How do you figure you would spend an afterlife? For Edwin and Charles in Dead Boy Detectives, it is doing some detective work and helping other ghosts with unfinished business cross over and rest in peace.
That is the basic premise of Dead Boy Detectives, a young adult fantasy show on Netflix. The show is the second one in The Sandman universe. Based on the comics by Neil Gaiman, the live-action series follows dead boys Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) as they work on cases, get into relationships, and fight enemies.
Dead Boy Detectives makes for a great watch because it has all the good things that make someone invested in a show.
In this article, we discuss why you should give it a chance. After you’re done, you won’t feel like you’ve wasted your time.
I. It’s Very Gay
This would be reason enough to watch, but Dead Boy Detectives does gay spectacularly. It comes as no surprise, given that Gaiman has given us some of the best shows with gay and queer characters of the past five years. The Sandman features several eclectic gay characters, and they are not relegated to the background.
From American Gods to Good Omens and The Sandman, Gaiman’s works have proven time and time again that they get inclusivity at a level deeper than other works.
The show features a gay main protagonist. Edwin is one half of the Dead Boy Detectives agency. He is the brains of the operation, leading the charge after escaping hell.
Throughout the series, Edwin — who died in 1916 — learns to let go of his inhibitions arising from internalized homophobia when he meets two boys who show him different sides of being gay.
Tokenism is not a thing in the show. It boasts several gay and queer characters, from Monty (Joshua Colley), who is smitten with Edwin, to The Cat King (Lukas Gage), who wants to devour Edwin alive. A lesbian character is also featured prominently.
You find yourself right there with Edwin as he discovers who he is and what he wants for himself.
Edwin’s true love, however, lies in Charles, a boy he struck a friendship with when Charles met an untimely death.
Edwin admits his love for Charles — who, as far as anyone knows, is very much straight — but the confession doesn’t take the direction we commonly see. There are no homophobic comebacks, no disgust, and no physical harm. Well, unless they hang around hell for much longer.
It is a refreshing portrayal of friendship between two characters with different sexualities.
II. It’s Entertaining
Dead Boy Detectives doesn’t borrow much from our world. The series creates a world of its own by building rules and logic. Yet still, there’s something relatably human in the stories, especially when dealing with mortality.
The detectives work on cases of other ghosts who have not found peace in death.
This gives the show a procedural element that promises inexhaustible stories. These side stories offer an opportunity to develop the characters and their dynamics.
The show balances humor, action, and character development, never losing sight of any one. Don’t expect loud humor, but situational humor is prevalent and marries well with the stories being told.
An overarching arc connects the stories. In Dead Boy Detectives, there are several arcs. From Edwin confronting his feelings for Charles to fighting an evil witch while running away from death, there is a lot to be invested in, with each arc raising the stakes.
Have you ever felt like you would go to war for characters in a TV show?
Dead Boy Detectives will multiply these feelings because all the leads are likable. A level of innocence maintained throughout makes you root for the characters. As they triumph through their struggles or slay the latest monster, it warms the heart to see them do it together.
III. We Need a Second Season
Even with all these praiseworthy attributes, Dead Boy Detectives is struggling on Netflix. Despite having an established fanbase, the show is not pulling the numbers needed to secure a renewal. In the first four days of availability, the show amassed 3.1 million views, a small number by Netflix standards.
Part of the reason is that Netflix has become notorious for canceling shows in their first season before they even find an audience, leading to potential audience members not giving a show a chance until other people have watched it. But who’s going to then?
Even if Dead Boy Detectives does not secure a second season, it is good enough to be worth watching.