‘Dead Boy Detectives’ series review: This ‘Sandman’ spin-off is boundless fun

Jayden Revri as Charles Rowland and George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne in ‘Dead Boy Detectives’
| Photo Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

Edwin Paine (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri) are 16 years old and run a detective agency. They are also dead. Edwin died in 1916 as part of a ritual sacrifice at his boarding school and some 60-odd years later, in 1989, Charles died of hypothermia and internal bleeding thanks to the tender ministrations of bullies at the same boarding school.

Edwin escapes after spending an eternity in hell “due to a clerical error” (the demon dragging him to hell actually apologises). He sets up the Dead Boy Detective Agency with Charles to help ghosts and others who have been forgotten or no one cares about. When a child from the Victorian Age, complete with a clunky coin purse, asks the boys to help her psychic friend Crystal (Kassius Nelson) get rid of the demon possessing her, it is their first step into a wilder and more wonderful world.

Though they rid Crystal of the demon, David (David Iacono), he takes away her memories. The three then head to Port Townsend, a small town in America, to find a missing girl.

And while they manage to find the missing girl, they also acquire a bunch of strange beings. There is Jenny Green (Briana Cuoco) with her Goth look and tattoos, who runs a niche butcher shop called the Tongue & Tail. She rents rooms above the shop to Crystal. Niko Sasaki (Yuyu Kitamura), who lives across the corridor from Crystal, is an anime fan who believes in romance but is also plagued by parasitic, foul-mouthed Dandelion Sprites called Kingham (Max Jenkins) and Litty (Caitlin Reilly).

Rescuing the little girl brings the gang up against Esther Finch (Jenn Lyon), an immortal witch who seeks to avenge herself on the dead boys for getting the better of her. The “incredibly powerful and alarmingly sexy,” Cat King (Lukas Gage) puts an enchanted bracelet on Edwin, forcing him to stay in Port Townsend. Tragic Mick (Michael Beach) was once a mighty walrus but is now trapped in the body of a man selling magical artefacts. The boys are on the run from the Night Nurse (Ruth Connell) in charge of the Afterlife’s Lost and Found Department.

Based on characters created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, Dead Boy Detectives features two characters from Netflix’s The Sandman— Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Despair (Donna Preston). Gaiman’s idea of clubbing two genres — boarding school stories and teen detectives and giving them a touch of the supernatural is gold. Imagine the Famous Five sleuthing in a haunted Malory Towers!

Jayden Revri as Charles Rowland, Hannah Bos as Hannah Devlin, Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace, Christine Chatelain as Stacey Devlin, George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne, and Audrey Mallett as Hope Devlin in ‘Dead Boy Detectives’
| Photo Credit:
Ed Araquel/Netflix

Through the eight episodes, Edwin and Charles battle all manner of beasties and horrors, including a family stuck in a time-loop that forces them to relive their painful deaths over and over again, a siren song calling all to jump off a lighthouse, a toothy mushroom, a giant fish called Angie, a ginormous snake, a creeping forest and handsome Monty (Joshua Colley) who happens to be Esther’s familiar, and a crow. Crystal, while trying to get her memories back, helps the boys. Niko sets up Jenny with the local librarian, Maxine (Lindsey Gort), which unfortunately but predictably ends badly.

Amidst all the action, ribbing and fabulous monsters, there are genuinely touching moments as the teenagers, adults, immortals, a walrus and cats figure out their divine purpose and sexuality. Dead Boy Detectives is beautifully shot — the giant eyeballs and the endless staircase into hell are scorching. The different animation styles to tell the walrus and Esther’s stories is a brilliant touch.

The writing is sharp and the cast is easy on the eye. Dead Boy Detectives is a joyride in so many happy ways as even Night Nurse realises when she sits with the man in the fish who gives her a ring and very good advice. With shooting for more episodes (it is not called Season 2) of The Sandmanunderway, including one called Season of Mists, the story arc where Edwin and Charles make their first appearance, the story of stories and the world of Dream, is set for a fabulous expansion. Now fingers crossed that the series does not get cancelled!

Dead Boy Detectives is currently streaming on Netflix