This article contains spoilers for Dead Boy Detectives episode 1, "The Case of Crystal Palace". Dead Boy Detectives is a Netflix supernatural horror-comedy series (part of The Sandman universe) revolving around the titular detective agency set up by two ghostly best mates, Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri).
The pair are teenagers were born decades apart and who only formed a friendship in death, and they've decided to remain behind on Earth (much to the afterlife's annoyance) to solve supernatural mysteries.
In Dead Boy Detectives' first episode, the pair are called upon by the ghost of a young girl. She wants George and Edwin to investigate what's going on with their friend, a clairvoyant woman called Crystal Palace who has suddenly begun exhibiting some seriously strange behavior. Drawing on their experience with all things supernatural, the pair quickly assume the worst: demonic possession. Here's what happened in Dead Boy Detectives episode 1.
A new client
The series opens with Charles and Edwin mid-case, being chased through London by the mad spirit of a soldier. They'd been recruited to investigate a new World War One exhibit by the spirit of a nurse who had decided to stay on Earth in death, helping other spirits pass on. This ghost was still attached to a gas mask in the display. The soldier spirit continues to chase them through the streets and hopping through mirrors; the pair resolve to lead it back through a mirror and into their own office, as Charles had forgotten to pack a crucial fire spell into his bottomless backpack.
The pair continue to mirror-hop and lead the spirit back to the agency. There, Charles starts to wrestle with the spirit. In the brawl, Charles cuts the mask free and throws it to Ed, who burns it, finally placating the lost soul. With the ghost stilled, Edwin and Charles float outside, hiding on the other side of the wall as Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste, reprising the role from The Sandman) helps the soldier move on to the afterlife. They don't want to cross paths with her for fear Death will force them to move on, too.
After she departs, the pair soon welcome in a new client to the Dead Boy Detective Agency. The spirit of a young girl recruits them to help Crystal, a clairvoyant and friend of hers. After the spirit explains Crystal's suddenly started behaving strangely, our duo realizes she's been a victim of demonic possession.
The pair devises a plan to evict the demonic presence. Disguised as everyday commuters, they ambush Crystal on the London Underground; Charles grapples Crystal from behind, allowing Edwin to sketch the necessary runes on the train floor. After a scrap, Crystal steps into the magic circle. The world spins upside down as the demon tries to flee, but Ed throws a blanket covered in runes over the top to finish the ritual.
With the demon (who's called David) evicted, Crystal sits up from the circle, disorientated but free of David's hold. The pair take her back to their office... though it's clear Edwin isn't a fan of keeping her around. Charles is a lot more sympathetic to Crystal's predicament, and he takes her out for a walk around London whilst she's recovering; when they return, the ghost postman who delivers potential cases arrives.
Heading to America
Charles tells Edwin he has invited Crystal to stay with them for the foreseeable future, at least until her memories are back. Edwin is, predictably, unhappy, though Charles suggests her powers could be useful in future cases. Whilst they chat, Crystal digs through the mail. Seeing a missing poster for a young girl called Becky Aspen, she's struck by a vision of the girl trapped in a void, with a giant snake slithering by. After a brief disagreement over their next course of action, the group resolves to save her and head to Port Townsend.
After settling into a room above a butcher shop, the three start looking for info. Disguised as two US officers, Ed and Charles talk to Becky's parents, retracing the girl's steps. Crystal hides nearby, tapping into their minds with her powers for more info. She learns that the police have Becky's shoes, and Crystal believes she can trace her by tapping into their energy.
Edwin easily retrieves them by mirror-hopping in and out of a police station in a flash, though he got a bit of a burn on his hand by being careless around the lock-up bars (iron is harmful to ghosts). Crystal "reads" the shoes, and they lead them to the front porch of a nearby home. As Charles scopes it out from a distance, Edwin tries to interrogate a cat for info; the cat reveals it is a witch's house, and this fills our detectives with dread.
The three pull up to a diner to discuss their next steps. Since Crystal's the only one who can see Ed and Charles, to the rest of the community, it just looks like Crystal's talking to herself. Under all the attention, she walks to the bathroom. Inside, the lights flare, and she finds herself transported... somewhere.
Here, Crystal's confronted by David the Demon. Crystal realizes David stole her memories. David says her powers make her special, and he is desperate to repossess her (though he can't do this unless Crystal willingly allows it to happen, since he was already exorcised). Charles manages to rouse Crystal from this experience... and she realizes she's been having this argument, out loud, in the real diner, with the other patrons all watching on in shock.
Edwin's past
There's more bickering, chiefly because Crystal's frustrated that Edwin keeps talking about her as if she's not around. Charles tells him he has to remember what Crystal's going through; Edwin, furious, reminds him that he is the one who spent 70 years in hell before they started the agency.
We see a flashback to 1916. Edwin is attending a boarding school. Whilst asleep in his dormitory, he is stolen from his bed by a group of lads who tie him up and prank him by pretending to use him as a sacrifice in a ritual to summon a demon. Problem is, that the ritual works, and the demon deals with the captors and then steals Edwin away seeing as he was, after all, a sacrifice.
Back in the present, Crystal heads back to her room. She vents at Jenny, and Charles appears at her side, overhearing the rant. Charles takes her to a mirror and uses it to show her he's been keeping an eye on his still-living parents; if she's sticking around, he says she's got to open up about what happened to her. So, Crystal does just that, revealing she was charmed by David at first; she eventually knew he was a demon, and still allowed him to take hold.
Edwin returns at that moment, furious at what she's revealed. She says David still manipulated her, and that he wouldn't leave her body. When they chase after him, downstairs in the store, Edwin finally explains why he's been so mad.
He thinks Crystal thinks this job is fun, but it means more to Edwin. No one ever tried to find out what happened to him, or Charles when they died. They solve cases no one else can and they matter, deeply. Crystal, however, still wants to help, and they think up a rescue plan.
Finding Becky
Their research reveals the witch to be Esther Smith, a woman obsessed with youth who snatches young girls to sap their vitality away. The following morning, the trio stake out her property. Once she leaves, Charles and Edwin search the premises. Crystal's banned from coming along, as witches are that dangerous.
Inside, the duo finds a hidden compartment ina kitchen cupboard that leads to a magical void. Edwin decides to try going in and some magical force drags him in and pins him to the ground, which is littered with bones and boots. Inside, he finds Becky (thankfully, she's still alive). Charles Charles throws down a rope and then his bottomless backpack so Edwin can stash Becky inside and both can escape, with Charles pulling them up from the kitchen.
Outside, Crystal spots her watch acting up and approaches the house... where Esther Smith blocks her way. A scrap ensues; Esther bats the ghosts aside with her iron cane, but Crystal distracts her by briefly peering inside the witch's mind. To get the upper hand, Charles betrays a golden rule of the agency; he possesses Esther. Ed and Charles never possess the living, as it sets off all kinds of alarm bells in the afterlife.
Esther forces him out of her body by smacking her head against a post and ominously says they've unleashed some serious trouble by peering into her mind. However, she heads inside the house and lets them leave, with Becky in tow. After their ordeal, the trio drops Becky off at home and Crystal influences her mind so the girl never thinks about Esther's house ever again. Meanwhile, alarm bells start ringing in the Afterlife's Lost & Found department. The possession of Esther Smith was noticed... and their departmental head wants Charles and Edwin captured, pronto.
Dead Boy Detectives is now streaming exclusively on Netflix. For more top shows to stream, check out our round-up of the best Netflix shows that we think you should be watching right now.
