Boy Oh Boy

Some time ago, I both praised and complained about the Netflix series The Sandman (the former mostly for the strong storytelling in the back half of the season, the latter mostly for its compressed cinematography). But now there's a newer Netflix series based on a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman, Dead Boy Detectives.

The titular characters are a pair of British teenagers who died young and now exist as ghosts who work to solve mysteries for other ghosts. The first case we see them on involves a young psychic medium who has lost her memory -- and their adventures from there take them to a coastal U.S. town inhabited by an evil witch, a walrus-turned-human, nasty taunting sprites, and a powerful supernatural being known as the Cat King. Against a backdrop of continuing story lines, compelling little "mysteries of the week" ensue.

From the writing standpoint, it's that last element that's the great strength of this series. The show has one foot planted in "network procedural," where you quickly learn the formula and enjoy seeing it remixed. It has its other foot firmly in serialized streaming show, where each episode builds upon the last and you quickly come to love the characters as a result. And it seems effortless (though it really isn't) how the show manages to be both these things within every single episode -- this is no X-Files alternately serving up "mythology episodes" in between disconnected one-offs.

Another strength of the writing is its tone. Dead Boy Detectives is not afraid of engaging with some truly dark content; one episode centers effectively on family abuse, while another literally journeys into hell (and presents some truly hellish concepts in the process). Yet despite all this, Dead Boy Detectives is fundamentally a rather light and "fluffy" show. The banter between characters is delightful, many of the creatures we meet are more amusing than dangerous, and it's all just plain fun to watch.

But the greatest strength of the show is its casting. The two lead roles were cast with "unknown" actors, George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri. No, they don't look remotely like teenagers, but it doesn't matter a bit as you watch their "odd couple"-like demeanors play off one another in a truly profound friendship. It's perhaps a small spoiler, but Dead Boy Detectives winds up not being strictly a boys' club, as the show picks up several compelling women in short order, played by Kassius Nelson, Briana Cuoco, and Yuyu Kitamura. What starts off looking like a two-hander is quickly revealed to be an ensemble cast in which there really is no weak link, and every possible combination of two characters that can be written feels like an interesting one. (And if the show is giving you Supernatural vibes already, wait until Ruth Connell -- veteran of that long-running series -- is positioned as a recurring nemesis.)

It's not always easy to tell whether a Netflix show is a "hit" that you can expect to run several seasons. I don't recall ever seeing Dead Boy Detectives highlighted as a Top Ten show (or whatever), and so I worry that it may be destined to be a one-and-done. That only made me savor the eight episodes we have even more, and made me a touch sad when I finally did finish them. But no word of the series' cancellation has come down either, so for now I can hold out hope. And, of course, I can encourage you to go check it out. Halfway through this year, Dead Boy Detectives is my pick for the best series of 2024 so far. I give it an A-.