Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Even Level 42 probably can't explain this one.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 13, 2017

Fans of the late, great Douglas Adams may still be waiting for a decent adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, since the film version, while occasionally raucously hilarious, was forced to jettison so many of Adams’ delicious sidebars in order to fit itself into a reasonable running time that it often played like a Readers Digest redaction of Adams’ original novels. Some smart creative type, maybe someone like a certain Max Landis, might want to consider revisiting The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as a “special event” television series where more of Adams’ audacious combo platter of humor and cosmic philosophy might be better developed, and for anyone considering such a prospect, there’s arguably no better model than Landis’ own television adaptation of a somewhat lesser known Adams inspired vehicle, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Adams had completed two books in his Dirk Gently series and was actually at work on a third when he so unexpectedly died of a heart attack at the relatively youthful age of 49. Interestingly, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency had an earlier television life courtesy of BBC Four, though that particular Dirk Gently perhaps ironically only lasted four episodes itself, falling victim to some belt tightening at the channel (with a cancellation that actually raised the ire of large segments of the British populace, in a kind of analog to what has happened on this side of the pond at various times with regard to venerated but low rated shows like Star Trek: The Original Series). This “new, improved” Dirk Gently is actually somewhat more variant from Adams’ original formulation than the first series was, at least in terms of some of the supporting characters. But this engaging (if often confounding) series quite frequently captures Adams’ almost patented brand of lunatic humor, which it intersperses with some other, more disturbing, content that may throw some viewers for a (time traveling Boolean) loop.

One of the biggest variances from the source with this particular iteration of Adams’ novels is with regard to the character the show seems to be marketing in favor of its title character. That is probably understandable when that character is being portrayed by Elijah Wood, arguably the marquee star of this series, despite playing generally confounded sidekick Todd Brotzman. Todd is introduced as a hapless young man who’s experiencing trauma at the home front courtesy of no money and irate neighbors, but who is also similarly afflicted at his workplace, where he’s the put upon bellhop of a hotel. An early vignette has documented a rather horrifying murder scene which seems to be a hotel room, and a bit later when Todd is sent to investigate mysterious doin’s on an upper floor, that hunch is kinda sorta confirmed, though something else that happens sends the already stricken Todd reeling. When the elevator stops and the doors open, Todd looks out into the hotel hallway to see — himself, albeit much worse for the wear and adorned in one of those huge furry vests that once made Sonny and Cher pop culture fashion (?) icons.

Because Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency only gets more bizarre from that point, it’s probably fruitless to attempt a typical plot summary, for a couple of reasons: first of all, I don’t think I could do it adequately, since while the supposed focus of the show does in fact involve whatever happened in that mysterious hotel room crime scene, the series goes off on so many seemingly unrelated tangents (in true Douglas Adams fashion) that a “summary” would take the rest of my life (I’m old). Second of all, though, wending through the crazy quilt of plot points is one of the chief pleasures of this show, and while a tour guide might be helpful, it might also deprive newcomers of some of the wonder that accrues once Todd is contacted by eccentric “holistic detective” Dirk Gently (Samuel Barnett).

Instead of offering plot points, I’ll concentrate instead on just a few of the often hilariously outré characters who populate this series. Todd it turns out is a former semi-well known grunge musician who supposedly once suffered from a rare hallucinatory disease called pararibulitis. That disease currently afflicts Todd’s sister Amanda (Hannah Marks), who seems prone not to just “mere” hallucinations, but near divinatory visions that would do Cassandra proud. Farah Black (Jade Eshete) is a bodyguard of a tycoon who’s been murdered and whose daughter, for whom Farah feels responsible, has been kidnapped, and who joins Dirk and Todd on an investigation that of course ties both the hotel “issues” to Farah’s murdered boss and missing charge. Also playing into this lunatic frenzy, initially from the sidelines but more integrally as the show progresses, is a coder named Ken (Mpho Koaho), who gets kidnapped himself by a completely gonzo character (easily my favorite in this season) named Bart Curlish (Fiona Dourif, Brad’s daughter), a near feral girl who considers herself the “holistic” version of a hitman, and who marauds through life killing people, though it typically turns out whoever she kills is a horrible person. Unfortunately, Bart has been hearing voices more or less that she’s supposed to find someone named Dirk Gently and kill him.

This handful of characters is just the tip of a very psychedelic iceberg, and which includes a dimwitted government operative (Dustin Milligan) trying to round up a bunch of former paranormal research subjects, a group of “psychic vampires” whose energy sucking abilities end up making them unexpectedly useful for Amanda, and (just for good measure) a disturbed middle aged guy who may be an alien who was once a glam rock star and who is desperately in search of his corgi, who may be implanted with the consciousness of a human. Got that? Oh, and one other “little” thing — there’s a whole expertly contrived time travel element which accounts for that “double” sighting of Todd in one of the early scenes.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is unabashedly audacious, and for some viewers at least, that will automatically recommend it, since the show is routinely very smartly written and often laugh out loud hilarious. However (and this could be a big however for some), the show also has an unnerving tendency to exploit some pretty gruesome violence at times, including some downright shocking deaths along the way. This is the one tonal variability which may not sit well with viewers in general, but Adams fans in particular. That said, even this element tends to contribute to helping the viewers feel as off kilter as Dirk, Todd and Farah routinely do as they attempt to figure out what happened in the hotel room and where the tycoon’s missing daughter might be.

Performances are generally quite winning throughout this piece. Barnett plays Dirk as something of an unctuous twit, which can be annoying at times, but which actually works fine for the character. Wood’s big puppy dog eyes help him establish Todd as the character the audience is obviously most meant to identify with, even when it turns out he has a few skeletons in his closet. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent (with the possible exception of Eshete, whom I found to be a little too fussy as Farah), but I have to say for me personally Fiona Dourif just stole this season as Bart. She speaks in a little child voice, with “r”’s barely enunciated in “Elmer Fudd” style, and she just looks a fright with her blood splattered smock and wild, scraggly hair. The fact that she’s so instantly and undeniably lovable is a testament not just to Dourif’s performance acumen, but some wonderfully apt character writing.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of BBC with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a rather engaging series from a visual angle, and this BBC Blu-ray presentation is generally winning, though I have to admit I was perhaps expecting it to pop a bit more than it does. Things look just slightly bright to my eyes at times, something that perhaps helps to diminish some fine detail levels and which can tend to wash out the palette, which seems a bit on the anemic side throughout the presentation. Contrast is also a bit on the variable side, though some of the dark and/or graded material (including a long introductory gambit introducing Farah, which is bathed in red) looks solid, with nice detail and fine detail levels. There are other examples of some great fine detail on display here, including a number of interesting fabrics on costumes and props, and some of the CGI work looks appealingly well detailed as well. There are a number of visual "bells and whistles" that are added to the mix that intentionally skew detail levels and add even more of a hallucinatory ambience to an already "trippy" feeling show, but which can tend to tamp down fine detail levels at times.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency features a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, especially during some of the effects laden sequences, notably some of the vignettes that start up once Dirk and Todd enter a secret labyrinth in the murdered tycoon's mansion. The series also exploits a number of outdoor scenes (especially with regard to Bart), and those also offer nicely placed ambient environmental noises. Speaking of Bart, her penchant toward shooting anyone at any time also provides sudden bursts of sonic energy which the track delivers flawlessly. There are fairly long stretches in this season where there frankly is not a lot of surround activity, especially in some of the "talky" bits featuring two detectives trying to figure out what's going on, but fidelity remains excellent, delivering dialogue, effects and score with clarity and precision.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sadly there are no supplemental features offered on this two disc set.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's interesting to note that (so far, at least) the second season of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency has forsaken the bloody violence that occasionally interrupts this first season in such a shocking fashion. That may be due to a realization that Adams' whimsical proclivities don't especially lend themselves to elements that might be more at home in a horror outing, or at least an Alien style science fiction enterprise. Lovers of time travel conundra and rather smartly concocted groups of completely odd characters should nonetheless get a kick out of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Video looks a little anemic to my eyes, but audio is fine, and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency comes Recommended.