diff --git a/lib/services/jellyfin_client/parts/browse.dart b/lib/services/jellyfin_client/parts/browse.dart
index 6302524f..2cff6ccf 100644
--- a/lib/services/jellyfin_client/parts/browse.dart
+++ b/lib/services/jellyfin_client/parts/browse.dart
@@ -612,6 +612,12 @@ mixin _JellyfinBrowseMethods on _JellyfinClientInternals {
   /// (`enableResumable=true`, `disableFirstEpisode=false`) match Plex
   /// OnDeck semantics: returns the resume episode when one exists, or S1E1
   /// when the user hasn't started. Movies and other kinds short-circuit.
+  ///
+  /// Deliberately still chained rather than fired in parallel off a caller
+  /// kind hint: measured against a remote server that saved nothing, because
+  /// the two requests contend rather than overlap (`/Shows/NextUp` went from
+  /// 380ms alone to 1395ms beside the detail fetch), and it would cost a
+  /// wasted request on every movie whose hint was absent or wrong.
   @override
   Future<({MediaItem? item, MediaItem? onDeckEpisode})> fetchItemWithOnDeck(String id) async {
     final item = await fetchItem(id);
@@ -629,8 +635,33 @@ mixin _JellyfinBrowseMethods on _JellyfinClientInternals {
     return (item: item, onDeckEpisode: onDeckEpisode);
   }
 
+  /// In-flight `fetchItem` requests, keyed by item id.
+  ///
+  /// Opening a detail screen issues two identical full-detail GETs for the
+  /// same id at the same time — `_loadFullMetadata` and, from
+  /// `_initWatchlistState`, `fetchExternalIds` — and playback start adds three
+  /// more. Each one makes the server rebuild the whole dto (People, Chapters
+  /// and MediaSources are a DB query apiece, Trickplay several), so the
+  /// duplicates are expensive on both ends (#1784).
+  ///
+  /// Single-flight only: once a request settles the next caller re-fetches, so
+  /// nothing here can serve a stale item.
+  final Map<String, Future<MediaItem?>> _inFlightItems = {};
+
   @override
-  Future<MediaItem?> fetchItem(String id) async {
+  Future<MediaItem?> fetchItem(String id) {
+    final existing = _inFlightItems[id];
+    if (existing != null) return existing;
+
+    late final Future<MediaItem?> request;
+    request = _fetchItemOnce(id).whenComplete(() {
+      if (identical(_inFlightItems[id], request)) _inFlightItems.remove(id);
+    });
+    _inFlightItems[id] = request;
+    return request;
+  }
+
+  Future<MediaItem?> _fetchItemOnce(String id) async {
     final endpoint = '/Users/${_segment(connection.userId)}/Items/${_segment(id)}';
     // Contract:
     //   - 200 with parseable Map → MediaItem
diff --git a/test/services/jellyfin_client_urls_test.dart b/test/services/jellyfin_client_urls_test.dart
index 3d9f71d1..8cdc250d 100644
--- a/test/services/jellyfin_client_urls_test.dart
+++ b/test/services/jellyfin_client_urls_test.dart
@@ -134,6 +134,36 @@ void main() {
       await scoped.fetchLibraries();
       expect(views, 2);
     });
+    test('concurrent fetchItem calls for one id share a single request', () async {
+      // Opening a detail screen fires `_loadFullMetadata` and, via
+      // `_initWatchlistState`, `fetchExternalIds` — both a full-detail GET for
+      // the same id at the same time. Each makes the server rebuild the whole
+      // dto (People, Chapters and MediaSources are a DB query apiece).
+      var detailFetches = 0;
+      final scoped = JellyfinClient.forTesting(
+        connection: _conn(),
+        httpClient: MockClient((req) async {
+          if (req.url.path == '/Users/user-1/Items/item-1') detailFetches++;
+          return http.Response(
+            jsonEncode({'Id': 'item-1', 'Name': 'Item', 'Type': 'Movie'}),
+            200,
+            headers: {'content-type': 'application/json'},
+          );
+        }),
+      );
+      addTearDown(scoped.close);
+
+      final results = await Future.wait([scoped.fetchItem('item-1'), scoped.fetchItem('item-1')]);
+
+      expect(detailFetches, 1);
+      expect(results.map((item) => item?.id), ['item-1', 'item-1']);
+
+      // Different ids never share, and a later pass re-fetches — single-flight,
+      // not a cache, so nothing here can serve a stale item.
+      await scoped.fetchItem('item-2');
+      await scoped.fetchItem('item-1');
+      expect(detailFetches, 2);
+    });
 
     test('buildDirectStreamUrl includes static flag, api_key, and device id', () {
       final url = client.buildDirectStreamUrl('item-99');