I’m Locked In
Review of the Netflix series Locke & Key
I’m Locked In
by Nóra Kardos
Review of the Netflix series Locke & Key
Around the end of January 2021, the Dutch government implemented a curfew to prevent the spreading of COVID-19. This is how I stumbled upon the Netflix series Locke & Key with my best friend from Budapest, a show that gave structure to my nights during lockedown. I think many would agree that the avondklok[1] was far from being an efficient measure against the virus. Nevertheless, it helped the rise of illegal 14-hour house parties, starting at 3 in the afternoon; or online movie nights, starting strictly at 9pm because the whole of Europe would certainly be home by that hour.
The Locke family, a widowed Mom and her three children (Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode Locke), moves to the mysterious town of Matheson, the hometown of their late father. The Locke mansion bears the name of “the Key house” because it holds legends of being the keeper of magical keys with special powers. In broad strokes, the plot revolves around the three children discovering these keys one by one and learning how to handle the powers they possess. At first, this show sounded incredibly childish to me. Kids explore magical powers and learn how to use them… sounds familiar, eh[2]? However, I decided to keep an open mind and agreed to watching it. Besides the various plot holes embedded in the narrative, Locke & Key turned out to be a pleasant teenage-fantasy-family-drama series, with a group of great child actors. Almost every time an episode comes to an end, the show concludes with a cliff-hanger, leaving the viewer on the edge and falling into the trap of Netflix automatically playing one episode after another.
Furthermore, it is important to note that we are talking about teenagers facing the unknown. They are confronted with situations in which they have to make decisions quickly, sometimes sacrificing their morals and values. Their actions speak of ethical decisions in terms of what they use the keys for in a particular moment. The storylines do not always wrap up with a happy ending, meaning that the characters indeed make many mistakes. Their actions have consequences which adds a psychological depth to the characters’ development and contributes to the progression of the show.
[1]Curfew in Dutch
[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eh
Around the end of January 2021, the Dutch government implemented a curfew to prevent the spreading of COVID-19. This is how I stumbled upon the Netflix series Locke & Key with my best friend from Budapest, a show that gave structure to my nights during lockedown. I think many would agree that the avondklok[1] was far from being an efficient measure against the virus. Nevertheless, it helped the rise of illegal 14-hour house parties, starting at 3 in the afternoon; or online movie nights, starting strictly at 9pm because the whole of Europe would certainly be home by that hour.
The Locke family, a widowed Mom and her three children (Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode Locke), moves to the mysterious town of Matheson, the hometown of their late father. The Locke mansion bears the name of “the Key house” because it holds legends of being the keeper of magical keys with special powers. In broad strokes, the plot revolves around the three children discovering these keys one by one and learning how to handle the powers they possess. At first, this show sounded incredibly childish to me. Kids explore magical powers and learn how to use them… sounds familiar, eh[2]? However, I decided to keep an open mind and agreed to watching it. Besides the various plot holes embedded in the narrative, Locke & Key turned out to be a pleasant teenage-fantasy-family-drama series, with a group of great child actors. Almost every time an episode comes to an end, the show concludes with a cliff-hanger, leaving the viewer on the edge and falling into the trap of Netflix automatically playing one episode after another.
Furthermore, it is important to note that we are talking about teenagers facing the unknown. They are confronted with situations in which they have to make decisions quickly, sometimes sacrificing their morals and values. Their actions speak of ethical decisions in terms of what they use the keys for in a particular moment. The storylines do not always wrap up with a happy ending, meaning that the characters indeed make many mistakes. Their actions have consequences which adds a psychological depth to the characters’ development and contributes to the progression of the show.
[1]Curfew in Dutch
[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eh
Before diving into the deep and exploring what works and doesn’t in Locke & Key, let me give you, dear reader, a list of some of the magical keys the show introduces in order to get an idea of what type of hocus-pocus the twelve keys embody. I did not include all of them but five to give you some context:
Before diving into the deep and exploring what works and doesn’t in Locke & Key, let me give you, dear reader, a list of some of the magical keys the show introduces in order to get an idea of what type of hocus-pocus the twelve keys embody. I did not include all of them but five to give you some context:
The Anywhere Key: Allows you to travel anywhere in the world, as long as you have seen the door you would like to go through in order to reach your destination.
The Mirror Key: When used, your reflection can come to life and your Self can be trapped in the mirror. Characters use it to entrap people whose actions they can’t control in the real world.
The Matchstick Key: Sets anything/anyone on fire, does not require a door/lock.
The Head Key: The user is able to travel through a person’s subconscious, memories, feelings, and mind. You are also able to “store” items, like leaving a whole textbook inside your head and BOOM you know the entire history of Europe. People can also get trapped in their own heads, leaving their bodies as if they were unconscious.
The Ghost Key: The user is able to leave their physical form and exist solely as a spirit, undetectable for human sense on the territory of the Key house. If the door the key was used in gets shut, the spirit is trapped in its unsensible form, and the person’s body is left motionless.
The Anywhere Key: Allows you to travel anywhere in the world, as long as you have seen the door you would like to go through in order to reach your destination.
The Mirror Key: When used, your reflection can come to life and your Self can be trapped in the mirror. Characters use it to entrap people whose actions they can’t control in the real world.
The Matchstick Key: Sets anything/anyone on fire, does not require a door/lock.
The Head Key: The user is able to travel through a person’s subconscious, memories, feelings, and mind. You are also able to “store” items, like leaving a whole textbook inside your head and BOOM you know the entire history of Europe. People can also get trapped in their own heads, leaving their bodies as if they were unconscious.
The Ghost Key: The user is able to leave their physical form and exist solely as a spirit, undetectable for human sense on the territory of the Key house. If the door the key was used in gets shut, the spirit is trapped in its unsensible form, and the person’s body is left motionless.
A special aspect is that adults cannot remember magic. Anyone above the age of 18 is incapable of recalling events revolving around any hocus-pocus and their subconscious creates new memories instead of those involving magic to any extent. Consequently, the kids have to deal with anyone trying to steal the keys or attempting to harm the Locke family. Rendell Locke, the late father, did not die by accident either, if you know what I mean… The idea of the magic keys is easy but exciting. It is not impossible to wrap one’s head around it, and the three Locke children make it enticing to watch and curious to find out what will happen.
Naturally, there are some plot holes in which adults find a way to remember magic and trick the kids into handing the keys over. The show centralizes the kids’ experience while exploring the magical heritage their father left behind for them. The oldest Locke kid, Tyler (17) is on the edge of turning into an adult and fears the memory loss. The middle one, Kinsey (15), chooses to use magic for solving her everyday problems (e.g.: love triangle) over facing the issues herself, which consequently saves her from taking any responsibility for her actions. However, since not everyone around them knows about the keys, it is her challenge to realize she cannot use the special Locke heritage always to her advantage. Lastly, the small one of the family, Bode (10), ironically serves as the moral messenger next to his siblings. He fears and enjoys the sudden weight of responsibility he gained with discovering the power of the keys, which makes for an interesting controversial character trait since we are talking about a ten-year-old. Usually, in teenage fantasy dramas the action never stops. The diegesis[1] keeps the characters in a loop in which new adventures and challenges always come their way and the viewer never sees them just ‘existing’. However, Locke & Key takes its time. Even though the story is filled with action, we can also see the kids just exploring their possibilities with the keys and adapting to their strange new reality.
[3] The inner story world
A special aspect is that adults cannot remember magic. Anyone above the age of 18 is incapable of recalling events revolving around any hocus-pocus and their subconscious creates new memories instead of those involving magic to any extent. Consequently, the kids have to deal with anyone trying to steal the keys or attempting to harm the Locke family. Rendell Locke, the late father, did not die by accident either, if you know what I mean… The idea of the magic keys is easy but exciting. It is not impossible to wrap one’s head around it, and the three Locke children make it enticing to watch and curious to find out what will happen.
Naturally, there are some plot holes in which adults find a way to remember magic and trick the kids into handing the keys over. The show centralizes the kids’ experience while exploring the magical heritage their father left behind for them. The oldest Locke kid, Tyler (17) is on the edge of turning into an adult and fears the memory loss. The middle one, Kinsey (15), chooses to use magic for solving her everyday problems (e.g.: love triangle) over facing the issues herself, which consequently saves her from taking any responsibility for her actions. However, since not everyone around them knows about the keys, it is her challenge to realize she cannot use the special Locke heritage always to her advantage. Lastly, the small one of the family, Bode (10), ironically serves as the moral messenger next to his siblings. He fears and enjoys the sudden weight of responsibility he gained with discovering the power of the keys, which makes for an interesting controversial character trait since we are talking about a ten-year-old. Usually, in teenage fantasy dramas the action never stops. The diegesis[1] keeps the characters in a loop in which new adventures and challenges always come their way and the viewer never sees them just ‘existing’. However, Locke & Key takes its time. Even though the story is filled with action, we can also see the kids just exploring their possibilities with the keys and adapting to their strange new reality.
[3] The inner story world
While enjoying the action and character play, a lot of questions arise in the viewer. My best friend and I have had several discussions about the possibilities and grey areas in the show. Since the keys offer a simple usage of magic, in many scenarios there are missing aspects in either the storyline or key side components of the show. One’s questions are likely to remain unanswered for several episodes or receive no answers at all. The problem with that aspect is not the waiting time, but the fact that these details would be, in my perception, crucial to the smooth progression of the series. Unlike many mystery shows, Locke & Key does not keep the viewer in the dark on purpose, but simply because there are still many doors waiting to be opened by the writers first. For example, one of the most prompting questions of the series is the origin of magic in the Locke family. Are there other sources of power? Are the Lockes alone in their situation or are there other families out there where the family name carries a magical heritage? None of these straightforward questions are even close to being explored.
The show is in its second season at the moment, and the action is noticeably faster and filled with more information. This time, literally every episode ends on a cliff-hanger, to which the viewer usually receives a logical answer by letting Netflix automatically play the next one. Nevertheless, it seems that many key questions are only going to be explored in season three. Locke & Key offers a nostalgic jump into a fantasy world without making a young adult, or any age group member, feel like they are watching a kids show. It rather offers an interesting concept of the magic keys and an entertaining diegesis, brought to life by a surprisingly talented group of young actors. For now, it also seems to be able to make the jump from its pitfall of leaving the spectator in the dark too much. I hope the narrative will keep the creative quality it started out with and continue to be on the agenda for a cosy movie night-in, either virtually or physically.
Fun Fact: The show was based on a book written by Joe Hill who is the son of acclaimed horror author Stephen King.
Source: https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/netflix-locke-key-all-key-guide
While enjoying the action and character play, a lot of questions arise in the viewer. My best friend and I have had several discussions about the possibilities and grey areas in the show. Since the keys offer a simple usage of magic, in many scenarios there are missing aspects in either the storyline or key side components of the show. One’s questions are likely to remain unanswered for several episodes or receive no answers at all. The problem with that aspect is not the waiting time, but the fact that these details would be, in my perception, crucial to the smooth progression of the series. Unlike many mystery shows, Locke & Key does not keep the viewer in the dark on purpose, but simply because there are still many doors waiting to be opened by the writers first. For example, one of the most prompting questions of the series is the origin of magic in the Locke family. Are there other sources of power? Are the Lockes alone in their situation or are there other families out there where the family name carries a magical heritage? None of these straightforward questions are even close to being explored.
The show is in its second season at the moment, and the action is noticeably faster and filled with more information. This time, literally every episode ends on a cliff-hanger, to which the viewer usually receives a logical answer by letting Netflix automatically play the next one. Nevertheless, it seems that many key questions are only going to be explored in season three. Locke & Key offers a nostalgic jump into a fantasy world without making a young adult, or any age group member, feel like they are watching a kids show. It rather offers an interesting concept of the magic keys and an entertaining diegesis, brought to life by a surprisingly talented group of young actors. For now, it also seems to be able to make the jump from its pitfall of leaving the spectator in the dark too much. I hope the narrative will keep the creative quality it started out with and continue to be on the agenda for a cosy movie night-in, either virtually or physically.
Fun Fact: The show was based on a book written by Joe Hill who is the son of acclaimed horror author Stephen King.
Source: https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/netflix-locke-key-all-key-guide