As a World War I soldier chases two teenager boys – one dressed in an Edwardian suit and the other looking like he’s come from a Lou Reed concert – across London, hopping through mirrors and swearing in typically British fashion, the audience are ill-prepared for just how bonkers Neil Gaiman’s Dead Boy Detectives can get. The series (based on the comic books penned by Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham in 2012), takes two minor characters from The Sandman comics and pushes them front and centre in a procedural paranormal mystery series. Unlike the paranormal investigation shows found on Channel 5 or Really, the ghosts, ghouls, demons, witches, talking cats, giant snakes, psychics, and all-powerful entities in the show are very much real.

That is the true strength of Dead Boy Detectives. With little effort, other than flashing Gaiman’s illustrious name in the opening titles, the series hurtles audiences into a three-dimensional world filled with interacting and well-thought-out creatures. Like any magic system, the world has rules and lore and the show presents these to viewers right off the bat, immersing in the world and helping them understanding the potential consequences to the detectives’ actions.

Leading the charge is Edwin Paine (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jarden Revri), two undead teenagers who have formed the titular detective agency to solve the mysteries of the world’s undead and allow the deceased to move on to the afterlife. The action packed cold-open is the perfect introduction to the characters, showcasing their skills and competence whilst still reminding viewers that they are both teenagers, and occasionally act that way. Set in the same universe as Netflix’s The Sandman, the show highlights this early on as Kirby Howell-Baptiste’s Death comes to collect the soul of the soldier, leading him on to the next stage of existence. Dead Boys Detectives takes the route of many popular fantasy stories in painting Death as a ‘villain’ (in the loosest of terms) as the boys are hiding from the Sister of the Endless to avoid being taken to the afterlife themselves. Although Howell-Baptiste’s performance remains very much the same, demonstrating the kind-hearted and understanding nature of the nicest iteration of Death in modern storytelling.

While their choice of career poses various challenges, the boys’ paths are exponentially altered when they undertake a mission to exorcise a demon from a living psychic. Crystal (Kassius Nelson) finds her own story of toxic relationships and second-hand trauma (a by-product of her powers) intertwined with the boys when they are presented with a missing persons poster for a young girl, who Crystal discovers is still alive. This plot thread distinguishes the key differences between Charles and Edwin, who died decades apart and have passed their ghostly years in two horribly different ways.

Just like the clients and investigations the detectives (now joined by Crystal) undertake, their backstories, traumas, and romantic interests are one of many mysteries the holds tightly. Rexstrew and Revri have an unshakable on-screen chemistry, which Revri described in a preview screening Q+A as “love at first sight.” But their performances create a barrier between the versions of their characters shown on the surface, and their true selves which are buried deep behind decades of repressed pain. This is likely, and hopefully, something the show will unpack over the course of the first season.

Like any good Neil Gaiman story, the show’s supporting characters are uniquely interesting. Jenny the Butcher (Briana Cuoco) is a highlight of the episode, renting out a room to Crystal in America, and simultaneously providing bad, but well-intentioned personal advice while presenting her outwards persona as a tattooed, cleaver wielding butcher. Then there is Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), who sports an uncharacteristically bright and colourful wardrobe for anyone in a Neil Gaiman show. Her character is only teased in the first episode, delivering two lines to Crystal as they briefly pass each other. However, her introduction, emerging from her mysterious room surrounded by a fluffy pink aura with love hearts shooting out from behind her, is certainly memorable. Dead Boy Detectives also sees Ruth Connell deliver a brief, but ominous performance as the Night Nurse. Oozing the evil confidence of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest‘s Nurse Ratched, the Night Nurse is an agent of Death, tasked with tracking down missing dead souls. The Night Nurse is only teased in the episode’s final scene, but her presence is terrifying enough to immediately showcase the threat she will pose to the boys across the season.

The performances, dialogue, CGI, and worldbuilding in Dead Boy Detectives are amazing, but the series suffers from trying to show it all off at once. The debut episode is a fast-paced sprint through the necessary requirements for a pilot episode. In trying to establish the main characters, tease their backstories, explain their connection to The Sandman, introduce the recurring supporting characters, establish the world’s lore, tease potential love interests, and solve an entire mystery in the first episode, Dead Boy Detectives has no room to breathe and allow any of its details to sink in. This is mainly evident in its ‘slower’ dialogue focused scenes, which will drop a character-based bombshell, but doesn’t give anyone (the other characters or the audience) a chance to actually react or engage with it. As a result, the first episode leaves you craving more, which is normally a good thing from a pilot episode, and in many ways it is. However, while the episode throws a lot of information about the characters at the audience, you don’t actually feel like you truly know any of the characters yet, and this lack of connection removes some tension from the show’s otherwise fantastic action scenes.

The first episode definitely does enough to hook audiences in its complex world, and make them crave more mortal mysteries. Although it’s not without its flaws, Episode 1 lays a strong foundation for the rest of the series to build off and establish itself as a strong entry into Netflix’s Sandman universe.

Dead Boy Detectives Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.