NYCC: Locke & Key Pilot Impressions

I’m sure a lot of people left the pilot wondering why Foxdidn’t pick it up for Broadcast. They'll strike a likeness to the Walking Dead tvshow and say the quality and acting was there. Well here’s why… budget! Thereis no way a normal network could support the show and it would have beencancelled instantly! If a cable channel picked it up it still would have beenquestionable for the same reason (I guarantee the second season of Walking Dead will see a smaller budget!). Still, it was a good adaptation. I heard onewannabe nerd taking issue with it saying it wasn't exact enough and he didn’t likethe early reveals, but that’s the difference between TV and Comics. TV you needto hook the audience and give them a reason to come back and a drawn outmystery is the best way to do that. Personally I thought the reveals that theyhad were intelligent and that Scott Freeman really understood the sourcematerial enough to adapt and alter the plot line. There really was no reason tofollow the comic 100%, because it would have been boring and had a lot ofoverlapping information that could easily been shown like they did in theepisode.

As for the story the pilot follows the first six episodes ofthe original mini-series pretty close. It leaves out a lot of the characterprogression issues as it focuses on building the world and conflict. But thegeneral story was not changed from the series. The acting was actually prettygood and the young kid playing Bode was perfectly casted. He captures thecharacters innocent like nature and is the only character that isn’t tainted byhis father’s death. In general this pilot was really good, great effects andeven better sets which gave it a great look. If I had one thing negative to say it would be that the way its handled is mostly only appealing to comic fans. I couldn't see my parents watching it weekly and enjoying the mystery. Will fan generated interest get theshow a green light? Probably not, but again… the budget is going to kill thispuppy in the long run, but another thing to consider is TV mini-series?