Aside from being a surprisingly literal laying out of the show’s premise, it’s possible that the title of The Detective Is Already Dead also functions as a symbolic declaration of intent as well. That is, the ‘detective’ element of this series has quickly passed on from being its most important element; the actual detective work, the powers of deduction that fuel that, the possible layers of mysteries that could be presented – they’re all generally irrelevant to the stories the series is telling, so you probably shouldn’t be coming in here looking for them. It can be frustrating, of course, since the show still loves playing with the idea of being a detective, with the aesthetics, trappings, and so forth. But, as it seems to say right up front, that’s all merely a setting to take place in; the actual detective, as it goes, is already dead.
That is crystalized within…
