"Shapes and Colors" is an episode of the series Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, the fifth episode of season 2.
Synopsis[]
The case seems to take a major turn when Arnold, the son of the dead Cardenas couple, shows up. Meanwhile, Amanda is led to a mystical coven in the woods of Wendimoor led by the forest witch Wakti Wapnasi, where she begins to master her unique powers.
Plot[]
A hand holding a candle shines light on a mural as a female voice narrates. It depicts a helmeted figure standing in a forest, surrounded by strange creatures. The voice says "once upon a time, a boat in a field, a married couple gone missing, a gun that shoots air. And then there's a hidden house, a prophecy from another world, surely these pieces don't fit." The scene transitions to a strange looking, grey-skinned woman pulling Hugo Friedkin's stress toy out of a pool and turning its eyes green. She continues: "left unwatered, a plant will die. Left unloved, a good child could go bad. Left untended, a dream...could become a nightmare." She drops the toy back in the pool.
In their Blackwing room, Martin calls for Cross and Gripps to check on them. Cross nervously asks how long they can go without energy, and Martin does not answer.
Farah Black and Sherlock Hobbs go to Suzie Boreton's residence to question her, Farah reminding Hobbs that Suzie could be dangerous, although they do not know for sure. Hobbs temporarily deputizes Farah, who becomes emotional, having always wanted to work in law enforcement. Suzie (who claims not to have been in the day before but accidentally reveals knowing Farah came to see her regardless) pretends that Scott Boreton is the one behind all the strange things going on just as Farah notices the book and wand on a table, claiming he killed Agrajag and was talking about "people from another world." She points them towards the local Sound of Nothing music festival as a location and Hobbs notes it will be difficult to find him in the crowd, but Farah assures him Dirk Gently can track him down. Upon hearing Dirk's name, Suzie becomes more alert.
Dirk, Todd Brotzman, and Tina Tevetino have breakfast while discussing the case, Dirk deciding that he wants to do things more by the book as opposed to relying on coincidence, as "we can't just keep expecting somebody to just walk up." As he reviews pictures of the Cardenas house and talks about Wendimoor, they are approached by their server, who tells them that he is Arnold Cardenas, son of Hector and Marina Cardenas. He tells them that he has avoided his identity for fifty years and that "it's destiny you came here today," causing Dirk to utter "shit."
Bart Curlish notices Panto Trost is in a much better mood, and he states that now that he has found Dirk, more things will fall into place. He notes that he is perceived as fearless and Bart asks if he is scared of her, but he states that he has seen much worse than "a beautiful woman." It takes her a moment to understand what he means, and she laughs.
Farson Dengdamor leads Amanda Brotzman and a wounded Vogel through the woods, insisting that Wakti Wapnasi can help them. They lose Farson when Amanda stops to berate Vogel for continually asking her questions, and they are suddenly caught in the net of the Bofuki Nepoo: short, goggled humanoids with wild hair and multicolored skin. One blows a powder on them that knocks them out.
Dirk, Todd and Tina take Arnold to the house, Todd noting the height notches Farah found were marked "A.C." and Tina finding he was living under a fake name after running his plates, explaining how they never found him. Dirk bemoans putting Arnold in danger by unintentionally involving him in the case. Arnold leads them to the mural room, noting that his father covered it with wallpaper "as punishment." He identifies the mural as Wendimoor, as well as pointing out the Trosts and Dengdamors. He makes note of The Mage and how he would always lose, being locked in the sky train as punishment. He calls it "the plan for how it was going to be, until it all fell apart." He asks where his parents' bodies are.
Bart explains her connection to the universe to Panto. He asks where her parents are, and she tells him they are dead and she was alone for a long time until Blackwing found her. Panto sympathizes with her and notes "if this world has treated you badly, perhaps it's time to leave it."
Neither of them having believed Suzie, Hobbs and Farah discuss how to use Scott to get her to come in. They decide to arrest him on suspicion of animal cruelty so she has to come to the police station. Eddie Black calls her to tell her she needs to come in, as Blackwing has moved in to Montana, but she hangs up when he claims their father would not have wanted this.
Amanda awakens in the room with the pool, meeting Wapnasi, revealed to be the woman from the opening. She already knows Amanda's name and assures her Vogel is being tended to. Amanda realizes she has been hearing Wapnasi's voice in her visions, and to gain her trust, Wapnasi says "everything is connected."
Back at the station, Arnold rambles to the group that they have no idea what they are getting into, blaming himself for the 1967 pulse and wishing that "that boat had never fallen from the sky." He insists that he ended the strange occurrences happening in Bergsberg, but becomes distressed when Todd tells him that it isn't over. Farah asks him how the government got involved, and Arnold explains people began to notice the "things from the dream," starting as "gifts for our family" but becoming more dangerous, like the air gun and "the monster from the song." When DIrk asks if the end of his family had something to do with scissors, Arnold lunges at him but is restrained by Hobbs and placed in the evidence room to cool down, only for him to take the air gun and blow the door apart, claiming it was "supposed to be a toy." He begins shouting about "that thing they brought back from the boat wasn't human" and "I did what I had to" only to go into shock when he sees Panto, calling him "one of them" and collapsing, having a heart attack. Dirk glances at Bart and she insists "I did nothing."
Wapnasi claims Amanda sees through her "inner eye," which is how she was able to speak in her visions. She asks Amanda who she says, but derides her name as "a noise people can make to refer to you" when Amanda says her name. With Wapnasi's prodding, Amanda concludes that "I am the consciousness that controls the body of, sees through the eyes of, and hears the thoughts of Amanda Brotzman." Wapnasi claims that she and her visions are "special," despite Amanda's insistence that the Rowdy 3 are the ones who allow her see them, but Wapnasi states that being in Wendimoor may help Amanda control them if she trains. Amanda sighs that she is "just a sick person." Wapnasi touches her pool, igniting it with a gold color, which Amanda recognizes as her visions.
Suzie tells The Mage that it will be difficult to find Dirk at the concert, as there will be dozens of people there and she does not want to hurt anyone aside from him. She asks if there is a peaceful alternative, but The Mage tells her to abandon the rules of her world as "they've never helped you be happy. It's time you showed the world your real power."
Arnold is loaded into an ambulance and Hobbs leaves to make sure he gets properly checked into the hospital. He asks Farah to "keep everyone safe tonight" and hugs Tina goodbye. Todd is the only one reluctant to go to Sound of Nothing, more focused on finding Wendimoor, but Dirk, feeling guilt over endangering Arnold's health, agrees with Farah and Tina that they should go, thinking Scott may be the boy. Todd reluctantly agrees to go if they can change out of their police uniforms.
Suzie gets dressed for Sound of Nothing, taking her wand with.
Amanda has a vision of Martin's location after putting her hand in the pool. She asks why Wapnasi cannot bring them through the pool herself, but she insists that Amanda must be the one to do it. Vogel awakens in the Nepoo village with Farson, only to sense a platoon of Kellum knights approaching.
Panto expresses guilt over possibly killing the boy, but Bart, out of her cell, insists it is not his fault. To cheer him up, she grabs a radio and encourages him to dance with her, which he find amusing.
As they arrive at Sound of Nothing, Farah tells Todd that Blackwing is active in Montana, but he is calm about it as he feels as though they are closer to Wendimoor. Tina comes up with a plan: she and Todd search the front for Scott, while Dirk and Farah search the back, working their way to the middle. As Dirk wades through the crowd, disoriented and insisting he will never find Scott, he bumps into Scott shouting his own name. Farah tries to stop him, but thinking he is in trouble for his hit-and-run, he runs off into the crowd just as his mother arrives at the festival. Todd and Tina notices Dirk and Farah chasing Scott in the crowd until they also spot Suzie, moving toward Dirk with her wand out. They realize that she, not Scott, is the magic user and they hurry to warn Dirk. Struggling to get through the crowd, Suzie accidentally casts a love spell that manifests in the form of pink triangles, magically intoxicating everyone at the concert. She drops her wand and loses it. Todd approaches Dirk, but instead of warning him about Suzie, thanks him for changing his life for the better. Farah catches up with them and states that she no longer needs her family's approval (revealing that she and Todd had made their relationship official in the process) and has found a family with her friends, only for Tina to interrupt and shout "I wanna fuck everyone here!" They proceed to dance around, while Panto and Bart dance back at the station.
Amanda hears the knights approaching and realizes she needs to get the rest of the Rowdy 3. She plunges her hands into the pool, finding them but not having enough strength to pull them out. Wapnasi adds her power and Martin, Gripps and Vogel emerge from the pool room, to Vogel's delight. They regenerate their health by feeding off the knights, and later, they reunite with Amanda, who gives Wapnasi a thankful look.
The Mage examines the mural in the Cardenas house, upset that his Wendimoor victories are depicted as failures, claiming "it wasn't supposed to be like this." Towing Arnold's car away from the front of the house, Hobbs tries to call Tina and notices a Kellum Mining Corporation truck being driven into the barn. He follows it to find it vanished into the wet spot on the wall and Bob Boreton standing in the corner, several assault rifles fallen out of a crate on the floor. The Mage approaches him, telling him "I'm afraid you caught me at a very bad time." The barn erupts with a flash of purple light, then goes dark.
Behind the scenes[]
- The episode title likely refers to the shapes and color produced by Suzie's magic wand.
- Farah wears a letter jacket inscribed "Sherlock Hobbs" on the left breast, on the right breast "D Adams", and on the right arm "42". The latter two refer to author Douglas Adams and his The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- Suzie wears a Lux Dujour shirt to the Sound of Nothing concert.
Cast[]
Starring
- Samuel Barnett as Dirk Gently
- Elijah Wood as Todd Brotzman
- Hannah Marks as Amanda Brotzman
- Fiona Dourif as Bart Curlish
- Jade Eshete as Farah Black
- Michael Eklund as Martin
- Osric Chau as Vogel
Guest Starring
- Tyler Labine as Sherlock Hobbs
- Amanda Walsh as Suzie Boreton
- Christopher Russell as Panto Trost
- Izzie Steele as Tina Tevetino
- Agam Darshi as Wakti Wapnasi
- Tony Amendola as Arnold Cardenas
- Roger Cross as as Eddie Black
- Viv Leacock as Gripps
- Zak Santiago as Cross
- and John Hannah as The Mage
Co-Starring
- Ajay Friese as Farson Dengdamor
- Jared Ager-Foster as Scott Boreton
- John Stewart as Bob Boreton
Crew[]
Notes[]
References[]
External links[]
- "Shapes and Colors" at BBC America
- "Shapes and Colors" on IMDb