Key Viewing

If the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked open the door to every superhero comic being potential fuel for film or TV adaptation, The Walking Dead did the same for comic book series outside the superhero genre. Years ago, when more people were buzzing about The Walking Dead, a friend loaned me collected volumes of another series she loved very much: Locke & Key. Time got away from me, I needed to pack for a move, and I wound up returning them unread. But every now and then, Locke & Key would pop up in conversation.

Recently, it's jumped back into the mix -- this time in the form of the Netflix series adaptation that debuted in early February. It's the story of a family looking for a "fresh start," by moving into the old ancestral house once shunned by the father. There they begin to discover a series of magical keys with a broad range of powers... and a malevolent entity trying to seize the keys from them. It's ten one-hour episodes of fantastical ideas, family drama, and action/adventure.

This is a wildly fun premise, and quite open-ended. No doubt the series is taking much of its inspiration from the original comics, but it feels like at any moment, the writers could introduce pretty much any complication they want by simply inventing another key and adding its magical powers to the mix. It sort of takes the freedom of a "monster-of-the-week" sci-fi show, while then living with the consequences of each new development in the way of a more serialized story.

The show is also unusual in that it heavily features kids without truly feeling like it's aimed at them as the audience. There are three children in the featured Locke family, a boy and girl in high school (Tyler and Kinsey), and a younger boy (Bode). They're the real stars... but with the show's rather intense action, occasional violence, and suspense, I doubt I'd let a kid as young as Bode actually watch the show.

The series does a great job of incorporating the fantastical -- both visual effects and plot points -- without letting it overwhelm the drama. At its core, Locke & Key is a show about this family, its dynamic, and the traumas they've gone through. Carlton Cuse, one of the show-runners of Lost, is a co-creator here, and it has a similar dynamic: this show is about the people and not actually about the magic keys, just as Lost was about the people and not actually about a magic island.

But Locke & Key isn't without its shortcomings. It is rather predictable. I mean, you won't necessarily anticipate what new magical power might randomly be added in the next episode... but once you've seen it, you probably won't have a hard time extrapolating where the story is going to go next. It isn't exactly a problem that you can guess where the story is headed, but the show itself is often played for surprise, even though it rarely manages to pull one off.

The plotting also often relies on someone acting like an idiot in order to keep things moving. While most of the characters act rationally, as you could imagine they might in this wild situation, one person always has to do something stupid to introduce jeopardy, unravel a smart plan, or lead to the next narrative development. Thankfully, the characters at least take turns wearing the Idiot Hat -- it seems at first like it's always going to be young Bode, but then Kinsey and even the mother Nina take turns. But yelling at your TV screen about stupidity is very much baked into the DNA of this show, and you simply have to get over that to enjoy the ride. At least the characters are all rather likeable when it's not their turn to wear the Hat.

All told, I think I'd give the season of Locke & Key a B+. I enjoyed the ride enough that if they do decide to make a second season, I'll be there for it.