From the mystical world of “The Sandman” comes a new Netflix series, “Dead Boy Detectives.”
A comedic, horror, mystery series, “Dead Boy Detectives” follows Edwin and Charles, played by George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri respectively. They are teenage ghosts who dedicate their time to solving supernatural mysteries, joined by a psychic named Crystal, played by Kassius Nelson.
Both “Sandman” and “Dead Boy Detectives” are based on the DC comics created by acclaimed fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, known for books such as “Good Omens” and “American Gods” and “The Sandman” comics. Gaiman is an executive producer on both shows.
Though it is set in the same universe as “Sandman,” it is not necessary to watch that first. They are only connected via one character cameo and have drastically different tones. Whereas “Sandman” was a dreamy drama, “Dead Boy Detectives” is humorous and at times melodramatic and campy.
Highs
The show’s combination of horror and comedy will make it a great Halloween watch. Committed to being both whacky and gruesome, often at the same time.
The show's plot is intriguing. The mysteries are complicated and cleverly solved. The main cast is also intriguing as they all bring their personal baggage to the supernatural, adding angst and drama.
The show’s romantic drama is superb how messy it allows itself and queer it allows itself to be. There are any number of romantic combinations that could feasibly be canon, creating excellent fodder for shipping. Forget one love triangle, this is interconnected love triangles!
The show also deals with queerness beyond romance, as one of the detectives, Edwin, is gay. His storyline is about coming out to himself. The show's depiction of this process is respectful and nuanced.
The best character is Niko, played by Yuyu Kitamura, a normal girl who joins the detectives after a run in with sprites. Kitamura’s performance is the funniest out of the crew, creating an enduring, intensely likable comedic relief.
Lows
Much of the show’s comedy fails to land due to the dialogue being too simplistic. For example, a demon outright says “I’m kind of a bad boy.” This problem is made worse by the less important characters giving flat performances.
While Kitamura’s performance leads to the best character in the show, it could have handled the Japanese part of her identity better. The show’s way of showing that she is Japanese is by having her be obsessed with yaoi (manga and anime featuring romances between men). Her character often lends to Japanese stereotypes because of this, at best being a flat depiction of a Japanese girl and at worst using her culture as a joke.
The world building in “Dead Boy Detectives” is often lazy. The world in “Sandman” is grounded in real life myths, especially around Christianity and Greek mythology, adding its own spin to them. “Dead Boy Detectives” is far more simplistic, being more of a basic supernatural fantasy. However, the way the show handles sprites and hell are well done, the sprites being funny and hell being more frightening than it is in “Sandman.”
The worst instance of world building is the use of Lilith, a figure from Jewish folklore. Lilith was the first wife of Adam and a powerful demoness. In the show, she is referred to as a goddess of wronged women and blood magic. This version of Lilith is completely divorced from Judaism to the point it's not clear why the show even used her.
Verdict
“Dead Boy Detectives” has potential to be a great watch for Halloween and to develop further in later seasons. Though it has a capable main cast with a good tone and fun drama, later seasons would need stronger world building, dialogue, secondary characters, and cultural sensitivity. Fans of “Sandman” will not find what they loved about that show here, though it might satisfy fans of “Wednesday” while they wait for season two.
The entire first season of “Dead Boy Detectives” is available to stream on Netflix.
Rating: 6 out of 10.
