Critic Reviews

It’s equal parts outlandish, incoherent, funny, cartoonishly violent and confusing--all in a good way. It’s one of those series in which you just have to kick back and enjoy the ride.

The tone bounces cannily from humor to pathos to suspense. The one knock against “Gently”? So much is going on here, the plot is so dense, this is a show that might be better off binged in a marathon. Just one more thing to look forward to, then.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” may start in an oddly untethered state, but it is marvelously strange and entertaining enough to warrant sticking around as its heroes and writers connect the dots.

These first three episodes present a compelling--if overstuffed and often inelegant--mystery.

It's dark and funny and appalling and sad and silly, and very much its own thing.

At times Dirk Gently feels like one long, never-ending tease but the show is so strange and consistently surprising and unpredictable it seems likely to find some sort of a cult audience.

The first two episodes of Dirk Gently will be an easy litmus test for fans of this kind of show, because it's all over the map (intentionally) and veers wildly in tone.

There may be a little more unpacking to do, but Dirk Gently has its own charming weirdness that you either go with or don’t. What’s fun about the story is that every character is obsessed with their own failings and problems while the cosmos keeps playing tricks on them.

Those who have devoured the swervy, same-named Douglas Adams books could very well find themselves immensely entertained. Those who haven’t--guilty as charged--at least can admire the energy, cheekiness and slick production values without caring all that much how everything comes out.

What the show brings though is off-kilter energy, which is at times exhausting, but occasionally entertaining.