Dead Boy Detectives

I am always on the hunt for new Netflix shows to binge-watch, and I was pretty excited for “Dead Boy Detectives” to arrive! I haven’t watched the Sandman series yet, though I have read the comics and absolutely love them. This show follows the ghosts of two dead teens, Charles Rowland and Edwin Payne who run a detective agency to help other ghosts get closure and move on to their afterlives. They are in hiding and constantly on the run from Death, and a strange case leads them to meet Crystal, psychic who lost her memories. The three of them, along with Niko, Crystal’s eccentric neighbor (I guess?), must confront their own pasts and help save the town from a witch who wants eternal power and beauty. There are so many more wacky characters and situations than what I have just explained, but let’s go back to the first and second episodes.

When I first started watching, this series felt like a conglomeration of other TV shows I have already watched (and it still does). “Dead Boy Detectives” is very similar to “Lockwood and Co.”, another story about psychics, detectives, and providing closure for ghosts. That alone made me question if I wanted to watch it or not. Some parts of it seem really similar to “The Umbrella Academy” as well, one of my favorite TV shows of all time, and that is true for that inter-dimensional lost-and-found office and the lady (I’m calling her the Handler lookalike) who was looking for Edwin and Charles. It was basically the Temps Commission all over again; Even the people who worked there looked exactly the same! And the Handler-lookalike lady had like 10 different accents going at any given moment. She switched from Southern to Indian to British in one sentence, and it was absolutely insane. The concept seemed like it had been copied and it didn’t work nearly as well as it did in TUA because the ruthless corporate energy and strict protocols were not there or well defined. In addition to this, the acting in the first and second episodes really threw me off. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the outbursts and conflicts seemingly out of nowhere. But all of this I just attributed to vibe of this series, because the show was actually pretty entertaining due to the characters being so unpredictable.

One of these characters was definitely Niko. It was so random seeing her for the first time, completely glowing in pink light and her room filled with anime. She made absolutely no sense and it was pretty funny seeing the group just accept her, no questions asked. The entire crow character was also insane. The witch turned her pet crow into a human to basically seduce Edwin, and that is genuinely the funniest thing ever, especially because the crow’s pickup lines consist of astrology facts and just general unhinged behavior. There was one scene where the crow gets on a swing and literally goes “WHEEEEE!”, completely ignoring the mood, and I burst out laughing. And then the Cat King… that guy is so uncomfortable. But whatever persona he is trying to embody in the series was not working at all, and he pretty much looked ridiculous to me. But all of this is not really a bad thing, because it made this show an entertaining watch.

These side characters were interesting, but the two leads were pretty likeable. Charles was just Charles throughout the series, but after watching, honestly I just feel sad for Edwin. Literally everyone is against him and just won’t leave him alone. This kid was sacrificed by his schoolmates to a demon, spent 70 years in hell, escaped, and is now being hunted by a Handler look-alike. On top of all this, the witch wants to use his trauma as a magical battery for eternity, and seriously, these people won’t just leave him alone. Poor Edwin for every second of every episode. And then Charles, I didn’t even realize he was Indian until half way through the series. And as an Indian, it was the funniest thing to me that in the final episode, Charles tried fighting the monster snake in the witch’s cupboard with a cricket bat. The series ended with these two not wanting a relationship with each other after figuring stuff out for eight episodes, but I still think this series could have been better if it was written differently and they were already in a relationship to begin with. Then all the wacky situations and conflicts could be attributed to relationship troubles and opportunities for other funny situations.

My favorite character in this entire series is probably Jenny, the butcher. She basically owns a butcher shop and rents the two rooms above for other people, and in this case, Crystal and Niko. The entire series is just her being confused by Crystal and Niko’s antics, like when they talk to invisible ghosts, get in trouble with witches or crazy demon ex-boyfriends, and more. Then there’s the entire secret admirer situation where we get to learn more about Jenny’s character. She goes on a date with the librarian, who is her secret admirer and it actually starts out pretty well. But then it is revealed she is actually a stalker and tries to kill Jenny, and winds up getting impaled in front of an absolutely gobsmacked Jenny. This story revealed how Jenny is scared of putting herself out there and finding love, and it added so much depth to her character. That development doesn’t really go anywhere though for the rest of the series, so I hope there will be a second season so I can learn more about her.

Because this is a Sandman spin-off, the way it connects to the overall series is really important. Death was really cool in this series, though she was only shown once. Her personality felt a little bit different than the comics, but it still fit well with the type of story that was being told. The other Endless that was shown was Despair, but I could not take her seriously at all because she was wearing a nice sweater and pretty much looked harmless. I couldn’t imagine the power she holds, and it didn’t feel very Sandman-like. In addition to the two Endless that were shown, the lore was pretty strong and interesting in this series. I don’t remember which of these were directly from the comics because it has been some time since I have read them, but I found them fascinating nevertheless. The existence of Lilith, a primordial goddess, was pretty cool, and it would be interesting to see more of her. I also especially liked the Washer Woman, who washes the blood and sins of humanity and talks in riddles. She feels like such a powerful character, and again, It would be cool to see more of her. I feel like more could have been done with the cats though, because I remember how in the comics, cats are shown in such a deep and thoughtful way, and I feel like the series just uses that result without really explaining why. I guess I really just like cats and I want more justice for them rather than just the creepy Cat King existing.

Considering how Netflix has a habit of cancelling good series, I don’t know if there will be a season two to watch. But having just this one season is pretty good, because it was absolutely unhinged, which is my type of entertainment. I talked before how “Dead Boy Detectives” is like two other shows, “The Umbrella Academy” and “Lockwood and Co.”, and I would definitely recommend watching those two. Other than that, if you have no idea what to watch on Netflix, maybe try this one out because you might like it!