“The past is always with us.” - Rendell Locke
Locke & Key is a Netflix series that is based on the graphic novel series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. The show stars Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, Jackson Robert Scott, Darby Stanchfield, and Laysla De Oliveira. The series follows the Lockes, a family who recently suffered the loss of Rendell, the father of the family. Looking for a fresh start, Tyler, Kinsey, Bode, and their widowed mother Nina move to Massachusetts to live in Keyhouse, the mansion where Rendell grew up. As the three Locke children explore Keyhouse, they find magical keys that have special abilities, and they soon discover that there is an evil entity that wants to take the keys from them.
I have read the graphic novels on which the show is based multiple times, and consider Locke & Key to be one of my favorite comic series of all time. I was so excited when I found out that the comics were being given a Netflix adaptation, but now that I have watched it for myself, I am sad to say that I was severely disappointed by this show. There were so many things that bugged me about this series, but I’d rather start with the positives.
First of all, the props and set pieces are fantastic. The keys themselves are beautiful, and they look as if they were taken straight from the pages of the comics. Keyhouse also looks incredible, and the architecture is just how it was in Gabriel Rodriguezes original drawings. The living shadows are cool looking, and although the creature design is somewhat basic, I still think they looked creepy and intimidating. That being said, there are also some really embarrassing CGI effects, particularly whenever characters are flying around. During those scenes, they digitally recreated the faces and bodies of the actors, and it looks unintentionally cartoony.
Almost all of the other things I can think to say about Locke & Key are things that I don’t like. I thought that most of the acting was sub-par, but I thought that Darby Stanchfield, Thomas Mitchell Barnet, and Jackson Robert Scott were genuinely horrible. A lot of the acting just felt incredibly forced, and I didn’t really buy any of it. Of course, there are a few exceptions. Steven Williams and Petrice Jones both gave admirable performances and outshined the rest of the cast. Almost everyone else was lackluster at best.
The script was painfully awkward and felt like it was written by someone in their late fifties trying to write a Y.A. novel as opposed to a television show. None of the characters speak the way that real people speak. The dialogue is chock full of Fortnite references and completely unnecessary product placement, which is a shame. These characters don’t feel real, they feel like actors portraying fictional characters. They all feel very basic and generic, and it feels like we’ve seen these characters all before. Nothing about them is new or different. As a huge fan of the comics, this really upset me. In the comics, all the characters are special, unique, and different. In the show, they’re basic cookie-cutter characters that fit the same mold as so many characters from other shows.
The music choices are also incredibly awkward and misplaced, and none of the music matches the dark tones of the series. Almost all of the songs that were chosen for the show are modern pop hits from artists like Billie Eilish, Sigrid, or Dillon Francis. Now before you get the idea that I don’t like any of the artists I just mentioned, please know that I am not criticizing the music itself, but rather how the music fits with the show. One of the episodes includes a song by French hip-hop artist Stromae, who happens to be one of my favorite musicians. Whereas I love Stromae’s music, I would never pick his songs to go with a show such as Locke & Key. The same goes for all of the other music in this show.
In the end, it pains me to say that I didn’t like season one of Locke & Key. This was a show that I wanted to love, but even from the very first episode, I felt severely let down. I feel like if the show were given to HBO or a company that would stay truer to the mature and serious roots of the comics, we could have gotten something truly incredible. However, just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean you won’t. I think that people who haven’t read the comics will find something to appreciate here, but for those loyal fans of the graphic novels, I don’t think this show will give you what you’re looking for.
Rating: TV-14
Grade: D+
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