Still reeling from how much better was the Fox pilot for Locke & Key from 2011 than the first episode of the Netflix show from 2020, and not because it hews more closely to the first volume of the comic. It’s just… stronger, more focused, simpler, more elegant. For sure it’s creepier. Tonally, the Friedman version ran a bit toward The Shining. I don’t know what tone Cuse’s version is seeking. I’ll try another couple of episodes but the original is going to hover over my viewing experience.
Addenda
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This really is rather unbelievably pedestrian and boring through two episodes. I’ve no earthly idea who the audience is here. I still don’t know what the tone is supposed to be. Flat? Would you make something like this intending a flat tone? What I read of the comics seemed macabre and surreal and hard. Friedman’s pilot hadn’t really gotten to the surreal yet but captured the macabre and the hard. Cuse’s rendition, even though Joe Hill is involved, just seems… neutered? And kind of stiffly mechanical.
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The second episode ends with getting to the Head Key, and that should really give the audience an uncontrollable urge to continue to episode three. Except that they apparently didn’t have the courage to actually do the Head Key, and this is a perfect example of how they’ve neutered the whole premise. They’ve reached the Head Key and I’ve effectively no interest in watching what happens. That’s not good.