Dead Boy Detectives (HBO Max)

That was great, right off the bat.

I was kind of annoyed that the show wasn't gonna be in continuity with Doom Patrol. But it possibly being in continuity with The Sandman is far cooler.

I think some people had some problems with Kirby's casting as Death on The Sandman, but having an adult actress means they can use her for seasons on end and never have to recast.

That witch Esther was a very unusual personality which made her both fun and scary.

The talking cat bit is still great.

I love the opening title.

Speaking of which, as far as openings go, that was delightful. 4 1/2 stars.

Ester and Monty's scene at the end was great.

I love the Cat King.

The Dandelion Sprites are both vulgar and hilarious. Great surprise reveal there.

I also dug the shopkeeper Mick (who used to be a mighty walrus).

Niko has joined the team! I'm with Edwin in finding her utterly charming. I loved her asking Crystal if she was insane.

I love that Crystal is disgusted one of Edwin's questions was about female hysteria. Certainly a man of his time.

Edwin seems to be denying his gayness. But if he weren't gay, the Cat King wouldn't bother him at all.

Fun. 4 stars.

The murder was too gruesome for me, but I like that even though this is a streaming show that drops all 8 episodes at once, each episode is still a "Case Of The Week".

The Dandelion Sprites continue to be hilarious.

I really disliked how violent and horrible the underlying crime was, but the show is still solid, and everything else works. 3 1/2 stars.

Confirmed. Edwin has an unrequited crush on Charles.

I have to say the fact that Niko is so infantilized makes me uncomfortable now. It's charming at first, but as it goes on the racial implications are not great. We'll see how it goes. 3 1/2 stars.

I loved the last scene with Edwin and Monty. I loved it because a lesser show would have had Edwin basically USE Monty as a surrogate for his true love as some of sort of lame triangle. He's honest instead. I love that. It's a great moment. I have to say a ship between him and Charles is not a good thing for me, because Charles is hetero, and regardless of what shippers think, writers should never randomly change a character's orientation for shipping. Maybe considering this is a new show I am giving too much weight to Charles heterosexuality, but as a rule, that makes me uncomfortable.

Speaking of which, as great as the last scene was, the episode is getting a failing grade for the Maxine stuff. I hate it because it's horrible things happening for the sake of being horrible. That's bad. That's a storytelling failing. There is nothing about that plotline that remotely felt good or satisfying. Even horror can feel that way for a viewer if done right (there is a great deal of catharsis involved in the horror genre) but this was just nihilism and creepiness for the sake of it.

I was thinking less of Charles for making excuses for those two guys but it turns out he has legit psychological reasons for doing it. I don't love him for it but I get it on some level.

The first episode I didn't really like. 2 stars.

The action set-piece at the end with Ester and Crystal was pleasingly elaborate.

I also love the old man in the fish without any trauma. The Night Nurse seemed to have her perspective changed by him. That was a great last scene.

Monty's fate was predictable. If he were truly evil, it wouldn't have been. But it was the right fate anyways.

I don't understand why if she lost her powers, Crystal can still see the boys. The show seems to know there is no plausible explanation for this because they want us not to notice it. If there WAS an explanation possible, they'd tell us.

Not loving the stuff with Jenny and Niko because Niko is acting like an infant who demands to be forgiven. I do like that Jenny refuses to (at least for now) but the Maxine plot sucked and this is all totally unnecessary. I firmly believe that.

It was solid otherwise. 4 stars.

Good stuff. Satisfying stuff. I especially like how cool Charles was with Edwin's confession. If they were worse friends, maybe it would be weird.

I thought it was interesting that Edwin's forgiveness opened the door to Heaven for Simon. I don't know if I felt it was deserved, but it felt narratively nice.

Night Nurse learning no good deed goes unpunished.

If there are future seasons this obviously isn't the end of David, but this was a good place to take him off the gameboard for now.

I'm wondering if after all this, Jenny will be able to see ghosts now. Wouldn't surprise me.

Eating the memories at the end felt right too. That's how it's done. It's both literal and metaphorical and Gets The Point Across.

Poor Mick. Esther COULD have potentially bribed his help by suggesting that when she got all that power she'd turn him back into a walrus, but Esther is not a bad guy who EVER uses carrots. Good thing too. She might actually win if she were smart enough to do that.

Great penultimate episode to the season. Very satisfied. 4 1/2 stars.

Esther is a very, VERY good villain. I love Crystal going over her head and tattling to Lilith. Because that's the right answer.

I love that her origin story is Disney Animation. But not feature film Disney Animation. Disney TV animation.

The new status quo at the end was rewarding, and what we had been wanting (and building towards) all season. The boys are free. Yay!

Redemption for the Monty Crow. Good.

The cliffhanger suggests Niko is getting a mulligan if there is a second season. The death was teased all season, but the 8-Ball's "Outlook not so good" doesn't exactly feel definite either.

I am not surprised Crystal was a horrible person, and I like that it's Jenny's decision to keep her memories that teaches her it's the right move. Hopefully the series more fully explores that for a lot of people, being a good person is down to actions, not thoughts. If you have dark thoughts, you can still choose to do good. Evil is not intrinsic. It is ultimately a choice that everybody has to make. If Crystal getting her memories back turns her into a bad person, it's because she decided to be. She can get the memories back and choose to be good. That is my suggestion for season 2 (if Netflix doesn't cancel this).

Although let me ask you this: If Crystal were an IRREDEEMABLY horrible person, would her little ghost girl friend have gone to Edwin and Charles when she sensed something wrong in the Pilot? I don't think her being horrible is the full picture. If she's horrible, she's not ALL horrible.

One last thing: I've watched all 8 episodes, and to be blunt, it's disappointing they went for a TV-MA sensibility. Not only could this show have flown on Netflix's Lucifer's TV-14 rating, they probably could have done BROADCAST TV-14 while losing nothing in translation. This would have been a perfect show for teens, and it strikes me as foolish only gearing it toward adults. I felt the same way about Torchwood, but luckily this show is still good while Torchwood was awful.

Very impressive first season. Good binge there. 5 stars.