Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: Nice Jacket

December 16, 2017 7:26 PM - Season 2, Episode 10

Dirk fulfills the prophecy and restores order by courageously returning to Blackwing where it all began. Elsewhere: Todd and Amanda go toe-to-toe with the villainous Suzie Boreton. (Season finale)

Den of Geek - Although some endings were too pat, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency gave viewers a satisfying conclusion to an amazing season.

posted by oh yeah! (37 comments total)

Dear gods, I hope Bart listens to the universe because Ken deserves it if he's getting this fucked from his power trip.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 4:22 AM on December 17, 2017

I was fairly neutral on Mona until last night but I think it's nice to have someone friendly around that Dirk has known for a long time.

I was a little disappointed in the short wrap-ups on Hobbs, Tina, and Farah BUT I also understand there was a ton to cover so not everything was going to get covered to my personal liking.

Fucking Suzie, man. I was glad Todd called her on her bullshit but was hoping she'd meet a much more painful ending.

I'm disappointed with the Ken thing where 30 seconds ago he was aware you don't cage these subjects and now he's doing just that. However, I also think people pull that shit on power trips all the damn time so it's not unrealistic. Should be interesting to see Bart in the context of a secure facility since they spent a ton of this season emphasizing that she can't be locked up.

Did anyone else start laughing hysterically over the Priest's face wound/bandage situation?

Really great character development for Amanda all season. Yay!

I always enjoy the heart to heart talks Dirk and Todd have late in the season. The show lets men talk about feely life stuff. It's not a flavor we see tons of in media.

I really hope this show gets renewed because it's my favorite.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:38 PM on December 17, 2017 [2 favorites]

Compared to the revelation in the first season's final episode, this felt sort of after-the-fact - the explanation was pretty pat in the last episode and that was sort of the end of the mystery, it was just wrapping it up this episode. Last season felt a lot more like they did a full reveal how everything was connected compared to this season, in any event.

I mean, I still enjoyed it, and I'll gladly watch another season, and maybe it's because the Weird Shit (tm) was more evenly spread this season compared to last, so they didn't have to try and play it straight (ish) until the reveal like last year.

And yeah, Ken seemed to shift from hey we can work with these powered people to LOCK IT ALL DOWN without much going from A to B. That felt weird. I mean, I know he wasn't Team Dirk last season so Dirk was just another wayward member of Blackbird messing with reality, but still.
posted by Kyol at 7:25 AM on December 18, 2017

Ken calling Dirk "Svlad" was funny.
Makes me think the Svlad Cjelli thing will come up later.
There is a later, right?
posted by Seamus at 10:03 AM on December 18, 2017

I seem to remember the original director of Blackwing using the name Svlad once in the first season.
posted by aubilenon at 10:51 AM on December 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

I seem to remember the original director of Blackwing using the name Svlad once in the first season.

Good call -- it was in the 3rd episode (rough transcript).

Another significant callback to the books was visiting the "backstage of reality" that played a part in The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. (I'm pretty sure it was the 2nd book -- or was that American Gods? Huh.)


There is a later, right?

Max Landis talked about that a bit (no spoilers -- he talked about the final two episodes of this season). He has ideas for a 3rd season, but as of early December, he didn't have confirmation or denial for a next season.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:28 AM on December 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

I think somebody else also called him Svlad earlier this season, too. Maybe Mr Priest?
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:32 AM on December 18, 2017

I really hope this gets renewed. Or picked up by someone else like Netflix or Hulu if not.

I think the way information was handed out and things ended up kind of pat had to do with pacing issues more than anything else. First season was 8 eps and there were 10 this season.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:36 AM on December 18, 2017

@renwedorcancelled just tweeted.

"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency cancelled by BBC America"

Sorry folks.
posted by Faintdreams at 3:19 PM on December 18, 2017

Booooh!
posted by Pendragon at 3:22 PM on December 18, 2017

This would have made a better season 3, we were still being introduced to Dirk and suddenly he's frustrated with his power and decides to give up. We've only seen him on one case, they need more before a rapid personality change and half a season of whining.

Also, it had a very weak opening, Wendimore is more stupid than intriguing.

I'd love to see another season, but I can understand why it didn't get one. Maybe Netflix could step in and save the day?

Goodbye Dirk.

.
posted by FallowKing at 3:40 PM on December 18, 2017 [1 favorite]

Better to burn out than fade away.

.

(this is to make room for the Rowdy 3 taking over Top Gear, right)
posted by delfin at 4:34 PM on December 18, 2017 [6 favorites]

:( :( :( :( :( on that tweet

.
posted by numaner at 4:35 PM on December 18, 2017

I really liked this season and this whole show! I shall pray to the TV gods that someone will pick this up. It was just so so good!
posted by numaner at 4:36 PM on December 18, 2017

Oh, I liked this season much better than the first one. Too bad, but glad there were even two seasons.
posted by Soap_and_Bathetic at 5:23 PM on December 18, 2017

I am bummed out. I hope someone steps up and at least tries to pick it up.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 5:46 PM on December 18, 2017

I thought season 2 had problems compared to 1 but that's sad news! Save us, Netflix
posted by lefty lucky cat at 5:57 PM on December 18, 2017

Well, darn. I'm bummed that Bart didn't get the big happy ending. Though I would have liked more seasons for the rest of the characters, I at least feel a sense of closure/optimism for them. But not poor Bart and power-trip-Ken. Thankfully, I didn't delete "Shapes and Colors" episode 5, so I just went back and rewatched the magic-spell-rave sequence to see her dancing with Panto again, so that will be my last impression of her, and my hope for her future.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:17 PM on December 18, 2017

Facebook post about the cancellation.
posted by fiercekitten at 8:29 PM on December 18, 2017

From the fb post: "...last season on bbc." Hope that's supposed to hint that it might be picked up by someone or that talks have happened and not just bad phrasing.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 8:52 PM on December 18, 2017

It sounded like Max Landis has plans for a 3rd season, but he was eyeing this as a natural break.

Another thought: I would love to see this continue as a graphic novel series, which would be cheaper and free from confines of physics, but I would miss these iterations of Dirk, Amanda, Farah, The Rowdy Three, and even Rainbow Monster.

On this episode, the best shout out to the bad-ass skills of Farah:

Francis: The Mage is dead.
Amanda (?): Dead?
Francis: Your friends back home already stopped him.
Todd (?): Who could possibly stop a super-powerful Dark Wizard?
Amanda, Todd and Dirk at the same time: Farah.
Todd (?): I knew it before we said it.

Sorry Todd, you're still annoying. Not as annoying as in Season 1, but you're still annoying.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:09 AM on December 19, 2017 [1 favorite]

Bart did get her one perfect moment in the previous episode, the Niagara-Falls-slowly-I-turned against Suzie's army.

It didn't make her happy, of course, because she is a creature of simple motivation. When she feels the hand of the universe pushing at her back towards a purpose, she is happy; when she doesn't, she's not. The army was a distraction from her purpose of Find Ken, which seemed unattainable at the time, and now that finding Ken didn't turn out how she thought it would, she's in a funk. A hypothetical Season 3 wouldn't take much writing to put a This Is What I Should Do Now idea in her head, and since the only thing that can contain her is ennui, Ken trying to figure out distractions for her could be entertaining.

Here's hoping Netflix goes for it. It would be a perfect fit.
posted by delfin at 8:35 AM on December 19, 2017

C'mon Elijah, tell Amazon they have to pick this show up if they want you in their LOTR series...

Also, I don't know why it only hit me until this episode, but Suzie Boreton is totally a Fargo villain and I love it.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:19 PM on December 19, 2017

only hit me this episode/didn't hit me until this episode, that is... hooray flu meds!
posted by jason_steakums at 12:28 PM on December 19, 2017

So many things to love. The Beast was delightful. Bart's monologue was moving. The possible Friedkin Total Perspective Vortex shout-out made me smile.

Hoping for a Netflix pickup as well.
posted by christopherious at 4:54 PM on December 19, 2017

I'm going to be so pissed if this ends with Bart just sitting at Blackwing. Bart's my favorite thing about the show. I understand why it made sense to put her there narratively but UGH.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 6:41 PM on December 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

#justiceforbart
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 6:42 PM on December 19, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm wondering if the allegations surrounding Landis are the cause for cancellation.
posted by fullerine at 1:48 AM on December 26, 2017

"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency cancelled by BBC America"

Crap.

This season had way too much Dirk and Todd, and the plot was annoyingly telegraphed, and I was a bit disappointed to see Ken get turned from the audience stand-in to a bad guy, and there isn't much you can put on screen that's more interesting than watching Bart chew shit up. (Also, even over-the-top, self-aware fantasy gets old really quickly for me. In any other show, the amount of time spent with the forest witch would have made me give up entirely. But, it isn't really fair to complain that a work of art is part of a genre I dislike.)

But, despite my many criticisms, it's still the best thing television has produced in a decade. Like the books, it seems we're stuck waiting for more.
posted by eotvos at 3:00 PM on January 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I watched the first season some time ago and finally got around to the second season, which I binged in a couple of days -- not because I wanted to, necessarily, but because I HAD TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT. I love this season so much more than first, which I stopped watching halfway through due to business and only picked it back up again a year later when I realized I never finished it, but only finished it because I was looking for something as some background noise and wasn't that invested.

BUT I WAS SO INVESTED IN THIS SEASON and so so so sad when I came here and learned that there is no third season. I need to rewatch the last couple of episodes because I stayed up wayyyyyy too late since I was "so close" to the end and wanted to know how everything connected, but now I'm sad because I want more of these characters and their wacky adventures. If this became a graphic novel series, I'd totally read it. And I say that as someone who came into it with no clue who Dirk Gently was (I've read the Hitchhiker series but have no desire, even now, to read the original Dirk Gently source material, especially since apparently it's not at all connected to the tv show).

Finally, Farah & Tina 5evah.
posted by paisley sheep at 12:22 PM on January 12, 2018 [2 favorites]

I've read the Hitchhiker series but have no desire, even now, to read the original Dirk Gently source material, especially since apparently it's not at all connected to the tv show.

Very few people on Earth agree with me, but I much prefer the Dirk Gently books to the Hitchhiker's Guide. The first half of the Guide are just random jokes strung together; the second half is better, but it's terribly hindered by the confines of the world in which it is set. Both Gently books feel like coherent novels. They have real plots and interesting characters. It's Douglas Adams at his very best, rather than Douglas Adams trying to pretend a silly radio play is actually a book.
posted by eotvos at 11:03 AM on January 16, 2018 [3 favorites]

I, too, prefer the Dirk Gently books. (I like the hitchhiker books just fine but the dirk gently books just land better for me.)
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:09 AM on January 16, 2018

I really do hope this gets picked up by Netflix or someone for a third series.
posted by slimepuppy at 3:08 AM on January 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

I've read the Hitchhiker series but have no desire, even now, to read the original Dirk Gently source material, especially since apparently it's not at all connected to the tv show

But everything is connected.
posted by ODiV at 9:15 PM on March 29, 2018 [2 favorites]

I don't know how to make Facebook only show one post, but this popped up on my timeline.
posted by fiercekitten at 9:55 PM on June 13, 2018

are you pointing to this post?

Facebook posts work similar to Twitter posts, if you just want the link to a specific post, on a desktop you can right click over the time stamp and "Copy Link". On mobile though I'm not sure, since all the apps do different things depending on your phone's OS.
posted by numaner at 2:03 AM on June 14, 2018

Hulu has season 2 but I'm pretty sure the show won't be picked up anywhere else. [Deadline link]

Ah well. 😧
posted by fiercekitten at 8:29 AM on June 19, 2018 [1 favorite]