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

This Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency review contains spoilers.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency Season 2 Episode 4

Things are getting seriously weird in Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, but some of the strangeness leads to small moments of triumph for a few characters in “The House Within a House.” Unfortunately, viewers are still in that state of quasi-understanding that Farah, Todd, and Dirk are experiencing, which is similar to the way everyone was feeling at this point in the season last year. So as the bleeding tables and purple people eaters swirl about our heads, let us latch onto those small victories and hope they carry us through along with Dirk and the others.

The most eye-opening reversal of fortune lies with Amanda, whose awakening powers go a long way towards explaining the mysterious rare disease the Brotzmans have suffered with over the years and give new context to the magical elements that supplanted the more sci-fi elements of last season. If Farsen Dengdamoor (hey, we found the boy!) hadn’t admitted that he could see the electricity of Amanda’s pararibulitis attack, she might not have realized she could channel it like an attack spell. It was simply glorious to watch!

And her wondrous transformation sparked the other triumphant moment in the episode: Dirk’s long awaited epiphany. It was already hard to see the holistic detective so dejected last week, and that trend seemed to be continuing this week, not only during his misadventures in the house within the house, but also afterwards when he’s unable to make sense of all the random clues like he normally would. Even worse: he once again expresses his fear of losing Todd. Snap out of it, Dirk!

Of course, it was the mention of Amanda being in Wendimoor that finally brought Dirk back to his ability to make connections, and now the whole nature of the portal between the worlds seems to be tied in to the many drawings behind the wallpaper. Could it be that whoever drew the Mage and the Kellum Army and the pink-haired farmers on the wall created Wendimoor with some sort of power worthy of the attention of Blackwing? The presence of the purple people eater would seem to indicate that someone from the sixties who enjoyed the Sheb Wooley classic may have dreamed the whole thing into reality!

And speaking of Blackwing, Ken is moving towards his own kind of victory as he digs into the history of the secret government program, originally known as Black Book. He has negotiated his way out of the taxi, but will his idea to give the gifted prisoners “causal roles” bear fruit? He knows that Friedkin is in way over his head, and it seems like it might be the two of them against Mr. Priest eventually. If we can’t have Ken with Bart, at least he’s making progress towards escape.

Bart herself, of course, has no trouble escaping. All season long, the holistic assassin has been entertaining us with her casual frankness about her unique abilities, and the fact that she willingly stays in a prison cell that can’t keep her contained is a testament to her need for direction. Panto Trost may just give her the purpose she needs as he seeks out Dirk Gently, whom it appears he doesn’t realize he’s already met. It certainly was charming when he told her, “You’re a good person, Bart.”

The phrase draws a nice parallel with Suzanne, who tries to insist to the Mage as they finally confront one another, “I’m a nice person,” but we know by now, as does the Mage, that it isn’t true. Interestingly, it sounded like the Mage doesn’t know the full scope of the prophecy which includes the idea of him finding an apprentice, but he does talk about wanting a partner so that’s clearly where things are headed. Now that he’s given her a way to keep the wand and her newfound powers, how could Suzanne not at least try to assist him in killing Dirk Gently?

The conflict is still building as we near the halfway mark of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency season 2, and the picture is starting to gel as to where things might be headed. Amanda is discovering her power in Wendimoor; Farah is figuring out the Cardenas deaths; Dirk is making the connections between the two; and Blackwing and the Mage are maneuvering into position as menacing antagonists who have their work cut out for them. Everything may still be a bit muddled, but the glimmers of hope keep us anticipating the next episode.