TV Review: Locke and Key (2020)

Locke and Key (2020) executive produced by Carlton Cuse and others based on the graphic novels by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

The Locke family moves back to their ancient ancestral estate in Massachusetts after their father Randal was shot and killed by a deranged teenager. Key House is old and spooky. The kids start hearing whispers in the dark. Youngest son Bode (Jackson Robert Scott) discovers a mysterious woman in the Well House at the bottom the well. She convinces him to search for special keys in Key House that give magical powers--all he has to do is follow the creepy whispers. Soon enough, older brother Tyler (Connor Jessup) and sister Kinsey (Emilia Jones) also find keys and have strange experiences. One key lets them go inside their minds to search through their memories; another turns doors into portals to other places; another controls other people's behavior. Maybe the kids would use the keys for wacky hijinks but the woman from the well (Laysla de Oliveira) is aggressively try to get the keys for her own sinister purposes. And she may have had some influence over the boy who killed their father, so she's bound to be trouble for the rest of the Locke family. The kids also have the challenge of fitting in at new schools and finding new friends.

I like the graphic novels on which this was based, so I was naturally drawn to the show. The series started off strong, using the unusual premise effectively and telling the story at a good pace. The last two episodes rushed to an ending with some of the characters doing things just to move the plot along, not acting sensibly. The very end dragged a bit and shoe-horned in the possibility of a second season, which opens up a lot of creative possibilities but also much peril with departing more or less completely from the source material.

I'd be interested in watching a second season but am not holding my breath or desperately searching for keys.

Mildly recommended--they did a good job so fans of the books should be happy. It does stand on its own too.

The show is currently streaming on Netflix.