Amanda Brotzman

**Amanda Brotzman** is a main character in the television series *Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency*.

Amanda Brotzman is Todd's younger sister. Suffering from the disease Pararibulitis she withdrew from life and spent five years as a shut-in. The arrival of Dirk Gently and the mysterious Rowdy 3 following in his wake lead to an upheaval in her life, opening up new horizons.

## Biography

### Early life

Amanda Brotzman was born on October 23, 1993 (according to her Most Wanted profile). She identifies as being from Oregon.

Amanda Brotzman has an older brother, Todd Brotzman. Their aunt Esther had Pararibulitis, which ran in the family for five generations.

Amanda visited Todd once when he was supposedly inflicted with the disease. While out at a concert, a concert goer grabs Amanda's butt and when she retaliates, the man's girlfriend joins in and they throw beer at her. Hearing the commotion, Todd punches the man and he and Amanda are able to get away. She apologizes about having ruined Todd's one night out (he has said that stays indoors due to the disease) so to make her feel better, he grabs a cup of beer and pours it on himself.

Amanda developed active pararibulitis, and spent five years stricken down by the disease. Her life was put on hold and confined to the isolation of the house, living as a shut-in, financially supported by her brother Todd. Todd was her hope of getting better, as he had supposedly had the disease before, but become healthy after she had developed it.

### Season 1 (A Completely Lost Dog)

#### Getting back out

At the start of the series, Amanda is too scared to leave her home for long periods of time due to her disease. She lives on her own, in a house about one hour away from the Ridgely. During a visit from Todd and Dirk Gently, she suffers from an attack where she sees her drumstick as knives. Dirk muses that it shouldn't matter if she leaves the house or not has the disease is inside her regardless.

While taking a smoke break, Amanda notices that the Rowdy 3 are following her in their van. She throws a cement block and the van demanding to know what they want before having to retreat back inside her home due to a pararibulitis flare. Upon returning to her living room she discovers that the Rowdy 3 had returned the block through her window with a note saying "Hi". Intrigued by their presence, she opens up her garage door and drums aggressively at the van before flipping it off.

Following Dirk's advice to exit her house more often, she takes a trip to the town's grocery store, closely tailed by the Rowdy 3 van. Inside, she suffers from a hallucination that she is being burned alive. She calls Todd for help but soon collapses on the ground outside of the store, gaining the attention of two men who ridicule and video tape her. The Rowdy 3, having followed her, come to her aide and break the men's phone before sucking energy from her and returning her to her house with her groceries. Todd arrives soon after to move her to his apartment for her safety. After moving to Todd's apartment, she recognizes the map that Dirk and Farah are holding to be a power grid.

#### Ridgely and Rowdy 3

Noticing Todd's attraction to Farah, she encourages him to accompany Dirk and Farah on their trip to follow the power grid map. While alone at Todd's apartment, Agent Weedle arrives looking for Todd and decides to wait outside the door until he arrives. Amanda calls Farah for advice and after hearing about the strange behavior Weedle is exhibiting, she decides to return to the apartment. Before Farah gets back, Weedle realizes the door to the apartment is broken and confronts Amanda. Farah returns and is able to scare him back to his car, a feat with impresses Amanda. While waiting for Weedle to leave, Amanda and Farah begin to smell smoke coming from the street vents and follow the sounds of Dirk and Todd's screams to a wall inside the Ridgley. When Dirk explains the mysterious screens they found inside the building, Amanda recognizes them as something from her previous vision and is able to bring up a map.

Since the Rowdy 3 have been following her for days, Amanda decides to enter the van. Inside, she meets the four members: Martin, Gripps, Vogel, and Cross. She learns that they only follow Dirk because they enjoy sucking the energy from him when he is distressed. They also say that they like to follow Amanda because her pararibulitis flares are like a buffet. When the Rowdy 3 stop to vandalize a police car, she joins in until she suffers a hallucination of nails puncturing her hands. Cross approaches her and sucks energy from her hands, saying that she'll never have to worry about her disease again.

While the five of them are hanging out in a lot, they are approached by Scott Riggins and Hugo Friedkin who are looking to bring in Project Incubus. When Riggins is unable to persuade the Rowdy 3 to come willingly, Friedkin threatens Amanda at gunpoint forcing the Rowdy 3 to leave for her safety.

#### A life-changing revelation

Amanda returns to Todd's apartment and he comes clean and admits to never having pararibulitis. Remembering all the times he lashed out at their parents and at her about his supposed disease, Amanda becomes extremely upset and locks herself in the bathroom. As Todd sits outside the door, Amanda declares that she doesn't know who he is, as he is definitely not her brother. She begins having an attack in which she feels like she is drowning, and is eventually carried out of the apartment by Estevez, who had arrived drunk and searching for answers. When the two bring Amanda outside, The Rowdy 3 show up and suck energy from her, before she decides to leave with them to distance herself from her brother.

While traveling with the Rowdy 3, the four members begin to sense that something has gone wrong. Amanda drives them to the Spring Mansion and the Rowdy 3 are able to incapacitate a large number of SWAT members who are working with the Men of the Machine to retrieve their machine from Todd and Dirk. They later bring Todd back to his apartment where Amanda explains that Todd has become a better man thanks to Dirk. She leaves and continues living happily alongside the Rowdy 3 until the CIA show up to recapture Project Incubus. Following Martin's instructions, Amanda and Vogel run away while Martin, Gripps, and Cross stay to hold of Project Blackwing as long as possible. She later gives Todd a distressed phone call but when he suffers a pararibulitis hallucination, she is left to fend for herself.

### Season 2 (The Middle of Everywhere)

#### On the run

Amanda and Vogel successfully evaded capture by Project Blackwing and had been on the run ever since. After the Spring case, Amanda was a fugitive and on the FBI Most Wanted list. Amanda had been having visions again, which the two followed in the hopes of finding the other Rowdy 3. They intentionally created visions by exposing Amanda to shocking stimuli and fear to trigger a pararibulitis attack, which Vogel then fed on, during which Amanda had visions. Vogel followed her lead and called her "Boss".

Amanda's Most Wanted profile remarks: "A. Brotzman is sister of Todd Brotzman, also a wanted felon. May have a connection to missing person Jacob Vogle."

Amanda had a vision, interpreting it as needing to go south. Nighttime saw them driving in a car marked with a sprayed "3".

The next day in a mall parking lot, Amanda and Vogel tried again for another vision, but couldn't trigger an attack. According to Amanda, triggering an attack had become more difficult as she was habituating herself, and her shock threshold was rising. Hearing a train, Amanda broke through a fence to lay down on the tracks and let a train drive over her. She survived unscathed and as hoped had another attack and vision as Vogel fed on her.

On Day 3, Amanda and Vogel arrived in Bergsberg and broke into the Cardenas' Family Motor Inn, Room 18. In there, she found and recognized her brother Todd Brotzman's things, her own pararibulitis prescription and a Mexican Funeral shirt. Suddenly hearing the Rowdy 3 van and their music, Vogel joyfully ran outside to be reunited with his friends, against Amanda's advice. It was a trap, the van manned by Mr. Priest and a Blackwing team, and so Amanda pulled Vogel back indoors.
After nightfall, Vogel ran out into the siege and fought but was subdued. Amanda threw a brick at Priest, which enabled her to pull Vogel away and back indoors. They hid in the bathtub as Priest started shooting. Drenched by water leaks spraying all over the bathroom, both disappeared.

#### To Wendimoor and apprenticeship

Amanda and Vogel emerged from a lake in the land Wendimoor. Making their way through the unknown and unfamiliar surroundings, they were captured by a group of Kellum Knights, who imprisoned them in a cage wagon in their forest encampment, together with the Beast and Farson Dengdamor, who explained their location and situation to the travellers. During a moment of the Knights' absence, Amanda had a pararibulitis attack. Vogel fed on her and she experienced another vision, during which she saw and called out to her brother Todd, who was in Bergsberg and could see her too. Afterwards she learned from Farson that her attack had been visible to the others, to her surprise.

At night Lord Triangle Badevil arrived at the Knights' encampment to collect Farson, and ordered the other three captives killed. As Badevil prepared to cut off Vogel's head with a scissor sword, Amanda had another attack when a Knight grabbed her to stop her talking to Vogel. Everyone present saw the electricity coursing though her, the Knights declaring her a witch. Amanda used the energy offensively, hitting all the Knights, and allowed Vogel to feed on her. Having incapacitated the Knights and Vogel restored by the feed, they freed Farson from his cage, who in turn insisted on setting free the Beast, before the three fled into the forest.

Amanda and Vogel accompanied Farson to his original destination, the village of the Bofuki Nepoo. While still on the way they were captured and rendered unconcious by the Bofuki Nepoo, who took them to their village. ...

...

...

#### Saving Wendimoor

...

...

...
While they were driving away, Amanda revealed she was in possession of the apprentice's wand.

## Character

Amanda has brown wavy hair and brown eyes, and is 5'3" tall.

## Pararibulitis and visions

Amanda Brotzman developed and suffered from Pararibulitis for five years before meeting the Rowdy 3. Amanda's pararibulitis attacks were greatly lessened in severity by the Rowdy 3 feeding on her during the attack.

(Note on vision descriptions: The visions are somewhat muddled and may within one vision show on-screen one thing repeatedly or in separate fragments, but the description will usually bundle that. Things are linked to what they refer to.)

### Season 1

During the Rowdy' first feeding on her, she experienced a vision, which proved to be clairvoyant.

**Vision in episode *Rogue Wall Enthusiasts*:**

>
> A blue-skinned woman, a Mandelbrot set on her forehead. Lightning. A Mandelbrot set.
> A female voice: "You're not supposed to be here."
> A voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, Lux Dujour!"
> A man surrounded by flames, with bloody hands, saying "I'm just doing my job."
> A disheveled woman, aiming at the viewer.
> A clockface, running backwards.
> An array of screens; one screen shows a hammerhead shark; together the screens show a map, their light silhouetting two figures. A man, colorfully superimosed with another man.
> Dirk Gently, staring, then crying out in pain, clutching his shoulder.
> Todd removing a face mask.
> A fruit bat.
> A clown, standing in a grassy field.
>
>
>
>

### Season 2

After the Spring case, Amanda began to have visions more often.

**Vision in episode *Space Rabbit*:**

>
> A wheel-like kaleidoscope image.
> A woman's face marked with a large black Mandelbrot set and Mandelbrot set irises.
> The view rushing along a train track.
> A person's face, all in red, coming at the camera.
> Scissors, a house. A car, flying. A Project Incubus symbol on a door; it opens to show the Rowdy 3 van.
> The black-Mandelbrot set face again, the train-track landscape rushing in the background.
> The number "18".
> A half moon with a face.
> A squeeze stress toy, rotating on a desk.
> The squeeze stress toy standing on a toilet seat next to a bathtub in a plant-overgrown bathroom. Two hands, held close together, reaching out of the tub.
> A clown, standing in a hallway.
> An arrow symbol, pointing down.
> The whole vision is accompanied by unintelligible fragments of voices; towards the end a voice repeats "closer".
>
>
>
>

**Vision in episode *Fans of Wet Circles*:**

>
> A wheel-like kaleidoscope image. The black-Mandelbrot set face. A kaleidoscope view of blue circles. A mandelbrot set.
> A house's open door, a switched-on TV within; the house, overgrown.
> A man, holding something.
> Hands. A motel sign.
> The squeeze stress toy, grass in the background (on toilet seat in the overgrown bathroom).
> A man, gun in hand, blood exploding out of his chest.
> A voice: "Closer. Closer now, closer now to your purpose."
> A half moon with a face.
> The number "18".
> Someone drawing on a wall by candlelight, drawing a person with pink hair. A dog, barking.
> A person's face, all in red.
> A scissor, single and multiplied in a kaleidoscope view.
> Martin, bound.
> A road sign "Welcome to Montana", a scarecrow before it, and a man.
> Over that a voice: "Leave."
>
>
>
>

**Vision in episode *The House Within the House*:** Amanda in Wendimoor had an attack which she shared with Todd in Bergsberg, during which they saw each other. Afterwards she learned that the electricity in her attack was visible to others; that night, another electrical attack was triggered, which she used offensively to defeat her captors.

**Vision in episode *Shapes and Colors*:**
...

## Behind the scenes

* Amanda Brotzman is portrayed by actress Hannah Marks.
* The original pilot script describes Todd and Amanda as 30 and 27 years old, and as 13 and 8 years old in a flashback scene. If either age gap is still canonical, Amanda would be about 3-5 years younger than 33-year old Todd, and around ~30-28 years old in season 1. Her Most Wanted profile gives her birthdate as October 23, 1993, which is the same year as her actress', making her 23/24 in the series.
* Amanda is strongly linked and associated to the Mandelbrot set fractal. It appears in her name (A**MAND**a **BROT**zman) and features strongly in her visions, being shown in many of them. The visions also show herself (or at least a person portrayed by actress Hannah Marks) marked with the fractal: The first one is blue-skinned with a point-down fractal on her forehead, her brown hair open. The second one in season 2 has a black point-down fractal covering most of her face, and has black fractals in her eyes. The fractal irises also appear on Amanda in season 2 while doing magic interacting with Wakti Wapnasi's pool. In season 2 the link is also sartorially, with Amanda's leather jackets showing a Mandebrot set image on the back.

### Costuming

In season 1, she wears her hair long with a fringe and open, and tends to dress in dark clothes.

In season 2, Amanda changed her look to a more punk aesthetic. Her hair is dyed black, shaved in the lower back, and worn in a high ponytail. She wears a black leather jacket with a large Mandelbrot set adorning the back, a grey shirt and pants with vertical stripes. She wears heavy dark eyeliner and eyeshadow.

In Wendimoor in 2.06 she picks up a new top comprised of miscellaneous fabrics in a multilayered shirt, with a multicolor-mottled hood (like in Wakti Wapnasi's outfit). She wears her hair open and has mostly cleaned the eye makeup off her face.

In 2.10 she has switched to a grey outfit: a light grey/silver leather jacket with a smaller black Mandelbrot set on the back and three arrow-symbol pins on the left lapel, darker grey pants and shoes, and a pink and black striped shirt. She again wears heavy dark eye makeup.

### Appearances

* Season 1 (BBC America)
	+ Horizons
	+ Lost & Found
	+ Rogue Wall Enthusiasts
	+ Watkin
	+ Very Erectus
	+ Fix Everything
	+ Two Sane Guys Doing Normal Things
* Season 2 (BBC America)
	+ Space Rabbit
	+ Fans of Wet Circles
	+ Two Broken Fingers
	+ The House Within the House
	+ Shapes and Colors
	+ Girl Power
	+ That Is Not Miami
	+ Little Guy, Black Hair
	+ Trouble Is Bad

## Notes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 profiles on Most Wanted list in *Space Rabbit*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *Shapes and Colors*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Horizons*
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Fix Everything*
5. ↑ Dirk Gently Recap As Told By Dirk on YouTube, "I spent the last five years of my life trapped by a disease callled pararibulitis."
6. ↑ *Lost & Found*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 *Rogue Wall Enthusiasts*
8. ↑ *Watkin*
9. ↑ Very Erectus
10. ↑ Two Sane Guys Doing Normal Things
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 *Space Rabbit*
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 *Fans of Wet Circles*
13. ↑ *Two Broken Fingers*
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 *The House Within the House*
15. ↑ *Girl Power*
16. ↑ *That Is Not Miami*
17. ↑ *Little Guy, Black Hair*
18. ↑ *Trouble Is Bad*
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 *Nice Jacket*
20. ↑ Max Landis on Twitter[1]