If there was a way to look inside your mind, would you do it? What would it look like? Which memories would you choose to relive? What if you could instantly travel to any place in the world with just the turn of a doorknob? Where would you go? What would you want to see?
Netflix has come out with yet another ‘Netflix Original.’ This time based on horror comic book series written by Joe Hill, titled “Locke and Key.” Although Netflix sort of strayed from horror and adapted this story into more of a magical fantasy, it’s still worth a watch.
The show centers around a family that moves to the father’s childhood home in Matheson, Massachusetts after his gruesome and untimely death. Inside of Key House lies many mysteries waiting to be found, including magical keys and an extremely manipulative demon named Dodge.
I’m not going to lie; I binge watched the first six episodes in one night because I was so invested in finding out more about the keys and what they could do for the characters.
Unfortunately for me, they only really used a few of the keys in more than one episode. For example, the Music Box Key allows the user to control someone else, much like a puppet. It was a really interesting key in my opinion, but they only used it in one episode.
Also, I would’ve liked to have seen the Locke kids use the keys together for fun. All three of them use the keys on their own mostly. The older Locke kids, Kinsey and Tyler, were fairly strict about using them (with a few exceptions), whereas the younger brother Bode, would find a new key and explore its power by himself.
I really enjoyed every episode except for the last one. It felt very rushed and a little forced. The Locke kids and their friends came together to get rid of Dodge for good and that was that. It would’ve been more engaging if they had been brought together sooner so that the viewers could watch that bond form more naturally.
One of the biggest things that bothered me was at the end of the second to last episode. Bode finds the Shadow Key, which when placed in the corresponding crown, allows the user to control shadows, and then he gives it to another character, named Ellie, who has the crown at her house, so she can get it and bring it back to them.
The thing is, Dodge cannot take keys from the Lockes. And so, in giving the key to Ellie, they “unintentionally” gave Dodge everything she needed to use the key’s powers.
I didn’t particularly like the way the true identity of Gabe, one of Kinsey’s friends, was revealed at the end. I would’ve preferred if they had shown the audience sooner so that every time Gabe’s character was shown it would’ve been more intense.
Instead, his identity was revealed through flashbacks to different points throughout the season where he wasn’t himself, but we did not see this in any of the episodes until the final scene in the last episode.
Although I have a lot to say about the plot of this show, I still really enjoyed it. I thought the overall idea of magic keys and the mysteries behind them was very intriguing. Hopefully, we can get a few more answers in the next season (if they choose to make a second one) to some of the bigger things they decided to withhold sharing to the audience.
If you have some free time in the near future, I suggest you watch Locke and Key. Indulge yourself in the mysterious and magical story of Key House and its inhabitants.
