TV Review- Dead Boy Detectives

 

Introduced in April, Dead Boy Detectives is an offshoot of what we should probably called The Sandman universe (The Sandverse?). having been an offshoot comic. Like its Neil Gaiman penned parent, this series can be erratic, perhaps deliberately, so that the narrative swings from comedic to horrific. This is exemplified by the opening credits which don’t really capture what the show is like at all even though they are fun depictions of skeletons up to all sorts of japes. Rather than open with an origin story the dead boys are already in business in London in the first episode though by part two end up in the US, an odd relocation to spring so soon. The main cast are excellent, the dynamic between them being the best thing about the series while the strongest episodes are inventive and sometimes disturbing while keeping exposition to a minimum.

 

The opener is called `The Case of Crystal Palace` but is nothing to do with the football team or indeed the area. Crystal is a psychic girl whose abilities bring her into the orbit of two deceased teenage sleuths. So Edwin Paine (played by George Rexstrew) is from 1916, prim and proper resembling a younger Sherlock Holmes while Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri) is an 80s kid, chirpier and likely to throw himself into things. Both have opted to avoid the afterlife, evaded Death and opened an agency for supernatural clients. These boys have the power to travel through mirrors, talk to cats and possess a backpack with unlimited space inside, something all travellers dream of. Both are hiding issues of course most of which are teased out as the season progresses. Crystal (Kassius Nelson) is from our time so has the sass and online resources that might entail. Her psychic abilities add an extra dimension to the duo’s investigations The story is adapted from Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner’s DC comic and sizzles with customary wit and invention but for all its verbosity this opening episode might have better explained the scenario with a less frenetic tone.

This overly busy first episode does cram too much in yet there are a number of scenes that show the potential. In one sequence Edwin falls into a void inside an oven that’s full of skeletons, the mirror jumping is a great way to get characters moving about though will hardly be used in the rest of the season. The banter amongst the leads is enjoyable suggesting a promising chemistry between the trio. All three actors deliver assuredly and with conviction. I didn’t find the mystery side engaging enough though an opening episode often focuses more on establishing characters. 

These next two episodes see the series settling into its routine over in the States but it remains a crowded one. The central plots are often distracted by arc stores that don’t flow as easily in and out. This results in recurring villain Esther oddly just wandering into a scene and out again without doing much other than goad the detectives.  I’d thought the team’s diversion to the States was just for the opener but it seems that the team are to be based there after Edwin is bound to the place by (yes) the Cat King because he trapped a cat in the first episode.

The talking cats are a good idea and all speak with the gravelly menace of a shady gangster. The cat king is harder to like as instead of being a giant cat he turns into a man to issue threats and flirt with a discombobulated Edwin. This episode also introduces us to Niko, a shy, kooky who seems to display floating pink images that mesmerise people is in fact possessed by (wait) dandelion sprites. It feels like the show is testing us to see how many bizarre concepts we’ll accept. Niko starts off as a bit of stereotype yet grows as the series progresses.  In the end these seemingly powerful sprites who conjure up an impressively staged spooky skeleton scare earlier on turn out to be a bickering Irish couple. I feel like they only made them dandelion sprites rather than what they are clearly meant to be to avoid accusations of Irish stereotyping.

Part three offers some more sombre issues in the form a haunted house whose ghosts are trapped in a loop forever re-running the night when the father brutally murdered his family. The team must find a way to break the loop by discovering the cause of the original attack. It’s a better fit for the series and less willing to turn away from the horror with a gag instead embedding the characters and reflecting on their own history particularly Charles. It’s well staged in a way that never detracts from the crime that is being replayed again and again giving an air of claustrophobic horror. It definitely feels like the sort of story this show should be telling.

Episode four finds a mystery surrounding a lighthouse from which people are leaping only to reappear as seemingly happy ghosts moments later. The team discover that their apparent suicides are actually triggered by the voices of lost loved ones whom they are drawn to find. It’s a plot that fits right in with the main storylines, especially Crystal’s. The narrative is a little thin yet enables some strong scenes, not least the one in which Charles is forced to revisit his terrible final days which draws out a strong performance from Jayden Revri. There’s also a lovely mystical air to proceedings that suit Yuyu Kitamura’s Niko whose whimsical thoughts are a highlight. I feel a bit more might have been made of the scenario but I was pleased to note that we get a glimpse of a sea monster at the end and it looks like an authentic representation of those creatures’ sailors once believed really existed.

In part five the boys and Crystal are employed to resolve issues for two murdered jocks only to discover that they are not such innocent victims. However the more engaging part of the episode occurs when Niko discovers the identity of butcher Jenny’s secret admirer and conspires to set up a date. Both plots lean into character more deeply with satisfying result and its especially pleasing to see Briana Cuoco have more material. As Niko's landlady (and unknowingly host to the ghosts too) she has added aa deadpan humour . In this episode its contrasted by her somewhat over enthusiastic date and it all goes wrong in a gruesomely amusing manner.  

The main plot follows the standard investigation but is really designed to draw us deeper into all three characters. This seems to be a hallmark of the series- none of the investigative plots have been that complex but more like vehicles to explore three disparate people. Crystal’s continued haunting by her ex, Charles’s violent homelife history and Edwin’s purgatory all weigh heavy on the gang this week. The episode also contains some very well assembled set pieces, notably the dangerous hide and seek in the darkened butcher’s shop and a remarkable outburst from a ghostly girl they interrogate.

Episode six leans into the quirkier side so includes a giant mushroom monster and even more oddly scenes set inside the giant sea monster we saw Night Nurse being chucked into earlier in the season. Turns out she is still kicking and sharing intestinal space with a relaxed character called Kashi who is all Zena and karma. These scenes work surprisingly well despite (or maybe because) little attempt it made to suggest this is all real. The insides of the monster are garishly coloured and there is hardly any sway when it moves. Its really well done though and reminds me of the more playful peaks of Tim Burton.

If you are a series without the vast resources needed to show a lava filled, demon infested manifestation of Hell the way to go is to make it personal. So, when Edwin is thrown back there it is depicted as a grand building perhaps representing the school where he met his demise. His main tormentor is a giant spider made of toy doll’s heads, an image that manages to be both scary and amusing at once. Shot with a suitably dark hue and unusual angles this imagery works successfully to conjure an image of a terrible purgatory matched by Charles' description of what happened last time he was here. Edwin is in there too, though does seem to find his friend rather easily.

While our two dead boys are in there outside Crystal manages to get her stolen memories back by the end of the episode while Esther who is of course immortal crawls up from underground to hatch a new plan. The thing that everyone watching will have realised- that Charles is in love with Edwin- is finally out in the open this episode and the finely calibrated way the scene plays is sort of offset by the fact they stop to do so whilst being chased by that giant spider! It’s one of those filmic devices I suppose where time is suspended to allow for a conversation when really they’d be running up those stairs without stopping!

The series ends on a high with a very well composed finale that successfully utilises all the regular characters as well as tying up plot strands neatly but sometimes unexpectedly. There’s a fine showcase for villainous Esther who really goes to town this episode. While she has sometimes been approached as more comedic figure by the writing, here she is vicious and quite insane allowing Jenn Lyon to let rip. The episode also contains the series’ finest shock when, as Crystal walks away from the butcher’s shop, it blows up. Edwin and Charles have been kidnapped by Esther who wants to draw energy from the former to enhance her already immortal existence. The main part of the episode comprises the girl’s plans to rescue the boys which takes some unexpected turns. It is tightly composed and a thrilling way to end.

I would say that Dead Boy Detectives is deserving of a second season though it is densely filled with odd ideas and darker concepts that may not play well with a wider audience. Notwithstanding Netflix’ s very high bar for recommissioning I would definitely be interested to see where this show heads next.