It’s been about a week since the Dead Boy Detectives debuted on Netflix and it took me quite a while to digest how I felt about this show. So far, I’ve only watched the first two episodes and half of the third, so this review will stick mainly to those episodes.

Starting With The End…Or Beginning

One of the things I noticed immediately about the show was the timing of it. It’s chaotic and a bit all over the place. At first, this really stressed me out because I felt like there was way too much going on and they really don’t do a good job of explaining anything at all. After sitting with this I realized this follows the manga pretty closely (I mean the one from 2005). It’s chaotic and weird and you go in assuming you know the story of the boys already. From what I’ve watched so far, they’ve eluded to their deaths, but it doesn’t seem like Charles’ follows what actually happens? I don’t know and I’m probably being picky, but knowing what happened to them and knowing how absolutely tragic their deaths were is a really big part of the story and the detective agency in the first place.

Another thing I noticed is that this feels very… Riverdale like? The tone of the show is off, feeling more slapstick and goofy than gloomy. It’s disjointed and weird; moving really really fast in some parts and then slowing down drastically in others. After the absolutely perfect adaptation of Sandman, I was really taken back by how different this felt from what I remembered from the comics. I know Charles is always girl crazy and I know that the boys tend to banter back and forth a lot in a fun and enjoyable way, but this felt different. I also absolutely HATE those weird pixy things in Niko’s head. The CG is also absolutely terrible… Don’t get me started.

Ok But What Do I Like About Dead Boy Detectives

DEAD BOY DETECTIVES. George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne in episode 2 of DEAD BOY DETECTIVES. Cr. Ed Araquel/Netflix © 2023

It takes a lot for me to remove myself from the fact I loved the original source material so much, and I’m going to keep harping on the fact that Sandman was a perfect work of art, but I’ll give the show its flowers. I immediately cried when Death came on the screen, she’s perfect. I am BEGGING Netflix to adapt At Death’s Door because I think that’d be a really enjoyable story to follow. Anyway, that encounter was wonderful and showed the boys running from Death and sort of explained that was part of the entire shtick of who they are.

I like Crystal and Niko a lot. Seeing Crystal as a medium is a really cool addition to her character. Edwin and Charles are great too, but it’s weird they’re so much older than they are in the comics. That might be another reason why this feels more like a Riverdale adaptation. In the comics, they’re 12 and 13 years old, not 17 or however old they are here.

So…Go Or No Go?

I think go? I’m going to keep watching it. Maybe I’ll have a better opinion afterward? Right now, I guess check out episode one and see if it vibes with you. Don’t go in with any assumptions on it like I did and maybe you’ll enjoy it a lot more. I seem to be in the minority of not enjoying it, which is really weird for me.

Stick around for my review of the full show, hopefully coming within the next few weeks, and follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our newsletter!