Produced by Netflix and BBC America, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency chronicles the strange investigations of the title character (Samuel Barnett), and his unwilling assistant Todd (Elijah Wood). The disarmingly friendly Dirk Gently differs from most detectives in that he uses a 'holistic' method of investigations. In practice, this means that he doesn't interview witnesses or look for clues. He simply goes about his business until he inevitably stumbles onto whatever clue unlocks the entire mystery. He meets Todd under some very bizarre circumstances, and decides Todd will be his new assistant; the Watson to his Holmes, as it were. Todd wants nothing to do with Dirk initially, but circumstances keep causing the two to cross paths, so Todd eventually resigns to his sidekick role. At the same time, another pair of real detectives, Zimmerfield and Estevez (Richard Schiff and Neil Brown Jr.) are trailing Dirk and Todd, since the pair seem to be connected to some very bizarre cold cases. Meanwhile, across the country, electrician/part time hacker Ken (Mpho Koaho) is abducted by 'holistic' killer Bart Curlish (Fiona Dourif). Her life's mission is to kill Dirk Gently, even though the two have never crossed paths. Dirk and Todd spend their time solving bizarre mysteries and avoiding death/capture, while the rest follow the trail they've left, in an exciting and strangely funny series.
For a series this unusual, the writing has to be spot on to keep the tone consistent, and it doesn't disappoint. The writers have a clear appreciation for the original Douglas Adams novels. The dialogue and plotting has all the earmarks of Adams's work, from silly arguments over semantics to odd speech patterns and out-of-the-blue weirdness. The mysteries themselves are densely layered, but manage to have surprisingly coherent solutions in spite of their outlandish nature. The production design goes a long way to helping the audience accept the strangeness of Dirk Gently's world. Everything feels just a bit off-centre from regular life, and eventually, we're drawn into the strangeness and we begin to think like Dirk Gently would. For instance, the idea of a shark attack on dry land becomes more of a brain teaser than a flat-out impossibility.
The pure strangeness of this show is brought to life by Samuel Barnett's portrayal of Dirk Gently. While the show is set in America, Dirk is English through and through, which is a nice nod to the original books. As mentioned above, Dirk is almost always cheerful and friendly to everyone, even in the middle of a grisly crime scene. It's amusing to see other characters trying to decide how to respond to his friendliness. Elijah Wood's character is very similar to the one he played in Wilfred: Todd is constantly frustrated with Dirk's actions, yet consistently winds up advancing the action whatever decision he makes. The rest of the cast are excellent as well and provide good contrast with the main players. Detectives Zimmerfield and Estevez don't have as much screen time, but they share some of the most amusing moments in the series with their hard-boiled dialogue and deadpan reactions to all the weirdness around them. For me, the standout performances belong to Mpho Koaho and Fiona Dourif as Ken and Bart. Ken seems to be a nice guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. His fear of Bart feels very real, and it's very interesting to watch that fear fade away as the two become uneasy friends, of a sort. Despite first appearances, Bart is a fascinatingly complex character. Fiona Dourif manages to make Bart scary, yet shows a certain sensitive side at times. Even though Bart is ostensibly the villain of this story, she becomes likeable in the strangest way.
If you like a good mystery, but are tired of the same old predictable stories, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is the right show for you. Dirk Gently combines sci-fi elements with solid mystery structure and comedic punctuation to create a very entertaining show that defies expectations. If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth a look!
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