Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV series)

Premise

The series follows Dirk Gently, an eccentric man who claims to be a "holistic detective," investigating cases based on the inter-connectivity of all things. In the first season, he befriends Todd Brotzman and Farah Black, who assist him. Dirk's past is tied to "Project Blackwing," a secret CIA project studying subjects with strange abilities. He is pursued by Blackwing agents and by Bart Curlish, another Blackwing subject who believes she is a "holistic assassin" destined to kill him.

Cast

Samuel Barnett portrays Dirk Gently, an eccentric "holistic" detective who believes everything in the universe is interconnected and solves cases by following fate. He was part of a government organization studying people with special abilities and is mildly psychic, carrying himself with excitement and optimism to mask loneliness and insecurity. Elijah Wood plays Todd Brotzman, Dirk's reluctant sidekick and a bellhop who spent his money on his sister Amanda's treatment for pararibulitis, a fictional disease he later admits he lied about having; he becomes afflicted by pararibulitis at the end of season 1.

Hannah Marks plays Amanda Brotzman, Todd's sister who suffers from pararibulitis, a hereditary disease causing vivid and painful hallucinations; she later joins the Rowdy 3 to manage her condition. Jade Eshete portrays Farah Black, an efficient security officer with obsessive-compulsive disorder who, after her boss is killed and his daughter kidnapped, works with Dirk and Todd to solve the case. Fiona Dourif plays Bart Curlish, a "holistic" assassin who believes the universe leads her to people she must kill and that it won't allow her to die; she feels compelled to hunt Dirk Gently and is extremely unsocialized due to her tendency to cause death.

Mpho Koaho plays Ken Adams, an electronics expert kidnapped by Bart who travels with her; he eventually believes in the supernatural and, in season 2, is kidnapped by Blackwing only to later become its supervisor.

Reception

The first season received a favorable response from critics, with a 71% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 28 reviews and an average rating of 6.54/10, and a Metacritic score of 62 out of 100 based on 14 reviews. The second season also received favorable reviews, achieving a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews with an average rating of 7.33/10, but its viewership averaged fewer than 250,000 views per episode, down from 287,000 in season 1. The show was cancelled after the second-season finale, sparking outrage among fans and a petition that had received over 100,000 signatures as of March 2018.