men and Todd and Dirk realize that they are holding the murder weapon.

Amanda leaves Todd's apartment and hesitantly enters the Rowdy 3's van. Inside, she meets the four members: Martin, Gripps, Vogle, and Cross. She discovers that they don't know who Dirk is; they follow him because his energy tastes good when he's panicking. They also explain that Amanda's sickness is like a buffet to them. They stop to destroy a police car and Amanda joins in but is stopped short when she suffers an attack. Before the attack can get any worse, Cross calmly sucks energy from her assuring her that she'll never have to worry about her sickness again.

While preparing for a mission to bring in the Rowdy 3, Riggins briefs Friedkin on the fact that the Rowdy 3 are psychic vampires who feed on the energy of others. He explains that the CIA heads believe that he is too close to his subjects and that's why they don't give him the resources he requests. They located the Rowdy 3 and Amanda but when the Rowdy 3 become violent, Friedkin grabs Amanda and points a gun to her head. The Rowdy 3 leave upset and Riggins is left to deal with the consequences.

While Todd patches up Dirk's minor wounds, he admits to never having Pararibulitis. He didn't want to work and lied to his parents so that the would send him money. By the time Amanda actually got the disease, his parents had run out of money and Todd was forced to say he got better. Seeing that Amanda gained hope from his recovery, he resigned himself continue paying for her treatments while keeping up the lie. They realize the kitten has run off and while searching for it, Dirk denies Todd's accusations of him being a psychic. He says that for a long time he would receive intuitions and hunches about the universe but they weren't always decipherable. Seeing as the hunches never benefited him personally, he decided to use them to help others. He then chastises Todd for always making excuses for his mistakes rather than taking accountability for them, successfully convincing Todd to agree to tell Amanda the truth.

While investigating Gordon Rimmer, Zimmerfield and Estevez learn that Gordon has access to an abandoned warehouse owned by the zoo. They bring their pile of evidence to the chief but are denied a warrant and told to move on. Believing the denial to be a coverup, they leave to investigate the warehouse anyway and uncover a pile of 35 dead bodies. Before they are able to radio the precinct, Zimmerfield is shot by a member of the Men of the Machine and dies in the backseat of Estevez's car en route to the hospital. His last words: Save Lydia Spring.

At CIA headquarters, the head of the Blackwing operation questions Friedkin on the recent failure. Friedkin throws Riggins under the bus, stating that he repeatedly suggested more aggressive strategies but Riggins always denied him. The head decides that maybe a shift of power is in order.

## Behind the scenes

### Cast

* Samuel Barnett as Dirk Gently
* Elijah Wood as Todd Brotzman
* Hannah Marks as Amanda Brotzman
* Fiona Dourif as Bart Curlish
* Jade Eshete as Farah Black
* Mpho Koaho as Ken
* Michael Eklund as Martin
* Dustin Milligan as Hugo Friedkin
* Miguel Sandoval as Scott Riggins
* Neil Brown Jr. as Estevez
* Richard Schiff as Zimmerfield
* Michael Adamthwaite as Zed
* Aaron Douglas as Gordon Rimmer
* Christian Bako as Ed
* Osric Chau as Vogle
* Viv Leacock as Gripps
* Zak Santiago as Cross
* Alison Thornton as Lydia Spring
* Fiona Vroom as Wilson
* Grayson Gabriel as Young Coroner
* Eric Keenleyside as Police Captain
* Max Boateng as Traffic Cop
* Craig Fraser as Gifford
* Bentley as Rapunzel the Corgi
* Andrea Ware as Zoo Curator

### Crew

The crew for this episode has not been recorded yet.

## Notes

* Todd says "I'm just glad we got through the ride without anyone or anything trying to kill us". At the same time, Bart is searching Seattle to find and kill Dirk.
* Todd tries to get Dirk to admit that he has powers but Dirk denies it. As Project Icarus of Project Blackwing, Dirk is a type of psychic.
* Dirk gives Todd the same shirt that he saw himself wearing in the hotel hallway in Horizons
* The Rowdy 3 ask Amanda if she saw anything cool when they sucked her energy. She was previously shown to experience psychic visions during the process.
* Bart tells Ken that food comes to her when she needs to eat. This connects to the fact that she believes the universe leads her to where she wants to go.
* Dirk says he had a hunch to take the cat from the crime scene.
* Zimmerfield's last words are "Save Lydia Spring". This is a phrase that has been repeated throughout the series by several people.
* Riggins tells Friedkin that the reason he doesn't have more back up is because people think he is too close and too emotionally involved in the operation, leading him to be blinded by what he should do. Friedkin later uses these exact words to convince the head of the operation to let him take over.

Other Notes

* Dirk says that together with Todd, they can see two places at once.
* Martin calls the other members of the Rowdy 3 his rowdy boys.