DISCLAIMER: This recap of Dead Boy Detectives Season 1 Episode 2, “The Case of the Dandelion Shrine,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Episode two, “The Case of the Dandelion Shrine,” properly introduces us to Niko, Crystal’s adorable next-door neighbor. Seriously, she’s a ray of sunshine personified. We must protect her at all costs. Anyway, this outing is an improvement from the pilot and, thankfully, doesn’t move at a breakneck pace like the former. We dig deeper into these characters and learn more about their idiosyncrasies. It’s a fun episode that leans into the show’s inherently quirky nature. It doesn’t feel like it’s trying quite as hard to be “weird,” which is good. (The writing for Jenny is still a bit off for me, though.)
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The Sexy Cat King
We open with Charles (Jayden Revri), Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Crystal (Kassius Nelson) attempting to leave Port Townsend, Washington. They run into the talking cat from the previous episode, who informs Edwin that he must pay for the crime of entrapping a feline with a binding spell. We see an army of pretty kitties behind him. They lead our trio to the Cat King (Lukas Gage), who transforms into a human. Only the Cat King is capable of transmogrification (and being hot).
The Cat King pulls Edwin aside to deliver his punishment privately. He dons a sexy robe and flirts heavily with Edwin. Edwin has clearly spent his life and afterlife suppressing his sexuality. He appears taken with the Cat King. CK slaps a cat-themed metal bracelet on Edwin’s wrist, revealing it’s a caging spell. Edwin can’t leave Port Townsend—not by boat, car, train or plane, and especially not via mirrors. He’s stuck. CK will only allow Edwin to leave once he satisfies the feline monarch.
However, CK is willing to make some concessions. If Edwin can count all the cats in town, he can leave. Suddenly, Edwin returns to Charles and Crystal, who reveal he’s been gone for hours. Edwin insists it’s only been minutes. Time moves differently in Cat Land.
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Tragic Mick’s and Nosebleeds
Later, Edwin bangs his wrist against a pillar in Crystal’s room, hoping it’ll break the bracelet. Jenny (Briana Cuoco), fed up with the incessant banging, bursts into Crystal’s room to scold her. She makes a John Hughes reference that feels out of place. Does Gen Z (as a collective) know who he is?
After Jenny leaves, Crystal and Edwin start bickering again. The ghost mailman from the agency arrives in Crystal’s room with mail. Charles picks up a business card for “Tragic Mick’s Magic Tricks and Items.” Perhaps the proprietor there can help Edwin remove the bracelet and break the caging spell.
At the same time, Crystal emerges from the bathroom and finds Niko (Yuyu Kitamura) on the other side. Crystal sees the same odd display swirling around Niko’s head — animated butterflies, celestial icons and magical creatures in a neon pink/purple hue. Suddenly, Niko faints. Crystal sees her nose is bleeding.
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Paperweights and Immortal Enemies
Later, our titular dead boy detectives explore Tragic Mick’s shop. They chat with Mick (Michael Beach), who examines Edwin’s bracelet. He reveals that only the spellcaster can remove it. We learn Mick is a cursed walrus who boasts a human disguise. They ask him if he has anything else that might work. Mick hands them a jar with a miniature beach inside it. It’s a Port Townsend tourist gift that makes a great paperweight and emits ocean sounds thanks to magic.
After Edwin and Charles depart, Esther (Jenn Lyon) emerges. Mick acknowledges her, revealing he forgot she was shopping. Esther is frustrated to discover that her new enemies are stuck in town.
The Case of the Dandelion Shrine
Next, Jenny calls a doctor to examine Niko, who’s unconscious in her bed. Once he leaves, Jenny asks Crystal to keep an eye on Niko while she opens the butcher shop. Edwin and Charles return from Mick’s establishment. Crystal touches Niko’s hand to explore her mind, encountering explosions of neon pink, blue and purple clouds. It’s intense enough to send Crystal flying across the room. Side note: I think it’s interesting that Crystal can grab Charles and Edwin’s hands even though ghosts can’t feel, taste or smell anything.
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Edwin wants to take on Niko’s case. He asks Charles to search for his books in their office. Charles travels there via a mirror. Edwin stands on the other side of the mirror in the agency with his wrist bearing the bracelet back in Port Townsend. He’s stretched across continents right now. Meanwhile, Crystal searches Niko’s room for hints of who she is and what’s wrong with her. Niko wakes up and asks her to leave. She runs into her bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Crystal asks her questions that Edwin has pre-approved. (Of course, one of them inquires about Niko’s family history of “women prone to hysteria.”) Niko admits she has fainted and suffered nosebleeds more than once. Elsewhere, Edwin instructs Charles to find a different book, which turns out to be the one they want. It talks of dandelion sprites that cause colorful secretions and weaken the host. Oh, and it all leads to an imminent explosion. Uh-oh.
Grief Is a Beast
Meanwhile, Crystal and Niko exchange stories while the latter remains in the bathroom. Crystal admits she has no memory of her family and wishes she had her parents to help her find her parents. Niko reveals her father passed away, and the letters on her desk are from her mother. She hasn’t answered her mom yet. Grief is a beast.
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Once Niko returns from the bathroom, our boys come back with the book. They inform Crystal that Niko will explode if they don’t expel the dandelion sprites. Niko notices Crystal talking to seemingly no one. Crystal claims she’s chatting with her invisible friends, omitting that they’re ghosts. Crystal asks Niko questions on behalf of Edwin and Charles. Did Niko wander through a wooded area recently? Niko reveals she was in the woods. Then, she says she recalls seeing a shrine. Bingo!
Charles pulls Edwin aside, telling him that if the dandelion sprites came from a shrine, there might be a glyph or relic they can utilize to subdue them. Suddenly, Niko rises from her bed and wanders out the door in a trance. Crystal follows her. Niko marches into the crowded butcher shop, enthralling the patrons and Jenny alike. Crystal closes her eyes to avoid the same fate. She grabs Niko and ushers her back to her room.
Lost and Found
Later, we revisit the Afterlife Lost & Found Department. Night Nurse (Ruth Connell) learns about Charles and Edwin. Charles died in 1989 from hypothermia and internal bleeding. His afterlife assignment is pending. Edwin perished in 1916 as a ritual sacrifice. He was initially assigned to Hell, but he escaped in 1989. Edwin fled Hell the same year Charles died. That can’t be a coincidence.
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Night Nurse orders her team to begin filing paperwork before they hunt down the errant ghosts. After all, it’s their job to tend to all the child ghosts and assign them to their respective afterlife realms. Meanwhile, Charles and Edwin walk through the woods, looking for the dandelion sprites’ shrine. Edwin attempts to count whatever cats he sees, although Charles believes he saw a different type of creature in the woods.
Edwin admits that Crystal isn’t that bad—she’s just willful, combative and stubborn. Charles points out that she’s the female version of Edwin, which is why Charles likes her so much. Aw. Suddenly, our boys stumble upon a shrine. Various skeletons surround it, and dandelions grow out of the bones. Runes adorn the rim of said shrine.
Behold the Sprites
Meanwhile, Crystal tries to wipe blood from Niko’s nose. Under the influence of the dandelion sprites inside her, Niko grabs Crystal’s wrist. They order Crystal to “behold” them. We see bright pink light emanate from Niko’s eyes and mouth.
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Next, Charles encourages Edwin to decipher the runes on the shrine with their handy-dandy lexicographical lenses. He reads, “These small gods require sacrifices.” Dandelion sprites feed on the attention of others. “Only this shrine’s enchanted vessel can contain the sprites,” Edwin continues. Charles spots a white vase at the base of the shrine. He grabs it as the skeletons surrounding it come to life. Charles drops the vase in shock, breaking it. Before the boys flee, Charles snatches up the sacrifices from the now-broken vase.
Later, Jenny checks in with Crystal, wondering what’s up with her. Can she keep Niko upstairs and away from Jenny’s customers? Charles and Edwin return at that moment. A distracted Crystal glances at them, confusing Jenny, who obviously can’t see the ghosts.
Finding a Solution
Crystal tells Niko the truth about Charles and Edwin, revealing they’re ghosts. Oh, and she has dandelion sprites inside her that want to burst her open like a piñata. Charles finds an alternative to the shrine vase for housing the sprites—the “paperweight” jar from Tragic Mick’s shop.
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Suddenly, Niko starts convulsing on her bed. Crystal gives the sprites an offer they can’t refuse: herself. She offers herself so the sprites will leave Niko alone. They’re hungry, and Niko can’t sate their appetites. However, Crystal is a psychic medium. That means they can feast on the living and the dead.
Sure enough, it works, and the sprites—Litty (Caitlin Reilly) and Kingham (Max Jenkins)—emerge from an unconscious Niko’s mouth. They make a break for Crystal, but Charles catches them in the jar.
Litty and Kingham flip off Edwin and Charles, incensed that our titular detectives entrapped them in a jar. Well, at least Charles sprinkled the sacrifices from the original shrine vase into said jar to make it feel more like home.
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Colorful Secretions No More
Then, Niko wakes, emerging from the bathroom with bleach-blonde hair. It’s a product of having dandelion sprites living inside you. Oh, and now she can see Charles and Edwin because she had a near-death experience. The quartet throws a sweater over the sprites to keep them quiet before heading to the shrine to torch the dandelions to ensure they can’t possess anyone else again.
The ghost mailman appears again to reveal the agency has an influx of new case requests. Charles and Edwin see a line of ghosts outside the butcher shop as the spirits of the dead wait their turn to have the Dead Boy Detective Agency Plus a Psychic resolve their unfinished business.
Meanwhile, Esther throws ingredients together and casts a spell to turn her crow, Monty, into a human. It works — Monty (Joshua Colley) rises like a phoenix from the ashes. He’s a real boy now! Esther has plans to wreak havoc on her new enemies.
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Dead Boy Detectives Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
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