Dead Boy Detectives Revives What Made the CW Great — and Improves Upon It: Review
The post Dead Boy Detectives Revives What Made the CW Great — and Improves Upon It: Review appeared first on Consequence.
Once upon a time, there was a network making television that defied all previous expectations of what “network television” could be: While The CW still exists today, it was at its peak during the years Arrow and its related spinoffs were delivering bonkers takes on DC Comics characters, alongside equally bonkers sci-fi, crime, and romance dramas. And it was really special to see how an entire network could feel infused with that certain sort of “anything goes” young-skewing adventure, one that still inspires a lot of nostalgia amongst TV fans.
The CW, at its peak, wasn’t perfect (for one thing, at least one high-level producer was fired over accusations of toxic behavior). Yet its joyful spirit, LGBTQ+-friendly storytelling, and genuine chutzpah made it a joy to follow from 2012-2020 — and in many ways, Dead Boy Detectives recaptures that spirit, but new and improved for 2024.
The new Netflix series stars George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri as titular dead boys Edwin and Charles, who died as teenagers in the 1910s and 1980s (respectively) but aren’t interested in moving onto whatever’s next. Instead, they’re happy to stay on Earth solving crimes of a supernatural nature, though their lives (so to speak) get significantly more complicated when they help save a young psychic named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) from a demonic ex.
Having been robbed of her memories, Crystal needs their help — and in trade, she’s able to help them solve some tricky cases using her abilities. Which is great news, because even though a series of magical mishaps have gotten the Detectives quasi-stuck in a definitely-not-Vancouver small Northwest town, there are still plenty of otherworldly secrets to uncover there.
Based on characters created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III, Dead Boy Detectives was originally developed by executive producers Steve Yockey and Beth Schwartz as a Doom Patrol spinoff, before moving to Netflix and becoming an official spinoff of The Sandman (complete with some cameos from that show’s vast cast).
Yet, like most great spinoffs, the series succeeds because it’s very much its own thing, while featuring just enough compelling darkness and quirky moments of magic to confirm its connection to Gaiman’s specific brand of storytelling. And even though it’s not being released weekly, it’s a proper monster-of-the-week procedural, with each episode hinging on a new fresh case, often tied directly to our core trio or their new friends.
Dead Boy Detectives (Netflix)
The mysteries are inventive, but it’s the characters and their relationships that keep the show addictive, especially when it comes to Edwin and Charles: While expert in the ways of magic, Edwin is still quite naive about other aspects of being alive, while Charles has a deeper understanding of the world, one which unfortunately comes with the emotional scars of abuse. It’s a complex, touching, and powerful friendship, one tested in unexpected ways by the events of Season 1, especially as both boys come to value the presence of Crystal in their world.
The acting from the core trio is solid, and the supporting cast also shines — Yuyu Kitamura arguably steals the entire show as Crystal’s new friend Niko, while Briana Cuoco (Kaley Cuoco’s sister, if you couldn’t guess) brings some literal and figurative edge as a cleaver-wielding butcher/landlady. Also a standout is Lukas Gage, an increasingly familiar face from Euphoria, Fargo, and playing himself on The Other Two — he’s perfection as the extremely catty Cat King (who yearns to nip on Edwin).
To be clear, comparing Dead Boy Detectives to The CW’s heyday is not too big a stretch, given that one of its producers is Greg Berlanti, whose name was so synonymous with the network that one alternate name for the Arrow-verse was literally the Berlanti-verse. (At one point, Berlanti was an EP on over half a dozen CW shows at once, including shows not based directly on DC Comics.)
Yet Dead Boy Detectives shows us a new and improved evolution on that brand, delivering something unapologetically queer, funny, sad, and engaging (with the added bonus of visual effects that feel like a definite step up). If the show’s lacking one thing, it’s a sense of greater momentum — while there’s a season-long arc, it only moves forward in fits and spurts; some characters seem to be just killing time in the background, waiting for the big drama of the finale to kick into gear.
Yet that’s a minor problem, one that could easily be solved in future seasons, and based on the events of the season finale, oh, future seasons could be even more nuts. Right now, one just hopes that the Dead Boy Detectives can keep outrunning Death — or, in TV terms, cancellation. Because there’s a lot more fun to be had here.
Dead Boy Detectives Season 1 is streaming now on Netflix. Check out the trailer below.
Dead Boy Detectives Revives What Made the CW Great — and Improves Upon It: Review
Liz Shannon Miller
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