Episode Guide
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Locke and Key is a great show with some really imaginative ideas. The story begins promisingly enough, setting up the main players and preparing for a nightmarish, binge-worthy series to follow. However, the main premise feels weak at the middle and becomes far too slow paced as it progresses. This makes for a frustrating experience as you try to follow along but eventually lose interest. Whether you make it that far or not remains to be seen.
The story revolves around three siblings, Bode, Kinsey and Tyler, who move back into their childhood home Key House. Aside from the haunting memories of their Father’s murder taking place inside the four walls, numerous magical keys also lie hidden around the house. The first episode sets the scene well, with plenty of intrigue and neat special effects added to keep things interesting, especially after the opening 5 minutes or so. From here, the series settles down into a more consistent rhythm, gently rocking through teen drama while more of the past is uncovered (and as we later discover, comes back to haunt the family). All of this bubbles over to a finale that sees the family battle over a special key called the Omega Key and a teasing glimpse that more may be on the horizon in the future for these characters.
Locke and Key is a show that was almost destined to land on the streaming platform. The thought of this being adapted to a film trilogy (such is the case with one of the original plans for this) certainly wouldn’t have worked and it’s easy to see why some networks passed on this too. It’s a perfect example of a show that benefits from the streaming model – if this was on once a week people would inevitably tune out around episode 4 and 5 – but if you can take to the story and make it past the fluff, there is some good material here.
The special effects and general tone of the show are very good indeed. The general idea of the keys opening weird and wonderful doorways is explored thoroughly and what begins as a simple enough idea, as Bode opens a doorway to an ice-cream parlor, soon turns into something far more wondrous and imaginative. For this alone, you’ll find yourself glued to the screen, eager to find out where the show takes us next. This, along with the dark past that haunts the siblings, makes for a show that certainly has a lot of promise. ..
Locke and Key is a show that feels like it should be exciting, but it never quite does. The trio of siblings put in a fine job with their performances throughout the series, and Tyler and Kinsey are both stand-outs. Bode in particular is one of the stand-outs, but both Tyler and Kinsey have enough depth to their personas to keep you watching through some of the more angsty moments they experience at school.
The show has potential, but it’s not great. There are some good things about it, but there are also some bad things. If the show were to get a second season, it would need to be better in order to warrant that.
