Synopsis of 2×07: If we spent all of last week setting up the real world, we spend all of this episode setting up Wendimoore. Is that bad? Certainly not! All the characters of Wendimoore come out to play in this week’s Dirk Gently.
This episode takes all of those to a higher level. It kicks it up to eleven and then changes its hair color. The more we get into the Wendimoore, the better the show is. Dirk Gently seems to be at its finest when all the of the strings start to weave together into an indiscernible pattern. Sure everything is still strange and nothing makes sense, but there is a plan!
Throughout this season it’s been interesting to see Dirk and Todd effectively switching roles. Dirk is usually the happy go lucky, positive one. And Todd is usually the woe-is-me one. Giving Elijah Wood the room to be the happy quirky one is a stellar choice; though a sad Dirk really slows the whole story down. Granted, you’d be sad too if you’d just witnessed the death of “the boy” and lots of innocent people, all because a witch wants to kill you.
One of my favorite lines this week was Todd telling Dirk, “Friendship is about when you’re there for others, not who’s there for you.” Dirk refuses to help Todd, making him not a great friend. So Todd sets out alone to find Amanda, leaving Dirk to make friends with a “gurfe” who claims Dirk as her boyfriend. She’s a little Gollum-esque, but with rainbow hair.
Leaving Dirk alone is the best thing Todd could do. Because even when Dirk stays still, the clues of the universe find him. What he finds are drawings, just like the ones on the Cardenas household. Maybe Arnold wasn’t the boy after all! Maybe there’s another (if this is the case, I have a guess as to who it is. Shhhhh… spoilers).
Meanwhile, Todd’s attempt to find Amanda leads him to Farson’s brother, Silas. Amanda and Farson have left the Watki Wapnasi and instead found the Trosts. They all find each other in a comical bridge scene. And what starts as a happy reunion for all ends in bloodshed. The Dengamoores and the Trosts have a shootout on the bridge. Farson and Litzbitz (Panto’s sister) wind up dead. It’s a terrible tragedy that rocks the realm. It also ruled out Farson as “the boy.”
Todd and Amanda escape, only to be recaptured by the Dengimoores. Their attempt to reconnect is bittersweet, and reemphasizes Amanda as the moral core of the Brotzman siblings. Todd wanting to abandon Wendimoore contradicts Amanda’s greater purpose to help the realm, and perhaps defeat the Mage.
Speaking of the Mage, where’s Suzie? She’s made her way to Dengimoore and she’s ready to take over. First, she kills Watki, as she assumes Watki is the only magical being around. She doesn’t know about Amanda yet. She also gains an army with the Kellum knights. And she gains a killer wardrobe. Whatever lip color she conjured up, I want it.
Things are starting to come together: the second Cardenas boy, the Brotzman reunion, and Suzie in Wendimoore. Where will it all lead? Tune in next week to find out!
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