Comedy
Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
If there’s one value Charlie Nicoletti was raised on, it’s the idea that family sticks together. That’s how he, his sister, his parents and his fiancée successfully conned millions out of a world-infamous fentanyl supplier.
But then Charlie’s finacée double-crossed all of them, taking the millions and running off into the sunset. It was a blow to the entire family, and Charlie decides to drink his sorrows away at a high-end bar.
That’s when he runs into Emma, a woman who’s found herself suddenly single after stumbling upon her boyfriend cheating on her. And despite their respective bad days, the two of them hit it off quicker than a couple of tragic protagonists in a YA dystopian novel.
But despite the instant attraction, both of them are happy to keep lots of secrets from one another. For instance, Emma doesn’t know that Charlie is a criminal. And Charlie doesn’t know that Emma works for the CIA.
ABC’s The Company You Keep follows the intimate relationship between a conman and a CIA agent, both of whom have no idea about the occupation of the other.
The show is based on the South Korean TV series My Fellow Citizens, and the American version’s pilot episode launches us into quite a few dramatic cliches. Charlie is the charming, brooding type who can somehow say, “The more you know about me, the faster you’ll want to run,” without cringing. Emma’s the kind of go-getter gal who is described as “loyal, yet doesn’t trust easily” despite having just spent 36 hours in a hotel engaging in sensual activities with a total stranger.
And on that note, though the series focuses on someone whose “job” is to deceive others, The Company You Keep isn’t hiding the issues you’ll be faced with while watching. After spending an evening telling lies to one another, Charlie and Emma spend a good portion of screentime kissing and performing certain adult activities partially offscreen. There’s quite a bit of drinking, and the first con of the family centers around stealing money from a corrupt money-laundering televangelist.
Perhaps the show’s later episodes might steer away from those initial content problems. But if The Company You Keep is trying to con us into watching more, it’s not doing a very good job.
After a betrayal, Charlie finds himself down on his luck and drinking his sorrows away—until he runs into Emma.
Charlie and his fiancée kiss. His fiancée jokes about keeping a pair of handcuffs for their honeymoon. Later, Charlie and Emma passionately kiss while inebriated. They later have sex, though nothing is heard, and no critical bits are shown. We later see them hanging out together—they’re kissing while naked in the bed, kissing while naked in the pool and naked in a bathtub together (thankfully, apparently all kissed out). Once again, nothing is shown. The two take shots of alcohol together, and Emma tells Charlie to look her in the eyes as they do it. “Otherwise, it’s seven years of bad sex,” she claims.
A prostitute wears revealing clothes and gives Charlies some information for a con. Emma walks in on her boyfriend cheating on her with another woman—the man is in a bathrobe and the woman is apparently unclothed but covered by sheets. A dress reveals cleavage. A man flirts with Emma, and she calls him out for attempting to cheat on his wife. Someone says “keep your panties on” to an exasperated person.
Drugs and alcohol pervade much of the episode. We hear how agents of “the largest drug trafficking ring in Europe” are attempting to sell fentanyl in the U.S. Charlie and Emma take many shots together. Others are seen drinking alcohol, too.
We hear about a megachurch televangelist who hired prostitutes while intoxicated and who currently uses his church to launder money. Charlie introduces the idea of conning the televangelist to his family, asking, “How do you feel about taking from the hand of God?” They joke about stealing the “keys to the Kingdom.” The hypocritical religious leader’s corruption prompts one of Charlie’s relatives to say, “This is why I’m a lapsed Catholic.” And speaking of Catholicism, Emma crosses herself.
Charlie and Emma agree that relationships are “a shell game to conceal who you really are,” and couples do little more than lie to each other all the time.
Someone is in a car crash but survives with a sprained wrist and a couple scrapes.
We hear “b–ch” used twice (and one person who is called an “S.O.B.” “D–n” is used once, and “h—” is heard three times. We also hear “crap” once, and someone is called a “manwhore.” Someone texts “What the duck.” God’s name is abused once, and Jesus’ name is used in vain once.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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.
