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When Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency from BBC America is at its best, it is bouncing off the walls with energy, letting the insane plot drive the episode and allowing us to watch how the characters caught up in it deal with the ever-growing absurdity of their situation. When the show is at its worse, it comes to a grinding halt with overly emotional (and frequent) whiny conversations, and by giving us needless backstory that takes away from the fun of the very concept the show is (and should) be based on, the “fundamental interconnectedness of all things.”
Needless to say, tonight’s fifth episode, “Very Erectus,” was the worst of the season.
As good as Elijah Wood has been and continues to be, every realization and admission from Todd felt like it was dragged out, and did we need another annoying speech from Dirk about his desire for friendship and overcoming his loneliness? It’s not that characterization is unnecessary or unimportant; it’s that it was repetitive, going over well-trodden ground from previous episodes. There’s so much to learn and glean from these characters from how they respond to what happens to them that they shouldn’t have to keep telling us how they feel about everything. We can see it.
The show also keeps undercutting itself by thinking we need multiple reminders of things they have already established, like scenes of Bart realizing the literal world exists. She has no idea what a restaurant is, but didn’t we already learn that when she didn’t understand how radios work? And for as much as Todd still hesitates to trust Dirk, how could Ken still be having reservations about Bart when he has seen what he has seen? He had his moment of clarity in episode three, the last time we saw them. Now he’s back to doubting her already?
Even the opening scene, when Gordon was throwing away his remaining Lux Dujour items, was disappointing, because his hesitation lessened the impact of the great final scene from last week, when it looked like he had turned a corner and become a terrifying villain. It wasn’t just a crime of stasis, but of actually taking a step back.
And that’s the problem with so many of the scenes this week: they either didn’t move anyone or anything forward, or they actually took steps back. The relentless drive forward into more and more absurdity is so much fun when the show is committed to it, that this episode felt like a chore to get through.
Not to mention it turns out that the worst element of them all, Dirk’s backstory as a special government special ops-type figure, was expanded to include that the Rowdy 3 are also in that same group. So it feels less and less like this is about a holistic approach to the universe, and more that the government just has a bunch of people in a special program, meaning they are connected by design, and not because all things in nature are connected. That’s a big letdown.
Todd’s suggestion that everything happening to them is because Dirk is psychic had the same effect. Whether it turns out to be true or not remains to be seen, but at this time it feels like everything is the result of some military experiment gone wrong, and it isn’t as fun as the universe being a mad, incoherent mess where everything touches everything.
There are only three episodes left in the season, and Todd and Dirk now seem to have found the missing machine (or a part of it) that has been so important to what all of these different factions are looking for, so hopefully the show will move forward with the mystery, instead of idling in place like it did for far too much of tonight. To paraphrase Dirk from this very episode, the show can’t look forward if it keeps looking back.
But what did you think of the episode? Connect with us in the comments below to tell us what you thought.
Images: BBC America
When Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency from BBC America is at its best, it is bouncing off the walls with energy, letting the insane plot drive the episode and allowing us to watch how the characters caught up in it deal with the ever-growing absurdity of their situation. When the show is at its worse, it comes to a grinding halt with overly emotional (and frequent) whiny conversations, and by giving us needless backstory that takes away from the fun of the very concept the show is (and should) be based on, the “fundamental interconnectedness of all things.”
Needless to say, tonight’s fifth episode, “Very Erectus,” was the worst of the season.
As good as Elijah Wood has been and continues to be, every realization and admission from Todd felt like it was dragged out, and did we need another annoying speech from Dirk about his desire for friendship and overcoming his loneliness? It’s not that characterization is unnecessary or unimportant; it’s that it was repetitive, going over well-trodden ground from previous episodes. There’s so much to learn and glean from these characters from how they respond to what happens to them that they shouldn’t have to keep telling us how they feel about everything. We can see it.
The show also keeps undercutting itself by thinking we need multiple reminders of things they have already established, like scenes of Bart realizing the literal world exists. She has no idea what a restaurant is, but didn’t we already learn that when she didn’t understand how radios work? And for as much as Todd still hesitates to trust Dirk, how could Ken still be having reservations about Bart when he has seen what he has seen? He had his moment of clarity in episode three, the last time we saw them. Now he’s back to doubting her already?
Even the opening scene, when Gordon was throwing away his remaining Lux Dujour items, was disappointing, because his hesitation lessened the impact of the great final scene from last week, when it looked like he had turned a corner and become a terrifying villain. It wasn’t just a crime of stasis, but of actually taking a step back.
And that’s the problem with so many of the scenes this week: they either didn’t move anyone or anything forward, or they actually took steps back. The relentless drive forward into more and more absurdity is so much fun when the show is committed to it, that this episode felt like a chore to get through.
Not to mention it turns out that the worst element of them all, Dirk’s backstory as a special government special ops-type figure, was expanded to include that the Rowdy 3 are also in that same group. So it feels less and less like this is about a holistic approach to the universe, and more that the government just has a bunch of people in a special program, meaning they are connected by design, and not because all things in nature are connected. That’s a big letdown.
Todd’s suggestion that everything happening to them is because Dirk is psychic had the same effect. Whether it turns out to be true or not remains to be seen, but at this time it feels like everything is the result of some military experiment gone wrong, and it isn’t as fun as the universe being a mad, incoherent mess where everything touches everything.
There are only three episodes left in the season, and Todd and Dirk now seem to have found the missing machine (or a part of it) that has been so important to what all of these different factions are looking for, so hopefully the show will move forward with the mystery, instead of idling in place like it did for far too much of tonight. To paraphrase Dirk from this very episode, the show can’t look forward if it keeps looking back.
But what did you think of the episode? Connect with us in the comments below to tell us what you thought.
Images: BBC America
“Hacking” carries a lot of negativity around it, but not all hacking is used for evil. Learning about it arms you with the necessary knowledge to deal with it, so ethical hacking lets you be the good guy. If you want to learn more about ethical hacking, check out this exploration into the world of penetration…
How many minds have caused the type of monumental change in how we think about the planet and our place on it as Charles Darwin’s? His brilliant theory of evolution wasn’t just controversial when his seminal work, On the Origin of Species, was published in 1859, it is still being argued and fought over today, by politicians debating how much protection to give the environment, by school boards deciding how, or if, to teach it to our children, and by people with strong religious beliefs whose very faith is questioned by his ideas.
So when Epic Rap Battles of History decided to place Charles Darwin into their lyrical arena, who did they put up against him? Did they choose someone like the pope? Or a politician who has made a career out of denying science? No, they choose Pokemon‘s Ash Ketchum.
Yeah, we…we aren’t exactly sure why either. Evolution, maybe?
Obviously they both have a kind of mastery over animals, one literal and one figurative, but they don’t seem like natural enemies, the way say Darwin would be with a creationist like Ben Carson. Or how Ketchum might be with PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk.
But don’t think the strangeness of this battle of wits meant the two went easy on one another, because this was a vicious fight, one that even included Ketchum mocking the deaths of Darwins kids.
Oof, you’d think we would have evolved past such low blows by now.
We got Darwin winning this one since, as always, he has science on his side — as well as the slightly better rhymes — but who do you have as the champ? Duke it out with us in the comments below and tell us who you think threw the knockout blow.
Images: Epic Rap Battles of History