After Rendell Locke is murdered at the hands of former student Sam Lesser, his wife Nina decides to move with her three children Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode from Seattle to Matheson, Massachusetts and take residence in Rendell’s family home, known as Keyhouse. Through exploration, the children discover a number of mysterious keys throughout the house that can be used to unlock various doors in magical ways. However, they become aware of a demonic entity that is also searching for the keys for its own malevolent purposes.
the magical keys and what each key can do.
Based on a series of comic books first published in 2008 by IDW Publishing, a total of 37 issues were published and now presently available in six trade paperbacks. A cross between the Harry Potter franchise and Netflix’s Stranger Things, you can easily see how this series intrigued the streaming service to produce a series that would intrigue and addict. It takes a few episodes to really feel for the characters enough to understand what conflict is life-threatening, and it does not take long for the lady in the well, known as Dodge, to prove just how villainous she can be.
The comics were originally a nod to the works of H.P. Lovecraft, but the producers and writers chose to eliminate most of the Lovecraft elements for a tip-of-the-hat to science-fiction scribe Richard Matheson.
The second season, renewed by Netflix, will need to up their game quickly if they hope to make a good program something great. For those who read the comic books, following the events as they unfold from the first episode might be easy but for newcomers like myself, the elements were a tad slow. Supernatural horror can be fun but only when you do not have to wait until the third episode for an explanation of what is happening.
With Stranger Things due for a fourth and final season, Locke and Key may be the next big success for Netflix in the coming years. In the meantime, with all this additional downtime this summer, I may seek out the six trade paperbacks reprinting the comic books. A compliment to the producers who gave us a new program worthy of binge-watching.
Locke & Key is on Netflix.
