The second season of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is nearly here, and will see Dirk, Todd and Farah tangled up with the nefarious Project Black Wing and mysterious inhabitants of the fantasy-inspired realm of Wendimoor. Player.One spoke to showrunner Max Landis at New York Comic Con 2017 about the show’s sophomore outing and what future seasons might have in store for characters and fans.
“We're lucky in that a lot of the stuff in this season -- for design and plot reasons -- intentionally looks cheap. But we still do some shit in this season that's, like, bigger than you see coming,” Landis said. Expect more jaw-dropping, WTF moments from the second season of Dirk Gently. He was particularly excited about the more ambitious visuals this time around. “And we go bigger and bigger and bigger as the season goes on. There's a ramp-up. In the first season everything was pretty contained, and then the final two episodes went crazy. This season, shit starts going crazy around the end of episode 1 when the car falls out of the tree, and doesn't stop going crazy.”
One of the most endearing aspects of Dirk Gently’s first season was the nuanced, thoughtful growth of each main character. Season 2 will offer more insight into Dirk’s mindset. We know a bit about his background with Project Black Wing from the end of last season, but his family background and “powers” -- if he truly has any -- remain a mystery.
“This season investigates his ideas about the world. He is never in his element. He wasn't in his element in Season 1,” Landis explained. Dirk will always be completely confused about what's happening, and completely certain that it's supposed to be happening.”
Looking beyond Season 2, Landis has a broad outline for a four-season arc at this stage, though there’s no official confirmation yet from BBC America if the series will get two more seasons. “I know a couple of big things that need to happen, and how they would happen is always changing and up for debate,” he explained.
We asked Landis what he would do with the show if he had absolutely no limits. He laughed and said, “I do whatever I want, I just do it cheap.” After a while, he elaborated, “If I had absolutely no limits? Islands, man. Ideally each season will have a different ecosystem. I would want to do space, I would want to do zero gravity, I would want to do islands, desert. I want to do a whole desert season. I want to do a whole island season. More locations, honestly.”
Dirk Gently in space seems like a pretty logical progression of the high-concept loopiness we’ve seen from the show so far, but we’re particularly intrigued by the island and desert variations. Pirate treasures? Trippy mirages? Sign us up.
Season 2 of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency debuts on BBC America on Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. EDT. In the meantime, you can catch up on Season 1 on Hulu.
