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Rexstrew and Revri met in person for the first time at Heathrow Airport in London, on the way to Vancouver to shoot the pilot in November 2021. Apart from giving each other a quick spiel about their life story, Rexstrew and Revri developed an implicit understanding of the care and commitment that would be required for them to lead the biggest project of their careers. "They were really excited about all the crazy stuff that we do on the show, and they were more than happy to get dirty," says Beth Schwartz, who serves as co-showrunner with Yockey. Although they both became well-versed in the comics and would return to them if they ever needed inspiration, Rexstrew and Revri say they leaned heavily on Yockey to develop a fresh take on the detectives. Once DBD was officially ordered to series in April 2022 and restarted production that November, the writers were able to incorporate parts of the actors into the characters. For instance, this iteration of Charles, like Revri, is half-Indian. Further, Rexstrew, who made his own little book for each episode, worked with the creative team to find a Victorian-era hairstyle and fought for a family sigil to be printed on the front of Edwin's notebook. His own behavioral ticks even began to manifest in his performance. "George, in particular, loves to attach physical gestures to a lot of the choices that he makes as an actor. I would say 90% of them are perfect, and the 10% that aren't are a lot of fun to watch on set," Yockey says. "He would be like, 'Well, do you want me to stop doing that?' And we would be like, 'Absolutely not, because you're unlocking all of this great stuff.'" Rexstrew and Revri both rose to the occasion, delivering a beautifully vulnerable depiction of male friendship that has seldom been represented on television. In 1916, Edwin was killed and sent to Hell** **in a ritual sacrifice by clueless classmates. For over 70 years, he endured his own special kind of torture in Hell: being chased and mauled by a terrifyingly gigantic spider made out of baby-doll heads, only to be "reborn" and forced to undergo the same ordeal over and over again. But in 1989, Edwin escapes from Hell and finds a hypothermic and badly injured Charles hiding from bullies in the attic of his former school. Knowing that Charles is about to die, Edwin decides to lend an ear and humor his questions about ghost powers. "Unlike Edwin who overthinks everything, Charles under-thinks things and really operates from his gut," Yockey explains of the penultimate episode, which sheds light on the origins of their relationship. "Charles' gut is: 'I don't want to go to the afterlife. I want to stay here longer. Why don't I stay with you?' We put [those words] in Edwin's mouth. He's like, 'That's not how you make decisions.' But that's what Charles does. … They're complementary characters in a really beautiful way."