BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency season one episode five had piles of dead bodies, a cute kitten, and the heartbreaking death of a major character. Even though the Corgi was absent for the entire episode, the rest of the characters’ stories moved forward as Todd and Dirk inched closer to solving the mysterious death of Patrick Spring. Episode five titled ‘Very Erectus’ began with Gordon (Aaron Douglas) getting rid of Lux’s possessions while Lydia (Alison Thornton) plays with leaves like a dog. Gordon apologizes for turning her into Rapunzel the Corgi and is about to kill her, but instead lets her return to enjoying the leaves.
Bart (Fiona Dourif) and Ken (Mpho Koaho) run out of gas, and for once Bart isn’t sure what to do. She decides the best option is to just stand there and wait, even though they’ve run out of gas right in front of a bus stop.
Dirk’s super happy to embark on a buried treasure hunt, but Todd (Elijah Wood) tells him he wants to get back to Amanda as soon as possible. The kitten meows in agreement…or because she’s hungry, bored, or just felt like meowing.
Farah (Jade Eshete) is doing surveillance on Detectives Zimmerfield (Richard Schiff) and Estevez (Neil Brown Jr) and hears them discussing Patrick Spring’s lawyer.
Todd and Dirk (Samuel Barnett) stop for a bite to eat on their road trip, and Todd wonders if weird stuff happens all the time to the holistic detective. Dirk thinks things aren’t weird; it’s just a series of coincidences. But when Todd says there’s a “power” behind this, Dirk gets antsy and says he’s just a guy. He blurts out that he’s not psychic even though Todd never used that description, and then tries to change the subject. Todd draws something, hides it, and wants Dirk to tell him what he drew. Dirk refuses and gets up from the table, telling him he doesn’t have time to discuss Todd’s stupid drawing of a cowboy…which is exactly what Todd drew.
Amanda (Hannah Marks) is alone at Todd’s apartment when the Rowdy 3 van pulls up outside. She smiles, heads outside, and hops in the van.
Dirk trades the Corvette, which was a rental, to the chef from the restaurant in exchange for his Jeep because the next part of their treasure hunt involves some off-roading. Dirk also got Todd a shirt which just happens to be the same shirt Todd saw his doppelgänger at the hotel wearing on the day of Patrick Spring’s murder. As they pull away from the restaurant, two men follow them.
Riggins (Miguel Sandoval) prepares to confront Project Incubus (aka The Rowdy 3) with only Friedkin (Dustin Milligan) to back him up. Riggins says not to engage Project Incubus and then once again runs through the description of the group. They were some of the first Black Wing subjects and they exist through the “extortion of psychic energy.” They were originally classified as vampires, and Friedkin asks if he needs to be armed with wooden stakes and golden bullets. Riggins thinks the Rowdy 3 can be reasoned with if they remain calm.
Amanda is fitting in with the Rowdy 3 just fine, and she wants to know if Dirk is their friend. They don’t consider him a friend and just follow him because his energy tastes good. Amanda wants to know if they sucked the energy out of her, and yes, that’s what they did. They love her energy and tell her she went gonzo nutballs when they did it.
The detectives head to the zoo where Gordon used to work and find out from his co-worker that Gordon was a prick. Gordon’s co-worker tells the detectives everyone thought he’d do something illegal at some point, and she’s not in the least bit surprised there was a dead body in his house when it burned down. She also tells the detectives there’s an abandoned building on zoo property that Gordon had access to.
Dirk and Todd follow the map to the middle of nowhere and Todd expresses his disappointment that Dirk didn’t randomly lead them to the right place. Todd stopped the car to check the map and Dirk decided that’s where they would start digging, even though this particular place was not necessarily his choice. They have no idea what they’re looking for but begin digging anyway.
And now we’re back to the bizarre team of Bart and Ken who are still hanging out just waiting for something to happen. Ken’s starving and convinces Bart to join him in a nearby restaurant for lunch. Just like with music on the radio, the restaurant is a new experience for Bart who’s never had Chinese food before because she’s never been to China. Ken’s concerned about the bill because he doesn’t have any money, however, Bart does. She pulls out a huge tangled mass of bills that adds up to $17,000.
After finishing eating, they check into a hotel – yet another new experience for Bart. She’s thrilled there’s a shower and takes a long enough one that Ken gets worried. He knocks on the door and asks if she’s okay, and fortunately she tells him how bad the shampoo tastes so he can warn her to stop drinking it. And, she reminds him that he’s still here.
Dirk and Todd keep digging holes into the night, and Todd suggests checking the map again. Dirk doesn’t want to give up because they have to dig somewhere, but Todd wants to give up because it’s late and he’s tired. Dirk tells him not to walk away from this and not to give up. “What if one more shovel in the dirt is all it would take?” asks Dirk. Todd agrees, and then Dirk changes his mind, gives in, and doesn’t want to keep digging. Todd insists they try one more hole and of course when they do, there’s something there. They dig up a small wooden box with a weird apparatus Dirk calls a “thing.”
The Rowdy 3 attack a squad car with baseball bats for no reason, and Amanda willingly joins in. She cracks the back window and then imagines spikes through her hands. The Rowdy 3 surround her and pull the energy from her. They assure her she won’t have to worry about her disease anymore.
Dirk, Todd, and the kitten wake up after falling asleep in the Jeep next to where they dug the holes. They get up, stretch, talk about Todd’s failed band, and Dirk’s happy to have Todd along so he can look in front of him while Todd watches his back. And then it’s back to digging up weird stuff buried by a dead guy.
Zimmerfield and Estevez talk to their boss back at the police station, telling him this all has to do with Gordon and that the animal transfer place where he worked is condemned and they can’t get into it. Unfortunately, their boss says they don’t have enough for a warrant but Zimmerfield gets angry at that answer. Their boss can’t be convinced and tells them to move on with their investigation.
Zimmerfield and Estevez come to the conclusion their boss is covering for someone.
Back at the field of holes, Dirk and Todd try to put together all of the pieces they dug up. Dirk thinks it might be Edgar Spring’s unlimited energy device and maybe they can trade it for Lydia. Todd wants to know if Dirk can see things and tells him that he’s seen the shirt before. Just then the two guys that followed them the day before turn up and start shooting. Todd picks up the kitten and one of them yells at the other to get down because he’s got the shark! The kitten is the shark! Dirk throws it at them and it turns into a holographic hammerhead in midair. After taking out the bad guys, the kitten returns to being just a little black kitten. Dirk and Todd now know they have the murder weapon used to kill Patrick Spring – the kitten.
Riggins and Friedkin surveil the Rowdy 3 and apparently the Rowdy 3 know they’re there. They beat up Friedkin until Riggins stops them. Riggins assures them he just wants to talk, telling them he’s just trying to save their lives. The Rowdy 3 don’t believe him and swear they’ll never go back into cages. The situation escalates when Friedkin grabs Amanda and puts a gun to her head, demanding the Rowdy 3 put down their weapons. Riggins tells him to let go of the girl but he doesn’t and the Rowdy 3 hightail it out of there. Amanda runs off and Riggins is furious that the Rowdy 3 escaped.
Meanwhile, Farah keeps up her surveillance of Zimmerfield and Estevez. The detectives are trying to stay positive about Lydia.
Dirk and Todd bandage their wounds and Todd says he’s worried that if he dies, no one will take care of Amanda. Dirk calls him a good brother, but Todd disagrees. He confesses he didn’t actually have the disease. He lied so he could get money from his parents. (Oh Todd, we’re seeing you in a whole new light now. Bummer.) He said he got better so Amanda could get treatment, but his parents were already broke by that point. Amanda says knowing Todd was cured is what gets her through the day and gives her hope. He calls himself an asshole and in this case, he’s absolutely right. Then they both notice the kitten has disappeared.
Bart’s missing from the hotel room and Ken finds her in a bathrobe on the street. She tells him this sleeping and eating thing is really slowing her down, and then she spots a guy she says she needs to kill. She doesn’t know who he is but it’s the will of the universe. Ken doesn’t want her to end up in jail but she insists she needs to kill this stranger. She calls to the guy from across the street and he actually starts to cross the street without looking. He’s run over by a car and dies.
Zimmerfield and Estevez are ready to use wire cutters on the fence around the deserted building at the zoo, but the gate’s unlocked and there’s a car in the parking lot. They enter the building cautiously and see drawings all over the walls. They also find a pile of dead bodies – 35 bodies to be exact. Farah’s outside watching them with a sniper rifle and sees Zimmerfield get shot with an arrow through the chest. Estevez fires back at the two men as Gordon drives by with Lydia in the backseat of the car. Estevez drags Zimmerfield into the car and speeds away as Zimmerfield gasps for breath. With his dying breath, he tells Estevez to save Lydia Spring.
Todd and Dirk keep searching for the missing kitten who is also a murdering hammerhead shark. Dirk’s not sure what to do next and feels a bit directionless. He tells Todd he’s not psychic but he has always had intuitions. He explains what it was like for him as a child, saying, “It was like reading in another language. Like signs with symbols, I didn’t understand.” Todd asks why he doesn’t use it to keep himself safe, and Dirk says the hunches never help him personally. He uses them to help others, and Todd’s the first person in his entire life who has stuck around and helped. Todd’s also Dirk’s first friend but he tells him he’s sick of his bullshit. He doesn’t think Todd is an asshole but that he just makes excuses for his excuses. Dirk would appreciate it if Todd would stop calling himself an asshole and Todd agrees. He also agrees to help him solve Patrick’s murder, save Lydia, and figure out the rest of the mysteries. Todd also promises to tell Amanda the complete truth. Plus, he admits he actually is Dirk’s friend.
Back at Todd’s place, Amanda is completely freaked out when Farah shows up. Farah also appears to be losing it and tells Amanda she just saw Lydia Spring.
Friedkin is asked for his report back at headquarters and he explains they tried Project Icarus first but Dirk Gently said he didn’t want to be brought in. They moved on to Project Incubus but were met with a hostile response. Confronting them did’nt work, and Friedkin wanted to use a more aggressive approach. He throws Riggins under the bus, blaming both failures on his superior officer.
