Originally intended for (HBO) Max, DC’s Dead Boy Detectives have now emerged on Netflix as a spin-off of the streamer’s Sandman adaptation, bringing the characters’ debut in Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner’s “The Sandman” #25 full circle. The first episode does a speedy job of introducing us to titular British ghosts Edwin Paine (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), and their new American friend, medium Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson, and not, y’know, the area in South London), as they investigate a girl’s disappearance in the States.
1. Breezy, Spooky Fun
This comment is going to come off a little ironically, given how the boys’ debut in “The Sandman” was essentially a set-up for their solo adventures, but it’s so refreshing how the show begins with them in the climax of their current case, James Bond or Indiana Jones-style, instead of frontloading the first episode with their backstory. Now in fairness to Sherlock, that show didn’t begin with Holmes’s origin, just his first meeting with Watson, and likewise this episode chronicles the boys befriending Crystal, but it was still a case of feeling like they had to start from the beginning. Here, showrunners Steve Yockey & Beth Schwartz and co. clearly felt, “No, the audience doesn’t need to know that much about these two ghost boys at first, let’s just hit the ground running and fill in the details later,” and it’s great.
2. Charles Got a Makeover
Granted, both Edwin and Charles are older than their comics counterparts, but there was a clear decision made to differentiate the two further by playing up Charles’s nature as the brawn to Edwin’s brains, and the ’80/90s time period he’s from, by styling him as an androgynous punk. Revri’s heritage (he has explained he’s Indian, Jamaican, and English) is also explicitly acknowledged with the poignant shot of Charles’s parents, still alive and peacefully retired, unaware their late son hasn’t been reincarnated or gone to Heaven, which was also a very smart way to reflect how even the ethnic make-up of public schools has changed over the years. This change benefits Edwin too, ensuring the young Sherlock vibe Rexstrew brings to him remains unique.
3. A New Spin on Possession
When Crystal starts being haunted again by David (David Iacono), the demon who possessed her and stole her memories, my first thought was he’s essentially an evil ex-boyfriend, who can’t let go of her, something that made his dialogue about still wanting to be inside her even more gross and creepy. I’m surprised they decided to make the subtext text, with the revelation that he fooled her into believing he was simply a cute human boy, but I guess it drove the point across, that we should see Crystal’s possession as being an especially serious violation.
Similarly, it was intriguing to see her fight with David be perceived by those unaware of the supernatural as being a psychotic episode; since Biblical passages about demonic possession can be easily interpreted as 1st century descriptions of bad mental health, schizophrenia, disassociative identity disorder etc., perhaps in this universe, it’s the flipside, and those are literally demonic attacks? I would guess so.
4. OK, Who Here is Actually Straight?
This episode firmly establishes Crystal as being bi, with her pretty much falling in love with her new neighbor, Niko Saski (Yuyu Kitamura), at first sight. (So much for the boys worrying she might be a serial killer.) However, there’s a pretty strong implication about Edwin during the flashback revealing why he was dragged to Hell, when he gets flustered by the boy (Gabriel Drake) who later sacrifices him for being a “Mary Ann,” a homophobic slur at the time. Not to mention, Sherlock Holmes’s sexuality has been a common subject of speculation, and Edwin seemed pretty jealous of Charles’s affection for Crystal, so coupled with the boys being older on the show, perhaps we really are watching an LGBT version of the character.
5. Death!
The show plays its Sandman connection card early, with Kirby Howell-Baptiste (credited mononymously here as just Kirby) reprising the role of Death at the end of the cold open. It’s interesting to see her as someone the boys are afraid of being taken away by, and to see her apparently have her own subordinates (eg. Lucien/ne) like the Night Nurse (Ruth Connell), who’s alerted to their whereabouts after Charles’s rash decision to possess the witch Esther (Jenn Lyon).
Continued belowHowever, my main takeaway after seeing Howell-Baptiste as Death again was being reminded of just how beautiful she is in the role: she had me experiencing slight waterworks again, watching her comfort the WW1 soldier before sending him on his way, and it’s so strange, criminal even, that this is only her second appearance in the role. I would love to see more Sandman spin-offs produced, especially animated ones, but you better believe I want Kirby to star in an adaptation of the two “Death” miniseries Gaiman did with Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham more than anything else. Let The Sandman Universe truly commence!
Bonus Thoughts:
– Briana Cuoco’s casting as Crystal’s landlord, Jenny the Butcher, is an interesting coincidence given co-showrunner Steve Yockey developed The Flight Attendant, which starred her sister Kaley. Incidentally, this is Briana’s second DC role, following Barbara Gordon on Harley Quinn, also starring her sister.
– It’s hard to explain why, but Blake Neely and Murat Selcuk’s score sometimes resembles the opening of Charli XCX’s “Vroom Vroom,” which is appropriate, given she’s a fairly punk British South Asian.
– The talking cat demonstrates why it was a really good idea to incorporate ‘Dream of a Thousand Cats’ into the bonus episode of The Sandman‘s first season.
– Imagine if Crystal Palace were a sentient place like Danny the Street, it would’ve been cool, but totally untenable (and unfaithful to the comics.)
– Hehe, “twots.”
This was a lot of fun, and I’m eager to get a start on the rest of the series, which I’ll cover in our Boomb Tube column. Until then, keep an eye out for the other hidden cast-offs of the world.
