Dead Boy Detectives was one of the series that came up while I had the Netflix home screen on. I didn’t realise at that point that it was set in the same universe as The Sandman, but I was definitely intrigued by the initial clip that I saw.

I definitely enjoyed the interactions between Charles and Edwin throughout this series. Right from the start, it was obvious they were close friends; and I particularly enjoyed the whole concept of two dead teenagers solving cases involving spirits and curses and the like.

The first episode was particularly engaging, with Edwin and Charles having taken on a case involving a ghost attached to a gas mask. I thought the episode worked really well as an introduction to the main characters and their abilities. I also got to see Death appear in the same incarnation as The Sandman…which was awesome, because I really like that version of Death.

This episode also worked as a good introduction to Crystal Palace, who quickly becomes an integral part of the Dead Boy Detective Agency. I was a little confused by the ghost of the little girl who claimed to be such good friends with Crystal…but disappeared for the rest of the series. I would have liked a bit more information about who she was and what her connection to Crystal was.

I really liked learning more about Charles’ past, even though it was traumatising and made me sad to learn how he’d ultimately died. I really thought that the interactions between him and Edwin in the past, before he actually died, were really moving and sad.

I loved Ruth Connell’s role as the Night Nurse in this series. She came across as a fairly typical antagonist, but after she was trapped inside the anglerfish, I felt she went through quite a bit of character development. However, I still didn’t like the whole purpose of her job. Effectively, she said that she needed to make sure dead children stayed where they were. Considering Edwin was dragged to Hell (and tortured) on a technicality, I thought that forcing the spirits to stay where they’d been placed was actually pretty cruel. But it meant that their insistence on staying together and not being separated made a lot of sense, given their afterlifes would probably be different.

I thought that the Dandelion Sprites who were possessing/attacking Niko were a pretty nice touch, although given that they were immortal beings, their choice of language was kind of…well, they were definitely foul-mouthed little immortal beings. But they were a lot of fun.

I also really liked Jenny as a character, though I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She was cleary trying to be a good landlord, but ended up getting pulled into the whole supernatural…and unlike Niko, I really thought that her reaction towards the end of season one, where she finds out everything, was actually pretty realistic. Of course, Niko came across as being more open-minded in general, given her very calm reaction to Crystal telling her about her friends (Charles and Edwin). I did really like that Niko developed the ability to see them, but it did seem like an awful lot of people in the series had that ability.

Okay, so let’s talk about the cats. Anyone who knows me knows that I love cats. They’re pretty much my favourite animals (although dogs are a very close second). I loved that cats played a big part in the series…though I have to admit, I wasn’t that keen on the Cat King as a character at first. He gave off very trickster-like vibes, and I thought he was going to be a more evil character than he actually was. I definitely would have liked to see more interactions between the Cat King and Edwin.

Esther was an interesting antaganist, although she came across a little over the top. I found it a bit hard to take her seriously at times and while there was a bit more of her background explored in the final episode, it wasn’t really enough to make her one of the ‘good’ vilains (i.e., someone I can identify with/understand).

Another crossover character with the Sandman was Despair, who appeared briefly with her sibling, Desire, in the Sandman. I liked being able to see her in Hell…or at least a dimension that allowed her to see into Hell. I was intrigued by her interaction with Edwin, and would like to see a bit more of the two of them interacting with each other in the next season.

All told, I really did enjoy watching this series. I binge-watched it over a weekend and was completely drawn in. I loved Edwin and Charles as characters and I really liked most of the supporting characters. The mystery about Crystal’s missing memories was engaging, and I really liked the fact that her abilities didn’t just mean that the cases were easy to solve. They all still had to work on it…especially with the case involving the groundhog day style murders. That was traumatising to see as a viewer, let alone to actively be there watching it.

If you watched and enjoyed the Sandman, then I think you’ll enjoy watching this. And if you haven’t seen the Sandman, then you don’t really need to have in order to enjoy this series. I highly recommend it!