For the people who religiously follow DC shows, they’d know that the ‘Dead Boy Detectives‘ originally appeared in an episode of Max’s Doom Patrol, which was supposed to spin off into its very own show. But, with the changes happening over at that company, it eventually had to be revised for Netflix, where it is now part of The Sandman Universe, which we could see expand into more shows if ‘Dead Boy Detectives‘ proves to do well, which, given how the show is structured, should happen.
‘Dead Boy Detectives‘ follows two ghosts, Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri) and Edwin Paine (George Rexstrew), who have decided to avoid the afterlife and instead stay on Earth and investigate crimes that involve all sorts of supernatural.
As one can expect from the title of the show, it involves detectives. The show starts in London, but after Crystal (Kassius Nelson) is introduced, they make their way to Port Townsend, a city in Washington. All three become stuck there after some inconveniences that involve Thomas the Cat King (Lukas Gage). Though an overall story is being told throughout all eight episodes, this show works like a procedural, with each episode being a new case that the crew has to solve. For a show that I easily loved, this makes it easy on a rewatch to jump into any episode and not worry as each episode manages to stand on its own. The first two episodes introduce the main characters that will reoccur throughout the show. We get to meet Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), who runs into her supernatural problems, which the boys end up solving.
Niko is easily one of my favourite characters in the show, as she’s full of so much energy, bubbly, innocent, and kind of feels like an insert character for the audience. We don’t really understand what’s going on, but we’ve come along for the ride. Niko, just like some other characters in the show, gets a well-developed and well-thought-out story, and for a show that is only eight episodes, it’s impressive how well-paced it was and how they didn’t struggle with finishing off everyone’s story. There are moments where Niko doesn’t feel of much use to the team, as Charles and Edwin are ghosts and Crystal is a psychic, so Niko feels really out of place in this group, but it’s something that gets touched on in this show in such a heartfelt moment and probably one of the best scenes out of the entire series.
What is a DC show without its antagonist and the one character who is out of the loop? The first episode introduces us to the witch Esther (Jenn Lyon), who’s a complete nuisance and wants the boys out of her town and will do anything to make sure that happens. She’s menacing, a real threat, and Jenn Lyon shows all of that on screen with her performance while also improvising and making the role her own. We also get introduced to Jenny the Butcher (Briana Cuoco), a character that can’t see ghosts and just runs the butcher shop where Crystal and Niko live alongside Charles and Edwin, who also stay there with him. For a character that feels so uninteresting compared to the rest of the cast, the writers pull it off once again by giving her a compelling story arc that affects the rest of her life and the characters involved. I’ve said it before, but to be able to tell so many stories and end them all on a good note is an amazing accomplishment.
Personally, to my surprise, before digging into the eight episodes, I completely forgot that this was connected to The Sandman. The show easily reminds you that it’s connected by having Death (Kirby Howel-Baptiste) make an appearance, and it doesn’t feel like one of those cheap cameos to make you gasp and point at the screen (which I still did), Death’s appearance has a purpose to the story and is quite important and vital, to the point where by the end of the show, you’re still thinking about the reason for why she showed up. It’s a nice way to remind the audience that ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ is part of a larger universe, and if we’re getting characters from The Sandman appearing in this show, maybe there’s a chance we could see Charles, Edwin, Crystal, or Niko make an appearance in The Sandman. Who knows, maybe Dream will come across Jenny.
Crystal’s story is an emotional one and one that could’ve been problematic if handled wrong. With David the Demon (David Iacono) stuck in her head and taunting her 24/7 after having possessed her body, it starts to resemble this abusive and toxic relationship that’s honestly handled well. Crystal also gets another story arc that goes in-depth with her powers, and without going into spoiler territory, this one is once again handled well and just shows that ‘Dead Boy Detectives‘ had the right writers on the job to handle such the task of giving almost every character a fully well written and developed story arc.
As mentioned, this was originally going to be a Doom Patrol spin-off before it got scrapped, but there is a surprise for people who did watch the ‘Dead Patrol‘ episode. Night Nurse appears in this show, with Ruth Connell reprising her role. It’s amazing to see them keep this casting while changing everyone else, but she fits perfectly into this series and shows a new side to Night Nurse that we haven’t seen before, as we’ve now got more than a few minutes to spend with her. She feels like a fully fleshed-out and realised character who constantly tries to catch the boys and bring them back to Hell. After seeing Connell return, it now feels wrong to even think of anyone else in the role.
With all these characters getting these beautiful stories, it’s obvious that our two main characters are also written amazingly. We spend a lot of the runtime with them as we go on these wild cases that show off all sorts of supernatural creatures. The VFX for the show might not be on the same level as The Sandman, but it’s still really damn good, and you can tell the VFX team and stylists got creative with the designs and outfits. Charles’ story is also one that involves abuse, but this time from his father; it explains his jolly behaviour, and some episodes solely touch on this. It’s what I love about this show so much: how they can take serious and triggering topics, integrate them into the episodes, and have them revolve around the case they’re solving while also balancing it with the lighthearted side of the show. Edwin’s story revolves more around his sexuality and his feelings for Charles, which get tested when a new character, Monty (Joshua Colley), enters the scene and begins to stir things up.
With ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ following a very procedural format, you end up running into the issue that not every case will be for you. This is probably the worst thing about the show, and I only ran into this issue twice where I wasn’t fully captivated by the case that was happening, but fortunately, there were always other storylines with the side characters that would be running alongside the cases. I loved more of the cases than I didn’t, so even if this may be my least favourite aspect of the show, it was never the end of the world.
‘Dead Boy Detectives‘ is a welcome addition to The Sandman Universe as it introduces us to a whole new set of characters and a whole new side of the world. Exploring topics such as abuse and sexuality while also balancing them with the lighthearted side of the show. The entire cast is a joy to watch, and each episode is just a blast as you discover the mysteries and the wild locations that they end up in. Though not every episode might be to your taste with the case attached, there’s still something to find in each episode that you’ll love. It’s a show that can easily be watched without watching The Sandman, yet it still treats those who have. It’s a phenomenal show that deserves an instant renewal from Netflix so that we can solve more adventures with the Dead Boy Detectives once again.
Dead Boy Detectives is streaming now on Netflix
