Netflix recommendations- Locke & Key (Season 1

Haunting, disturbing, but O-so moreish!

See, what I do is this. Once every couple of days, I bring up my Netflix app and check-out what are the top 10 trending shows on Netflix. Don’t we all!? And a couple of weeks back ‘Locke & Key’ was on the top 10 list.

And I have to admit, it was the 30 second trailer which hooked me in! And I’m not joking when I say this, but since watching the very first episode there hasn’t gone a day since, where I haven’t thought about it at least once in my day. And we watched the first ep over a month ago.

There’s something about Locke & Key which just gets stuck in your mind, scenes which once you’ve seen, you’re unable to un-see. And plot lines which have you thinking and thinking about it, trying to work out if the chronology made sense. Or how a ‘twist’ changed everything that you thought you knew, causing you to re-live each scene in your mind now that you have this new understanding.

And if I could take a step-back, for those who are unfamiliar with Locke & Key, this Netflix original is based on the comic book series of the same name. The title refers to the Locke family, made up of Nina (the mother), Tyler (eldest son), Kinsey (middle child), and Bode (youngest son). The family has just re-located across the country to Massachusetts, after the violent death of their father Rendell Locke. Moving into the Locke family home (Key house), for a fresh start and for Nina to better understand her late husband’s past.

However as they settle in to the century old mansion, Bode while exploring the property discovers ‘Echo’, a female voice which speaks to him from the depths of the well house. Then he hears whispers, unintelligible sounds that call out to him, in attempts to catch his attention and draw him close. Where he finds magical keys, hidden away in and around ‘Key house’. These keys when inserted into the corresponding lock of a door (or object), would unlock untold powers and horrors!

For example, the Anywhere key- which enables whom possesses it to open any door, transporting them to anywhere in the world that they could picture in their mind’s eye.

The Head key- a key which allows individual(s) to enter another’s depiction of their mind, allowing them to explore stored memories and personal experiences.

The Ghost key- when inserted into a specific door, frees one’s spirit to move freely, defying gravity/solid objects, and allows them to converse with other spirits.

And the list goes on, with upwards of 10 different keys? Each with its own unique powers. And the keys find themselves into the opening title, which acts as a teaser to what we’re to expect in the episode. Thus you have the Locks, and you have the keys!

But in the midst of their discovery of these keys and learning what they each do, the Locke family navigate typical teenage angst and high school; discover secrets/truths about their late father; uncover small town mysteries which locals are trying hard to forget; and of course the presence of not-so-nice forces who work hard to possess these magical keys.

But what comes with a totally engrossing and immersive show? Are the moments when you least want to re-live a particularly disturbing scene….. Say when you’re trying to sleep on a weekday night? When you have a long day of work ahead of you the next day? Yeah, it’s then, when these disturbing scenes replay themselves in your mind. Ah! Locke & Key was so effective in this that we had to restrict our viewing to only on the weekends, and only during the day-times. And when we neared the end of season 1, we smashed out the final 4 episodes in 2 days, and paid for it when we had poor sleeps for the next 3 nights! It’s not super scary, as other horror shows can be, but there are certain scenes which stay with you, and the story-line or the way that they unfold, makes it very thought provoking. We’ve spent many hours discussing certain scenes and situations to fully understand what happened.

In my personal opinion, Locke & Key was fully worth-while watching, even if it resulted in some sleepless nights. But can we put ourselves through this again, returning back to Key house for season 2? Perhaps not right now, perhaps in the New Year?

To start your own journey with Locke & Key, click HERE! To unlock the magic and horrors for yourself!