The show made Ellie the black supportive friend who has no interests of her own. Then we meet Ellie’s childhood friend Erin Voss. Ellie, respect yourself and your part in this story. Here she just seems to have no friends except for Nina Locke, and she lives for coming over for coffee and some of that aforementioned exposition. But man it’s hard to be a Matheson grown up.įirst we’ve got Ellie Whedon, and literally what does she do all day besides come over to be the world’s most supportive neighbor? In the comic she was the school track coach, she was raising her teenage son, and taking care of her evil mother. That’s not their fault- the Riffel Rule is in effect, remember? They literally can’t remember. We check in with a couple of the adults of Matheson throughout the episode, and they all know something is up, but not a one of them knows what. New Kinsey is pretty cool.” This is the worst goddamn town I’ve ever seen. And their reaction when she does the same thing a third time, one week into knowing her. We also see how those Savini kids feel about #FearlessKinsey, and they are bad friends! They are so excited to let this traumatized girl get involved in their splatter flick after they’ve seen what it does to her- twice! Seriously, she comes out to do their gory movie thing and has a panic attack so understandable, a mental-health denying Boomer would be like, “Oh yeah, that girl has clear trauma.” Than she assures them all that she’s OK, asks to star in their movie and has another panic attack. So instead of contrived drama, maybe… I don’t know, find something else to do with these characters? (I for one would suggest adapting the comic that this show is named after). And it’s not like anyone else’s behavior is dictated by anything resembling the real world. And look, I guess any bad writing can be excused by saying, “teenagers, amiright?” but that gets tiresome to watch. After justifying the beatdown he gave that non-character last episode (an event that everyone seems to have moved on from), suddenly he’s really worried that Kinsey is awkwardly giving her mom a feedback sandwich. She’s… mildly (and erroneously) critical of her mom? And this really sets Tyler off who gets judgmental which is as hypocritical as it is annoying. After all, what else do teens do when they enter their psychic mindspace and eliminate the concept of their ability to feel fear? Kinsey’s behavior changes in a lot of ways in what is the highlight of this episode. On to the specifics of the plot though- we knew Kinsey was gonna give herself a makeover this episode and that at least does not disappoint. Everyone says the fewest words they need to in order to convey the information that will drive the characters to do the next thing the plot requires. The dialogue in Locke & Key is what the world would sound like if life was scripted by disinterested TV writers who wanted to go home. Vince Gilligan shows are best when the characters are talking through long anecdotes/metaphors. Joss Whedon shows work because everyone is quippy, too clever by half, and faux-awkward. I don’t mind when TV characters don’t talk like real people, but there needs to be a rhythm, a style to their words. She still gets sad about it sometimes.” Not “he was her friend,” or “he was her boyfriend.” Is that how you’d talk about your mom’s dead ex? I know I sure as hell wouldn’t. “Oh yeah, he was her first love,” he answers, “He died. “Hey Rufus, has your mom ever mentioned someone named Lucas?” Bode asks. Well, if I’m gonna be honest about my issues with this show, I think I need to start with a big one: the dialogue is actively bad. Let’s talk about “The Keepers of the Keys.” The worst part is that a lot of the people involved are clearly talented- and the show is flushing all the good acting and production design down the drain! So I am gonna be a bit of a hater, because Locke & Key on Netflix deserves it. What once felt like a poor adaptation of one of my favorite comics is turning into a cautionary tale of how not to make TV. It’s gone from something I’d recommend my friends with teenage kids who have never read the book to something I’d maybe wish on my worst enemy. I’ll try to assess its merits as best I can, give it a fair chance and a strong critique, but being a hater? That’s not my style. Even if I’m not enjoying something I have to review, I try to have fun with it.
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