Comedy
Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a Jedi Knight. Unfortunately, I wasn’t born a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
But Lys, Nubs and Kai Brightstar were.
These Jedi younglings are training to become Knights (and hopefully Masters someday). And they’ve just been relocated from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to an outpost temple on the planet Tenoo.
Here, they’ve made some friends. One of them is Nash Durango, a girl their own age who already owns her own ship, the Crimson Firehawk. But they’ve also managed to make some enemies, namely Taborr, a thief who’s crossed sabers with them more than once.
But as these younglings learn the ways of the Force and how to manage a lightsaber, they also learn about the importance of teamwork, how to help those in need and that everyone—even—Taborr, deserves a second chance.
Like any show from the Star Wars universe, viewers can expect to hear about the Force, the mystical balance of good and evil that George Lucas (Star Wars’ creator) based on Eastern mythologies and cultures.
We’ll also get a bit of lightsaber and blaster action. However, as younglings, Lys, Nubs and Kai are only issued training lightsabers. These weapons will bruise and burn without killing.
Parents should also note that LGBT characters and storylines makes its way into this TV-Y show. One character has two moms who occasionally show up on screen.
The good guys save the day. And older Jedi teach these younglings some valuable life lessons in kindness and forgiveness. But parents may want to discuss those issues mentioned above before sharing this Star Wars series with their own younglings.
Kai is excited when Loden Greatstorm, one of the best Jedi teachers ever, visits the Tenoo Temple with his padawan, Bell Zettifar. But in his eagerness to impress Bell, Kai inadvertently loses Bell’s pet charhound.
Then Lys accompanies the younglings’ friends Aree and CAM on a mission to discover and catalog unknown galactic creatures. They rescue a lost baby creature and try to help it find its way home.
Kai learns that he needs to slow down and think before acting. Lys learns that doing the right thing isn’t always easy. The younglings manage to keep all creatures safe, even the ones that seem aggressive at first. They also work hard to keep their friends safe.
Light sabers are used to spar and to ward off foes, but no injuries are inflicted.
Immediately after landing on Tenoo, the Jedi younglings Lys, Nubs and Kai face off against a thief named Taborr. Later, Taborr tries to steal a ceremonial item that they were sent to retrieve for Master Yoda.
There’s a bit of blaster fire (set to stun, not kill). Jedi younglings fight against thieves using their lightsabers and the Force to knock them around. (Taborr wields a type of double-edged Force pike.) Nubs falls from a platform (though he’s unharmed).
Thieves rob a cafe. Later, these same delinquents trash Nash’s ship and steal a packet of valuable seeds from the younglings.
Kai uses the Force to save Nubs from falling off a ship.
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.
