Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (2016) - General Discussion

[MarkHB]

29 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

Which makes me think the fourth, possibly the one they told to take Amanda away, is similar to her, some troubled normal who they brought into their fold and has become one of them.

I thought of that, too... but I think he was part of the emotion-sucking, and I can't imagine that ability being sharable / contagious.

[Mabinogia]

that is true. But it would be interesting if it was, and if feeding off Todd would make both of them better. Talk about a co-dependent relationship lol But no, he is probably just a Jr Rowdy who came to the team after it was already established.

I'm also thinking they are part of the "psychics" since they, too, were being hunted by the big bad military machine. Cause at the end there were massive teams after Bart, Dirk and the Rowdy 3 (+1+1). I think those were the only squads out there, right? And what was with the leaflet about the rock star who's name escapes me at the moment that Dirk picked up?

[kat165]

Was his name Lux Valor? Wasn't he the mumbles guy who got killed this ep?

[Mabinogia]

Lux Dujour! Yes, he was the mumbly guy but at the end, I think it was, after Mumbles was killed, Dirk picks up a flyer about a Lux Dujour revival concert or some such. I thought it was interesting and must mean something. This show makes me think everything will mean something at some point. lol

[kat165]

Yeah, Mab, I think you're right. It was after and I also thought it was interesting. Why would they show that when mumbles is already dead? Or maybe he can't be killed?

[Mabinogia]

I have to rewatch to see what Mumbles was like around the time he died. Maybe he somehow transferred himself again, or he had split himself or who knows. I just found it very interesting that they used that particular flier. I'm probably reading way too much into it, but that, for me, is half the fun of this kind of show. It's why I loved Lost, not for the show itself but for all the hairbrained conspiracies it allowed me to indulge in.

[possibilities]

I was really bothered by Estevez's demise, also. Much more than any of the other moments of death and destruction we saw during the season. I really wish they hadn't gone there. It seems so purposeless and like a real loss. He'd have been a great addition to the "agency" and his death didn't really advance any story, either.

[kat165]

The only other death that hit me as hard was Richard Schiff, but then I really like the actor. :)

[WatchrTina]

Well . . . I have to say that I liked it and will watch season two.  But that is the weirdest damn mind-fuck of a TV show that I've seen in a long time.  Like, Twin-Peaks-level weird.

I liked it so I guess I'm weird too.  Or maybe weird and surreal is simply a relief after the shit-show that was real life in 2016.

[Chyromaniac]

Quote

Number one would be Dirk convincing Todd to tell Amanda the truth about his never having pararibulosous (sp?) considering her reaction. And going back to the beginning, Dirk's arrival coincided with the destruction and loss of Todd's apartment and everything in it.  Likely most people Dirk encounters wind up getting mad at him.

Yeah, I wanted to see if he would actually acknowledge it (not really) - but Todd seemed to be projecting a lot of his misfortunes onto Dirk.

Overall, I enjoyed the finale - although I really wish the shows I watch would knock it off with the cliffhangers, especially when you're not 100% sure the show is coming back.  Newsflash Max - I'm invested enough to stick with your crazy @$$ story to the finale.  I don't need a teaser scene (or three) to make me want to come back for more.

As it stands, having the military drop in and apprehend (maybe kill?) the psychics just feels like the writers didn't really know what to do with certain characters post-case, so they just stuck them in a box.  In retrospect, I would've rather had the teaser time devoted to fleshing out the crazy info dump from last week.  I think that could've been accomplished by shifting Farrah's trunk escape into this episode.  And, if they really wanted to end on a tease for Season 2, the perfect ending would've been Friedkin's debriefing from a few weeks ago (the "very erectus" scene).

The crazy thing is that I felt they did do a pretty good job tying all those threads back into the Lydia Spring case at the end.  Obviously Team Dirk had to be there, along with the Men of the Machine - but Ken and Bart did their thing, Estevez pitched in, and even the Rowdies were involved in the fight.  The only glaring omission was Black Wing, for reasons that are now obvious - but I do think that overall, they were needed this season to help with the world-building.

Since we are getting a Season 2, there are a few things I would like to see.  First off, I hope we don't get stuck with weeks of Farrah, Todd or whoever trying to rescue Dirk and the others.  If this is Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, I want another case, and I'd like to have plenty of episode time for it to develop.  Next, I'd like there to be further exploration of the supernatural elements of the show.  For instance, I'm still convinced that the pararibulitis has to be related to whatever psychic abilities Dirk and Bart have, if the Rowdies can feed off either.  I'd also like to see what the extent of those powers actually are.  A lot of the results they attributed to their "holistic methods" seemed to benefit a great deal from operating within a predestination paradox - what happens when there's no time loop to keep everything on track?  Finally, I would like for them to explore more of the Black Wing project - I'd just like it to be a little more relevant to the rest of the show.

[shapeshifter]

11 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

Lux Dujour! Yes, he was the mumbly guy but at the end, I think it was, after Mumbles was killed, Dirk picks up a flyer about a Lux Dujour revival concert or some such. I thought it was interesting and must mean something. This show makes me think everything will mean something at some point. lol

Renner and Lux Dujour switched bodies off screen, before the series began, IIRC. Right?

[theatremouse]

23 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Renner and Lux Dujour switched bodies off screen, before the series began, IIRC. Right?

Yes but it was a little unclear to me the timeline of the "death" of Lux Dujour and how that related to the body switching, if at all, and if the flyer thing maybe implied they might've changed something with their time jump (maybe it wasn't a straight loop) if Lux isn't most sincerely dead anymore. Or possibly I'm confusing myself and the flyer was a tribute because he is dead. Or possibly he "died" when Renner left his body and that was way before the series events and I'm just totally confused, but I thought that musician was announced as dying during the events of the series, or at least after the Lydia Spring kidnapping. I'm just not certain what was when anymore.

[sjohnson]

The fire at Rimmer's house led to the discovery of Lux Dujour's body. So the flier I thought was just a commemoration of the dead singer's life prompted by the very recent discovery he was dead, not just hiding?

[MarkHB]

I believe the title of the Lux DuJour tribute concert was something like "we'll never stop watching you."  I took it that it was planted by Captain Meathead to help trap Dirk (or Todd, or whoever it was who saw it... I forget).

[Mabinogia]

14 hours ago, Chyromaniac said:

The only glaring omission was Black Wing, for reasons that are now obvious - but I do think that overall, they were needed this season to help with the world-building.

I do appreciate that they included Black Wing this season so that they didn't come out of nowhere in the finale or next season. It does make for better world building if next season's big bad was kind of peeking around the corner this season. Otherwise we'd all be like where did they come from? Why do they suddenly show up now? (By we I mean me.)

[justmehere]

Osric Chau, one of the Rowdy 3 (and the late, lamented Kevin of Supernatural), has been upgraded to a series regular for next season.

http://deadline.com/2017/04/dirk-gentlys-holistic-detective-agency-osric-chau-series-regular-season-2-1202061371/

[MarkHB]

He's the one who was kind of the fourth of the 3, right?

[justmehere]

Not sure, MarkHB, but I think so. It's been a while since I watched the finale... I think he ran into the field with Amanda. Character name is Vogle

[MarkHB]

Yeah, that's what I thought... The others kind of sent him packing at the very end.

[justmehere]

My memory is fuzzy. I thought they sent him and Amanda away as protection. Didn't things get blown up after that?

[MarkHB]

That's what I meant; he was the one who left with Amanda just before an entire Special Forces division showed up to take the Three in.  My takeaway from that was that the others were the original Three, and he and Amanda were the extras that the government wasn't looking for.

Which, along with this latest news, makes me wonder if he and Amanda might have an arc searching for the original Three this season.

[MarkHB]

Alan Tudyk and others will be joining the show as guest stars in Season 2.  The article talks about their roles so if you're spoiler-sensitive you may want to look elsewhere.

[Adira]

I love John Hannah, so I'm excited!

[MarkHB]

They didn't give a date, but during the Doctor Who finale there were several spots announcing that DGHDA will be "returning this fall."

[Adira]

Trailer for season 2!

[MarkHB]

And just to get it in plaintext, the show returns October 14!

[Mabinogia]

Marking my calendar now. I love this show. I rewatched the season a couple weeks ago.

[blueray]

I just watched this show on Hulu, I've heard of it from Elijah Wood mentioning it in an interview and thought I'd check it out. I never saw the original or read the book. I liked this though. It was definitely the weirdest show I've seen. I like that it was all a timeloop, though I saw that coming from the first episode. I get that Dirk couldn't tell Todd what he knew, because he wouldn't believe him. The girl that played Lydia/the dog did a great job playing the dog. Seriously, She got most of the mannerisms down lol and clearly enjoyed playing her.

 

I definitely didn't see the dumb fbi guy turning into a vilian at the end or Todd having the disease too :(.  I'm in the group that didn't like the end with him getting the disease. I hope they don't drag that out with Amanda not believing him. I also hope they rescue Dirk soon. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to next season.

Edited September 30, 2017 by blueray

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Elijah Wood & Samuel Barnett discuss S2 of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency on Build:

[MarkHB]

Todd and Farah are on the run from the law, heading to small town Bergsberg, Montana in search of Dirk. Mysteriously, Bart's search for Ken takes her to the same small town, where odd, unexplainable events are starting to take place....

[AnimeMania]

I had no idea what that thing was that fell out of the tree, but it appears to be a car according to the picture on this website.

 

http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/dirk-gentlys-holistic-detective-agency/268250/dirk-gently-s-holistic-detective-agency-season-2-episode-1-review-space-rabbit

[blueray]

I wonder what fell out of the tree? I guess it'll be shown next episode. I liked Todd trying to act like Dirk. I hope they find him soon from the previews it looked like they do soon.I

Quote

Jury is still out on the new characters, whose names I couldn't remember for the life of it. Was a bit disappointed that the killer didn't do a similar road trip thing with the disabled Mom. But it makes sense not to repeat the Bart/Ken storyline with a reversed gender dynamic.

I called that the one woman would be a witch or something. I was they didn't repeat that and that she rejected her offer. At the same time Bart wasn't supposed to kill her, as she could defend herself. I do hope she finds Ken soon.

[Mabinogia]

The other realm is an interesting twist. Curious to see where that goes. I am happy that they pretty much showed where everyone is because the waiting would have killed me. 

Shape Shifter is awesome. I loved that whole scene of her changing from thing to thing to get to Dirk. 

I love all these random things that, as the season progresses, we will discover are all connected. It's going to be another fun ride. 

[justmehere]

So glad that this is back in all its crazy wonderfulness. I'm absolutely along for the ride.

--I'm intrigued by the alternate/parallel world where they still know about Dirk Gently.

--I hope the clueless guy running the Blackwing investigation gets a little bit of a clue soon.

--I felt bad for Amanda and Vogle being on their own. Were the rest of the Rowdy 3 killed or captured? I hope captured -- I want to see them all back together as well as Bart and Ken and of course Todd, Farah, and Dirk.

Can't wait to see where this goes.

[possibilities]

I wish the pink hair had been blue.

Other than that, I liked the episode more than I thought I would-- I was worried the crazy would have worn thin, but it was actually somehow refreshing.

How did they not realize they'd left Todd's pills behind, though?

That corgi is so dynamic. I like dogs, but this dog really draws attention. I'm glad Ken has her for company.

[Loandbehold]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

How did they not realize they'd left Todd's pills behind, though?

They left the bottle behind, but picked up the pills that had fallen out. There were only about four pills left, so Todd's going to need a renewal. Oh, and the local sheriff / tow truck driver has his name. 

[Mabinogia]

Gotta admit, the Corgi is what first drew me to the show. I LOVE corgi's. I also love Douglas Adams so that helped too, but as soon as I saw a corgi in the ad for the show I knew I was going to watch. So I was soo happy to see Repunzel in the taxi with Ken. But why is Ken stuck in a cab? Dirk gets a room with a bed, coma guy is in a room with a bed but poor Ken is stuck sitting in a cab? 

I like that Todd said he wasn't doing all this to get rid of the pararibulitis because he thinks he deserves it. I like that he gets the poetic justice of it. But I wonder why he has it and if they are going to address that. Is it part of...oh, who am I kidding, of course it is part of everything, everything is part of everything. It is all interconnected. haha I am curious how Amanda is going to react and how long it is going to take before she realizes he's not faking it again. 

Bart broke my heart when she asked crazy woman if she wanted to be her best friend. Bart is oddly endearing. For a psycho killer she is very innocent. 

[MarkHB]

13 hours ago, nosleepforme said:

Was a bit disappointed that the killer didn't do a similar road trip thing with the disabled Mom

The henchmen called him "Mr. Mage," so I'm assuming he's the Mage who was referred to as the Big Bad from the other world. 

6 hours ago, justmehere said:

--I hope the clueless guy running the Blackwing investigation gets a little bit of a clue soon.

The preseason promos for the show gave one-word names to the principals; his was Idiot. I'm not betting on any clues coming his way soon. :)

[MarkHB]

15 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

Oh, and the local sheriff / tow truck driver has his name. 

He also has his sunglasses, and on this show the sunglasses could turn out to be more important than the empty pill bottle.

[Mabinogia]

12 hours ago, MarkHB said:

The henchmen called him "Mr. Mage," so I'm assuming he's the Mage who was referred to as the Big Bad from the other world. 

OMG thank you! I totally missed that. I felt he had to be from the other world but wasn't sure who he would have been/how he would have fit.

[possibilities]

I can't watch this show as a puzzle because it becomes too exertional for me. But I like watching it as a caper.

[blueray]

14 hours ago, eliot90000 said:

Quote

Didn't he go into the locked house that Todd and Farrah were looking into?

I think that it was the same house. Todd and Farrah had already walked away from it at that point.

[Vermicious Knid]

I admit, I thought the first part was going to turn out to be LARPing or something. But nope, alternate universe fantasyland.

Dirk's dream was hilarious. I'm not sure about the direction they're going with all the, eh, not normal people. They played coy last season at the idea that any of them really had powers but they're blatantly saying they do now. What with the shapeshifter getting into the base and apparently teleporting Dirk out of there. Doofus also mentioned an invisible guy so I expect him to pop up at some point too.

Todd chasing after the rabbit makes perfect sense when you consider a kitten was actually a shark (and what happened to that?), and the corgi turned out to have a human soul.

The two actors playing Susie and Bart look the same to me.

[Snarkette]

Welcome back Dirk! I forgot how much I missed you. This season seems to be heading towards batshit insane like the previous, thank heavens. Shapeshifters? Fantasy worlds? Scissor swords? Incompetent government conspiracies? I am so there, along with the plot-corgi.

[possibilities]

I genuinely loved the scissors.

[wilnil]

12 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Dirk's dream was hilarious. I'm not sure about the direction they're going with all the, eh, not normal people. They played coy last season at the idea that any of them really had powers but they're blatantly saying they do now. What with the shapeshifter getting into the base and apparently teleporting Dirk out of there. Doofus also mentioned an invisible guy so I expect him to pop up at some point too.

I think the "coyness" was because the government program was based on the idea that its subjects had "classical" powers such as telepathy, telekinesis, precognition, etc., but we're eventually shown that what they had was much weirder: Dirk and Bart are "holistically" connected to the world in such a way that problems that need solving come to detective Dirk arranged in a way that he can solve them, and people who need killing present themselves to assassin Bart in such a way that she can kill them almost effortlessly. The Rowdy Three thrive by causing, then literally feeding on, people's fear, and they're almost as unstoppable as Bart when they're doing that. (The rest of the subjects in the original Blackwing program probably also had powers too weird to be useful to the government, since the program seemed to have been back-burnered.)

 

But my assumption on the shapeshifter was that she came from the fantasy dimension that the Mage (and maybe Suzanne? She's a natural magic-wielder) comes from. I don't have anything to base that assumption on, though, other than her otherworldly eye color.

Edited October 17, 2017 by wilnil
Frigging autocorrect doesn't know "precognition"

[possibilities]

Maybe the Rowdies will be attracted to Todd during one of his attacks, and them feeding off his fear will convince Sis that he's not faking this time.

But where are the Rowdies? And how is she managing without them?

[morakot]

16 minutes ago, possibilities said:

But where are the Rowdies? And how is she managing without them?

She has one of them with her.

[AnimeMania]

How can everybody from the the other realm cross over to our realm so easily? 

[ZoqFotPik]

That dollar bill on Suzie's nightstand was not a note used at anytime in US history. It looked like Andrew Johnson was on the bill. It was featured way too prominently in two scenes to be some kind of prop error. Especially when there were what looked like real $1 bills in the scene with Suzie on the bed.