Lockwood & Co.: The Series
Jan 31
2023
No giveaway this week, because I'm still slogging through Tom Jones. It's going faster than I thought it would, because it's at least 20% extremely long chapter titles, but 80% of 875 pages is still a time-sink.
I've read several reviews of Netflix's new adaptation of Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co. series that seem to have been written by people unfamiliar with the books, so I thought I'd chip in with a take by someone who adores the source material (and is picky about book-to-film adaptations): it's safe, fellow Lockwood & Co. fans! You're gonna like it!
(If you're looking for our reviews of the original books, click here. Mild spoilers abound.)
The best thing about Lockwood & Co. is its cast, a group of relative unknowns who fully inhabit Stroud's characters and do a wonderful job of making their relationships feel real, even with the pacing crunch created by the series' short running time. Ruby Stokes is great as Lucy, capturing her endearing combination of competence and gruffness, and her co-stars are nearly as good. There's chemistry galore between the entire crew, and fanfiction writers will find plenty of source material here to justify 'shipping every combination imaginable.
The series isn't perfect—the CGI ghosts are pretty low-budget, and the some of the relationship development is rushed. (I would have loved to see at least a quick montage of “ordinary” ghost-hunting work to justify the strength of Lockwood, Lucy, and George's bond.) And the Skull is still purely malevolent figure, with none of the nuance it displays in the books. But those are quibbles, and at the end of the day, literally every single person involved in this series should be proud of their work, including behind-the-scenes contributors like set and soundtrack designers. I know this is the kind of show that streamers are pretty ruthless about canceling, but here's the thing, Netflix: everyone that worked on this does A+ work, and that means they're only going to get more expensive! So why not just hang on to the contracts you've already got with them, and make another season (or two!) of this unexpectedly awesome show?
I've read several reviews of Netflix's new adaptation of Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co. series that seem to have been written by people unfamiliar with the books, so I thought I'd chip in with a take by someone who adores the source material (and is picky about book-to-film adaptations): it's safe, fellow Lockwood & Co. fans! You're gonna like it!
(If you're looking for our reviews of the original books, click here. Mild spoilers abound.)
The best thing about Lockwood & Co. is its cast, a group of relative unknowns who fully inhabit Stroud's characters and do a wonderful job of making their relationships feel real, even with the pacing crunch created by the series' short running time. Ruby Stokes is great as Lucy, capturing her endearing combination of competence and gruffness, and her co-stars are nearly as good. There's chemistry galore between the entire crew, and fanfiction writers will find plenty of source material here to justify 'shipping every combination imaginable.
The series isn't perfect—the CGI ghosts are pretty low-budget, and the some of the relationship development is rushed. (I would have loved to see at least a quick montage of “ordinary” ghost-hunting work to justify the strength of Lockwood, Lucy, and George's bond.) And the Skull is still purely malevolent figure, with none of the nuance it displays in the books. But those are quibbles, and at the end of the day, literally every single person involved in this series should be proud of their work, including behind-the-scenes contributors like set and soundtrack designers. I know this is the kind of show that streamers are pretty ruthless about canceling, but here's the thing, Netflix: everyone that worked on this does A+ work, and that means they're only going to get more expensive! So why not just hang on to the contracts you've already got with them, and make another season (or two!) of this unexpectedly awesome show?
Posted by: Julianka
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