TV Review: Locke & Key Season 3
I first experienced Locke & Key in the full cast audiobook adaptation of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s graphic novel series. And even though I was intrigued by the story, I didn’t enjoy the audiobook because I found it rather disturbing to hear a full cast screaming and crying throughout the thirteen-hour horror story. Three years later, I decided to give it a second chance and actually read the six-part original graphic novel series itself, which was a completely different experience. The characters and keys truly bloomed to life on the page through Rodriguez’s artwork, allowing me to see and better understand what the characters were experiencing. Since I came to love the Lockes’ story through its original medium, I was very excited to hear when Netflix picked it up for a series in 2020, and the show did not disappoint.
The story follows the Locke family, whose children are able to find and use magical keys for various purposes in their centuries-old “Keyhouse” in Massachusetts. The keys are used on both doors and objects within Keyhouse to allow the user to travel elsewhere, repair things, look inside someone’s mind, turn into an animal, and the list goes on… The ability of the Lockes to make such magical keys comes from access to a demonic portal, which also provides the villains of the series. The first season of Netflix’s Locke & Key was almost beat-for-beat the plot of the entire graphic novel series, as it’s a fairly short one. The writers simply altered the ending to be able to continue the narrative arc into more seasons, planning from the beginning to have three. As a reader of the series, it was really nice to have both a faithful representation of the series in season one, as well as brand new content in seasons two and three. The extended story was also a great opportunity to see more keys in action, since you can only show so many in one season and do them justice.
Season 3 was simultaneously the best season and the most tired. A new villain was introduced at the end of season 2 to carry through season 3, and even though I love the actor Kevin Durand, the use of a new villain felt forced. The original villain was defeated in season 2, which I appreciated since it would have been painful to drag it out even further, but the new villain didn’t quite convince me either. That being said, the main cast were fantastic since they were obviously getting very familiar and comfortable in their roles. The family dynamic felt so much tighter and the friendships less strained, and having both a few new characters as well as the brief return of past characters was a nice touch. The acting by the main cast consisting of Darby Stanchfield, Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones (who recently won several awards for her role in CODA), and Jackson Robert Scott, was great, and I think Jackson Robert Scott as Bode was my favorite overall for the entire series. It was really fun for me to see Kevin Durand as the new villain in seasons 2 and 3 since I know him from sci-fi series like Dark Angel and Stargate. There wasn’t a single person in the cast that did poorly.
My favorite moments in season 3 were when the Lockes were all working together on a singular goal. The characters had a lot of trouble with communication in the first season especially, so seeing them finally find their rhythm as a team was really rewarding. They were also finally processing their father’s death that launched the entire story in the first place, which was rather belated but also had a really sweet and tender payoff. The action scenes with the villain were fine, but the family moments kept me going. The mother-son relationship with Ellie and Rufus was also really nice to see develop. Come for the magical keys and action-packed sequences, stay for the relationships and lessons learned. Even though part of me wishes there were more seasons to come, I’m also very happy with how they wrapped up the show with no loose ends. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the series yet, you can have fun bingeing all three seasons now!
