Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (2016)

Dirk Gently (Samuel Barnett) claims to be a “holistic detective”, and instead of getting assigned cases like a real detective, he follows and makes up cases in the direction the universe points him, based on the inter-connectivity of all things… or so he claims.

Todd Brotzman (Elijah Wood) is a bellhop drowning in debt, as he struggles to pay his rent and take care of his sister Amanda (Hannah Marks) who suffers from an unusual disease. When an abnormal murder takes place at the works, he meets Dirk, who unsolicitedly adopts him as his assistant. Dirk drags him along on the case where they meet Farah Black (Jade Eshete).

Another story features Bart Curlish (Fiona Dourif) as a “holistic” assassin and Ken (Mpho Koaho), her kidnappee. Yet another story has a pair of military men hunting for Dirk. As the show progresses stories keep piling up.

Each season of the show has multiple seemingly unconnected storylines running parallel, creating a bell curve of confusion that heightens until the very climax of the show. Whimsical characters coupled with sharp dialogues placed in increasingly odd scenarios provide a strong basis for this method of storytelling to function. The classic Douglas Adam’s writing is paired with American absurdism, and it makes for a gripping watch.

The show is undeniably goofy and playful, with tones that keep shifting per storyline (the second season features a Romeo and Juliet-esque queer romance… set in an alternate fantasy dimension). The pacing of the show is urgent, almost breathless, but the excitement works for people. This science-fiction comedy is certainly a hit or miss and the first five minutes are a reliable litmus test.

To make things easier, if you are interested in any or all of the following Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is a must-watch for you: Science Fiction, absurdist humor, indoor shark murders, assassins, colorful jackets, time travel, dungeons, and dragons, an entire race of pink-haired people, a misnomer band of psychic vampires. Don’t worry, it’s all connected.

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