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‘Dirk Gently’ adds time travel to his list of otherworldly skills
Last we checked in on “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency,” we expressed hopes that all loose ends would be tied up and answers would be given. Yet, with Saturday’s (Nov. 26) episode, titled “Fix Everything,” the show doesn’t actually fix anything.
Instead, we’re given a few pieces of helpful info and then thrown right back into a maelstrom of government cover-ups, whacked out villains and… Time travel. Yes, as if it were any surprise, time travel now exists in the “Dirk Gently” universe. But first, let’s get up to speed on where things lie.
With Zimmerfield (Richard Schiff) dead — a harpoon gun is a rough way to go, you guys — Estevez (Neil Brown, Jr.) is left on his own to uncover the mystery behind Lydia Spring’s (Alison Thornton) disappearance. Doing his best to plead his case to his boss, he’s quickly terminated, which confirms something we’ve known for quite some time: The FBI is compromised.
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The bigger picture here finds the FBI in cahoots with Gordon Rimmer (Aaron Douglas) and his odd posse of bald men. The power of the soul exchanger is at the center of this whole thing: Rimmer’s take is that he and his group were chosen by a higher power to access the bizarre piece of technology, but as Estevez’s former boss sees things, it’s just a weird piece of tech that traveled through time to land in their laps.
It also seems to be at the center of a hostage situation that went south between Rimmer and Patrick Spring. With Patrick dead, Rimmer hid Lydia’s soul. And with Estevez at the end of his rope — and bottle — he drunkenly comes to the baffling realization that the dog he’s been holding onto really is Lydia Spring.
Which leads us to Todd’s (Elijah Wood) latest mission: To tell his sister the truth. Amanda (Hannah Marks) may be suffering from Pararibulitis. But up until this point, she was under the impression it was a genetic condition. Instead, Todd finally admits to her that his ailment was one long drawn out lie perpetrated to cover up his own lazy — and deadbeat — ways of the past. Offering her that bloody lottery ticket as a means to fix the situation, Amanda locks herself in the bathroom. And then she has an attack.
It may not have been the best time for Estevez to kick his way into Todd’s apartment. But that’s exactly what happened. And while the former detective tried to make sense of everything that has been thrown his way, Amanda almost dies from drowning. This Pararibulitis is no joke!
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On the other side of town, Dirk (Samuel Barnett) and Farah (Jade Eshete) suffer their own attack. And finally, Bart Curlish (Fiona Dourif) got to kill Dirk Gently. Well, at least she tried. For just a moment, after a chase and numerous gunshots, the two meet face-to-face and realize they’re cut from the same experimental cloth. But before any real answers could be given, Farah puts one heck of a hurting on Bart. And here we thought she couldn’t be hurt! It looks like there’s more to Farah than meets the eye.
Well, at least she tried.
Unfortunately for her, Farah’s perception skills need work. After the run-in with Bart, she called Agent Weeble (David Lewis) for help. The look on Dirk’s face said it all. But before he could say anything, Farah was knocked unconscious and the holistic detective — and Edgar Spring’s odd device — were taken into the creepy FBI guy’s custody.
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It makes some weird sense, really, as Todd also found himself in a fight he couldn’t win. When the Rowdy 3 showed up — at the same time as Rimmer’s bald dude posse — a battle commenced. While the Rowdies saved Amanda’s life yet again — right before she wrote her brother out of her life — Todd was also taken prisoner.
Tyler Durden famously said, “It’s only after you’ve lost everything that you’ve free to do anything.” It feels that quote is quite applicable in Dirk and Todd’s life right about now. But instead of fighting Gordon Rimmer and his gang of weirdos to the death, they’re met with more questions. It looks like Rimmer — with all his huffing and puffing — has no dang idea about what is going on either.
But surprise, Dirk does! Suddenly, in true Dirk Gently fashion, he claims to have solved the case. And with that assertion, he and Todd travel back in time to fix everything… Because that soul exchanger is now also a time machine. Go figure.
“Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on BBC America.