EP’s ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ in season 2, whether Niko is dead

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the entire first season of “Dead Boy Detectives,” now streaming on Netflix.

The Dead Boy Detectives may have closed the case of Port Townsend, but they won’t jump back through the looking glass into jolly old London, the same guys they once were.

In the season 1 finale of Netflix’s adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s comic books “Dead Boy Detectives,” Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) find themselves in the well-manicured clutches of the witch Esther (Jenn Lyon), who is determined when bottling the youthful elixir she brews from the pain that clings to Edwin’s soul from his decades of torture in hell. Annoying witches, always trying to steal childhood traumas for their skin care routine.

But with the help of Crystal (Kassius Nelson), who has restored her rather unwelcome memories of a terrible person, and Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), the sweetest soul to ever exist, the Dead Boys are able to defeat Esther by hunting her down. to chat. to Lilith, the goddess of unjust women and blood magic –– and the person who had given Esther her immortality. She revokes that gift after Crystal shows Lilith that Esther used it to kill children to stay young. But Esther’s death doesn’t come soon enough, as Niko becomes her final victim in the battle to save Edwin –– or so it seems (more on that later).

Towards the end of the episode, Edwin and Charles, along with Crystal and Jenny (Briana Cuoco), whose butcher’s shop was set ablaze by Esther, return to London and find the Night Nurse (Ruth Connell) on their doorstep. finally ready to send them to the afterlife. But the head of the Afterlife Lost & Found department determines that they are doing a good job on Earth by solving the cases that no one else can, so they are granted immunity to remain on this side of the light together with one condition: the Night Nurse will be their new overseer, reporting on their usefulness to those in power.

How Edwin will respond to the increasingly crowded Dead Boy Detective Agency offices is a question that is already tantalizing executive producers and co-showrunners Steve Yockey and Beth Schwartz about the possibilities of season 2, should Netflix greenlight it.

“I will say that it’s hard enough to get Edwin to accept someone new in Crystal, and it only took over the course of the season for that to happen reluctantly,” Yockey says. Variety. “But seeing them face a whole new group of people and dynamics will be a lot of fun, I think.”

Schwartz adds: “Things will be different in London. They have grown so much and learned so much about themselves this season that future seasons will inevitably change the way they are used to doing things.”

Considering the sting at the end of the season finale, is it possible that Niko could reunite with the agency in season 2? The brief scene shows a figure who certainly looks like Niko with her parasitic Sprites (Caitlin Reilly, Max Jenkins) huddled in an igloo, hinting that the soapstone polar bear she got from Tragic Mick (Michael Beach) may have been pocket-sized . saving grace. But Yockey and Schwartz won’t admit what the scene means, choosing instead to praise Niko’s bravery in her “last” fight.

“The moment she dies is when she is at her bravest, and that is to save her friends,” Yockey says. “I will say that wherever Niko is, she will have a very long journey to get back to her family.”

Perhaps no one is more heartbroken over Niko’s alleged death than the guarded Edwin. But overall, Port Townsend did wonders for the sheltered Victorian-era teenager, who took his first steps toward embracing the queer identity and sexuality he had to suppress in his own time. For better or worse, this personal growth was partially initiated by his encounters with and capture by the Cat King (Lukas Gage). Yockey knows Gage’s performance will likely raise a lot of hope for Edwin and the Cat King’s potential romantic future, but he wants to remind everyone not to confuse attention with good-natured affection.

“I will say, if we can make more, I believe you haven’t seen the last of the Cat King,” Yockey says. “But honestly, he is an opponent. He’s a predator. It’s great that you love him, and it’s great that some people in our writers room think he’s magical. And Lukas is certainly charming and delightful in that role. But he eventually forcibly imprisons Edwin in a Pacific Northwest town and then attempts several times to blackmail him into affection.

As convincing as the Cat King is in luring Edwin and the audience, Schwartz confirms that he is not suited for Edwin’s journey for now. “Lukas’ performance is so charming that you forget all those things, but for Edwin, who is just discovering his own identity and sexuality, that was not where we wanted him to have his first experiences.”

Instead, it’s worth noting that he shared his first kiss with Monty (Joshua Colley), the anthropomorphic crow that Esther conjured up to distract Edwin (RIP, human Monty).

Ultimately, the real love story of the show is and has always been the friendship between Edwin and Charles. After Charles rescues him from the depths of Hell in episode 7, Edwin confesses that he is in love with his best friend, to which Charles assures him that although the romantic feelings are not mutual, there is no one he loves more than Edwin.

Yockey smiles at the mere mention of the tension between the Dead Boys’ will-they-or-won’t-they, because he says it was never on the table.

“For me it was important that we don’t want to provoke any kind of yes/no,” he says. “That moment in episode 7 is much more about Edwin saying something out loud that allows him to be completely himself around his best friend – and his best friend receiving it the way a true best friend should. And let him know, “You are loved.”

Now that the bromance is alive and well, the Dead Boys need each other to face the undoubtedly greater dangers that lurk in the world around them – even beyond the giant mushrooms, killing loops and the vast unknown of the afterlife that they have already encountered. The series was originally set up at Max (then HBO Max), where the DC Studios library is located. However, Yockey and Schwartz were legally prohibited from using the characters from “The Sandman,” another DC Vertigo comic by Gaiman in which the Dead Boys made their debut, as it was adapted by Netflix. When the show did get shuffled to Netflix, they suddenly had “The Sandman” universe of gods and monsters at their fingertips. But they only had two requests: Death (played by Kirby) and Despair (Donna Preston).

Charles and Edwin hide from Death in the opening scene of the premiere, their last attempt to avoid being whisked away to what comes after life. Kirby was initially not in the scene when the film was first shot in 2022. They only showed Death’s signature blue light and wing to avoid any legal issues. But once approved by Gaiman, the cameo was the last to be filmed for the first season. Meanwhile, Despair makes a brief appearance in Edwin’s journey to Hell in episode 7, solemnly peering through the mirrors of eternity. But there’s more to that story, Schwartz teases.

“Obviously Despair is now connected to Edwin, so it would be fun to find out where that goes after they meet,” she says.

Now that the show is officially part of Netflix’s ‘The Sandman’ universe, Yockey says a second season would be a good time to bring in Desire (Mason Alexander Park), who could be a tempting figure to cast for the Dead Boys to appear. they build relationships that go beyond their friendship.

Besides ‘Sandman’, their wish list for season 2 is longer than Esther’s kill list. Also, says Schwartz, there are more cases in London and more animated sequences, following the gruesomely fun origin story portion of the finale for Esther, which was done by Warner Bros. Animation.

“The best part of this show is that it’s limitless,” says Schwartz. “Ghosts, creatures – we could do it all!”

But Yockey has something more specific and festive that he would like to do if the show gets the chance.

“It would be nice to do a Christmas special,” he says. “You know, one of those British-style Christmas specials with the Dead Boys and all their different traditions. So everyone needs to start telling Netflix that that’s what people want!”