Lockwood & Co.
By Alexandra
It’s London, circa our time. Ghosts come out at night and if they touch you, you die (or get seriously ill). Silver, salt, iron and children can protect against ghosts. Yes, children- adults cannot see the ghosts while most of the kids can, up until their teenage years. Lucy Carlyle (Ruby Stokes) is a listener- she can hear ghosts and if she touches an object related in any way to a ghost, she can get a glimpse of what may have happened in conjunction with the ghost’s past. She leaves her birth town and finds herself in London, working with a prestigious agency that prides itself on providing quality ghost-warding services. Except the agency consists of two boys with no adult supervisors. George Karim (Ali Hadji-Heshmati) loves researching each ghost case and the circumstances that may have given rise to a ghost (was there a violent crime to make the ghost angry for revenge? Or was it a man who died in his old age and is only coming back to make sure the family fixed the beloved bookcase?) And then there’s Anthony Lockwood (Cameron Chapman), who’s running his own ghost-hunting agency and living in a house inherited from his parents, complete with a cellar destined for fencing and ghost warding practice.
The first three episodes of “Lockwood & Co.”, adapted from the eponymous series by Jonathan Stroud, cover the first book and they do it justice. The ghosts are believable, the characters warm to one another as they spend more time together, and the plot follows the action from the book smoothly, with no glaring gaps. Importantly, the TV show so far explains points of the plot that need explaining and still manages to drop some hints and Easter eggs that viewers will come to cherish later.
The cast
I’ll admit it: at first, I wasn’t sure any of the actors were the right cast. Lucy maybe. Lockwood, maybe, from certain angles. George? Not at all. By the end of the third episode, however, all three of them have become endearing, and one could forgive the fact that George is not chubby as he was in the books- what’s wrong with having a non-slim supporting character?- or that Lockwood’s stature was perhaps less impressive or authoritative. All three actors do a great job as they warm and stretch the characters’ skin to fit their own. Lucy gives away her impetuosity, George his fastidiousness, and Lockwood shows how unphased he can be in even the most difficult of situations. I’m waiting for Chapman to grow into the precocious maturity and darkness that sometimes hang heavy over book Lockwood, I hope that will come with time.
The Lockwood house
A special mention needs to go to THE LOCKWOOD HOUSE! A major point of fascination in the books, with incredible and varied artefacts from all over the world, all dedicated to warding off ghosts and (evil?) spirits. The house was rather underwhelming on the show, although I did spot what appeared to be one of the objects that are later in the story used by our heroes to escape a battalion of ghosts. I’m not quite sure why the set designers decided to make the house rather un-flashy, when in the books it was this wonderful quirky place of abode- kind of like Narnia.
So far, “Lockwood & Co.” hasn’t disappointed. A few details have been changed from the books (ahem, it was meant to be a medallion), but apart from that, it’s probably the one of the best adaptations of one book in such few episodes. I look forward to watching the rest and to seeing the actors grow into the characters.
Season one of “Lockwood & Co.” is on Netflix.
