‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: Shapes and Colors

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency season 2 episode 5
Elijah Wood, Jade Eshete, and Samuel Barnett in ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ season 2 episode 6 (Photo by Ed Araquel / BBC America)

BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency season two episode five begins with a voice-over from the forest witch Wakti Wapnasi (Agam Darshi) running down the weird events that have just happened in Dirk’s world. Hidden houses, prophecies, and the possibility of a dream becoming a nightmare make the list of bizarre stuff impacting #TeamDirk.

The Rogue 3 call out to each other from their restraints in Blackwing. Martin isn’t sure how long they can go without energy, and the guys are beginning to feel the end is near.

Farah (Jade Eshete) and Sheriff Sherlock Hobbs (Tyler Labine) head off to Suzie Boreton’s house, and Farah reminds him to be careful. Before they enter the house, Hobbs deputizes Farah as a Bergsberg sheriff. She cries, hardly able to believe she’s finally working in law enforcement – something she’s always dreamed of.

Suzie Boreton (Amanda Walsh) allows them in and she’s back to limping and using a cane. She acts all goofy but gives away the fact she knew they were there yesterday. She claims not to have been to the book club in ages and says her hubby is sick. When Hobbs asks about the dog, Suzie pretends to cry and says her son, Scott, killed the dog. She adds that it might not have been an accident.

Suzie uses the dog story to distract Farah from looking at the spell book on a nearby table. Suzie’s sort of successful at shifting all the blame to her son, Scott, and Farah and Hobbs say they’ll track him down. When Farah mentions Dirk could find him, Suzie perks up.

Detective Tina (Izzie Steele), Dirk (Samuel Barnett), and Todd (Elijah Wood) are having breakfast at a diner, and Dirk’s determined to do things by the book. And by “by the book” he means “the boring book of mundane deduction” he’s co-authoring with Todd. It’s all about being normal detectives right now, and he starts listing off the facts. That leads him to looking at the evidence instead of just drawing insane coincidences, as he puts it.

All the while Dirk’s talking, an elderly waiter is listening in.

Dirk wants to break the mold on how he usually cracks cases so lovely people won’t die. As he’s about to say that you can’t expect people to just walk up and connect the dots, the waiter does just that. He wants to know where they got the pictures of the house, the yard, and the car that fell from the tree. He declares the house is his.

He can’t believe they entered his house and he wonders if it’s destiny they came to the restaurant. After everything Dirk just said about doing true detective work, his only response now is “sh*t!”

Back at the station, Panto (Christopher Russell) is still in his cell. Bart (Fiona Dourif) is hanging out in hers, drawing pictures. Panto’s happy he’s found Dirk Gently, they’ve found an image of his world, and that things seem to be falling into place. He’s not scared, not even of Bart who he calls a beautiful woman.

Meanwhile, Farson Dengdamor (Ajay Friese) leads Amanda (Hannah Marks) and a severely injured Vogel (Osric Chau) through the woods of Wendimoor. He promises the forest witch will protect them. Amanda’s completely confused and when Vogel keeps asking questions, she admits she knows absolutely nothing.

Amanda and Vogel are distracted talking and get captured by super colorfully clothed forest creatures.

Back in the normal world, it turns out the Cardenas’ son is named Arnold, and that makes sense since the growth notches inside the house are labeled “AC.” Tina does actual police work and finds out Arnold’s been going by the name Arnold Freeman. Dirk’s concerned because Arnold (Tony Amendola) looks miserable, and now Dirk’s sure they shouldn’t have brought him to the house so quickly.

Todd, Tina, and Dirk get into a little argument about breakfast, the Cardenas photos, and talking loud enough for the waiter to overhear. Dirk’s upset because he didn’t know that would lead to a clue and he can’t control anything. “I don’t want the situation to get abruptly monster-y or scissor-y or anything of the other things situations have been getting lately!” says Dirk. “I want this to be a relaxing stroll down memory lane that conveniently tells us everything we need to know, resolves all loose threads, and makes us all feel great about our choices in the most boring, uneventful way possible.”

As Dirk talks, Arnold heads into the house. Todd chases after him so of course, Dirk follows. Arnold wants to know why the wallpaper is down. He reveals the world drawn on the wall is Wendimoor. He points out the Trosts, the Dengdamors, and all the monsters in the woods – the rainbow monsters, the furry monsters, and the old snail witch. He also points out The Mage and calls him the villain. He’s supposed to be locked in a train in the sky by the hero, a train that goes around forever.

Arnold asks to see his mom and dad.

Once more to the station we go, and Bart is talking about how the universe tells her what to do. She doesn’t remember her parents. Panto talks about his childhood of singing, dancing, and studying the sword. Bart reveals she was taken by jerks who didn’t understand how she could do stuff, and those jerks now have Ken.

Panto thinks maybe it’s time for Bart to leave this world. If the time comes, she might decide it’s better in Wendimoor.

Hobbs and Farah are back at the station, regrouping after their visit with Suzie. He admits to being overwhelmed but agrees the Cardenas house is at the center of everything. He would like to focus on “just one weird thing at a time,” but Farah reminds him everything is connected.

They decide to focus on Suzie and how Suzie was talking about her son mentioning a fairy tale. The fairy tale is Wendimoor so that connects the Boretons to the Cardenas house. Farah thinks they can bring in Scott on an animal cruelty charge and since he’s a minor, Suzie would also have to come in. Since Scott is at a big music festival, Farah will have to get Dirk to go because he’s good at finding needles in haystacks.

Farah gets a call from her brother and he warns her she has to come in. He says Blackwing is active and she’s in danger.

Dirk Gently season 2 episode 5
Hannah Marks and Agam Darshi in ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ (Photo by Ed Araquel)

Amanda and Vogel are taken to the hideaway of weird creatures and Wakti Wapnasi. Amanda can’t figure out if the witch is a thing or a person, and she’s freaked out when the witch knows her name. Amanda suddenly realizes the witch’s voice is the voice she hears in her visions.

Arnold’s furious about his visit to his old house, and he believes everything that happened in 1967 was his fault. He’s also sorry a boat fell from the sky and Farah immediately connects that description to the boat that’s been mysteriously beached for decades. Dirk’s upset he’s never heard about any of this, and Arnold thinks all the strange things stopped in the 1960s. He thought he ended everything, but apparently not.

Arnold explains there were sightings of things from the dreams. Those things from his dreams started off nice but got dangerous. They had an air gun and the monster from the song was flying around. Arnold calls Dirk a liar and attacks him when Dirk brings up the scissors and the broken vase.

After Hobbs takes Arnold out of the room, Arnold grabs the air gun and begins shooting. Hobbs is first and then he points the gun at Farah. He yells that he did what he had to and the thing from the boat wasn’t human.

Arnold is stunned to see Panto in jail. He doesn’t think Panto should be able to exist and Arnold has a heart attack and drops to the floor, surrounded by Team Dirk. Bart, still in her cell, throws up her hands and says, “I did nothing.”

Back with Amanda, the witch tells her she sees through her inner eye. Wakti suggests she answer a question: who is she? Amanda finally says she’s Amanda from Oregon. That doesn’t satisfy the witch, so Amanda adds, “When I think, I hear a voice in my head. I am the brain having those thoughts.” When she expands her answer and says she’s the consciousness seeing through the eyes of Amanda, the witch is pleased and the creatures make purring/humming/trilling noises.

Wakti claims Amanda’s consciousness is very special. She also adds that Amanda is very powerful. With training, Amanda can see everything and go everywhere. Wakti is willing to teach her more about her visions.

And now back to the Boreton house where The Mage (John Hannah) threatens to harm Scott to get Suzie to go after Dirk Gently. Dirk is the only thing that’s keeping The Mage from understanding the world of Wendimoor.

Arnold’s taken away by ambulance and Hobbs declares he’s going to follow him there. That leaves Tina in charge of finding Scott at the concert, and she’s not sure she can do it. Hobbs apologizes to Farah for putting the gun into evidence and asks her to keep everyone safe. He gives Tina a hug before heading out.

Todd’s not sure about going to the concert to find Scott, but Farah thinks the arrows are all pointing to him. Tina, on the other hand, is happy about it because they can also just hang out, and Dirk compliments Farah. He likes that she’s being very professional, very detective-y and even does a sarcastic impression of himself and his “everything is connected” ways.

Dirk feels guilty about Arnold being mostly dead, and now he’s not even sure he was “the boy” he was supposed to find. Maybe Scott Boreton, who is still a boy instead of an old man, is “the boy.”

Todd, however, thinks the most important thing is to find Wendimoor. He gives in because it’s three against one, so he doesn’t have much of a choice but to go to the concert.

Suzie is also getting ready for the concert, putting on a band t-shirt and heavy makeup.

In Wendimoor, Amanda has a vision of the Rowdy 3 but Wakti is unable to bring them through to this land. She reminds Amanda she has an important role to play if she survives.

Outside Wakti’s hut, Vogel is being nursed back to health by the weird forest creatures and Farson. They’re friendly and Vogel seems to be in good shape, although now he does have bright flowers in his hair.

Bart’s wandering around outside her cell and Panto feels bad that maybe Arnold was the boy. If he was, then no one else is around to speak to his universe. Bart wants him to feel better, so she gets a radio and dances around. Panto cheers up a bit at the sight.

Farah and Todd arrive at the concert and she confesses she talked to her brother and he warned her about Blackwing. She also reveals she’s never been to a concert. Tina and Dirk catch up with them, and Tina thinks she and Todd should check out the crowd from the stage while Dirk uses his “thing” to find Scott.

Sound of Nothing is on stage as Dirk and Farah work their way through the crowd. Dirk’s not happy real teens are sweating on him. He’s also sure they’ll ever find Scott Boreton…so, of course, Scott Boreton bumps into him and announces his name. Dirk says, “This is just stupid now,” exasperated with his whole everything is connected life.

Scott makes a run for it after Farah says she wants to question him.

Back in Wendimoor, Vogel senses something dangerous is coming. He tells the weird creatures to arm themselves as the knights working for The Mage approach.

Wakti tells Amanda to reach across reality and find someone who can fight the knights.

Tina’s too busy taking selfies to look for Scott. Todd finally convinces her to scan the crowd and they see Farah chasing Scott. Tina also spots Suzie Boreton in the crowd.

Dirk’s in the middle of the crowd by himself as Todd and Tina suddenly realize Suzie’s the dangerous one, not Scott. Suzie and her wand make their way toward Dirk as do Tina and Todd. Dirk is oblivious to everything going on, calling out for Farah.

Suzie uses her wand, frustrated she can’t find Dirk or Scott. She drops the wand and goes scrambling for it as the crowd turns euphoric.

Todd finally reaches Dirk and he can’t stop complimenting him, telling him how much he’s changed his life. Todd thinks Wendimoor is real, they’ll find Amanda, and they’ll be BFFs. (This wand has really made everyone in the crowd high.)

Todd and Dirk continue to confess how much they mean to each other. Dirk correctly guesses something supernatural’s been done to them, but he thinks it’s great. Farah reunites with them and is happy her dad died because he never liked her anyway. Dirk can’t believe Farah and Todd made out, and Farah declares she’s one of the freaks and this is where she’s supposed to be.

Tina has made her way through the crowd and joins the happy group, shouting that she wants to have sex with everyone there. They hug, they laugh, and they dance.

Dancing is also going on back at the police station where Bart is the happiest we’ve ever seen her. She dances, through the bars, with Panto as he laughs.

Amanda is working on pulling up someone to help her fight the knights and after a struggle, she finds who she’s looking for. She asks Wakti for help and they pull the Rowdy 3 into Wendimoor. The Rowdy 3 charge toward the knights and suck their energy. That’s followed by a happy reunion with Vogel and Amanda.

The forest creatures dance.

Back at the Cardenas house, The Mage is looking at the drawings of Wendimoor. He doesn’t understand how this exists or who could have made this.

Hobbs seems to be stuck at night on the side of the road near the Cardenas house. He calls for Tina, but it goes straight to voicemail. As he’s leaving a message, he sees headlights. It’s a truck and Hobbs is suspicious when it pulls into the Cardenas’ barn and disappears. He pulls his gun and follows it in.

Bob Boreton is inside the barn (without the truck) and all Bob can do is grunt. As Hobbs is trying to get answers, his flashlight lights up guns on the floor. The Mage appears and tells Hobbs he has bad timing, zapping his with his wand.

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

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