What Is the Story About?
Based on the comic series by Neil Gaiman and a significant part of the Sadman universe, this Super-natural detective story follows two teen ghosts Charles Rowland and Edwin Payne, who without entering the afterlife decides on solving mysteries and crimes of their supernatural clients (witches, demons, ghosts etc) as an attempt to skip death. They begin investigating crimes and mysteries of the supernatural after forming the Dead Boy Detectives Agency and is joined by an American clairvoyant Crystal amidst one of their missions. However things take a drastic, engagingly dramatic turn when a witch acts as an evil spoilsport complicating their plans.
Performances?
The leading trio of Dead Boy Detectives do a fine job with their given parts in the show. One of the major fulcrums of the show is the chemistry between the leading boys : Edwin Pyne and Charles Rowland. The actors George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri look their twenties while playing 16 year olds (quite the Netflix teen palette), but still dish out charming performances and share lovely chemistry with each other. As the show progresses, it’s delightful to see the care, love and affection the duo share for each other.
Kassius Nelson plays the clairvoyant that joins the Dead Boy Detectives. She has her own equation with the duo and the dynamics of the trio is fun to watch. Whether it’s Charles flirting with Crystal or Edwin’s yearning. Yuku Kitamura‘s Niko deserved better writing while we would have liked less of Lukas Cage’s Cat King.
Analysis
Developed by Steve Yockey, based on the DC Comic characters of the same name from creators Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, the Netflix original series Dead Boy Detectives is a supernatural horror detective comedy drama, a genre-binding supernatural series set in The Sandman universe. Also, executive produced by Neil Gaiman.
The series follows an unlikely funny and ridiculously camp premise where two dead teenagers (years apart from each other’s death) who refuse to enter after-life as a battle against death come together to found a detective agency for the supernatural. The duo refuse to leave earth and are hell bent on solving mysteries and crimes that happen on the Earth.
The show follows the cases the ghost duo handles and the multiple times they landed on trouble owing to newfound enemies in witches, demons and ghosts. The duo gets a mortal team-mate in Crystal, someone who has been possessed herself in their arduous yet adventurous journey. With a little triangle going on, we see the trio battling their own set of challenges and endless antagonists like : the forces that want them back in the after-life, Thomas the Cat King and the vengeful witch Esther.
Dead Boy Detectives works fine as a supernatural-mystery comedy as long as the focus stays on the dead boys’ supernatural adventures. But the moment it shifts gears to the characters’ back-stories and over-stuffed sub-plots, it runs out of steam and fun. To be specific, Crystal’s sub-plot does little to nothing to the story and it’s only fun when the trio goes over and about solving cases.
For a show that exists as a spin-off to the Sandman series and in the same universe, the production values, dramatic highs and CGI works of Dead Boy Detectives are disappointing. Halfway through its duration, the show meanders quite a bit as well.
Nevertheless, Dead Boy Detectives is a delightfully engaging show helmed by a charming cast. It has a rollicking premise, an eccentric world -building, and sandman hattips (character overlaps) coupled by some funny gags to keep you hooked. Dead Boy Detectives is a guaranteed weekend binge material if supernatural-mystery comedy is your thing.
Music and Other Departments?
The show’s soundtrack features 30+ songs from Slowthai’s Doorman, to Bones of Rock from Boneless ones to Apocalypse from Cigarettes after sex, to The Vaccines, to name a few. Blake Neely and Murat Selcuk composed the immaculate score of the series, lending it a unique stamp of originality and all the more fun.
Marc Laliberte, Craig Powell and Pierre Gill’s collaborative camera work is expectedly (for a Netflix show) dull and disinteresting. Much like the Shadow & Bone series, it works against the flavour and audience of Dead Boy Detectives as well. The make-up and costumes department, however has done a very good job with the supernatural creatures and beings.
Highlights?
Intriguing Premise
Charming Cast
Chemistry between main trio
Hat-tip to Sandman & DC comics
Engaging episodes
Drawbacks?
Production values
less dramatic highs
Meandering sub-plots
Choppy CGI work
Age-inappropriate casting
Did I Enjoy It?
Yes
Will You Recommend It?
Yes
Dead Boy Detectives Series Review by Binged Bureau