Comedy
Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
In this dystopian tale, Earth was hit by a comet 40 years ago. Most of the continents sank into the sea. The surviving 1% of humanity lives on the Korean Peninsula, which has turned into desert.
In order to combat the extreme pollution caused by the comet, the Cheonmyeong Group developed the Air Core, technology capable of converting the comet’s oxyanium debris into breathable oxygen.
But the Cheonmyeong Group also separated people into social classes, using QR codes to designate where they can live, work and how many resources (such as food, water and oxygen) they can purchase.
Unfortunately, many people didn’t qualify for the QR tattoos. Living as refugees, they’re at the mercy of South Korea’s government and military forces.
And after 40 years of discrimination, starvation and suffocation, they’re starting to fight back.
Deliverymen are the combatants responsible for making sure food and oxygen makes it to the districts. They ensure refugee hunters don’t steal supplies, and they help keep citizens safe.
Ironically, they’re also the hope of refugees everywhere.
5-8, a Deliveryman known throughout the refugee districts for bringing spare oxygen and food to their camps, is leading a secret rebellion. He and his fellow Deliverymen have been tracking the Cheonmyeong Group’s activities at the mysterious District A, a rumored paradise with its own Air Core that will allow thousands of citizens to move out of the slums of the General District. (And, by extension, allow refugees to become the new citizens of the General District.)
But 5-8 doesn’t buy it. He’s caught wind of a kidnapping ring run by Ryu Seok, heir to the Cheonmyeong Group fortune. At first, it was just a few kids from refugee camps. Then kids from the General District started disappearing too. Now, 5-8 thinks he knows why.
These children were born to miners of the comet’s oxyanium compound. Their parents were exposed to the comet’s radiation, and there’s a rumor that it’s turned the children into super-powered mutants. And if that rumor is true, this new generation may start a rebellion of their own—resulting in thousands of unnecessary deaths.
5-8 isn’t sure what to believe, but he’s determined to make sure that everyone living in this new world is given an equal chance at survival.
Black Knight isn’t quite as dark as South Korea’s other Netflix hit, Squid Game. That said, it still has plenty of issues.
Violence and language are the heavy hitters here. We witness fistfights, bloody murders and even suicides depicted on screen. And you’ll hear a slew of profanities (including the f-word), too.
Like I said, it’s not quite as disturbing, but some families will still probably want to steer clear of this gory series.
Refugee hunters attack Deliverymen. One Deliveryman fends off his attackers, shooting the dozen or so men who tried to run him off the road. Another nearly has his hand chopped off (for his QR tattoo) before 5-8 arrives and defeats the would-be robbers. We witness other fistfights and gunfights as well, some of which end in death. Several boys attempt to rob 5-8, but he dispatches them non-lethally.
A man smokes. A boy makes a crude comment about defecating. People lie. A girl locks her pseudo-brother in his room after she catches him sneaking out when he’s supposed to be grounded. A woman is arrested for harboring a refugee boy. Ryu Seok, heir to the Cheonmyeong Group fortune, is irritated that people continue to have children when resources are still so scarce.
We hear two uses of the f-word and one of the s-word. We also hear a few uses each of “a–,” “d–n” and “h—.” God’s name is misused six times.
5-8 and other Deliverymen bring extra supplies to refugees in a camp. (He gets a tank of oxygen to a young girl just before she suffocates.) A man monitors the weather, warning an exposed refugee district to take shelter before a storm of tornadoes sweeps through.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
An elf mage contemplates on connection and regret as she watches her human friends grow old and pass away.
