Netflix's LOCKE AND KEY is a Tamed Beast Designed for Children in First Five Episodes

We won't deny it. "Locke and Key" is one of the Netflix originals we are looking forward to this year. Coming from the creators of "The Haunting of Hill House", our expectations are extremely high. Unfortunately, the first five episodes was a hit or miss affair. By focusing more on a kid-centric approach, the show is being tamed from unleashing its full potential in its first half of its first season.

After their father is murdered under mysterious circumstances, the three Locke siblings and their mother move into their ancestral home, Keyhouse in Matheson, Massachusetts. Soon, the three siblings discover that the house is full of hidden magical keys that may be connected to their father's death. As the Locke children explore the different keys and their unique powers, a mysterious lady in the well emerged — and will stop at nothing to get her hands on the keys.

The first five episodes for "Locke and Key" had rough and slow pacing taking its time to unveil any of its secrets. Halfway through the season, not much has been answered. It's understandable that not all will be revealed at this junction of the season, we have five episodes left, but we would have hoped that at least some of the lore behind the keys would have been explored by now. But alas, we are still as clueless as the Locke siblings when it comes to understanding the origins of the magical keys hidden inside their home. The overall narrative felt like it was heavy on its coming-of-age aspects (teenage romance, sibling rivalries) while the supernatural horror mystery bits took the back seat. Things could have been more balanced in terms of the give and take between those two to make the first few episodes more exciting and enticing. Connected to this, we also felt that horror in particular was non-existent. There's this vibe that the show's approach was designed to heavily cater to a younger audience. Even the antagonist was missing most of the time only showing up a few minutes per episode. Not all is bad though as the mysteries and narrative seemed to be snowballing to a very hefty last five episodes. We also loved the acting and chemistry not only between the Locke siblings but most of the cast had memorable and likable portrayals of their characters. The visual effects were also top-notch for a television web series. Overall, while we are slightly disappointed with "Locke and Key" and its very rough start, the potential for the last five episodes to salvage the first season is high.    

"Locke and Key" will be exclusively available on Netflix starting February 7, 2020.