Locke & Key

It’s possible that my problem here is my ignorance of the original comic book this is based on. However, I understood what this series is going to be about from the beginning, even though the idea is not exactly simple. The story just failed to pull me in. As someone commented, it’s an incongruous combination of a family story for children with something that’s not exactly family friendly. Sometimes childish, sometimes wannabe teen, at some moments trying to shock the audience, but I turned it off after six episodes because it simply wasn’t fun. (22.03.2020)

Season 1 – 50% – A disappointment that will bug me for a long time. While I consider the source material to be the best non-superhero comic series ever, the adaptation has no goal, presents mythological twists carelessly, and doesn't explain the key system, depicting it as one big coincidence. In the source material, the key appeared and I could get excited about the tension and potential. In the adaptation, the episode begins, Bode finds the key, one of the siblings tries out its properties in the most predictable way, the enemy makes empty threats, and we then do it all over again the next time. The kids, the main guides to the new world, who had won me over possibly on the first page, are surprisingly often unappealing here, incomprehensibly above everything, even in moments when their lives are literally at stake, the actors are inept at key moments, and in the end, I don't even want to root for them. Taking into account the pleasantly non-forced high school atmosphere and very well-cast Dodge, I don't feel like showing a raised "Aloha!" towards Keyhouse. But then, even for a moment, I admit that I've been waiting for the final project for years, only to get through an average story cut out from the current CW, which voluntarily lets the majestic potential flow somewhere into nothing, and I'm really disappointed, no exaggeration. The increased number of incomprehensible decisions in decisive situations finally make me bitterly wave away the Locke family. Season 2 – 40% – For a long time, it seems like relationships will play the main role, and hopefully, that the unobjectionable teen layer will prevail, but as time goes by it turns into an even worse experience than the last time. Magical moments are destroyed by routine twists expected well in advance, and the special effects can't save everything. The characters are sadly watered down and there's no one to root for. Nina is still an unsupportive mom whose main occupation is to look sad and date a mysterious stranger, Bode still incomprehensibly trusts every new arrival, Tyler is a toxic figure who in every episode forces his partner into something she repeatedly refuses. Even the over-the-top villain Eden, who would be a love-to-hate favorite in any other show, is only there for the count. And the potential is still so close. However, I no longer understand who the target audience should be. For kids, it's a pretty dark spectacle with death and unpleasant motifs, while adults longing for tension will fall asleep during the high school drama and children's games. And I'm still waiting for that beautiful comic series full of vibrant characters to materialize. (04.05.2020)

I enjoyed the series very much, and I recognized my favorite comic strip from beginning to end – the Lockes (well, except for Rendell) seem to materialize right off the pages and are as they should be. Especially Bode, who you can't help but love as he rampages through the corridors and rooms of the Key, excitedly discovering one secret after another. The mysterious atmosphere is also great, kind of reminiscent of Stranger Things, which Locke & Key owes to its production design, direction, and awesome soundtrack (may it work!), and I loved the gradual unravelling of the family's past. So why only four stars? Because of the rushed nature of the last few episodes, which suddenly and unnecessarily started to address things that hadn't been mentioned until then. And that's just for the "big finale". The Crown of Shadows, in particular, didn't need to be brought up at all and could have stayed tucked away until the second season. Not that the battle with the shadows wasn't hilarious, but I'd seen plenty of much more impressive scenes in the series up to that point, and they didn't even have to involve fighting – like Bode's flying or Nina with the wardrobe and ashes. Less is sometimes more (and better). (22.02.2020)

The first season of Locke and Key demonstrated that Netflix is good at taking a great premise, taking the essentials of what makes it work, and remaking it into a mainstream show reminiscent of Stranger Things. However, it lacks logic and screams that the screenwriters took the easy way out. I found the ending to be annoying because it turned a great comic into some mediocre entertainment, which I found rather sad. (16.02.2020)