Soon after the major Netflix success of Wednesday and The Stranger Things, the streaming platform took its chance on another gothic young adult TV series. Lockwood and Co is the perfect dark blend between Sherlock Holmes and Stranger Things. Lockwood & Co is based on Jonathan Stroud’s well-known book series called Lockwood. Joe Cornish is the writer/producer of Lockwood and Co. Only he could pull off the blend between investigative and thriller genres.
The series starts with two teenagers bantering back and forth about their plans to capture and kill a ghost. Fully equipped with bombs and swords, they walk towards a gloomy house. There they meet an old woman who says, “When I was your age, I was out chasing boys, having fun,” she says. “It’s terrible that the world’s come to this. I feel sorry for your generation.”
Lockwood & Co is set in a time where adults are unemployed and Gen-Z are dealing with issues like climate change, income disparity, and constant pandemics. The fifty-decade-long ghost infestation or pandemic is the reason the kids are in the abovementioned scene. It just so happens that only children and teenagers can see ghosts. They work under adult-led organizations to earn money for their unemployed families. The crushing reality is what seems to set the show apart from the standard stereotypical things they normally tend to show in such a series.
Although the name of the series has Lockwood in it, the show revolves around Lucy Carlisle, ‘the listener’. She is played by Ruby Stokes who is the perfect role as the girl striving to do what is always right. The first episode focuses on Lucy for the major part. It follows her through her childhood when she started working at 12. Her mother was unemployed and her father had died due to alcoholism.
Due to a horrible incident, she runs away to London where she finds a job at a teen-run ghostbusting agency run by Lockwood and George. Anthony Lockwood played by Cameron Chapman is an enigmatic character who seems to have a death wish with his casual thinking and recklessness. George, on the other hand, comes across as analytical and quick on his feet. He seems a bit prickly but his value exceeds his annoying self.
Lockwood and Co is the perfect blend of playfulness, darkness, and humor. From lore to stories, it touches on each topic that supernatural shows usually find ways to stuff in their plotlines. Cornish and his team are quite efficient when it comes to saving money. Instead of dumping information into the viewer’s head, the plot slowly covers everything. It gives you the tools to build the story the way you want. The series follows an extended first couple of episodes but the pace soon picks up and so does the plotline.
The series is packed with fun anecdotes and sarcastic responses to things that adults often end up saying, A mixture of detective qualities, a dark setting, and light-hearted humor is exactly what you need for Lockwood and Co to become a binge-watching show.
Final Score- [8/10]
Reviewed by - Jess Doshi
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Publisher at Midgard Times