The Case of the Dandelion Shrine is the second episode of the first season of the Netflix original supernatural series, Dead Boy Detectives.
Synopsis[]
Trapped in a sleepy Washington town, the detectives take on a local case: helping Crystal's quirky housemate Niko get rid of her paranormal parasites.
Plot[]
Edwin is confronted by the Cat King
Edwin, Charles, and Crystal are headed out of Port Townsend when they are confronted by the cat that Edwin used a binding spell against. He explains that Edwin has the answer for using magic on the cat. The Cat King is upset and awaits their arrival. Edwin attempts to leave as planned, but an army of cats block their path and lead them to the aforementioned Cat King, who transforms from a cat to a man. He intends to privately discuss Edwin's offense. Charles and Crystal seek to fight their way out, but they are outnumbered, and as Edwin explains, cat scratches are poisonous to ghosts. The Cat King explains that his kingdom is about want and pleasure, but Edwin simply looks to clear up the magic leash offense. The Cat King remarks that Edwin is oddly handsome and that he's fascinated by him. He nears Edwin and just as it seems they're about to kiss, the Cat King punishes him with a caging spell, preventing Edwin from leaving Port Townsend so long as the bracelet is around his wrist. The Cat King reveals that it will come off once Edwin makes him happy. He initially proposes sex, to which Edwin is very much opposed to, as clearly indicated by his body language. So the Cat King proposes an alternative; should Edwin count every cat in Port Townsend, the bracelet will come off.
When Edwin returns to Charles and Crystal, they reveal that he's been gone for hours, though for Edwin it was merely moments. They return to the apartment, where Edwin attempts to force the bracelet off by smashing his wrist against the pillar, but to no avail. He then turns his frustrations on Charles, pointing out how he's put them in danger through possessing a witch, which has exposed them to reprisals from the afterlife. However, nothing has yet to happen, as Charles points out, but should they be captured, it is Edwin who would be sent back to Hell whilst Charles simply moves on, though Charles insists he won't let that happen. Edwin the turns his attention to Crystal, suspecting that she's enjoying his misery, but she's more focused on the fact that she's being stalked by her demon ex and that she's no closer to finding her parents, at which point, Jenny barges in and insists that Crystal stop banging, unaware of Edwin's presence and his attempt to remove the Cat King's bracelet. After Crystal leaves, the postman, who is also a ghost, arrives with the mail and potential cases. Among the mail is a flyer for a magic shop, which Charles proposes they give a visit in hopes they may have an answer to get the bracelet off.
Crystal exits the bathroom, nearly running into Niko, who, like before, is surrounded by a pink aura. Suddenly, Niko collapses, and Crystal screams out to Jenny for help.
Tragic Mick can't remove the bracelet
As planned, Edwin and Charles visit Tragic Mick's magic shop. Tragic Mick is a cursed walrus, who is trapped on land to forever to look like a man. As for Edwin's bracelet, he reveals it won't come off. It's a spell that can only be undone by the caster. Mick was once a mighty walrus, free in the ocean. Just as he's about to tell his story, the Boys plead with him for help, asking if he knows of anything that could potentially be of help. However, Tragic Mick simply gifts them a jar that's been enchanted to make ocean sounds.
Just after the Boys exit, Esther makes her presence known to Mick. She overheard the Dead Boys mention that they're stuck in town. She then proceeds to buy what she calls a "revenge starter kit."
Crystal and Jenny have taken Niko back to her room, where she examined by a doctor, who diagnosis that she is simply dehydrated, but Crystal isn't convinced.
The Boys have returned and watch as Crystal attempts to use her abilities to see what's going on in Niko's head, but she has a bad reaction and Crystal is sent flying to the floor, though she's otherwise okay, explaining that all she could see was colors and light. Edwin volunteers to help Niko and jots down a list of questions for Crystal to ask her when she awakens.
Edwin halfway mirror hops with Charles to their office in London to retrieve their reference books.
Niko awakens. She's a bit awkward and nervous, even more so as Crystal asks her a series of questions. Rather than answering her, Niko gets in the shower.
Charles has gone through all the reference books but hasn't found anything to match Niko's condition. Edwin becomes frustrated, leading Charles to question what exactly happened with the Cat King, as Edwin has been on edge ever since their encounter. Edwin unintentionally reveals that the Cat King whispered in his ear. Edwin then realizes that Niko is most likely possessed by a parasite and tells Charles to grab the paranormal parasitics book. Charles browses through the book until finding a symptom that states colorful secretions, which matches with Crystal has been describing, meaning that Niko is infected by dandelion sprites. In addition to the colorful secretions, other symptoms include weakening of the host and imminent explosion.
Crystal waits outside the bathroom door as Niko continues to shower and ignore her. Crystal can relate to her struggle of not being able to talk to anyone about her troubles. She's searching for her family, but has no idea where to begin. Niko finally replies, saying that she felt this way when her dad died. He always knew what to say, and he always wore fun socks. Her mother sent her back to boarding school after the funeral. Far away from the sadness, but the sadness followed. Crystal asks if that's who all the letters are from on Niko's desk. It is. Niko hasn't opened them because her mom simply wants to hear that she's not sad anymore, but the truth is that she is still sad, and she can't lie to her mom. Everyone kept staring at her, so she had to move out of the dorm and drop out of high school. She can't even leave her room, and this way of living has been extremely lonely. Crystal is also lonely, feeling that she will never find her family. Niko finally opens the door and attempts to boost Crystal's mood by saying that her family is probably looking for her. She then suddenly throws up colorful vomit before passing out again.
Crystal and the Dead Boys question Niko
Edwin and Charles returns with the book and reveal that Niko is infected by dandelion sprites. They feed on adoration and attention, which can be seen as the fuzzy pink light Crystal described. They make people look at Niko, and they eat up the attention and when they grow strong enough, they exit the body however they can. Niko awakens and asks Crystal who she's talking to. With no actual explanation, Crystal reveals that she was talking to her secret friends. Crystal asks Niko when did all this first start. She reveals that she went looking for dandelions. When she was little, her father used to tell her that a dandelion in her pocket would give her courage. So she traveled to a dandelion field, where she passed out and later work up. Edwin insists that they need more information, but Crystal is hesitant to push her too far and decides to do this her way. She asks Niko if there's anything about the woods she was in that seemed odd. The only other thing she remembers is some kind of shrine. The Boys want Niko to lead them there, but Crystal argues that she needs rest. Niko then gets out of bed without so much as a word and head downstairs into the shop, where all of Jenny's customers see the pink, colorful secretion to gain attention. Crystal follows her downstairs, covering her eyes and grabbing Niko, bringing her back to reality.
Meanwhile, in the afterlife, the Night Nurse has discovered that Edwin and Charles possessed a witch. She learns that Charles died in 1989 due to hypothermia and internal bleeding and never crossed over, with his afterlife assignment being pending, which upsets her. Charles is cheating death. As for Edwin, he died in 1916, in a ritual sacrifice, and his afterlife assignment is Hell, but he escaped in 1989, much to the Night Nurse's disbelief. Night Nurses refuses to allow them to run amok any longer, as it is their duty as the Lost & Found Department to tend to such matters.
Edwin and Charles travel to a clearing with help from a hand drawn map by Niko. Edwin is clearly very tense regarding the Cat KiNg, but he refuses to tell Charles what's bothering him. The Boys eventually make their way to the shrine, which is surrounded by a field filled with corpses. It appears that when the dandelion sprites exit the host, they explode out of the body, killing the host and spreading to the next.
Crystal continues to watch over Niko, who is getting sicker by the moment; she's coughing, and her nose is bleeding. As Crystal attempts to wipe the blood, Niko grabs her arm as the dandelion sprites within take control and try to force Crystal to look at them. They demand that Crystal give them what they want, or else they will tear Niko asunder and find a new nest.
Edwin and Charles find the field where Niko was infected
Whatever was written on the shrine has been chiseled away, Edwin discovers. Fortunately, Charles has lexicographical lenses to help them see what use to be there. With the glasses, Edward discovers a crude assembly of runes and lettering. Its base root is similar to Coptic. Edwin reads the following: "Tthese small gods require constant sacrifices." They were abandoned in the field and were most likely starving. Additionally, "Only this shrine's enchanted vessel can contain the sprites." And so, Charles retrieves the vessel, but in doing so, he awakens all the corpses in the field. When one of them grabs his foot, Charles panics and drops the vessel, which breaks on impact.
Jenny questions Crystal's weird behavior, but she's distracted by the arrival of Edwin and Charles, who need the book back. Trying to maintain eye contact with Jenny while also hearing out the Boys proves too difficult a task for Crystal, as Jenny realizes that something is going on with Crystal and tells her to stop being weird.
Crystal returns to Niko's room and tells her the truth about Edwin and Charles being ghosts. Ghosts are real, in addition to many other crazy things, and one of those things are inside of Niko and seeking to explode from within her. Edwin is upset with Crystal for telling her the truth, but Niko is relieved to know. They found a secret vase at the shrine, but then Charles dropped it. While they may not have the enchanted vase, Charles does still have the enchanted jar from Tragic Mick's shop. They use the offerings they recovered from when Charles broke the vase and put it in the jar they got from Mick. Now all they need is something to lure the sprites out with.
Litty and Kingham are captured
Crystal makes the dandelion sprites an offer, offering herself to the sprites in exchange for Niko, revealing that she is a medium, meaning that they could feed off all the attention from the living and the dead, and they'll never go hungry again. They accept Crystal's offer and exit Niko's body. It's a small man and women named Litty and Kingham. They look at Crystal before lunging at her, but Charles captures them with the enchanted jar. They're upset and fairly sarcastic, remarking how proud the Boys must be of themselves for capturing tiny sprites.
With the case closed, the Boys congratulate Crystal on a job well done. Charles is happy the jar worked, because it would be a shame if dandelions exploded out of her face, because he thinks her face is "pretty mint." That said, the case isn't quite over, as they have to return to the shrine and torch the dandelions before they can infect anyone else. Niko joins them. Her hair is now white as a result of the sprites, and she can now see Edwin and Charles due to her near-death experience (making her a medium). Rather than dispose of them, Niko wants to keep Litty and Kingham in her room, where they won't be able to hurt anyone, and maybe she'll even be able to convince them not hurt people anymore. Litty and Kingham tell Niko to leave them alone. Niko understands their frustration with wanting something they can't have. Nevertheless, Crystal takes her sweater and covers the jar as the sprites threaten to kill her. The postman arrives with more mail and dozens of potential cases. Word has gotten out about the Dead Boy Detectives and their brand-new medium. There's already a line of ghosts forming outside, leading down the block.
Meanwhile, Esther is concocting a plan to combat the Dead Boys. She performs a spell to turn Monty, her crow familiar, into a charming young boy.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne
- Jayden Revri as Charles Rowland
- Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace
- Briana Cuoco as Jenny Green
- Ruth Connell as Night Nurse
- Yuyu Kitamura as Niko Sasaki
- Jenn Lyon as Esther Finch
Guest Starring[]
- Lukas Gage as Cat King
- Michael Beach as Tragic Mick
- Joshua Colley as Monty
- Max Jenkins as Kingham
- Caitlin Reilly as Litty
Co-Starring[]
- Kevin Davey as Ghost Postman
- Shafin Karim as Local Doctor
- Ethel Pitchford as Elderly Customer
- André Sogliuzzo as Grey Cat
- Kailey Spear as Undead Women the First
- Carman Chan as Undead Woman the Third
- Samantha Spear as Undead Women the Second
- Charell Bonds as Undead Woman the Fourth
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
References[]