Dirk Gently is the titular character of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. He is an eclectic soul who believes in the fundamental interconnectedness of everything in the universe, and uses this interconnectedness to solve cases.
Biography
Early life
Dirk's birth name was Svlad Cjelli[1][2]. He started exhibiting his abilities as a child.
Still a child he was found by Project Blackwing under Scott Riggins, were he was titled as Project Icarus.
Dirk later left Blackwing under unknown circumstances, and last had contact to them around the year 2000.[3]
After Blackwing, Dirk struck out on his own and had various adventures, some of which seem to resemble those of his book counterpart. Dirk references cases where "There was a bit about a sofa, a thing with Thor."[4] He also mentioned a case involving Puffles the horse having faked its death.[5]
Season 1 (A Completely Lost Dog)
Hired by Patrick Spring
Prior to the events of Horizons, Dirk was hired by Patrick Spring to solve his own murder before it happened. [4]
After receiving a call from Patrick, Dirk arrives at the hotel and runs into a future version of himself. Future Dirk tells him to remember "3 questions 1 answer" and that Todd is his best friend. [6]
Meeting Todd Brotzman
Dirk breaks into Todd Brotzman's apartment declaring that Todd is his new assistant in solving the Patrick Spring case. After meeting Todd's sister Amanda, Dirk and Todd are attacked by the Rowdy 3 who wreck Todd's apartment and suck psychic energy from Dirk. [4]
Finding Lydia Spring
Dirk breaks into Gordon's house alongside Todd and discovers the missing Lydia Spring. After a struggle, Dirk steals Gordon's dog and escapes. He comes to believe that Lydia was victim to professional dog hypnotists who have hypnotized Lydia into believing she is a dog and the dog into believing it is Lydia. Later, during a meet up to exchange the dog for Farah Black, he discovers that the dog doesn't believe it is Lydia; it actually is Lydia. [1]
Discovering the Secret Room
When following Farah Black to the Spring Mansion, Patrick's lawyer, John delivers them both a letter from Patrick with a message of "3?1!" along with a map leading them to a hidden room. Inside the room, Dirk finds a mysterious light bulb and crank, along with a map of electric circuits throughout the neighborhood. [2]
Inside the Springsborough Maze
Dirk, Todd, and Farah follow the power grid map to the main entrance where Dirk attaches the crank to the wall and accidentally sends him and Todd through a secret entrance into a strange underground maze. Using the Everbulb as a light, the two travel the maze and find themselves forced to navigate their way through several traps: first they must attach the Everbulb to activate a door before a room crushes them to death, then they must use their bodies as a circuit to connect a rhinoceros head to its horn. After completing the challenges, they find a room filled with monitors and Dirk activates them to reveal a map. The success is short lived when the room short circuits. Dirk's distress catches the attention of the Rowdy 3 who break Dirk and Todd out of the room and proceed to suck energy from him before leaving. Dirk tells Amanda and Farah about their discovery and Amanda, guided by a vision, is able to bring the map back up. Farah recognizes it as a map to Skagit Valley. [7]
Trip to Skagit Valley
Dirk and Todd went on a trip to Skagit Valley with the map, to find the parts of the machine. At a diner Dirk exchanged his corvette for a jeep. At night on the first day they found the first part, the rest on the second day. On the second day they were attacked by the Men of the Machine, but the Kitten-Shark, which Dirk had brought with them, killed their attackers. Todd confessed to having lied about his pararibulitis, and through Dirk's influence resolved to tell Amanda. Dirk himself opened up to Todd about his holistic abilities.[8]
Captured by Rimmer
Both returned to the Ridgely the next morning. Farah took Dirk and the machine in the jeep to the Spring Mansion, but they were interrupted on their way by Bart Curlish attempting to kill Dirk. After Farah saved him, she called FBI agent Weedle for help. Weedle, actually inhabited by Fred of the Men of the Machine, met them on a road and kidnapped them, taking them to the Animal Transfer Unit. There Dirk met up again with a captive Todd. They were fruitlessly questioned by Rimmer, during which Dirk had an epiphany, realizing the nature of the machine and solving the mystery of the Spring case. He prompted Todd to attempt a breakout, and they fled the situation by using the Unlimited Energy Machine to time travel away, Dirk intending to prevent the whole case from happening.[9]
Traveling to the Past
Dirk and Todd use the time machine to travel one week into the past to the day of Patrick Spring's murder. After witnessing Gordon Rimmer soulswapping Lydia and Rapunzel, a heavily armored man enters the Transfer Unit and kills several Men of the Machine before confronting Dirk and Todd. Finally making the connections, Dirk concludes that the armored man is a past Patrick Spring who is also Edgar Spring and Zackariah Webb, traveling to the future to avenge the death of his wife. Determined to get to the hotel before the real-time Patrick is murdered, Dirk and Todd travel by foot through the zoo, stealing a Giraffe and Gorilla mask in the process.
They arrive at the hotel and witness the past Patrick inadvertently kill the real-time Patrick by shooting a member of the Men of the Machine who is holding the kitten-shark. While escaping the hotel, Dirk runs into the real-time version of himself and gives him several clues on how to solve the case. This angers Todd who realizes that Dirk knew the entire time that they were in a time loop and chose to keep this information from Todd. Todd tells Dirk that he never wants to see him again after the case is over and the two use the time machine to jump back to the time from which they came and are immediately electrocuted by the Men of the Machine. [6]
...[5]
Season 2 (The Middle of Everywhere)
Dirk was held captive in Project Blackwing under Friedkin. He was subjected to continuous experiments about his abilities. Dirk dreamt of his friends coming to rescue him, aided by Thor.[10]
...[11]
Character
Dirk is eccentric and confident in his mission in life. He doesn't believe in using traditional methods of solving cases such as finding fingerprints and analyzing scenes of the crime. He also seems oblivious to seemingly obvious clues such as when Patrick left him a map and he mistook it for a poor drawing of Farah Black.
Dirk dresses neatly and colorful. During season 1 he wears a row of brightly colored leather jackets, in yellow, green, and blue.
Behind the scenes
- Dirk is played by actor Samuel Barnett. Young Dirk was played by actor Cameron Andres in a deleted scene.
- Dirk's reference to previous cases, "There was a bit about a sofa, a thing with Thor."[4], might refer to the sofa in the novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and Thor from The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. Thus this version of Dirk, despite his different life, might have had adventures resembling some of those he had in the books.
Appearances
Notes
- He thought the saying of "bringing a knife to a gun fight" was advice to actually bring a knife to a gun fight
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lost & Found
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rogue Wall Enthusiasts
- ↑ Rogue Wall Enthusiasts, "it's only been 16 years"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Horizons
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Two Sane Guys Doing Normal Things
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Weaponized Soul
- ↑ Watkin
- ↑ Very Erectus
- ↑ Fix Everything
- ↑ Space Rabbit
- ↑ Fans of Wet Circles