SEASON 2
The first season of Locke and Key was criticized for not having the edginess, violence and gore present in the comics and for it's slow pace, and of course for characters acting irrationally and taking stupid decisions. With the second season, the creators have tried to change that. Pacing of the season is much better, the episodes are not always family friendly and the whole season feels more eventful. Characters still act irrationally sometimes, but not as much as the first season.
WHAT'S GOOD :
1. Finally we are made aware of what the motive of Dodge/Gabe is. In the first season we see how fierce and menacing Dodge can get, but without a clear motive it always felt like an incomplete story, her motive and intentions were the missing part of the story.
2. Turning people into demons was an interesting concept, and would have really turned the show into a proper horror show, if the creators had gone full scale. This plot could have easily spilled into the third season, but I guess the creators didn't want to turn this show into another zombie based show, no one has the patience to endure such shows anymore.
3. The head key has so many different possibilities, a whole new world to explore and create, basically it turns you into a god; so it's always fascinating to see how far your imagination can take you. I really liked how Kinsey used it to spend some relaxing time at her dream destination. The usage of head key also gave us an extremely spooky scene of some faceless plastic models chasing Kinsey and Scott. That scene felt straight out of a horror movie and was very well executed.
4. I did not expect anyone important to die in this show, considering its family friendly vibe and children being the target audience; so when it happened, I was taken aback, it was a shocking moment and I felt really bad for Tyler and Jackie. Kudos to the creators for going the distance and giving this show a dark tone.
5. It was quite exciting to see the kids grappling with the giant spider in their house. For once we got to explore and enjoy an adventure that had nothing to do with Dodge or Gabe. I would have really loved to see more such side adventures.
6. It was great to see Kinsey and Scot getting back together. Kinsey's breakup with Scot and friendship with Gabe made no sense at all, so I am glad the writers fixed that mistake this season.
7. It was good to see Duncan getting involved with the kids in their adventure ride this season. Aaron Ashmore did a pretty good job this season, and I am really glad the writers decided to expand his role. Duncan and Bode coming across a drawer filled with Audio Cassettes and Bode looking at them with amusement with no clue of what they were, was a scene that was nostalgic as well as funny.
8. Despite all the stupid decisions and plot conveniences, it goes without saying that this is a very engaging and entertaining show. This entire season was quite eventful and never for a moment did I feel like quitting it. Once you get on the ride, you won't be able to get off it without reaching the finishing line.
9. The visual effects, cinematography and art direction were great as usual. The technical department has ensured that the world of magic feels magical.
WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD :
1. There is nothing more irritating than watching characters take stupid decisions and acting irrationally. Why was it necessary for Erin to go after Dodge on her own? What made her believe that she could handle a demon all on her own? Why was it so difficult for her to understand that four individuals fighting a demon will always be better than just one person fighting it out alone?
2. Duncan created the Demon key, using his own blood, so the people turned into demons listened to him in the end; fair enough, but then but why did they listen to Gabe initially? Gabe did not create them, he did not add his blood in the molten key, so then why were they taking his orders? Javi was the first demon, why did he listen to Gabe and follow his commands? That was a major plot hole in my opinion.
3. When the cave starts collapsing in episode 9, the portal to the other world gets opened and Ellie falls out, unhurt, after being there for months. What happened to her inside that world? If the demon world has demons, as per it's name, and it keeps shooting demonic bullets every few seconds, then how did Ellie survive in there for so many months? All this while she just kept hanging in there, near the gate? How did she even stay alive without food and water for so long? She is one strong woman, because she not only survived but had the strength to walk from the cave to the key house. Logically speaking, she should have turned into a demon. There can of course be other scenarios, but the show didn't provide us with any explanation.
4. The Doll House was an insanely powerful yet criminally underutilized weapon. In episode 7, when Jamie was tasked with trapping Eden, she could also have easily flicked or dragged Gabe into the room that the Locke's wanted him to go. One of the Locke's could have used the anywhere key to connect the door to the well house. Everything was visible to Jamie, and it was as tiny as a toy, she could have crushed Eden to her death, that's how easy it was for her to harm Gabe and Eden; and yet all that the Locke's could think of was to put a glass on Eden, while they struggled with Gabe.
5. When Josh asked his daughter Jamie to stop playing with the Dollhouse, she was doing something very important, it was a life and death scenario, and she just pulled out her hand like it was a game! Jamie is shown to be a very intelligent girl, but in that moment she didn't act like one. She should have explained everything to her father and helped the Locke's. Adult can't remember magic, but they can definitely see it, isn't it? In that moment he could have got involved and done something. That was a very frustrating scene to watch.
6. Why was the Dollhouse out of the Key House? Duncan didn't like the house, but he had kept everything intact, why would the Locke's sell or donate such a powerful and dangerous thing? Selling the Doll House to an antique shop endangered the lives of the Locke's, why would any of the descendants of the Locke family put their own life at risk?
7. Why didn't the children use the memory key on their mother soon after Duncan? That woman was under so much stress, and yet her children didn't bother to help her. Nina Locke's scenes were the dullest scenes of the season; every scene involving her felt like those filler episode that no one is interested in watching. Why not make her a part of the adventure, like Duncan, by fixing her?
8. The character of Josh felt quite mysterious initially, but it turned out that he existed only to give us a history lesson about the Locke's. Also, why exactly was he following the orders of Eden towards the end, that too without talking about it with anyone; not even his daughter. He went to the dangerous caves, where he could have died, but he didn't bother to mention it to his only daughter, who has absolutely no one in the world after him. Josh's behavior just did not make any kind of sense towards the end of the season.
9. Why did the key fail to work on Jackie? I am sure Tyler's intention was to bring Jackie back to her normal state and remove demon that was inside her. Even though, the keys are powered by demonic power, they never really trick the Locke's; every time a Locke made a key, it has turned out to be exactly how they wanted it to be, without any catch; so what happened with Tyler then? It killed the Demon, but it should not have killed Jackie, the demonic power should have completely vanished from inside her.
10. The character of Jackie, played by Genevieve Kang, remained a single note character till the end. It was quite strange to see her character not getting much attention and development, considering the fact that she was Tyler's girlfriend. Also, her reasons for not using the memory key did not make much sense; she would have remembered everything and also it's always better to be aware about the dangers that exist around us. She clearly did not see the hot mess that Nina Locke was, otherwise she would have never said no to the key.
11. How did no one in the school notice that Gabe was never really a student there? Did he do his homework? Did he give any tests or exams? Surely, during the exams the teachers must have noticed something off? Gabe was always visiting Kinsey at key house, why didn't she ever think about visiting his house?
12. In episode 4, Bode conveniently forgets to take back the Ghost key from Gabe; in fact this event never comes up for discussion in the future! It's amazing to see these children act so careless with the keys. Bode is generally a very sensible kid, but sometimes he acts extremely irrationally. I was quite shocked to see Bode shout back at his teacher when she took away his phone; I don't know how aggressive children in America are, but Bode was way out of line there.
The end of this season felt like the end of this series with almost every single thread coming to a close and the main villain gone. The role of Fredrick Gideon seemed fine when he appeared in the flashbacks, but bringing him back in the present as the new villain did not come across as a good idea to me. Of course, some new adventures in the lives of the children as they explore their magical world would always make for a fascinating watch.
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