Title: Locke & Key (14+)
Year: 2020-2022
Running Time: 28 episodes
Director: Various
Cast: Darby Stanchfield (Nina Locke), Conner Jessup (Tyler Locke), Emilia Jones (Kinsey Locke), Jackson Robert Scott (Bode Locke)
Notes: Won one award
Rating: 9
Thoughts: After a lecturer is murdered by a student his wife moves with their children to his family home. There the children discover a series of magical keys.
The premise has some immediate interest and this gets into the story quickly. The family explore a giant mansion and we find a mysterious woman trapped down a well and then a succession of magical keys. These all allow the holder to do different things.
The two older children (Jessup and Jones) are excellent as they balance teen angst and a new school with their discoveries. The younger (Scott) improves through the series.
There is then a succession of villains that reappear throughout the series, a host of supporting characters, and some neat ideas. One of the many keys is a great idea, that you can put into the back of your neck and walk into a fantasy manifestation of your own life, hopes, and fears.
There are some buts along the way. Firstly, the keys come thick and fast but then they start to appear as a convenience to the story. Oh, we've got a problem, look there's a key that can fix things.
Secondly, the baddies are at times weak. The main demon of the first series is a little cliched and the later ones that are from the American War of Independence just look a bit odd, like bad dummies in a museum come alive.
They could exploit the horror more and no doubt don't, to widen the audience. But there are some great cliffhangers, even if this does occasionally feel like it's on a loop.
Overall though this is a very good romp that only just falls short of excellence. The ideas have enough strength to outweigh the negatives and I certainly wouldn't mind a further series.
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