Dead Boy Detectives

I wrote this review a few weeks back, when I finished the season - but now that the show has been cancelled I thought I'd rework it slightly and post it here.

I liked Netflix's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" and that was enough for me to overcome general distaste with the rather twee title and give this series a chance. I'm glad I did as, whilst not quite matching up to the main event, this was pretty good stuff.

Two ghosts, Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) manage to successfully, though not entirely, exorcise a demon from Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson). Crystal has lost all her memories but has gained a psychic power to 'read' items and people. Together the three travel to Washington, to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, which puts them at odds with a witch, Esther Finch (Jenn Lyon). Their investigation methods also lead to them popping up on the afterlife's radar and Night Nurse (Ruth Connell) begins an investigation.

Whilst the series name is not particularly promising, proposing a whimsy that doesn't really match the series often dark tone I did end up liking the series. It helps that the main cast quickly overcome the potential clichés of their roles and settle into being a likable team. Jenn Lyon makes Esther Finch a fun, but clearly vile, big bad for the season. The first episode is a bit of a muddle, with too much happening but it settles down after that into a plot that's similar to the sort of dark Y-A fiction that's popular on Netflix, like "Wednesday" for example. Unlike that show though, "Dead Boy Detectives" is a little harder, in terms of the violence sure but certainly with the swearing.

You never quite know which way Netflix is going to go with a renewal, but it does feel like there's other stories that could be told in this world and that's without crossing over into "The Sandman" any more than they have already. I'd certainly have liked more.

After reading all the reviews comparing this to Lockwood, I wouldnt base your enjoyment of this series on these comparisons. I also think there's some attachment bias when they state Lockwood is better. It was first, and they're probably a little aggravated, understandably so, that their series was cancelled and Dead Boy isn't filling the gap of unfinished business or story completion they're yearning for. And I agree. Cancelling good series is frustrating.

They can be forgiven for making the comparison, since at the very base the comparison is tempting due to the ghost theme and the makeup of the team. But the similarities end there.

Dead Boy Detectives (dbd) is fantasy based. Witches, faeries, elementals, gods, etc Lockwood is more horror / ghost focused.

Dead Boy is current day, mystery focused. Detectives rather than investigators Lockwood is more dystopian future focused. They're more agents fighting a war than detectives. I would argue that there are plenty of movies that do Lockwood theme. It's not at all unique.

Dead boy is more light hearted Lockwood focuses more on tense scenes and dread.

Dead boy characters are more likeable. I really haven't grown to like any of the Lockwood main characters. And I find the acting in Lockwood can frequently be a bit stilted. Not terrible, but just enough to give the edge to Dead Boy on acting/directing. It's more fluid, and the characters that come across as stilted, feel purposefully directed that way as part of their character awkwardness. I also find Lockwood really stretches to justify doing the work at night when if all they have to do is locate the source, would be much more reasonable during the day.

All in all, I dont really find these series similar at all other than the paranormal theme and trio of characters. And even then, there's massive differences.

This is a solid show taking attributes from many other shows of a similar ilk, particularly supernatural with the loop episode etc and then Rowena turns up, despite this if you like this sort of thing it is relatively light hearted and good to watch and the female lead is excellent.

The idea seem a bit muddled in the sense that it is dark in parts but then lightened by comedy or goofiness they could have potentially made it more scary and lore based and I think it would have been a beer watch as at the moment the first season appears to be driven towards teens and as a 40 year old supernatural fan there is definitely a gap in the market so I hope they can build on the first season !

I loved this show but it sucks to know that I barely knew about it less than 5 months ago when the teaser trailer came out on youtube. I hope this show will get more steam and hope people will want to watch it. Because I thought it was scary and funny at the same time. Neil Gaiman and Netflix make a great team. The humor and the music in this show really made a true show.

I also did not realize that the actress from another paranormal show called Supernatural was it this show. It was good to see Ruth Connell in this show. I thought her character was a clever one. She played it so well.

I hope this show gets another season because it was spooky and funny at the same time. And I loved the music also.

Please omg this show is so refreshing, like I don't usually write review for any show BUT damn whoever made this is a genius. It's so fresh and fast, there's no boring moment. I hope there will be a season 2 cause I am genuinely attached to the characters I wanna see more of it.

I not just need season 2, we need more than 2 seasons cause it has so much potential to be a proper detective series. I love the acting I love how every guy is handsome/cute in this show as well as women are gorgeous. I really hope they continue the series cause I'm hooked and already excited to see the characters again.