Comedy
Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
They say the devil’s greatest trick is making us think he doesn’t exist. But according to Massimo Ruggero, the devil is most definitely real. “I’ve drunk his wine, laughed at his jokes. I have looked into his eyes and seen the terrifying blackness of my own soul reflected in his.”
It’s February 2011 and Massimo is a trader for a large investment bank based in London. Up for a major promotion (vice-CEO), Massimo has worked hard for his success. It’s the reason he gets to wear fancy suits and drive expensive sports cars.
He says instinct is his secret—since he was the only person who was able to predict Greece’s financial crisis—but people are beginning to wonder if it’s not something more.
Sofia Flores (a member of an anarchist group known as Subterranea) suspects that Massimo didn’t predict the financial crisis so much as he caused it. And she’s determined to discover and reveal the truth to the masses.
Massimo’s boss, Dominic Morgan, doesn’t buy his line about “instinct” either. He more or less knows that Massimo is up to something more sinister—especially after witnessing his tactics to take down a competitor for the vice-CEO position—but he also doesn’t seem to care. He likes Massimo because his shark-like methods have made the bank rich.
But if Massimo really did cause Greece’s financial crisis (and indirectly the riots and deaths that followed), it begs the question, who is he loyal to? Dominic and the bank? His bipolar, drug addict wife? Or himself? Because that answer will likely determine his next move—and potentially the next financial scandal.
Devils doesn’t refer so much to the actual being as shows like Lucifer does, but rather to the “devil” inside each of us. Massimo states that the devil’s greatest trick is “flattering us so we don’t see the devil is us.”
It’s a disturbing notion, but one that definitely holds water in this show as it explores the different levels that people are willing to go to in order to get what they want.
That makes for a good cautionary tale on the surface, but the show itself also seems willing to go to some extreme levels to get this point across. In the first episode alone, we witness a violent death, drug use resulting in an overdose and a scantily clad prostitute (though there doesn’t seem to be any nudity at this early juncture), not to mention bribery, coercion, hacking, lying and anarchy. There’s also some language concerns that viewers will want to be wary of.
All in all, Massimo (and many other characters) are pretty corrupted by their greed for money and power. And Devils is equally as corrupt in its portrayal of their lives.
Massimo uses sly tactics to take down a competitor for the position of vice-CEO at his bank.
A man falls from a building and dies. As police investigate his bloody and mangled corpse, some onlookers (including the man’s wife) are traumatized. (It is unclear if the man died by suicide or was murdered.) We see news reports on TV about the riots in Greece and hear about the use of tear gas and Molotov cocktails.
A woman is rushed to the ER after she overdoses in a drug den. We see several other people shooting up with heroin and smoking meth People drink alcohol throughout the episode.
A woman in lingerie gives a lap dance to a man. We later learn that she is a call girl. A couple cuddles in bed together (the man is shirtless), and we later see the man lying alone. A woman jumps into her husband’s arms and kisses him.
We hear about a racist man. A student cheats on an exam. People illegally hack into computer systems. A woman tries to spy on a man with a hidden camera. A woman blames her husband for their son’s death since he joined the military to escape his dad. We see crosses at a cemetery. We hear several uses of “h—,” “d–n,” “b–tard” and “bloody.” We also hear a few misuses of God’s name.
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.
