DISCLAIMER: This recap of Dead Boy Detectives Season 1 Episode 5, “The Case of the Two Dead Dragons,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Episode five, “The Case of the Two Dead Dragons,” delivers a heaping helping of wonderful character development, especially for our three leads, while addressing crucial topics like victim blaming, assault and toxic masculinity. Pacing-wise, it never lags, moving rather quickly from beginning to end. That (usually) works to the show’s advantage, especially with only eight episodes to tell this story. The Jenny/Maxine plot could’ve been handled better, though. That’s where the mile-a-minute pacing works against the overall narrative.
The Case of the Two Dead Dragons
We open with Crystal (Kassius Nelson) having a nightmare about David the Demon (David Iacono) being awful and Charles (Jayden Revri) taking swings at the Night Nurse. She screams herself awake, sending Charles and Edwin (George Rexstrew) running. After Edwin gives Crystal and Charles space, Crystal sets healthy boundaries. She believes they should put a relationship on the back burner for now. They must focus on their respective healing journeys. Charles agrees.
Meanwhile, Edwin reads the astrology book Monty lent him outside the butcher shop. Two ghosts, Brad (Burkely Duffield) and Hunter (Jude Wilson), approach Edwin from behind. They ask if he can help solve their murders. Later, while chatting with Charles, Crystal and Edwin, we learn the late teen boys were baseball stars at their school. They had just won the championship and were accepted into college. Our trio agrees to take on their case.
Secret Admirer Identified
Elsewhere, Niko (Yuyu Kitamura) sees one person in a heavy coat with a silk scarf concealing their hair and oversized sunglasses approaching a mailbox. This person holds a letter addressed to Jenny. It’s her secret admirer! Niko follows them to the library, where she sees it’s none other than Maxine (Lindsey Gort). Niko tells Maxine they need to discuss Jenny Green, which makes Maxine nervous.
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Then, while waiting for Crystal to change, Charles divulges his makeout session with Crystal. Charles admits he didn’t feel anything physically, but he did feel it mentally. Niko later overhears them talking about Brad and Hunter, revealing that their deaths took Port Townsend by storm. They even hosted a “sad parade.” Niko bows out on this investigation, stating she has her own case.
We hear Litty (Caitlin Reilly) and Kingham (Max Jenkins), the dandelion sprites in Niko’s room, offer their insult-laced two cents. Crystal believes they should drown the sprites, but Niko insists their vitriol is harmless. When Niko returns to her room, she warns the sprites to pipe down because her friends legitimately want to kill them.
Don’t Fall in Love With the Enemy
Meanwhile, Esther (Jenn Lyon) prepares her ultimate revenge against our heroes. Monty (Joshua Colley) reveals that wooing Edwin has been challenging. Right now, he’s on a case. Esther orders him to try harder and not to develop feelings for Edwin. We hear rattling from the cabinet where Esther houses the massive snake and the children she steals. She’s hungry!
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Later, Brad and Hunter bring our trio to the “Dragon Den,” their outdoor hangout. The boys pay them in cash and condoms, as you do. They point to where the authorities found their bodies. Charles asks if they saw or heard anything unusual before passing. Both boys mention a “dead” tree with multiple eyes and branches like hands.
What transpires next is Edwin donning his human disguise to question students at the local high school alongside Crystal. Everyone they interviewed, including Brad’s ex, Maren (Mya Lowe), had nothing but glowing praise for the late teens. Then, someone dressed in a dragon mascot costume urges Crystal to talk to “Twitchy Ritchie” to get the real truth about the deceased jocks. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
Meat Cute
Meanwhile, Niko tells Jenny (Briana Cuoco) that she knows the identity of the latter’s secret admirer. Oh, and she’s orchestrated a date for them that evening—a “meat cute,” if you will. Jenny looks nervous. At the same time, Crystal questions Ritchie (Harrison Houde) about Hunter and Brad. He claims they weren’t so nice, especially to girls.
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When Ritchie starts giving Crystal sh*t regarding her interest in their murders, Charles and Edwin decide to spook him with some ghostly tricks. Terrified, Ritchie believes Crystal might be a witch. However, he lets it all spill, stating that another of Brad’s exes, Shelby, committed suicide a month after he and Hunter died. That can’t be a coincidence.
Then, we see Niko decorating the butcher shop with adorable pink and red embellishments. Maxine appears with wine and flowers for her date with Jenny. Jenny asks if Maxine enjoys murder docs, to which Maxine responds that they help her relax. Aw. They’re like those black and pink houses in Santa Monica.
Shelby’s Story
Later, our intrepid detectives summon Shelby to ask about Brad and Hunter. Edwin reveals that summoning a ghost who committed suicide is a delicate act. Humans can’t be nearby, and “subtle” isn’t a word Edwin would use to describe Charles of late. After Crystal and Charles put some distance between them and Shelby’s grave, Edwin rings a silver bell three times and knocks on Shelby’s tombstone three times.
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Shelby (Sarah Desjardins) materializes on her grave. We’ve got a mini Yellowjackets reunion with Mya Lowe and Sarah Desjardins. How cute. Anyway, Edwin introduces himself to Shelby while Brad and Hunter ask Charles about the case. Have they made progress? However, they see Edwin chatting with Shelby. They approach her, which sends her into a state of unadulterated rage. She levitates while screaming at the boys, sending them fleeing in the other direction.
Next, Shelby tells Edwin, Charles and Crystal that she was a bona fide track star with sponsorships and a university career on the horizon. However, Brad and Hunter gave her GHB in a bid to “loosen her up.” She failed a drug test and lost everything. Then, Brad broke up with her. Neither he nor Hunter seemed remorseful.
Victim Blaming
Afterward, Charles questions the veracity of Shelby’s story. After all, they heard all this praise from several people. Crystal reminds him that Brad and Hunter’s actions drove Shelby to suicide. This is textbook victim blaming, and it sucks. Believe victims.
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Maren calls Crystal, claiming she knows who killed the boys. Meanwhile, Jenny and Maxine’s date is going swimmingly. Our trio arrives at Maren’s house, where she tells Crystal that Ritchie despised Brad for getting him addicted to drugs. She invites Crystal inside for gin. What teenager drinks gin? They should be slamming Mike’s Hard Lemonade and cheap beer.
So, the boys investigate Maren’s room after getting bad vibes from her. They notice the same tree Brad and Hunter described outside Maren’s window—a “dead” tree covered in “eyes.” Then, they find a small safe behind Maren’s dresser. It contains their phones. Initially, Ritchie told Crystal that Brad and Hunter’s phones weren’t on the scene. Hmm.
What Really Happened
Realizing Maren plans to poison Crystal with the gin, Edwin and Charles stop her from taking a drink. Maren orders her to drink the alcohol. Then, Crystal places a hand on Maren’s leg, where she sees what happened. Apparently, Brad sent nudes of Maren to Hunter and others. In a rage, Maren tore photos of Brad off her wall. Then, she saw a bottle of eye drops on the floor. She puts said eye drops in Brad and Hunter’s beers.
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Then, the boys died in Maren’s room, looking out the window at the creepy eye tree. After that, Maren called Ritchie to help her move the bodies to their Dragon Den. Crystal’s vision ends, and Maren apologizes for trying to kill her. It’s clear she feels remorse for murdering Brad and Hunter, too. Later that evening, Crystal emerges from a police station. She states her shock that Maren turned herself in. A squad car is currently picking up Ritchie.
Next, Charles apologizes to Crystal for being an a-hole and not believing Shelby’s story. Edwin and Charles leave to tell Brad and Hunter that they’ve identified their murderer, while Crystal decides to sit that out. Meanwhile, Jenny and Maxine’s meat cute is going well. They move closer together. Maxine asks if she can kiss Jenny, and the pair share a smooch. Unfortunately, Maxine turns out to be a creep. She tells Jenny how she sometimes peers into Jenny’s room and watches what the latter is watching.
Head on a Spike
Jenny, rightfully terrified, asks Maxine to leave. Maxine’s demeanor takes a turn for the worse as she refuses to end the date. She whips out a knife (they are in a butcher shop, after all) and threatens Jenny. Jenny runs and hides while Maxine stalks her, knife in hand, continuing to threaten her. When she finds Jenny, she slips on the floor and falls onto what looks like a railroad spike or a skewer. It pierces her head from temple to temple. Aw, I was hoping for a cute love story to bloom here.
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Meanwhile, Charles and Edwin break the news of the murderer to Brad and Hunter. Brad and Hunter accuse our ghosts with the most of victim blaming when they don’t condone the boys’ actions. Suddenly, what looks like the dead tree with eyes bursts through the ground to grab Brad and Hunter and pull them under. At the same time, Charles and Edwin hide in the Mary Poppins backpack.
After that, Charles admits to Edwin that he questioned whether he was turning into his father or Brad and Hunter after experiencing so much rage for so long. Edwin reassures him that bad people don’t question whether they’re bad. I love this journey for Charles. We seldom see anything like it on TV. It’s one of child abuse, trauma, grief, toxic masculinity and healing, performed with grace and nuance by Jayden Revri.
The Aftermath
As Charles and Edwin embrace, the latter appears to have a revelation. Elsewhere, Crystal and Niko arrive at the butcher shop to see the bloody Maxine display. They sit on the curb with Jenny outside the shop while the police take care of business. Niko apologizes for not knowing who Maxine truly was — that she was Jenny’s stalker. One officer asks to speak with Jenny and Niko.
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Next, David the Demon pulls Crystal away to continue demanding he get full control of her. He won’t leave her alone until she gives in. After this interaction, she sees Charles next to her on the curb. He embraces her as she tearfully admits she doesn’t know how to keep David out of her head. He’s relentless.
Later, Monty and Edwin sit on a swing set in a park. (Or the middle of nowhere? The setting is oppressively spooky.) Edwin claims they can’t see each other anymore. His feelings have grown too complicated. Monty kisses him, which surprises Edwin. He shares that he always thought he couldn’t discuss his feelings. Monty assumes Edwin’s talking about him, but he’s clearly referring to his feelings for Charles. Monty looks crestfallen as two cats watch from afar, their eyes glowing.
Will the Charles/Edwin ship set sail by the season’s end? Sure, Charles likes Crystal, but you can have feelings for more than one person. Only time will tell…
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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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