This article contains spoilers for Dead Boy Detectives episode 3, "The Case of the Devlin House". Dead Boy Detectives is a Netflix supernatural horror-comedy series (part of The Sandman universe) revolving around the titular detective agency set up by two ghostly best mates, Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri).
The boys have attracted a lot of attention from other spirits looking for their help. Whilst most of them don't have any worthwhile cases, one recently deceased citizen, Susan Kessler, recruits their help in exploring the house where her sister and nieces were murdered 30 years ago... as Susan heard screaming inside when she went to check on the home just after she passed away. Here's a full recap of Dead Boy Detectives episode 3.
Too many troubled souls
With Niko now on board, Charles and Edwin begin interviewing prospective ghosts. For some reason, Port Townsend is home to a ton of troubled souls; Edwin blames the explosion of ghosts on overpopulation. As there are so many people around these days, the afterlife people struggle to keep track of them in death. Most of the ghosts' woes don't interest the detectives... until Susan Kessler sits down with them. She introduces them to the Devlin family murders; 30 years ago, her brother-in-law snapped and murdered his family one evening, before taking his own life in the same evening.
Ed's reluctant to take the case initially as it's got no obvious supernatural edge. However, when Susan explains that she couldn't bring herself to set foot inside the house but believes there's something still inside. When she passed away recently, Susan finally went over to check it out but didn't, as she heard screaming coming from inside. Susan just wants to know that her relatives are at peace, or for the boys to help them move on.
With Crystal also needing to pay rent literally tomorrow, they take Susan's case. First off, they look into the family history; Crystal and Charles head to the butcher's store to speak to Jenny (since she's been in Port Townsend her whole life), whilst Ed takes Niko with him to the local library.
Collectively, the gang learns that the father, Brandon, killed his entire family with an axe. There were rumors his wife was having an affair. Worse, there are plans to tear the Devlin house down, very soon. Charles and Crystal are surprised when Esther picks up an order from the store; she taunts them about having made a deal for immortality with a goddess called Lilith (the giant woman Crystal saw inside Esther's mind).
As they are leaving the library, Monty (Esther's crow-turned-young man) bumps into Ed. He tells Niko he can see Ed because he also had a near-death experience. Niko can tell Monty's clearly flirting with Ed as he offers to give him an astrology reading at some point; Niko immediately tells Monty where they live. In the afterlife, the Night Nurse pays a visit to "The Notary", to request permission to go to Earth, but she's refused as she doesn't have a specific-enough location.
That evening, after sharing their findings, Charles, Crystal and Edwin head over to the Devlin House. Outside, they see that the house will be demolished the following day. As some of the Cat King's friends spy on them through the window, the trio enter the house, confused that they can hear music outside.
The Devlin disaster
Inside the house, they encounter the ghosts of the Devlins and watch the horrifying murders take place (thankfully, we don't see anything too grisly). They can't interact with Brandon, or any of the others. The events continue to replay before their eyes, on a loop, leading Edwin to bring up the "Stone Tape Theory" to the others. He posits the murders have been replaying over and over in this house since the night they took place in 1994, and, per the theory, this was such an emotionally traumatic event that it left a psychic imprint on the house, preventing the ghosts from ever moving on.
Worse, if they can't find a way to break the loop before the house is destroyed, the victims will never be able to move on, as they'll simply be erased from existence, with no closure. That means they have to find the trigger for what starts the loop so they can break it, and fast. The activating event seems to be Brandon finding a letter from Hudson, so the gang assume it's a love letter, because of the rumors about the affair.
Whilst searching for it, Crystal hears a growling noise in the vents. When she finds Charles, he reveals he'd flicked through one of the daughter's diaries, documenting Brandon's controlling and abusive behavior. He tells Crystal that his father was abusive to him, which is seemingly why he's finding the case challenging.
Ed calls the pair into the master bedroom. He's found a letter of acceptance from Hudson university. Brandon didn't snap because his wife was having an affair, the think that incited him to murder was the threat that one of his daughters would be out of his sphere of influence. Crystal destroys the letter, but this is soon revealed to not be the trigger after all. There has to be another trigger, and they have to find it, fast.
Whilst discussing potential next steps, Charles grows frustrated and decides to try and intervene in the loop physically, brandishing his cricket bat and swinging for Brandon. This is disastrous; in a flash, Brandon's spirit attacks him, throws Charles across the room and then carries out the murders as the loop plays out yet again. But this time, Crystal and Edwin can't rouse or move Charles. And when the loop ends and the Devlins disappear... so does Charles.
Crystal reasons that Charles emotional reaction to Brandon's actions was enough to imprint him onto the loop. Edwin's not willing to accept that Charles would have kept something from him, and they (unsurprisingly) bicker again. Crystal explodes, complaining that she can't think straight because of everything that's going on, including the same song segment that's playing with the loop. Ed suddenly has a stroke of genius: the song could be the trigger!
Breaking the cycle
The pair rush upstairs and watch where Brandon points the remote control which turns the volume up at the start of the time loop. Together, they shove aside a bookcase, finding a hidden cupboard stuffed with CCTV equipment that Brandon must have been using to document everyone's movements in the home, alongside a stereo system. Crystal asks if the loop could imprint onto something other than the walls... like the VHS tape for the surveillance cameras.
Ed stops her from destroying the tape outright (this could have the same effect of destroying the house, and they can't risk losing Charles, either). Crystal then suggests they try replacing the images on the tape, by recording over it. Ed's completely unfamiliar with modern tech, so it's down to Crystal to fix things.
The only problem is that the noises she'd been hearing were the grunts of a Misery Wraith, a creature that feeds on pain, which has conveniently crawled into this hidden room. Ed tells her to think happy thoughts so she doesn't attract the creature's attention while working. And it's at this precise moment that David the demon summons her mentally back to his domain. He tries to bargain with her, promising to destroy the wraith in exchange for being allowed to repossess her. Crystal resists; prompting David to try to make her think of negative thoughts, like all the criminal stuff they got up to together. Crystal asks why the demon made her do those things, but he says he did no such thing.
Edwin can overhear this conversation from Crystal's mouth while he wrestles with the technology and records fresh footage on the tape. He does so, and manages to evade the wraith and trap it in the room, rousing Crystal from her stupor just in time so she can help move the sideboard back into place and block the exit in the master bedroom.
Downstairs, Charles reappears, and the ghosts of Brandon's family celebrate the loop being broken. Brandon, meanwhile, runs upstairs, seemingly terrified of Charles. The trio flee the property as they can't be around when Death claims the souls; outside, they see flashes of color as she sends the ghosts to the afterlife, with Brandon's journey sounding decidedly more painful, given what he had done.
They head back towards town and run into Niko. She'd decided to sit the case out, but the dandelion spirits (who are living in the enchanted jar in her room) berated her into running after her friends to help them through the night. Reunited, they head back home... finding Monty outside their new base of operations.
Monty said he wanted to carry out the reading he promised Edwin, and since he didn't get Edwin's phone number (turns out a ghost from decades ago doesn't carry an iPhone), he had to wait outside his house to meet him. Crystal ushers the others inside away from the two, and I swear Charles gave a look of jealousy towards Edwin and Monty.
Across the street, two cats proclaim that their king isn't going to like Edwin's new connection, but Esther Smith shoos them away, before smiling as she sees Monty's infiltrated the group. And in the afterlife, a worker collars Night Nurse with an exciting update. The daughters from the Devlin house have now arrived in the afterlife. Gleefully, Night Nurse asks them to tell them all about how the two boys and their living friend saved them. Looks like Charles and Edwin are about to have even more problems in Port Townsend...
Dead Boy Detectives is now streaming exclusively on Netflix. And if you're looking for more shows to enjoy, check out our round-up of the best shows on Netflix.
