Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

I can't recall the last time I was this fulfilled by a television show. I watched the first season this past February, and I was amazed that I hadn't heard of it until then. I quickly fell in love with it due to its refreshing originality, compelling storytelling, and fascinating bunch of characters. This is no ordinary show; it's intentionally wacky and confusing, it subverts tropes and cliches all over the place, and nothing is as it seems at first. Underneath it all, however, everything is connected in the most satisfying and entertaining ways imaginable. The second season just finished airing this past Saturday, and it was somehow even better than the first.

It was revealed yesterday that Dirk Gently would not be brought back for a third season on BBCA, and I can only hope Netflix picks it up, because it would be absolutely devastating if this incredible show didn't get the run it so mightily deserves.

To try and list all the things that make this show special, will take several weeks, so I'll try to cut it short. It is insanely well written, to the extent that something in s1 e1 that seems random is actually a thought-out part of the story that may become crucial in s2. Despite being a show about a possibly psychic detective, that starts with an insane amount of different stories about characters that doesn't seem to have any impact on each other, everything is actually connected and brought together in a brilliant unexpected way in the end. Apart from all this, Max Landis has managed to write every single character interesting, and capable of being the star of their own show. Above all they are relatable, despite or maybe because of them being a bit crazy and a loser in their own way. None of these characters are unflawed and it makes you care about them in a way that I've never been able to care about fictional characters before. Every single actor is hugely talented, and the creative team behind the show must have put such a huge amount of love and effort into bringing Landis's vision to life. The portrayals of women, lgbt+ people, people of color and mentally ill people are so respectful in a unique way that I think is mostly due to the fact that Landis knows how to write them as any other human being. As a woman I experienced a great relief in watching a show where no woman is sexualized in any way, but still considered worthy of love and acceptance. The dialogue is never random, it changes dynamically between hilarious and thoughtful. No clichés ever show up, which is incredibly refreshing. I could go on and on about this show, the beautiful music and cinematography, the powerful messages that are often underlying and sometimes outspoken, the relationships between the characters and the absence of toxic masculinity in the male heroes, but I'm already ranting, so I'm just going to end with this:

Give this show a chance. I can say that it changed the way I look at life for the better, it made me care at a time when I didn't. Let yourself be swept away. Everything is connected.

I've read lots of negative comments but I'm thoroughly enjoying this after 3 episodes. Completely faithful adaptations of Douglas Adams seem kinda pointless as so much of his greatness was dependent on the ideas and the bizarre and impossible views he would conjure with words. The wit in his books was never heavily concentrated into the dialog and I think much would make visually dull jokes which required constant and tedious exposition (a permanently stuck sofa just looks too everyday and common to ever be funny).

The cast are younger and more attractive than they would have been in a completely British adaptation and everything happens at great pace but I think that was needed because visually you could never present jokes and ideas as densely as Adams did in his books. I really love one character from the trailers and every scene she has been in; she reminds me of a signature I once read along the lines of "Karma is wonderful, I can treat people bad all day confident in the knowledge that they deserved it."

I think this hugely entertaining even if it only borrows ideas and style from the books fairly lightly . I think most people are likely to enjoy both as quite different things however if you can't appreciate both just consider that books get to tell jokes in much the same way as video don't.

I did not expect much from this show, considering the fact that it is a BBC America production, not BBC UK, and because of tons of negative reviews on the web.

When I start a show, I usually watch one or sometimes two episodes a day. The first season of this one I watched in one breath. I didn't even pause it for the bathroom or making coffee. Eight episodes of 40 minutes each felt like one bit longer movie.

The second season, of ten episodes, is done differently and is not as original and hypnotically addictive as the first, but its witty fairytale style quickly won me over.

Ignore fans of Douglas Adams who bash this show for not being faithful to original novels. It is not faithful, that's a fact, but it does not make it a bad show. On the contrary. Adams is tricky for screen adaptation. I don't think anyone has succeeded yet. He's too impossible and abstract. "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" is just roughly Adams, but it's great in every way.

Any attempt of concise retelling is pointless, because this show is one big puzzle, a labyrinth that perplexes more and more and twists happen every few minutes. "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is much more specific and linear, but I dare you to explain what it is about briefly and that it makes any sense.

If you liked "Misfits," "Happy," "Preacher," "Good Omens," or the new "Doctor Who", and if you like Douglas Adams, but you're not an obsessed fanatic, this is a perfect show for you. But if you expect a verbatim adaptation of the books or if you like linear stories, better skip it.

9/10.

The only bad part was when it ended all too soon. Apparently shows intended for idiots can go on forever, but anything remotely interesting is cancelled because the braindead masses have declared with one voice that it isn't X-Factor or whatever, so they're not interested.