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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
May 9, 2024     Shelton Mason County Journal
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Page 16 Shelton-Mason County Journal Thursday, May 9, 2024 ’Dead Boy Detectives’ misses details, but still fun 1 looks like liorks wont be the only corner ofthe Ulym~ pic Peninsula to gain fame from a supernatural entertain— ment trz'inchise, given the criti— cal and audience acclaim that Netiiix’s “Dead Boy l7)etr;:ctives” have garnered since all eight episodes of their first season began streaming,r April 25. The original “Dead Boy De- tectives” were co-created by writer Neil Gaiman for his DC Comics V ertigo imprint series, “The Sandman,” and just as Netfiix began adapting that 75-issue, 1989-96 comic book title with an ll-episode first season in 2022, so too have its youthful deceased sleuths, Charles Rowland and Edwin Payne,just become part ofNet-— flix’s “Sandman” shared on- screen universe. More locally significant, just as the “Twilight” vampire fan— tasy franchise started by Ste- phenie Meyer put the town of Forks on the map of pop culture consciousness, so too did Nettlix elect to set the first season of its “Dead Boy Detectives” stream- ing series in Port Townsend. Those who live and work in Port Townsend will quickly spot that the series was not filmed in their hometown. Shooting took place in the city of Lang- ley, a municipality in the Metro Vancouver Regional District of British Columbia, although the show’s frequently mist-shrouded cinematography at least makes an effort to conceal the fact that, by population alone, Langley IN THE DARKWBEVIEWS is three times the size of Port Town send’s 10,000 inhabitants. In its fidelity to its comic book source material and its os— tensible real-world geographical setting, “Dead Boy Detectives” is most enjoyable if you don’t think about it too hard. As TV adaptations of Gaiman go, it’s closer to the glossy but frivolous “Lucifer” than to the operatic and contemplative “Sandman,” but some touches make me wonder whether its divergences from the real-life Port Townsend might be intended as inside jokes for those who know the town. For example, its fourth episode, “The Case of the Light- house Leapers,” features the cinematic concept of people feel- ing compelled to plummet to their deaths from atop the Point No Point Lighthouse. This is fittineg Nautical Gothic for a series that’s essen— tially a collection ofliteral ghost stories, except that anyone who’s seen the Point No Point Lighthouse knows that, while Studious Edwin (George Rexstrew), psychic Crystal (Kassius Nelson), temporarily fairy— possessed Niko (Yuyu Kitamura) and impulsive Charles (Jayden Revri) visit the Point No Point Lighthouse (or rather, British Columbia’s nearest approximation of it) in Netflix’s “Dead Boy Detectives.” Courtesy photo taking a tumble over its top rail- ing could result in an amlmlance ride, it’s still low enough to the ground that one could conceiv- ably walk otf such a fall. Likewise, in its fifth episode, “The Case of the Two Dead Dragons,” no mention is made ofthe Chimacum, Quilcene or Brinndn school districts, but ap- parently, in Nettlix’s “Sandman” universe, Port Townsend itself is big enough to warrant two rival high schools, one ofwhich we’re told is located in “North Port Townsend,” which is every bit as absurd as “South Detroit” in Journey’s “Don’t Stop Be— lievin’,” for the same geographi— cal reasons. These nitpicks make it sound like I harbor a much harsher opinion of“Dead Boy Detec- tives” than the show warrants, because while it falls into the all-too—familiar pattern of using coastal Canada to substitute for Washington, on the grounds they share climate and geog— raphy, Langley’s urban back- drop comes closer than most generic Canadian locates would to capturng something of Port Townsend’s well-preserved Vic- tori an seaport character. Moreover, the curio shop stocked with magical artifacts owned by “Tragic Mick” (Mi- chael Beach), a former walrus cursed to live as a human, feels like it would fit right in on Wa- ter Street in downtown Port Townsend, as would the Tongue and Tail butcher shop’s setup of apartments for rent above its storefront, even ifbutcher shop owner Jenny (Briana Cuoco) is a bit overly aggro for a community as low—key as PT. Perhaps more importantly, after “Twilight” used the damp climate of the state’s coasts and rainforests to justify its washed-out-looking maudlin melodrama, “Dead Boy Detec- tives” tilts the scales in the 0p- posite direction, by drawing from Gaiman’s juxtapositions of antiquated myth with con- temporary culture, in ways that recall the random, consensus reality-defying paranormal phe- nomena of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks,” and which I’d argue feel appropriate to Port Townsend’s quirky charm $5 TRUCKING ED. 20% OFF BEAUTY BARK MAY 9"“ 18TH OPEN MON-SAT 7-5:.30 . 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