Dead Boy Detectives (Netflix series, 2024)
Dead Boy Detectives is a supernatural series about two, well, dead boy detectives, who solve crimes in that special space in between the dark and the light.
The eight part series is based on the DC comics by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner and it was developed by Steve Yockey, with co-showrunner Beth Schwartz. It takes place in the same universe as the successful series The Sandman (that is currently awaiting its second season).
Edwin Payne (George Rextrew) has been dead for over a century. He’s done his time in hell. Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri) was bullied to death in 1990, at the same boarding school Edwin attended.
Now best friends, both Edwin (‘the brains’) and Charles (‘the brawn’) have their reasons for not moving on to the Afterlife, even though Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) herself occasionally comes looking for both of them.
Since their own deaths were never properly investigated, they try to make up for it by investigating the stories that restless ghosts bring to their attention, with one such case, the demonic possession of Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson), actually becoming one of their living female helpers. Which makes sense since she is a talented psychic medium. Their other helper is Niko Sasaki (Yuyu Kitamura), who has the ability to see ghosts and uses detective techniques she learned from watching Scooby-doo and anime.
There are also lots of interesting supporting characters like Night Nurse (Ruth Connell), wicked witch Esther Finch (Jenn Lyon) and landlady Jenny Green (Brianna Cuoco).
This fun Young Adult-series offers up a heady mix of horror, comedy, mystery and thrills. It’s very well acted, with a fine production design and very convincing special effects. The money is clearly on the screen, even though its visual look isn’t as exciting as it could have been. It all looks a bit same-ish, which is a pity, even if it’s not really a dealbreaker.
Each episode offers up a separate case - The Case of Crystal Palace, The Case of the Dandelion Shrine, etc - while there is also a bigger plot at work. So if you can’t wait til the second season of The Sandman is finally here, Dead Boy Detectives has more than enough going on to tie you over…