Neil Gaiman might just be in his “Television Era” right now with several of his works being adapted into shows with various networks/streamers. The newest addition to his page to screen adaptions is Dead Boy Detectives which recently dropped on Netflix. The titular dead boys (Edwin and Charles) were a pair of boarding school students separated by seven decades who both died tragically at the same boarding school. They now help other ghosts solve the circumstances of their deaths, thus resolving their unfinished business so that the can cross over. The fact that Edwin escaped from Hell, and Charles never crossed over, means they often find themselves hiding from Death so that they won’t be forced to cross themselves. The characters were first seen on Doom Patrol, but have new actors for the Netflix series. You can see the official trailer below:
Warning: The rest of this article contains spoilers for season one of Dead Boy Detectives.
The opening scene. I love a good throw-you-right-into-the-action opening scene that quickly gives you enough background to understand things without bogging everything down too much. The Dead Boys deliver with clever banter, escape from a super creepy ghost, and fun powers being demonstrated like passing through windows and using what is effectively a Bag of Holding for cool gadgets. Edwin Payne from 1916 is the brains, while Charles Rowland from 1989 is the brawn. Right after dealing with the ghost they know Death is coming and we see them hiding out until she is gone. I knew I was going to enjoy this show just from that little bit.
The power of Friendship. One of the biggest anchor points in the series is the friendship between Edwin (George Rexstew) and Charles (Jayden Revri). In a deviation from the comics, Edwin has big romantic feelings for Charles but struggles with his sexuality due to the era he came from and the attitudes about same sex attraction it held. Of course, Charles clearly has a crush on new recruit and very much alive psychic Crystal Palace, invoking big jealousy in Edwin.
One of the bits viewers eagerly anticipate in the series is finding out how the boys met. Charles was cornered into a cold lake and attacked with rocks by some classmates and later hides while suffering from internal bleeding and hypothermia. He doesn’t realize how bad off he is, but recently escaped from Hell, Edwin does when he realizes Charles can see him. Edwin keeps him company until he passes and Charles decides to go with him on adventures rather than let Death collect him.
In one of the best moments between the two, Charles goes to Hell to recover Edwin and Edwin admits his feelings for Charles. Charles doesn’t feel the same way about Edwin, but the kind way he handles it by adding that he wouldn’t go to Hell for anyone else and they can sort out just what that means for them once they’ve escaped is just so, so good. It also results in Edwin being more confident in who he is and a decent truce with Crystal.
The new Team Members. Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson) is added as a psychic who had her memories taken away from her by a demon. She’s left with a feeling she wasn’t a great person before, but she steps up, first getting the boys to help uncover a missing little girl, and then really using her powers to help others. Niko (Yuyu Kitamura) may be the fan favorite by far, however. She’s the one that first encourages Edwin in his sexuality which leads up to his moment with Charles, and she also pulls out a technicality that holds off on the Night Nurse being allowed to take the boys. Niko’s super power is in fact kindness (as well as delivering some of the most hysterical lines in the series) and it seems to keep turning around and coming back to her in some way. When she is the one killed in a final show down, fans are just gutted.
The scene stealers. Dead Boy Detectives has some absolutely scene stealing supporting cast. First off, Ruth Connell of Supernatural fame as the Night Nurse could not have been cast better. She is such a delightful foil for our heroes, that you really don’t want her truly defeated because she would go away and no one watching actually wants that. Lukas Gage as the dangerously charismatic and powerful Cat King who obsessed with Edwin is also another fun character and his last encounter with Edwin makes us desperately hope he returns. Jenn Lyon as Witch and antagonist Esther Finch is a worthy and dangerous adversary for our heroes as well. Landlord Jenny played by Briana Cuoco has some insanely funny scenes and at the point she is forced to accept the supernatural and starts pointing at characters and saying “NO!” as she is so not ready to deal with psychics and demons and ghosts really should live on as mood defining memes and GIFs.
The cases. There’s a good variety in the cases that the Dead Boys look into, including the original saving Crystal from demon possession of Crystal, keeping pixies from killing Niko, recovering the little girl from the witch, a pair of beloved small town jocks who weren’t so great, and the unfinished business of a murder suicide of a whole family, and a series of lighthouse deaths, and each case seems to bring the Night Nurse closer to the boys or reveal something about the characters themselves. Charles revealing his abusive father was a big revelation as well as Edwin having a flashback to his own death (classmates jokingly summoned a demon to sacrifice Edwin to only for the demon to destroy the classmates and then claim Edwin for Hell as a sacrifice). You know there’s still a big wealth of things to explore.
The season ender. In a brilliant setup with great payoff, the Night Nurse is about to claim the boys, only for one of her superiors to decide that two unclaimed boys have actually done great work sending even more lost souls to the afterlife. She wants them to continue their good work and assigns the Night Nurse to collaborate with them. The Night Nurse is horrified, the boys are smug, and fans are delighted. The big moment fans want explained though is the final shot of a fur-cloaked figure that is with Niko’s pixies who vanished after she died. That figure is holding the lucky charm Niko was gifted by someone she had helped and was holding when she died. Is Niko actually back? Only a second season can tell us.
