What’s on TV Saturday: ‘Dirk Gently’ and ‘Halt and Catch Fire’

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The zany comedy “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” returns for Season 2. And “Halt and Catch Fire” ends its run.

What’s on TV

DIRK GENTLY’S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY 9 p.m. on BBC America. This quirky adaptation of the 1987 cult novel by Douglas Adams returns with its dizzying web of connections. The private detective Dirk (Samuel Barnett), who relies on his psychic abilities and the “fundamental interconnectedness of all things” to crack cases, is trapped in the top-secret government organization of Blackwing. His sidekick Todd (Elijah Wood) and the security officer Farah (Jade Eshete), now wanted criminals on the run, travel to Bergsberg, Mont., to find him. Meanwhile, Todd’s sister Amanda (Hannah Marks) is also on the lam and trying to help her friends escape from Blackwing. For a different spin on the novel, an earlier adaptation by BBC Four is streaming on Britbox.

DR. OAKLEY, YUKON VET 8 p.m. on Nat Geo Wild. Season 5 sends the passionate veterinarian Dr. Oakley to Alaska to tend to dogs, bears, reindeer and moose.

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HALT AND CATCH FIRE 9 p.m. on AMC. This drama may be based in the ’80s. But the creators Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers have said they wanted the show to raise questions about the here and now, such as, “Does technology bring us closer together, or drive us farther apart?” That theme came across last week, when a loss forced the competitive techies to put their search-engine goals aside and pay attention to their lives. Their work picks up again in this two-hour series finale as Joe (Lee Pace) reveals a new design for his website and Donna (Kerry Bishé) faces a professional dilemma.

What’s Streaming

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BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER (1952) on Mubi. The race for supersonic speed comes at the expense of one man’s family in this romantic drama directed by the British filmmaker David Lean. The movie stars Ralph Richardson as J.R., a wealthy aircraft manufacturer who is determined to build a jet that can fly faster than the speed of sound. The fact that pilots have died testing his planes, including his own son, doesn’t stand in the way of his determination, but it does infuriate his daughter Susan (Ann Todd). J.R.’s obsession with aviation sends Susan over the edge when her own fighter-pilot husband (Nigel Patrick) offers to test one of J.R.’s jets.

ELECTION (1999) on iTunes, Amazon and Hulu. Matthew Broderick plays Jim, an unhappy teacher who meddles in his high school’s election to promote democracy and sabotage a campaign by Tracy (Reese Witherspoon), a popular overachiever who runs unopposed. Jim persuades Paul (Chris Klein), an attractive yet clueless jock, to run against Tracy, despite his disinterest and lack of qualifications. The race gets even messier when Paul’s sister (Jessica Campbell) announces she’s also running for office, though she really has other motives. Tracy’s composure is put to the test, and chaos ensues.

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