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tarlibone
Aug 1, 2014

Am I a... bad person?
AM I??




Fun Shoe
This incarnation of Dirk Gently is back for a second round, and things are picking up right where they left off. OK, well, no, that's not true, but they're picking up after the point where things left off, so that's something, right? Not a prequel!

Todd Brotzman (Now with Pararibulitis(TM)!) and Farah Black (Elijah Wood and Jade Eshete) are together, looking for Dirk Gently wherever the universe guides them. They've been searching... for months.

Dirk Gently (Samuel Barnett) is being held by Project Blackwing, having been captured by the idiot savant (at his job as a weirdo hunter) Hugo Friedkin. Dirk is subjected to numerous tests to bring out his nonexistent psychic powers. Also somewhere in the complex is Ken (Mpho Koaho), who is trapped in the taxi we last saw him in (and is now rigged to shock him at the press of a button), and of course, three of the Rowdy 3. They have the leader Martin (Michael Eklund), who gets the most speaking time so far. They are all kept starving and in some kind of suspended animation.

The other original member of the Rowdy 3, Vogel (Osric Chau), is with Amanda Brotzman (Hannah Marks), and they're running around, trying to trigger useful visions in Amanda so they can find the other three Rowdy 3.

Bart is... doing her thing. Killing asses, taking names. She somehow escaped.


Season 2 starts off several months after the end of the first season. Actually, it starts off in a make-believe world of swords and sorcery, although the swords are really scissors, but the sorcery is sorcery. The established players are, well, see the above notes. We do have a few new characters and elements thrown into the mix, of course.

Sheriff Sherlock Hobbs and Deputy Tina Tevetino (Tyler Lebine and Izzie Steele), small town/county law enforcement bumblers whose extreme incompetence would get annoying if it weren't just so drat fun to watch. Early on, they find the wanted criminals Todd and Farah, and then Dirk, and early on, they decide to help. Tina even recognizes Todd as the bassist of the band mentioned in the first season.

The Mage (John Hannah) is a white-suited evil magic guy from another dimension. Probably the fantasy world dimension.

Then, there's the evil bounty hunter who promises Commander Shitferbrains that he can capture the escaped/missing Blackwing subjects using naught but his special powers of unscrupulousness, his total lack of ethics, and just the overall fact that he is an awful person who does bad things because he genuinely enjoys being that kind of person. His name is Mr. Priest, and he's played by Alan Tudyk, so you know it's going to be worth the price of admission.

And I almost forgot... Suzie Boreton (Amanda Walsh), a mild-mannered-to-a-fault lady dominated by literally everybody around her, is introduced early on. She survives a pretty horrific day at work thanks in no small part to... well, you'll see. I really don't want to spoil it. You might think she's a cleaned up Bart at first, but she's not.



The first episode mostly sets the stage. Things don't pick up much until episode 2, when the weirdness starts a' flowin'. Who's in?

tarlibone fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Oct 23, 2017

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Octy
Apr 1, 2010

I forgot this was on. I enjoyed the first season despite all the weirdness, but then I watched the original British adaptation with Stephen Mangan and that was just so much better, at least in terms of actually being related to the book. I'll watch it tonight.

Harold Fjord
Jan 3, 2004

Octy posted:

I forgot this was on. I enjoyed the first season despite all the weirdness, but then I watched the original British adaptation with Stephen Mangan and that was just so much better, at least in terms of actually being related to the book. I'll watch it tonight.

When you say original do you mean the fairly recent one with the cat in a time loop or is there another im unfamiliar with?

I keep bouncing off season one but I'm a huge fan of the books.

Mike N Eich
Jan 27, 2007

This might just be the year
I was just thinking of bumping the old thread, because I just finished the first season and was wondering if anyone was watching the second. I quite enjoyed the first, though as the second to last episode came in and they decided to just give you an expository filled info-dump of things we couldn't possibly have pieced together, it took a little wind out of the sails. I still don't quite know what was going on with the time loop. The total weirdness of the first 2/3 of the season, with the likable and fun characters made it a fun romp.

Always good to see Aaron Douglas get some work as well. Hope they can capture a lot of the same energy in the second season!

Slamhound
Mar 27, 2010

tarlibone posted:

and of course, three of the Rowdy 3.

But...there are 4 of them.

Mulva
Sep 13, 2011
It's about time for my once per decade ban for being a consistently terrible poster.

Slamhound posted:

But...there are 4 of them.

Don't be silly.

There are 2 of them.

Milo and POTUS
Sep 3, 2017

I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?
I've forgotten soooo much of what happened last season so I have no loving clue what's going on.

AriadneThread
Feb 17, 2011

The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.


i love this show


Milo and POTUS posted:

I've forgotten soooo much of what happened last season so I have no loving clue what's going on.

i don't think there's been much 'need to know' info carried over from the last season
blackwing is some kind of government agency that collects psychics
todd came down with parawhatsit after finally coming clean to his sister about having lied about ever having the disease
they're all wanted by blackwing for their part in / being used as a scapegoat for the massive number of murders at the end of last season

Sinistral
Jan 2, 2013

Mulva posted:

Don't be silly.

There are 2 of them.

SHUT UP MATH!!

pr0p
Dec 8, 2011
I want Bart and Tina to hang out. Maybe go on a road trip.

tarlibone
Aug 1, 2014

Am I a... bad person?
AM I??




Fun Shoe

Milo and POTUS posted:

I've forgotten soooo much of what happened last season so I have no loving clue what's going on.


tarlibone posted:

Todd Brotzman (Now with Pararibulitis(TM)!) and Farah Black (Elijah Wood and Jade Eshete) are together, looking for Dirk Gently wherever the universe guides them. They've been searching... for months.

Dirk Gently (Samuel Barnett) is being held by Project Blackwing, having been captured by the idiot savant (at his job as a weirdo hunter) Hugo Friedkin. Dirk is subjected to numerous tests to bring out his nonexistent psychic powers. Also somewhere in the complex is Ken (Mpho Koaho), who is trapped in the taxi we last saw him in (and is now rigged to shock him at the press of a button), and of course, three of the Rowdy 3. They have the leader Martin (Michael Eklund), who gets the most speaking time so far. They are all kept starving and in some kind of suspended animation.

The other original member of the Rowdy 3, Vogel (Osric Chau), is with Amanda Brotzman (Hannah Marks), and they're running around, trying to trigger useful visions in Amanda so they can find the other three Rowdy 3.

Bart is... doing her thing. Killing asses, taking names. She somehow escaped.


Season 2 starts off several months after the end of the first season. Actually, it starts off in a make-believe world of swords and sorcery, although the swords are really scissors, but the sorcery is sorcery. The established players are, well, see the above notes. We do have a few new characters and elements thrown into the mix, of course.

There you go. All caught up! (Well as caught-up as you can be with this show.)

I'm just wondering if we're going to get a moment where so much isn't making sense that even the primary antagonist, when he has the good guys right where he wants them, points a weapon at them and, with a menacing look on his face suddenly asks, "What is going on??"

Svaha
Oct 4, 2005

Nevvy Z posted:

When you say original do you mean the fairly recent one with the cat in a time loop or is there another im unfamiliar with?

I keep bouncing off season one but I'm a huge fan of the books.

Pretty sure he's talking about this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2303367/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
I don't recall it involving a time-traveling cat, it's been a while though. From what i do recall, it's worth checking out if you are looking for something a little more grounded in reality (in that one, it's more the characters who are outrageously insane, thankfully)

As for the more recent show, I really enjoy it. It might not be for Adams purists; it's more in the spirit of Hitchhiker's guide than his later efforts. Still, I find the manic unpredictable goofiness very entertaining even if it's a little sloppy from time to time.

Milo and POTUS
Sep 3, 2017

I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?
The deputy in this show is best new character by far though the dopey sheriff has his merits.

AriadneThread
Feb 17, 2011

The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.


i wonder if anyone has tried to match characters to the prophecy yet

Octy
Apr 1, 2010

Svaha posted:

Pretty sure he's talking about this: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2303367/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
I don't recall it involving a time-traveling cat, it's been a while though. From what i do recall, it's worth checking out if you are looking for something a little more grounded in reality (in that one, it's more the characters who are outrageously insane, thankfully)

As for the more recent show, I really enjoy it. It might not be for Adams purists; it's more in the spirit of Hitchhiker's guide than his later efforts. Still, I find the manic unpredictable goofiness very entertaining even if it's a little sloppy from time to time.

Yeah. Shame it got cancelled.

Anyway, I'm enjoying the new season although I still have no idea what's going on.

tarlibone
Aug 1, 2014

Am I a... bad person?
AM I??




Fun Shoe
I want to see how Bart got that bell from the front counter to inside her cell.

AriadneThread
Feb 17, 2011

The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.


tarlibone posted:

I want to see how Bart got that bell from the front counter to inside her cell.

clearly she walked out to get it, then walked back in

tarlibone
Aug 1, 2014

Am I a... bad person?
AM I??




Fun Shoe

AriadneThread posted:

clearly she walked out to get it, then walked back in

See, that's what I was thinking.

But we have a fairy who can turn into stuff. The last episode had the squeeze toy changing eye color from blue to green and back to blue, indicating possession/replacement by the fairy that saved Dirk. So I have this niggling feeling that while the simple explanation is certainly possible, how it really got in there will be needlessly complicated, almost entirely nonsensical, and delightfully esoteric.

AriadneThread
Feb 17, 2011

The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.


tarlibone posted:

See, that's what I was thinking.

But we have a fairy who can turn into stuff. The last episode had the squeeze toy changing eye color from blue to green and back to blue, indicating possession/replacement by the fairy that saved Dirk. So I have this niggling feeling that while the simple explanation is certainly possible, how it really got in there will be needlessly complicated, almost entirely nonsensical, and delightfully esoteric.

while it's true that 'needlessly complicated' is the raison d'être of the entire show, that's what makes me think the most straightforward explanation would be the funniest

mpeg4v3
Apr 8, 2004
that lurker in the corner
I'm sure Bart's explanation will be as straightforward as "I walked out, grabbed it, and walked back", it's just the conditions the universe had to create in order for it to be that straightforward for her which will be needlessly complicated.

I've been really enjoying how authentic the weirdness in this show feels. It never feels like the show is trying to do the "arbitrary ~weird~ event happens! aren't we so funny/clever/random for coming up with it?" style of presenting strange occurrences that I've seen in other shows.

Waltzing Along
Jun 14, 2008

There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here
I think that is because the characters bring the weirdness. So rather than weird things just happening, there are a bunch of developed characters that have weirdness happening to them as part of their character. Bart and Dirk are the two most obvious examples, of course. It's not weird it's just how things are.

Slamhound
Mar 27, 2010
Bart also got cleaned up, didn't she?

Waltzing Along
Jun 14, 2008

There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here
She was dirtier than ever. I don't think you can really clean that.

Surprise Giraffe
Apr 30, 2007
1 Lunar Road
Moon crater
The Moon
Im so glad this is back. Its really great.

pr0p
Dec 8, 2011
wat ti wat nasi, forest witch of the santi santiga who guides the fuki nobu

this show goes place

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames
It's frustrating that in this version of the story, Dirk is the least interesting, least likeable, and least useful person in the entire cast.

The Stephen Mangan version is fantastic, but I don't really think it's helpful to keep banging that drum. They're aiming for very different things, this version is clearly not at all concerned with sticking to the tone of the books, which is fine.

Slamhound
Mar 27, 2010

precision posted:

It's frustrating that in this version of the story, Dirk is the least interesting, least likeable, and least useful person in the entire cast.

The Stephen Mangan version is fantastic, but I don't really think it's helpful to keep banging that drum. They're aiming for very different things, this version is clearly not at all concerned with sticking to the tone of the books, which is fine.

The Mangan version was good, but honestly its take on Dirk struck me as almost as far off as this one. He was too manic, whereas the novel Dirk was closer to a laid-back, overweight Peter Venkman type; a layabout who understood the supernatural but used it to his own personal ends.

This Dirk has grown on me more, simply by virtue of being completely different (though he was really off-putting in the first season).

I feel like overall, this show is more in line with the tone and spirit of the books (and Adams in general).

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames
Yeah I definitely always pictured Dirk as pushing 40 and looking like a noir detective with a big beer gut.

Waltzing Along
Jun 14, 2008

There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here
This Dirk is basically a more empathetic Sheldon Cooper.

Anyone else think that the whole magic fairyland is a kids fantasy come to life?

Milo and POTUS
Sep 3, 2017

I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?
Adolf Hitler would be a more empathetic version of Sheldon.

Fidel Cuckstro
Jul 2, 2007

Waltzing Along posted:

This Dirk is basically a more empathetic Sheldon Cooper.

Anyone else think that the whole magic fairyland is a kids fantasy come to life?

Yeah, 'find the boy' is the Cardenas boy, who may be the same boy who Amanda and Vogel just met. Both the house with the Purple People Eater and Wendimoor are fantasies of his.

How his disappearance relates to the electrical event 30 years ago and the deaths of his parents? That I don't think we have enough yet to figure out.

Waltzing Along
Jun 14, 2008

There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here
It really shouldn't, but it makes me kinda sad that this show is so ignored on the forums. It seems like the most perfect goon show around. Maybe times have changed but I'd think that 10 years ago everyone here would have been watching.

AriadneThread
Feb 17, 2011

The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.


i love this show, but i actually kind of don't want to speculate too much about where things as going and just enjoy the ride
i have some ideas, like, what's the connection between fake-disease and the fantasy land? but i rather just see how it goes then get too invested either way

MiddleOne
Feb 17, 2011

Waltzing Along posted:

It really shouldn't, but it makes me kinda sad that this show is so ignored on the forums. It seems like the most perfect goon show around. Maybe times have changed but I'd think that 10 years ago everyone here would have been watching.

I would have never found out about if I hadn't just clicked it out of morbid curiosity on Netflix last year. I don't know why this show has been virtually invisible and continues to be so.

tarlibone
Aug 1, 2014

Am I a... bad person?
AM I??




Fun Shoe

MiddleOne posted:

I would have never found out about if I hadn't just clicked it out of morbid curiosity on Netflix last year. I don't know why this show has been virtually invisible and continues to be so.

It airs on BBC America. That's probably about 90% of it. Adding to the fun, it's not an established British show airing on BBCA, but it's a wholly new production with a wildly different bent than previous versions of Dirk Gently.

I wish they could syndicate it and get it on basic cable. Sure, there'd have to be some bleeps, but the show is just so good that I'm sure it'd pick up an audience.

Waltzing Along
Jun 14, 2008

There's only one
Human race
Many faces
Everybody belongs here
It's probably going to gain a cult following.

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames

MiddleOne posted:

I would have never found out about if I hadn't just clicked it out of morbid curiosity on Netflix last year. I don't know why this show has been virtually invisible and continues to be so.

Goons hate Max Landis

tarlibone posted:

It airs on BBC America. That's probably about 90% of it.

Ehhhh I dunno, Orphan Black was on BBCA and season 1 of that was all anyone here (including myself) talked about for like a solid year.

tarlibone
Aug 1, 2014

Am I a... bad person?
AM I??




Fun Shoe

precision posted:

Goons hate Max Landis


Ehhhh I dunno, Orphan Black was on BBCA and season 1 of that was all anyone here (including myself) talked about for like a solid year.

Maybe.

I think there's a lot that works against the show, as far as being a newcomer is concerned. Orphan Black is standard, boiler-plate sci-fi drama conspiracy guns action blowing stuff up. It's a unique entry on an otherwise established style of show, and since it's done well, it got popular. DG's HDA, on the other hand, is really treading some new ground. I've seen a lot of detective shows, fantasy shows, and sci-fi, but this show's style and structure (and plot and characters and so on) don't really fit neatly into any kinds of shows I'm familiar with. Add to that the fact that the cost of admission is relatively high--you must watch several of these weird episodes that are insanely chaotic on purpose before you realize just how far in the weeds you are.

Most shows would, after a few episodes, have people finding their footing. With this one, a few episodes in, you're literally just finding out who all the players are, and your'e only then vaguely aware of how much you don't know about what's going on.

This will probably be one of those shows were you just have to gut it out for several episodes before it suddenly clicks just how great the show is.

precision
May 7, 2006

by VideoGames
That's certainly true. I imagine a lot of people, including fans of Adams, tuned in for the first episode and just went NOPE

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LentThem
Aug 31, 2004

90% Retractible
i assumed that Batiatus was the original child who created fantasy land, killed his parents (father) and hid the body. Since he's the main guy that crosses between worlds and would be the right age for when all of those events originally happened

Does anyone remember the full title that people in fantasy land use when talking about the mage? I thought it was Mage Keller or something like that, where he had a regular sounding name after "Mage"

Edit: no wait it's going to be the housewife that found the wand - the whole thing was her childhood fantasy that she has now forgotten as a 40 year old woman, thats why there's cool stuff like her being able to use the wand and read the book and two dudes kissing and having pink hair

LentThem fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Nov 8, 2017

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