Written by: Claire Phillips | Entertainment Editor
Content warning: this article contains spoilers.
“Dead Boy Detectives,” a young adult paranormal series, arrived on Netflix, April 25. With Neil Gaiman, author of “Coraline,” Steve Yockey, writer of “Supernatural” and the producers of “You,” the show had an all-star crew to make magic behind the scenes.
Though the show is a spinoff of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman,” based on a DC comic series by the same name, one does not have to watch the original series to understand “Dead Boy Detectives.”
The show centers around Edwin Payne, played by George Rexstrew, and Charles Rowland, played by Jayden Revri — two teenage ghosts who died in the 1910s and 1980s, respectively. They find each other in the afterlife and create a detective agency, solving the cases of ghosts that would otherwise go unsolved, as a way to come to terms with their own untimely deaths.
Crystal Palace, a clairvoyant played by Kassius Nelson, joins the agency to give the boys a leg up with her psychic skills. The majority of the series takes place in the coastal town of Port Townsend, Washington, where the Dead Boys meet Crystal after exorcizing a demon.
This dynamic series is easy to binge-watch, maybe even more than once. Karis D’Orazio, a sophomore at Western, was hooked from the very beginning. “I liked that each episode focused on a new case… you get a little bit of new plot every single episode, but you also get so invested with the characters throughout the season, which makes you keep watching,” D’Orazio said.
With every watch, there are endless details one can pick up on that may not have been caught before.
Each character brings a characteristic to the table that anyone can connect with. Whether or not a dark family history, regretting one’s past or spending 70 years in Hell is relatable, every protagonist is easy to root for and sympathize with. Even the antagonists are quirky and entertaining, such as the Cat King, played by Lukas Gage, and the witch, Esther, played by Jenn Lyon.
The diversity of the characters doesn’t stop at just their baseline traits. The show’s creators took care to ensure the depth of each protagonist and antagonist reached far beyond an initial impression.
“I really like Edwin because… they don’t say in the show that he’s autistic, but he has a lot of autistic behaviors… it gives a lot of representation to the autistic community, specifically people who might be in the beginning process of getting a diagnosis. I felt a lot of comfort in his character,” D’Orazio said.
Any lover of fantasy, paranormal or crime genres will have loads of fun with “Dead Boy Detectives.” This series will quite literally take one to Hell and back, but in the best way possible. If this review hasn’t been convincing enough, maybe talking cats, a crow turned into a boy, dandelion parasites and the well-known love triangle trope will be.
10/10.
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu
