Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine decided not to enter the afterlife but to stay on Earth and investigate crimes that involve supernatural stuff.
Where Neil Gaiman's series The Sandman dives deeper into the existential questions surrounding the afterlife, Dead Boy Detectives (based on the DC characters of the same name) is a bit more light-hearted, with a touch of Beetlejuice meets The Hardy Boys. Best mates Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revi) have decided to spend their afterlife helping ghosts with unfinished business find peace while also avoiding the gaze of Death, once again played to perfection by actress Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Good Place, Killing Eve, Barry). Besides avoiding Death things are running smoothly for them until they cross paths with teenaged psychic Crystal Palace (played by Kassius Nelson and not to be confused with the English football club) whose issue with her ex-boyfriend gives stalking a whole new meaning as he's a demon that has possessed her.
Yeah, all I've got is a middle-aged priest and a crochety nun
While helping Crystal the boys get stuck in the small town of Port Townsend where they continue to help others who are supernaturally inflicted such as the eternally sweet Niko (Yuyu Kitamura). But being in one place too long means the boys are more likely to be captured as after evading their final judgement for decades, Night Nurse (Ruth Connell of Supernatural fame), is closer than ever to locating them. And it will take the help of friends old and new to keep them from being torn apart.
While exposition heavy at first, Dead Boy Detectives doesn't waste too much time getting to the good bits. The pacing never slows down and, most importantly, never loses sight of its fun and overall lighthearted nature the show is going for. Geared towards younger audiences, the cast are all great to watch with even peripheral characters like butcher shop owner/landlady Jenny Green (Briana Cuoco), enigmatic and mysterious Cat King (Lukas Gage), tragically cursed Mick (Michael Beach) and the wickedly delightful witch Esther (Jenn Lyon) all beautifully adding to the world building of Dead Boy Detectives.
Just four young people, no cellphones in sight. Living in the moment. Well, half of them
The comparisons to the long running and highly successful series Supernatural is sure to come, which is natural considering showrunner Steve Yockley was behind that series as well. But Dead Boy Detectives doesn't feel derivative in the least with each episode urging you on to see the next one, making the mysteries that unfold all the more engaging. A great blend of comedy, angst, suspense and horror, the series easily takes the lead as the best original YA series Netflix has released so far. And I can't wait to spend more time investigating this supernatural world with Edwin, Charles and the gang, in the near future.
Sommer's Score: 8.5 out of 10
Have you checked out Dead Boy Detectives? What did you think of it? And you can check out more Netflix dark fantasy reviews from Robot Mango Reviews below:
NETFLIX'S THE SANDMAN IS A DREAM OF AN ADAPTATION
LOCKWOOD & CO. SEASON 1 IS A GHOSTLY GOOD TIME
TOP FIVE REASONS TO BINGE SHADOW AND BONE (AND TWO TO SKIP IT)
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I'll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More
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