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Locke & Key (2020)
Great world, lots of potential, poor execution.
Just finished watching the whole season, and I can't help but feel disappointed.
The show starts off very strong and I was engaged from the first episode. The characters are dealing with trauma and trying to make sense of it, which is a great start. However, as the show kept moving, I couldn't help but feel like the wheels were slowly coming off. It feels like the writers bit off more than they could chew (To clarify, I mean that they created more plot hooks than they could resolve).
I found myself feeling incredibly frustrated at the characters (except for Bode who, for some reason, happens to be the smartest and most capable out of everyone in the show) while watching them continually make decisions to facilitate their own demise almost without a second thought. It's hard to empathize with characters who don't think anything through. I felt incredulous as the Locke kids (mostly Tyler and Kinsey) kept getting completely duped by Dodge. The only thing that keeps the whole story together is that, for some unexplained reason, Dodge can't take the keys from the kids unless they give them up (apparently, a wizard did it or something). The moment they realize that, all they should have to do is keep the keys on them. Roll credits (they do subvert this a bit with Sam showing up and taking the "go anywhere" key, but that's quickly resolved in order to give it back to Dodge). Here's an idea, why not use the astral projection key to explore the omega door! or the well! Why not use it to spy on or locate Dodge? Use the head key and throw a bunch of books about the keys and Key House in your head! (the first thing I would have done is bought a bunch of books and thrown them into my head to become smarter than Dodge.) Tyler learns the entire history of the town this way (also some useless facts about Britain), but his knowledge never becomes useful. The writers love to show off the what the keys do, but they never truly explore what's possible. They don't end up learning the nature of anything involving the keys. Nor do they seem curious about how they were made or where they come from, even though their lives are at stake.
When characters make bad decisions, the point is that there are consequences the characters will have to deal with. Instead of these consequences forcing character development, none of it is ever resolved (What happened to Sam? or the astral projection key? Bode knows how it works and not once does he suspect Sam might be a ghost even though they find his body in front of the door.) Instead, we get bait to keep us waiting for season 2 (Eden secretly getting hit by the "bullet" felt so lazy and unearned when they showed it after it happened. The family catharsis at the end also felt incredibly unearned as the whole audience knows they probably failed. I knew from the moment they found "Dodge" unconscious that it couldn't be that easy.) It's clear the show creators are more concerned with making more money than sculpting a compelling narrative.
I predict Season 2 will feature the same villain with the same goal doing the same things (you can only use dramatic irony so many times before it becomes tiresome). I'm already bored just thinking about it. Count me out. I haven't read the graphic novel but I can only assume it's better so I would rather read that instead.