Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 7
This week’s episode of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency gave us much cause for hope and even more reason to despair. Although the reunion between Todd and Amanda wasn’t as joyous as we might have hoped for, Dirk moved towards a resolution despite (or perhaps because of) Todd’s absence, and even as Suzie Boreton and the Kellum army killed some beloved new characters, the self-appointed queen’s rise to power was amazing to behold. With three episodes to go, it appears the show is building to a war between chaos and order that could affect both our world and Wendimoor. There are other hints that are starting to come together as well, including the prologues from this episode and the last, which gave us a glimpse of the Cardenas family in Bergsberg in the 1960s. The crying baby in the fallen boat and the nightmares of the flying purple people eater point towards what we thought we knew: that young Arnold Cardenas created the house within a house and the entire land of Wendimoor out of his own mind. But could there be something else at play here? Dirk seems to think there were two boys based on the drawing in the ruins where the murphy bed portal dropped him and Todd. The details aren’t entirely clear, but even Dirk indicates there’s still something missing, which gets the audience off the hook for not completely understanding what’s going on. Honestly, the enjoyment of Dirk’s realization is less about what we learn and more about watching him squirm under the attentions of the red-haired boogle, who is surprisingly helpful as a non-judgmental listener. What was also unexpected about this episode was its level of violence and death! Viewers could be forgiven for forgetting about Lord Triangle Bedevil, the tattoo-faced general of the Kellum army who ruined Farsen’s appeal for peace by killing him and making it appear to be Trost treachery. But perhaps even more surprising was Wakti Wapnasi’s shocking demise after appearing so unafraid and defiant when Suzie Boreton showed up with her death-dealing wand. Is there some way all of this could be undone? Surely, Suzie doesn’t even care about pitting the Trosts against the Dengdamoors the way the Mage did, and with the apprentice’s wand in hand, Suzie appears to be accepted by Lord Triangle and the Kellum army as the one who’s in charge now. No matter what our opinion of the new queen may be, her wondrous Maleficent makeover was certainly quite a spectacle! It’s no wonder that Amanda saw so much death in her visions with all the destruction the self-appointed queen has brought with her. So although this episode left plenty of questions in its wake, the sheer unexpected nature of much of what happened makes this episode of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency another winner. While there’s plenty to be upset about, the end result of all the death and destruction is an audience dying to tune in to the next episode to find out how it all shakes out. And isn’t that the mark of a truly compelling story?
