‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: The House Within a House

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 4
Samuel Barnett and Elijah Wood in ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ season 2 episode 4 (Photo by Katie Yu / BBC America)

Season two episode four of BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency begins in Wendimooor, as has been the case with all episodes this season. Knights sit around eating meat and discussing The Mage’s plan to conquer Wendimoor. One man defends the plan and demands the others stop questioning The Mage.

Amanda (Hannah Marks) and Vogle (Osric Chau) emerge from a lake and lie soaking wet on the shore. One minute they were under attack by Mr. Priest and Blackwing men and the next they’re in the middle of nowhere. Amanda stares at a bizarre moon in the sky and announces, “We’re somewhere else.”

Back at the rickety old Cardenas place, Dirk (Samuel Barnett) removes boards and discovers a tunnel that’s in good shape. It’s not a tunnel you’d expect to find in a dilapidated house, and Dirk slides down it out of sight.

Next, Suzie Boreton (Amanda Walsh) is curled up in bed, freaking out because The Mage is looking for her. When her son knocks on the bedroom door, she momentarily holds up the wand. She doesn’t use it and instead tells her son to go away and stop demanding his phone back.

Over at the station, Deputy Tina Tevetino (Izzie Steele) gets a call about four missing members of the Bergsberg book club. She asks Farah (Jade Eshete) to come with her to investigate, and Farah agrees even though they’re supposed to stay and watch the prisoners.

Todd (Elijah Wood) wakes to the sound of a meowing cat and finds that Dirk is missing. They spent the night at Sheriff Sherlock Hobbs’ place, so Todd wakes him up to let him know Dirk is gone.

Prisoner Bart (Fiona Dourif) wakes up prisoner Panto Trost (Christopher Russell) offering him some breakfast. Of course, a jail cell can’t hold Bart, so she’s just roaming around the station. She can’t let Panto out, but he’s happy with the donut she offers and calls her a good person.

Bart puts herself back in her cell and continues to ask Panto his story. He declares he’s a prince from Wendimoor and Bart laughs and says, “That’s just a bunch of stupid noises,” in response to his description.

The Mage’s followers have captured Amanda and Vogle, tossing them in a cage with their other prisoners. The knights think Amanda is a witchacuckoo from the forest, but Amanda assures them she’s just a person. Vogle’s hurt and Amanda’s upset they’re locked up for no reason. The knights return to their fire and their meat.

A fellow prisoner figures out she’s not from Wendimoor and welcomes her. His name is Farson Dengdamor (Ajay Friese), Silas’ brother. Amanda doesn’t care and then she spots a unicorn and decides the best answer is just to flip everything/everyone off.

Hobbs and Todd set out to find Dirk, and Todd explains how his sister’s wrapped up in this mess. He confesses he really regrets lying to Amanda, but he doesn’t know where she is. Todd believes everything is his fault.

Todd and Hobbs make their way through the house. The phone rings and Hobbs is shocked because phone lines don’t run to this house. It’s Dirk and he needs help. He explains he fell down some kind of hole.

Back at Blackwing, Friedkin (Dustin Milligan) has kept Ken and the Corgi (Bentley) locked in a room, but at least they’re out of the cab. Ken works on decrypting the files and Friedkin is mainly interested in people who can disappear or make other people disappear. Ken’s found four different types who can do that, and now it’s Friedkin’s turn to flip out. Friedkin no longer knows if Blackwing was a good idea, and Ken correctly guesses the people with weird abilities were being turned into super-soldiers to take on America’s enemies.

Friedkin’s questioning everything since Amanda and Vogle were able to disappear into thin air. Dirk also disappeared from his room, and the man chasing everyone – Mr. Priest – is a lunatic. He really needs Ken’s help, and Ken promises to see what he can do.

Todd’s still on the phone with Dirk, and Dirk explains he’s in a place that looks like the Cardenas’ house but it’s much bigger and wildly decorated. When he attempts to look out the door, there is literally no outside. It’s like a TV tuned to a channel that’s not broadcasting. Dirk thinks he might actually be in Hell.

Dirk explains his reasoning and why he went into the hole and slid down a tunnel. Todd hands the phone to Hobbs and then heads upstairs where he finds Dirk’s slide. Todd wants Dirk to climb up the slide, but Dirk explains once he landed in this other place the slide disappeared.

Dirk begins to hear a thumping sound and decides he’s not alone anymore. He doesn’t think it’s a person and tells Todd not to slide down the slide. Dirk blames himself for all this and says he doesn’t want Todd to get trapped in Hell with him. Dirk decides he’ll keep looking for a way out. He opens a door that leads into a hallway with lots of other doors.

Once more to Wendimoor we go and Farson has described his kingdom and his family to Amanda. Amanda really couldn’t care less about Wendimoor, the Dengdamors, the Trosts, or anything that has to do with this world. When Farson talks about looking for a forest witch named Wakti Wapnasi, Amanda lights up, takes a long drag, and then tells him to continue.

The scene shifts to Panto describing Wakti Wapnasi to Bart. Panto talks about The Mage and his army while Bart munches on chips. Panto has to fulfill the prophecy or it will end in death.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 4
Hannah Marks in ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ (Photo by Katie Yu / BBC America)

Back with Amanda, Farson’s still going on about the prophecy and The Mage. He realizes he never should have run away.

Panto tells Bart that when Farson went missing, the Dengdamors blamed the Trosts and came after him. He escaped and came to this world. He’s now looking for the “great man,” Dirk Gently.

Over at Hell/the alternate Cardenas house, Dirk proceeds down the hall and remains on the phone with Todd. (The phone cord’s impossibly long.) Dirk knows he’s being followed but he doesn’t want to look at whatever it is.

Massive claws on a purple paw rake the wall behind Dirk.

Tina and Farah arrive to investigate the missing book club members. Piles of dirt along with jewelry are clumped on the floor where the women were standing. Carol’s husband, Jasper, suspects foul play and Tina warns him not to touch the piles of dirt.

Farah takes Tina aside and says there are five wine glasses but only four piles of sand.

Todd remains on the phone as Dirk reveals he can hear someone. It turns out he hears a television that’s flipping channels on its own. There’s a bed in the room and Dirk thinks it’s a clue.

Hobbs gets a call from Tina about the missing women. Hobbs thinks that’s also something holistic and declares the whole situation is spiraling out of control.

Dirk can hear whatever’s after him is getting closer. Todd has a wild idea: maybe the noise is the missing boy. Maybe he also slid down the slide decades ago and has been trapped in this alternate house. Dirk sort of agrees and decides to look. He creeps back down the hall and spots the creature following him. Dirk screams, “It’s not the boy! It’s not the boy! It’s not the boy” as he runs down the hall.

Todd panics when Dirk stops answering him.

Farah and Tina head back to the station and they’re both sure the dirt was the remains of the bodies of the book club members. Farah is holding on to hopes there’s a rational explanation for this. She really wants to know who the fifth member of the club is, and Tina realizes it’s probably Suzie Boreton. Farah asks if that’s the same Suzie who attacked Bart and whose husband attacked Todd and Dirk.

Tina pulls a quick u-turn and heads over to Suzie’s place.

Suzie is currently still in bed reading through the spellbook. Her husband is standing still in the corner, staring straight ahead. Suzie calls for her son but he doesn’t respond. She finally gets up and goes looking for him, wand at the ready in case she’s attacked. Bob follows her, holding up Scott’s phone with the recording of The Mage in the parking lot. The Mage leaps into the picture and says, “See you soon!” as Suzie screams.

Meanwhile, Dirk is racing through the halls, screaming. The one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater-ish monster is somewhere nearby. Dirk realizes the hallways are crisscrossed with the phone cord so he snips it off. The phone works without it.

Dirk manages to get away from the beast only to find a pair of scissors stuck into a table in the kitchen. There’s blood oozing up from the wound. Just then he spots a broken vase with daisies on the floor and declares, “For the record, this is not the best case ever anymore.”

Vogle’s having a rough time of it in the cage, but the knights won’t help. Amanda’s hands light up and she screams in pain.

Dirk drops the phone as the monster approaches. He takes the scissors out of the table and is ready to defend himself.

Todd decides to go against Dirk’s wishes and follow him down the tunnel. But first, he asks Hobbs for the special gun.

Todd lands in the alternate house and heads to the kitchen. As the monster approaches, Todd leaps out in front of Dirk and uses that weird zappy gun on the monster. The monster doesn’t vanish and Todd decides the only way out is through the door into nothingness. Dirk resists but Todd pushes him through and they land outside the real house, unharmed. Todd was right.

Vogle helps Amanda, sucking the energy from her hands and body. She has a vision of Todd at the house and suddenly she’s there, still locked up in the cage. Todd can’t believe it and approaches her only to be zapped with energy. Amanda’s also zapped and screams. Dirk witnesses Todd having an attack but doesn’t see Amanda.

Vogle passes out and Amanda’s still in the cage in Wendimoor. Farson calls her a witch and says she had tiny lights all over her. Amanda’s amazed he could see the electricity.

Todd is having convulsions and needs his pills, and Hobbs races to help.

And, finally, there’s a closeup of the Corgi as Ken tells Friedkin he’s right – Friedkin is in over his head. Ken suggests Friedkin needs to give these special people meaning. Ken can get them to do what Friedkin wants if Friedkin lets him. But first, Ken demands to be let out.

Todd comes to after taking his pills. Dirk is incapable of explaining what just happened, but he did manage to keep the scissors which could possibly be the murder weapon.

Tina and Farah arrive at Suzie’s and she’s about to open the door while holding the wand behind her back when The Mage grabs her. Farah decides to pick the lock since Suzie isn’t opening the door. While Farah works on it, Tina gets a call from Hobbs. Tina relays the message from Hobbs that the Cardenas’ house is haunted by a purple alligator and they found the murder weapon used to kill Hector. When she mentions Dirk Gently, The Mage becomes more interested in their conversation. (He’s eavesdropping behind the closed front door.)

Farah doesn’t understand any of Hobbs’ message. Tina’s now more interested in the purple alligator, so they abort the attempt to break into Suzie’s.

Inside the house, Suzie tries to use the wand on The Mage. He fights back and the house lights up all purpley.

Team Dirk gathers at the station and Farah says the scissors are most likely the murder weapon. She doesn’t understand why the scissors are new with fresh blood. They lay out all the clues – the house within a house, the flying car, the tree with a body in it, the missing book club women – but Dirk is strangely silent. Todd tells him it has to add up to something, and that Bart being there isn’t a coincidence.

Dirk stumbles with his words after Todd and Farah declare that a prince named Panto from a world called Wendimoor showing up looking for Dirk Gently as the answer to a prophecy is connected. He can’t piece it all together and the group is stunned. Dirk leaves them all just standing there and walks away.

Todd follows him and Dirk’s definitely not himself. Todd apologizes for pressuring him, and Dirk is questioning everything. He only wanted a friend but now he’s concerned that “who and what” he is is going to get Todd killed. Dirk has no clue what it all means and never does until everything connects. He wonders why Todd is here and what he has to do with any of it, and Todd confesses he saw Amanda while he was having the attack outside. He thinks Amanda was reaching out to him and that she’s in danger in Wendimoor. Dirk finally springs to life and declares they have to go back to the Cardenas house with Panto.

Night falls and the knights are back, gathered around the fire. Amanda and Vogle are still in the cage along with Farson. Another knight arrives and he’s come to collect Farson. He tells the knights to kill Vogle, Amanda, and the other prisoner who so far hasn’t spoken and doesn’t have a name.

Amanda and Vogle kneel and as the knight is about to chop off Vogle’s head, Amanda apologizes to him that she couldn’t save him. They grab her for talking and her hands glow. The knights think she’s a witch, and Amanda uses the electricity to zap them. Farson cheers and Vogle rises to eat her energy. The knights fall to the ground and Amanda and Vogle are safe! They free Farson and the other prisoner and then take off through the woods.

Hobbs, Todd, Dirk, and Panto return to the Cardenas house. Panto confirms one of the rooms is the room he fell into from Wendimoor. Dirk lowers the Murphy bed and Panto says it’s definitely where he fell. Todd notices water damage and they begin peeling wallpaper off the bedroom walls. Under the paper are drawings of the world of Wendimoor, including the bizarre moon Amanda noticed from the shore of the lake.

Dirk finally smiles.

Over at Suzie’s house, The Mage explains that he comes from Wendimoor and that he’s extremely powerful. He thinks the prophecy regarding Dirk Gently being able to defeat him is a lie. He also reveals he created a second wand because he needed a partner to help destroy the prophecy. Suzie didn’t want to be drawn into this and The Mage assures her she’s not a nice person. Nice people conspire against her and it’s power and freedom she wants. He asks her to join him and she can be a queen and help him rule Wendimoor.

Suzie makes her choice, deciding she’ll help The Mage. He needs her to kill Dirk Gently!

More on Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2:
Samuel Barnett and Elijah Wood Interview
Hannah Marks and Jade Eshete Interview
Fiona Dourif and Mpho Koaho Interview
Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine Interview
Max Landis and Robert Cooper Interview

Recap of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 1
Recap of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 2
Recap of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 3
Recap of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 5
Recap of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 6
Recap of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 7
Recap of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 8
Recap of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 9
Recap of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 10