Dead Boy Detectives is here! If you are a ghost and have problems with a paranormal entity, our favorite gang is here to help you! However, despite the fun premise, as the series develops we discover that the show is much more than that and deals with really serious topics with the importance they deserve. Ready?
Here we go!
WARNING! SPOILERS OF DEAD BOY DETECTIVES SEASON 1 AHEAD
Paralyzing Fear in Dead Boy Detectives
In a show that aims to be an ensemble, if you don’t have charismatic leaders and a team that connects with the audience at first glance you have nothing…and Dead Boy Detectives has it.
Edwin, Charles, Crystal, and Niko show their lights and shadows throughout the show and keep you glued to the screen, while the connection – or lack thereof – between the main characters makes you can’t stop watching.
Throughout all the episodes of Dead Boy Detectives, we witness the development of all the characters and their background, which makes us understand more about their actions and decisions.
Edwin is one of the characters who manages to connect the most with the audience. The time in which he was born was a much more repressed one, with many more rules and in which being who he is was considered a shame. So this is how he sees himself and, along with the shock of his murder and subsequent suffering in hell, we find ourselves looking at a tortured man.
In Dead Boy Detectives, Edwin is ashamed of what he feels, of who he is, and he tortures himself for it, repressing his true feelings for Charles, so that fear rules his entire life. Fear of Charles’ reaction to his homosexuality, fear of losing him, fear of Charles despising him, fear of feeling, fear of living.
“You’re My Mate”
Edwin doesn’t live, he just survives and Charles is the only person for whom he feels that staying there, continuing fighting, is worth it. They both have a special connection beyond friendship. It’s not exactly love, but Edwin can live with it, he can settle for this. That’s why he becomes defensive when he feels that his position in Charles’s life is threatened by Crystal.
In reality, it was never like that. Yes, Charles played around with the possibility that he and Crystal could be a thing and there was something between them, something that could have been and wasn’t but was definitely real. However, Edwin occupies a place in Charles’s life and heart that no one can replace. Their lives became inevitably intertwined when they saved each other in that attic.
Edwin is the only person Charles would walk through hell for – literally. Edwin is his mate and Charles still hasn’t figured out what that means, he hadn’t even thought about it, but it’s definitely something… and it’s much more than friendship.
It’s beautiful to see in Dead Boy Detectives Edwin’s evolution from a shy boy, ashamed of himself and his lack of experience, to one with the courage to say what he feels, even if the other person doesn’t reciprocate.
It’s precious to experience the first times of him and how Edwin dares to explore that part of himself that he always tried to repress. We guess we have the Cat King and a deceptive crow to thank (wink, wink).
The Sadness that Hides a Smile in Dead Boy Detectives
As for Charles, he is like a child with an eternal smile. But they say that behind a big smile, the greatest pain is usually hidden. And so it is with Charles. His life was as violent as his death. Charles only received blows and beatings when where he should have received love, support, and understanding.
This is a trauma that he failed to heal before his murder and it finally comes to light. As Dead Boy Detectives shows us, pain is something that unites him and Edwin in a way that neither is yet ready to explore. That’s why they set up the agency, that’s why they dedicate themselves to lost cases, to cases that don’t interest anyone because they know what it’s like to feel helpless and not be able to turn to anyone for help.
Charles, in a similar way to Edwin, tries to repress the pain of memories and the truth of his past. So when Crystal pushes him beyond the roses and easy jokes, he becomes defensive and treats her coldly. But running away from the past never works.
When running away doesn’t work this time, when the core of his trauma plays out over and over again before his eyes, Charles finds himself weaponless in Dead Boy Detectives. He has no choice but to face the violence with which he lived and that hurts like hell but it’s the first step to healing.
That said, we would have liked the show to explore this part, this very important step for Charles, a lot more because we felt like there wasn’t much time for it in the end. Let’s hope we get a season 2 so we can explore it!
The Force of the Past
Crystal is a key character in Dead Boy Detectives. David takes everything from her, including her memories, forcing her to start from scratch and discover herself.
And she meets a free, frank person who can’t help but begin to have feelings for Charles while she feels a reluctant affection for Edwin – their fights are epic but the best thing is the way they end up getting each other’s backs.
However, Crystal is afraid. In Dead Boy Detectives, she can face ghosts, demons, scary witches, and cats that are more than they seem…but she fears facing David and the person she was when she was with him, more than anything, she fears the temptation to be that person again.
David takes advantage of Crystal’s fear and her vulnerability. Every time he talks to her, he manages to take her into her territory and make her feel small. Until Crystal discovers her incredible inner strength. That’s when she summons all her courage to beat David at her own game. And we enjoyed one of the most empowering moments of Dead Boy Detectives!
Running Away as a Solution in Dead Boy Detectives
Crystal has a fierceness worthy of a force of nature in her own right but one final event comes to shake her entire world. When she finally manages to recover all of her memories, Crystal discovers that she is a different person than the one she became after losing her memories. And that puts her in conflict.
Crystal can’t help but wonder how long it will be until she falls back into her old habits and hurts her best friends, her second family, and the people who have become so important to her.
So she decides to flee preemptively. But as with Charles, running away from the past never works. However, Crystal does have things to do in London…and we’re glad that at the end of Dead Boy Detectives the whole gang gets together for whatever awaits them there.
Supporting Characters & Villains
Niko is the most special character in Dead Boy Detectives and, at the same time, she is the least developed of the entire gang. We barely scratch the surface when it comes to her background and lack of relationship with her father.
Don’t get us wrong, we love seeing her together with Edwin, helping the gang with whatever they need, being as cheerful as only she is, and building a fragile friendship with our favorite butcher, but we need to know a lot more about her. Especially after that ending. Where is she now? In limbo? Niko has to come back! And we need to find out the whole story about her.
The gang and their emotional conflicts are surrounded by awesome supporting characters who, with their interconnected stories, give that magical touch that makes Dead Boy Detectives an even more interesting and rounded show. They are chef’s kiss and left us eager to know more!
Dead Boy Detectives are now streaming on Netflix.
