‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ recap episode 101: ‘Horizons’

On the series premiere of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Dirk drags Todd along on his murder case whether he wants to be there or not. How is he involved?

Dirk gets a call that he’s late. There’s a horrific murder scene with bodies strewn everywhere. A kitten wanders through and someone picks it up.

Todd wakes up to the landlord, Dorian, smashing his car with a hammer asking for his rent. Todd says he paid him yesterday, but Dorian threatens to kill him if he doesn’t get paid today.

Todd locked himself out of his apartment so he climbs up the drainpipe and hops through a window to get ready for work. He’s missed 6 calls from Amanda. He sees a missing persons story on the news for a woman named Lydia.

He rides to work on the bus and sees a dog walking past. He works at the front desk of a hotel. His boss sends him to check out the penthouse that’s had a "Do Not Disturb" sign up since the afternoon before, as well as a room on the seventh floor with a rowdy drunk.

Todd arrives at the room on the seventh floor to find a half dressed woman crying. She says she’ll be out of there in an hour.

He tries to call Amanda, his sister, from the elevator and leaves a message saying he doesn’t have the money. When the doors open, he sees a lavishly dressed man who looks exactly like him. The man sees him and takes off running. What just happened?

Todd arrives on the penthouse floor. He finds a blood-soaked lotto ticket on the ground and pushes the door open to find the bodies.

The police arrive. Bodies have been torn in half and there are bite marks on the ceiling. They interview Todd as a possible suspect. His key is missing and he was late to work. They have video of someone in a gorilla mask entering the room a few minutes before he did. They tell him not to leave town.

Todd’s boss fires him for his involvement. His check will be delayed. He takes the bus home and sees the same dog from that morning.

When Todd arrives home, Dirk crawls through his window. Todd attacks, but Dirk evades him. Dirk asks him if his life became interesting today and tells Todd he’s his assistant. Todd throws him out.

Two men watch Dirk leave and spy on Todd. One asks if he should take the shot and does, even when told no. Todd bends over and the bullet misses. It ricochets and hits a man who has a woman captive in the apartment above. Light streams through the bullet hole. The woman slams the bed against the wall trying to escape.

A man insists that a hacker hurry up with his assignment. A car approaches and a woman gets out, killing the man and heading for the hacker. He runs until she collapses. She thinks he’s Dirk Gently. He points out that he isn’t and she asks him why he didn’t tell her that in the first place. Who is she?

Dirk waits for Todd outside his building and offers him a ride. When Dorian chases him down, Todd hops into Dirk’s car and they speed off.

The footage from the hotel shows the dog Todd keeps seeing. How does it tie in?

Dirk drives like a maniac. He tells Todd that he investigates the interconnectedness of life rather than clues as a holistic detective. He’s absolutely bizarre. Is he even human?

The machete-wielding woman forces the hacker to travel with her. There’s something off about her personality. She says she needs to stop for gas, but the hacker tells her the tank is full. She calls it a hunch.

A thief at the gas station points a gun at the woman. She takes it and shoots him. Someone tries to follow her out and she shoots him too. She says she’s a holistic assassin. What’s her connection to Dirk?

Dirk and Todd stop for gas. Dirk tells Todd that he was investigating his building for other reasons and had a hunch that Todd would be important to the case.

Todd and Dirk knock on Amanda’s door. Dirk watches the news on her TV. The murder has been labeled an animal attack. Todd helps Amanda clean up and suggests she move in with their parents. She has a nerve disease that causes her to hallucinate pain. She doesn’t like to leave the house. Todd had it, but he got better. Dirk asks if the disease is in her, why does it matter where she goes?

The men trailing Dirk are outside the house. The driver tells the man in the back that the rifle isn’t necessary. Their goal is to observe and protect the primary, not kill people. The man says he’s got a shot. He’s obviously not very bright.

Amanda starts screaming because she hallucinates the drumstick as a knife cutting into her hand when jamming with Todd. Dirk tries to help, but Todd tells him to back off. After she calms down, they leave.

Todd admits to Dirk that he gave Amanda his last $300 for her medications. His parents went broke paying for his when he was in college. Several cars behind them is a spray painted van. What does it have to do with the case?

The captive woman is still slamming the bed against the wall, hoping for help. She screams to Lydia that she’s coming to get her.

When they get back to Todd’s apartment, Dirk tells him that he was hired by the victim, Lydia’s father Patrick, to investigate his death six weeks before it happened. He tells Todd that he’s a vital part of the investigation and the universe will help him with money.

The painted van comes down the street, surprising the police and men who are trailing Dirk. Dirk sees it and tries to hide. Four men climb from the van screaming and creating destruction. Dorian hears them and grabs his gun.

The men break down Todd’s door and destroy his apartment. The woman upstairs screams for help. Dorian heads for Todd’s place. The police tail him. The rowdy men suck a shimmering force from Dirk’s body and retreat through the window. What was that about?

Everything Todd owns has been destroyed. Dorian bursts in, gun drawn. He thinks Todd was trying to intimidate him. Todd begs Dirk to find a way out of the situation, but he has nothing. Dorian threatens to shoot Todd, but the microwave chimes and he shoots that instead. The bullet ricochets and hits him in the head, killing him instantly. What are the police going to think?

The police, the FBI, and the men trailing Dirk all run towards the scene but stop in confusion at the steps. Why are they all there? They finally investigate the apartment. The woman upstairs is screaming, but they don’t hear her. The headboard comes free and knocks her unconscious. Will she ever be found?

The police let Todd go. The FBI was keeping tabs on Dorian for selling drugs. They don’t have anything on Todd, but they tell him he’s a person of interest.

Two men approach Todd’s old boss in an abandoned hallway. They ask if he found a kitten in the penthouse, then proceed to shoot him with an electrified crossbow. There are so many interesting parties in this case.

Todd sees another poster for Lydia when he leaves the police station and for some reason it makes him look at the lotto ticket in his pocket. Dirk offers him a ride. Todd’s upset over Dorian’s death. He stole the rent money from Dorian thinking he wouldn’t notice, but he did. Dirk still wants his help with the case, but Todd refuses. Dirk tells him to take control of his life and interesting things will happen.

Todd walks away and takes the bus. He missed another call from Amanda. He sees the same dog outside the bus and orders the driver to stop. He picks up the dog and knocks on the owner’s door. The people inside seem incredibly strange.

The captive woman wakes up within reach of a knife. She grabs for it, but someone steps on it. That can’t be good.

One of the rowdy men studies Amanda’s picture he took from Todd’s apartment. Dirk pulls the kitten from his own bag.

Todd wanders past a convenience store. The lotto woman on the TV is talking about how small choices can have big consequences. He pulls the ticket from his pocket and he won! He’s floored. Perhaps the universe is truly working with him.