- Title: Dead Boy Detectives – The Case of Crystal Palace
- IMDb: link
Would I have preferred Netflix make good on their promise of a Hunter Rose Grendel show? Of course (who wouldn’t other than apparently Netflix CEO Greg Peters?), but getting an adaptation of a comic by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner isn’t a bad consolation prize. Confirming that it is set in the same universe as Netflix’s The Sandman, the first episode of Dead Boy Detectives introduces us to the supernatural detectives who also happen to be dead. The status quo of Edwin Paine (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri) in dealing only with ghostly clients is thrown into disarray by psychic medium Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson) who sticks around after the pair help with her demonic possession.
The odd pairing works well as Charles is immediately taken with Crystal who eventually convinces the less agreeable Edwin to let her stick around and even take a case on the other side of the Atlantic concerning a young girl (Takaya Kelly) kidnapped by a witch (Jenn Lyon). The opening episode is strong setting up some of the rules of the universe simultaneously providing its share of both action and character moments (and also pointing out how Crystal being the only one seeing the boys is going to be problematic for talking with them in public).
The series feels fresh with a fun mix of humor, horror, and action. We also get teases to larger pieces of the puzzle in Charles taking drastic action alerts the Afterlife’s Lost and Found Department to the location of the two wayward souls. I’m hoping this aspect of the show doesn’t too quickly overshadow things as I would like to see the trio get to solve a few more cases before the focus of the series gets a big shakeup. Also, points for the puntastic character name of Crystal Palace.
