S01.E10: Crown of Shadows

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

The battle over the Omega Key leads to decisions that can't be undone -- and a dangerous door that promises plenty of trouble ahead.

Dropping on Friday, February 7, 2020.

[marieYOTZ]

Boy, these kids are insufficiently paranoid for this job. I think maybe they didn’t watch enough TV during their formative years. 

[Prower]

God these kids are stupid. I can maybe see them not figuring it out in the heat of the moment. But how can they not figure it out afterwards, when somebody is missing without a trace?

Also Dodge was there when the Omega door was opened. Why didn't she just throw everybody in? She is supernaturally strong. She basically got what she wanted and then didn't do anything with it. That the girl was hit by a bullet was just coincidence and at that point they had the door almost closed. I hope we get a good explaination for what her motives are, but I kinda doubt it.

So Gabe was Dodge all along? How would that work, he seemed to have been a student there for a long time. Did Dodge kill the real kid and took over his identity at some point? How would she do that without the head key, that she didn't have for the longest time? She wouldn't know his routine, his friends, his parents, his classwork, etc. etc.

And nobody ever even considered asking great- great- great- great- grandpappi Locke for help? I mean what is he sitting around on the graveyard for if you don't even come to help when you need it?

And nobody even considered to use the head key on the friend in the mental institution to see what might be wrong, after everything was over? These are legit horrible people...

At this point I'm not sure if I'm going to be back for next season. All seems a bit pointless, when the character act like brainless idiots (and I'm including the villian here) and the writing makes no sense at points...

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by Prower

[formerlyfreedom]

2 hours ago, Prower said:

So Gabe was Dodge all along? How would that work, he seemed to have been a student there for a long time. Did Dodge kill the real kid and took over his identity at some point?

IIRC, they actually said Gabe was new-ish when they introduced him in episode two - that was part of why he joined the group.

[Prower]

But if he always was Dodge, how did he get into the film crew so fast and seem super good friends with everybbody? Bode only let her out in the first episode. So even if she put that plan into motion immediatly, she would have gotten to that school the same time as the Locke kids at best.

[marieYOTZ]

22 hours ago, Prower said:

So Gabe was Dodge all along? How would that work, he seemed to have been a student there for a long time. Did Dodge kill the real kid and took over his identity at some point? How would she do that without the head key, that she didn't have for the longest time? She wouldn't know his

He was introduced playing the lobster for the movie as “the other new kid”, and then told oldest girl child during their walk that he was sent there for boarding school for reasons involving crappy parents. 

[Prower]

Seems fishy, but I'll allow it.

[kirkola]

On 2/9/2020 at 8:07 AM, Prower said:

God these kids are stupid. I can maybe see them not figuring it out in the heat of the moment. But how can they not figure it out afterwards, when somebody is missing without a trace?

Also Dodge was there when the Omega door was opened. Why didn't she just throw everybody in? She is supernaturally strong. She basically got what she wanted and then didn't do anything with it. That the girl was hit by a bullet was just coincidence and at that point they had the door almost closed. I hope we get a good explaination for what her motives are, but I kinda doubt it.

So Gabe was Dodge all along? How would that work, he seemed to have been a student there for a long time. Did Dodge kill the real kid and took over his identity at some point? How would she do that without the head key, that she didn't have for the longest time? She wouldn't know his routine, his friends, his parents, his classwork, etc. etc.

And nobody ever even considered asking great- great- great- great- grandpappi Locke for help? I mean what is he sitting around on the graveyard for if you don't even come to help when you need it?

And nobody even considered to use the head key on the friend in the mental institution to see what might be wrong, after everything was over? These are legit horrible people...

At this point I'm not sure if I'm going to be back for next season. All seems a bit pointless, when the character act like brainless idiots (and I'm including the villian here) and the writing makes no sense at points...

 

The great great great...grandpappy Locke thing is easily explained by the fact that using that key was very expensive for production.  The key was much more prominent in the beginning of graphic novel, as far as I remember.  But, once Bode found the Ghost key within the show, it was apparent that the production team were looking to use it sparingly.  I would have preferred a little less CGI and a little more practical effects (and maybe a little more reaction to a seemingly dead Bode.    And wouldn't it have been terrible if Mom walked by and said "who left the door open"...goes to shut it and finds her lifeless son. 

Also a lot of it can be explained by teenagers don't always make the best choices under the normal circumstances and here we have two sets of teenagers (Dad's generation and Dad's kids generation) who have witness violent deaths.  I mean Rendell and his friends thought the keys were all fun and games until 3 of the group died.  Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode had already suffered a violent tragedy before getting access to the keys.  They weren't thinking clearly the entire time. 

[FoxyVixen]

On 2/9/2020 at 2:07 PM, Prower said:

God these kids are stupid. I can maybe see them not figuring it out in the heat of the moment. But how can they not figure it out afterwards, when somebody is missing without a trace?

Also Dodge was there when the Omega door was opened. Why didn't she just throw everybody in? She is supernaturally strong. She basically got what she wanted and then didn't do anything with it. That the girl was hit by a bullet was just coincidence and at that point they had the door almost closed. I hope we get a good explaination for what her motives are, but I kinda doubt it.

So Gabe was Dodge all along? How would that work, he seemed to have been a student there for a long time. Did Dodge kill the real kid and took over his identity at some point? How would she do that without the head key, that she didn't have for the longest time? She wouldn't know his routine, his friends, his parents, his classwork, etc. etc.

And nobody ever even considered asking great- great- great- great- grandpappi Locke for help? I mean what is he sitting around on the graveyard for if you don't even come to help when you need it?

And nobody even considered to use the head key on the friend in the mental institution to see what might be wrong, after everything was over? These are legit horrible people...

At this point I'm not sure if I'm going to be back for next season. All seems a bit pointless, when the character act like brainless idiots (and I'm including the villian here) and the writing makes no sense at points...

 

I agree with EVERYTHING you're saying. Its just infuriating how they're wasting what could have been an entertaining watch, with crappy writing!

There is also a huge plot hole. If Randall's girlfriend had managed to lock herself in her head while they still used the keys, one of her friends obviously would have let her out.

And if they where to dumb to realize what had happened, surely they would have peeked in her head, if nothing else to figure out what had happened, before letting her get sent off to the loony bin. 

And after they stopped using them she couldn't have, since the guy who burned himself to death where the only one who knew where it was (hidden in the house.)

And if she for some unphantomable reason had broken in, found it and used it, then it wouldn't have been hidden again for Bode to find. 

Most of the time the characters are just stupid, and their actions and motivations makes no sense, but I guess you can excuse it with "they are all enormous idiots."

But this is a HUGE plot hole. 

[GustavMahler]

So I would rate this first season a 6 out of 10. The first few episodes were very good and compelling, a sort of Spielberg/Burton mashup. The central episodes were the weakest, a sort of YA/CW plot filtered through Hallmark. The final episodes, though flawed, at least ramped the story up a bit with an ominous Stranger Things feel with their own Upside Down complete with ominous stormy clouds serving as a backdrop. Not really a binge worthy series as nothing that occurred really had you ready for the next episode. Overall, it was just OK.....

Edited February 15, 2020 by GustavMahler

[iMonrey]

I enjoyed the series, for the most part, but was very disappointed with this last episode. They shouldn't have left everything on a cliff-hanger like that. If this doesn't get another season then there's no closure. It could have been a nice little 10-episode self-contained story. 

The other problem is that I saw everything coming before it happened. Very predictable. I knew it was going to turn out they threw Ellie through that door. Which is sort of horrifying in itself - body switches always give me the wiggins. I guess in a way it's Karma since she's the one who unleashed the demon in the first place, but by the end she was trying to help fix it. I guess that still doesn't bring back all the people who got killed thanks to her.

Also annoyed how Dodge was always one step ahead of the kids. It was like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown over and over again. Why did it never occur to them to try using the box on her? It might not have worked but they should have at least tried. It's like they forgot it existed after that one episode.

I mostly agree with GustavMahler's assessment above. 

[AnimeMania]

They should have used the ghost key to get some backstory about the house, the keys, the family, the town, etc. I don't have anymore understanding of what is happening or why it is happening, than when the first episode started.

[Mabinogia]

On 2/15/2020 at 12:12 PM, iMonrey said:

Also annoyed how Dodge was always one step ahead of the kids. It was like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown over and over again.

Dodge got really boring really fast. I don't find it interesting or exciting when the bad guy always triumphs until the very last, but wait! They don't because we need a cliffhanger in case we have another season! BORING! I didn't get any sense of motivation. She just wanted the keys for..reasons, and liked just randomly killing people or doing bad things just to show how evil and "otherworldly" she is. 

On 2/15/2020 at 12:12 PM, iMonrey said:

Why did it never occur to them to try using the box on her? It might not have worked but they should have at least tried. It's like they forgot it existed after that one episode.

That would have probably been the best idea to try. And it didn't have to work, since the show wouldn't want it to be that easy, but at least they should have tried. That would have been my first thing to try. They proved with Eden that they don't have to be right there, so they could have hidden from her and tried it and if it didn't work they were at least hidden. But no, like you said, they just seemed to forget about it. 

 

On 2/15/2020 at 12:40 PM, AnimeMania said:

They should have used the ghost key to get some backstory about the house, the keys, the family, the town, etc. I don't have anymore understanding of what is happening or why it is happening, than when the first episode started.

Other than how ridiculous the villain was, this what frustrated me most about the show overall. I still don't know if the keys are good, evil, where they came from, how the Locke family ended up with them. Did the man how built the house build it to hide the keys, to use the keys? Was he good, bad? 

There were so many good, interesting ideas here but the follow through on them was terrible. 

For the most part I liked it, I think that is due to that amazing house, I love spooky Victorian mansions in quaint New England towns, and the kids, as stupid as some of their actions were, I found them engaging enough and thought they did the best they could with some pretty contrived writing. I just wish the story had been better thought out. 

I think they could have given us more of an idea of what the keys are or where they came from and why they exist, wrapped up the story of Dodge and yet left an opening for continuation. Kill Dodge but have Eden now "infected" with another bullet demon, have the kids discover what they are up against, and realize that they may have to fight again, so next season opens with them studying up on the history of the keys and what not. The flashbacks could be to their grandfather's story rather than Dads. I just wish they'd finished this one a bit better. 

[Hatshepsut]

Yeah, I did mostly like the show, but have to agree that the poor writing took the shine off of what was a really cool, fun concept. The kids are basically idiots--not using the music box against Dodge (which is the first thing probably most viewers thought of when introduced to the music box), never checking in with Great-Grandpa Locke to get some backstory on the keys and the house (How many keys are there? What can the other ones do? What's with that door?), opening the Omega door ('cause that turned out so well last time), not considering that the Dodge could use the identity key to look like anyone (although I will give them some leeway for not guessing that the identity key could be used on someone else against their will), etc., etc.

Then there are the completely superfluous adults (and honestly, if the mom can only remember what happened when drinking, I say let her drink! The kids are clearly unable to handle this situation by themselves). And I found the whole "oh, grown-ups can't remember magic" thing to be kind of a cop out (and what about the Locke ancestors? Great-Grandpa Locke clearly remembered--do you stop forgetting when you die, or what?).

Hope they get better writers for season 2.

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, Hatshepsut said:

And I found the whole "oh, grown-ups can't remember magic" thing to be kind of a cop out (and what about the Locke ancestors? Great-Grandpa Locke clearly remembered--do you stop forgetting when you die, or what?).

And then we get Ellie explaining why she remembers "we found a way to remember" with absolutely NO FOLLOWUP! There was a lot of hand waving of what should be important information. A lot of stuff like gramps hanging out in the cemetery with possibly all the info they need but no one even suggests maybe going and asking him some questions. Ellie being able to remember/know about magic but the kids don't think to ask how to maybe help their mom out? They have a music box that controls people but they don't think to use it on the Big Bad? I think they all forgot about the keys that would have actually been useful to them because the writers couldn't think of any better way to get out of the holes they dug for themselves. 

[leighdear]

I'll admit, I was side-eyeing Uncle Duncan Ashmore from the first episode.  I mean, he cheated on Veronica Mars!   But he turned out to have zero impact on the story.  Just eye candy.  

I'm ok with another season, though I did expect a bit more from Joe Hill.  Obviously he didn't let his parents take a first pass on the episodes, or they would have been tighter. 

It kept me entertained as long as I didn't think too much about the logistics.  

[kirkola]

15 hours ago, leighdear said:

I'll admit, I was side-eyeing Uncle Duncan Ashmore from the first episode.  I mean, he cheated on Veronica Mars!   But he turned out to have zero impact on the story.  Just eye candy.  

I'm ok with another season, though I did expect a bit more from Joe Hill.  Obviously he didn't let his parents take a first pass on the episodes, or they would have been tighter. 

It kept me entertained as long as I didn't think too much about the logistics.  

To be fair, the works of Joe Hill's Parents haven't always translated to great television (or movies).  And the productions have suffered more as the parent's control increased. 

I feel like the series did a decent job turning the source material into television.  Could have been tighter in places, sure.  But the overall spirit was there (no pun intended).  And it was enjoyable.  Sure, the characters probably should have done things differently.  For example, my first reaction to seeing Dodge on the ground was to ask where the crown of shadows went.  But, 1) I'm no longer a teenager and 2) my adrenaline isn't pumping from fighting demons, shadows, and whatnot.  But the kids did an excellent job and there is plenty of room for expansion and questions answered in a possible Season 2. 

[Mabinogia]

33 minutes ago, kirkola said:

But, 1) I'm no longer a teenager and 2) my adrenaline isn't pumping from fighting demons, shadows, and whatnot. 

Yeah, it's a lot easier to sit in my living room yelling "don't let Ellie take the key with her you dolts!" than it probably would be if I were a teen or kid mourning the loss of my dad in a new place surrounded by people I really don't know and don't know if I can trust fighting off a shape shifting, space travelling demon while putting keys in holes that randomly show up on my body. lol Also, at least in Kensey's case, she removed her fear which means she's going to make even more reckless, boneheaded decisions. 

For a little bit there it felt like the show was implying that the more they used the keys the more they were changing or losing themselves, but then it kind of didn't go there. I wish it had kept going along that path as it would help explain some of their more idiotic decisions down the line. Like, if we got more of a vibe that the door was urging them to open it, pulling them in. I kind of thought that might be what the whispers were about but they never quite went there, because they just swapped Kensey and Tyler's thoughts on opening the door or not. It should have been them compelled to open it by the voices while the others, who haven't used keys, try to explain what a stupid idea it was, shut down by "we know the keys, you don't". 

[littlefingers116]

I REALLY enjoyed the concept of the show; about the keys and how they could be used for various things.

The things that annoyed the hell out me is that the kids always made poor decisions, so much so that I actually screaming at the television and saying that the idiot kids should be killed because they were just too dam stupid to live.  I know that people are going to say that of course these kids made poor choices because they are kids and that's what kids do...  I was a kid to once upon a time and I can honestly say that I made mistakes but DAM even I wasn't as dumb as the two oldest kids!  

Wasn't the key thing supposed to be a secret????  Yet Kinsey went to school and proceeded to tell anyone who would listen all about her special key and to make things worse she let Gabe use the key!  WTF!?

Instead of staying home to talk some sense into Kinsey, Tyler goes out partying knowing full well that someone was targeting their family. It's one thing to leave Kinsey but to leave your baby brother!  

When Bode found the key and they realized it would open the crown; why in God's name would you give the key to Ellie instead of just waiting until she came back with the bloody crown?!  Also, didn't anyone notice that Dodge wasn't wearing the crown she had on when Bode zapped her?  Also, the key that could change your appearance, I thought that you could only use it on yourself, that you couldn't use it on someone else to change their appearance.  

Last but not least, why didn't Ellie use her voice to let them know they were making a mistake  when they were about to throw her into that outer dimension?  Did the new face etc., also take away her ability to  talk?

 

 

 

[TrininisaScorp]

My husband I just binged this one!  I really liked it!  Fun series, interesting premise.  Someone said Narnia + Stranger Things + Riverdale + Haunting of Hill House, and  I thought they were on the drugs, but after watching I agree.  

The Anywhere and Head keys pulled us both into the story quickly.  I actually liked the kids.  Even though Bode had some "CORAL, stay in the fucking house!" syndrome, I thought the kid was great.  As usual, if ppl just talked to each other, we would have been saved a lot of trouble. 

I enjoyed the effects of the shadow demons. I thought those were nicely done.  Unlike the black door and the bad video game effects behind it. LOL. 

The ultimate issue I have with Dodge is that there is no push-pull for the character.  It is a demon.  It is bad and wants to destroy/kill/whatever.  Story done. IMO, villains are only fun when they have some shades of gray, so they lost me a bit there. 

I did spend almost the entire show wondering why Griffin Gluck took the role of Gabe, love interest #2.  He has done enough stuff to warrant him being more, so I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and then it did.  Dang.  

All in all, good stuff.  Gorgeous scenery, pretty decent actors, fun premise, just the right amount of darkness. 

[ursula]

On 2/9/2020 at 6:07 AM, Prower said:

How would that work, he seemed to have been a student there for a long time.

He was new. In his first scene at the film “studio”, he says so: that he joined their film club to get friends.

 

On 2/11/2020 at 7:22 PM, FoxyVixen said:

If Randall's girlfriend had managed to lock herself in her head while they still used the keys, one of her friends obviously would have let her out.

I don’t think she locked herself in her head. The girl in her head was a kid, and was clearly surprised when she saw found, not like someone who was deliberately hiding. She had suffered a psychotic break which is apparently the magical equivalent of being stuck in her own mind.

 

[iMonrey]

Having now read up on the comic books, it appears that this series utilized most of the story already. If there is a second season it seems like it would have to be mostly original material. 

[Cigale]

Scot: « ...bone structure, the impeccable style... ». 

[CCTC]

I actually did enjoy the series for the most part, although some of the plotting/decisions did seem a bit off.  How much of that was just bad writing by Netflix writers, and how much of that was in the original source material?

Echo/Dodge was also really played out by the end.  Big Bads only have so long of a shelf life, esp. when they have no shading or complexities.  I would have rather had her actually be defeated in the finale and a teaser of a new villain at the end.

I thought overall the acting was pretty good.  That said, would not be completely upset if they recast Bode....  I feel like the actor studied how kids acted in 1970's and '80's sitcoms including the dramatic very special episodes that were common back then.  

I kind of had liked the fact that Eden joined for the final battle.  It had shades of Cordelia from Buffy being roped into the group at the end of the first season after mocking them all year, and then adding some much needed snark and counter points once part of the group - and being a more rounded character without completely losing her attitude.  I would rather have seen that for Eden in season 2 than her being secretly possessed.

[BaskingsharkGTX]

Well that was just wretched in every possible way. 

Well done, Netflix, for wasting some (more) interesting source material on this bland, dull, miserably-written show. I particularly enjoyed the clunktastic HURR DURR HERE'S WHUT WUZ RILLY HAPPENIN ALL ALONG HYUK HYUK recap at the end of the episode where we learned how Demon Dodge was really pulling the wool over all their eyes the whole time which anyone could have guessed was happening except, apparently, the bunch of dullards on screen.

The scenes with the Scooby Savini(?) Gang all working together for the first-ish time made me miss Buffy's writing so much it almost hurt. 90% of these characters are so flat they could have been slipped under the OMG OMEGA DOOR and the others are just painfully cringe. I'm looking at you, inexplicably-British horror movie guy whose name I can't be bothered to remember.

I would take Riley and the Initiative over this lot in a heartbeat. 

I was mildly amused by the fact that Dodge (in various forms) has now made out with both of the Locke siblings who are of make-outable-with age. I would love to see them discover this fact.

Why is the writing on these shows so bad? Are Netflix's development periods incredibly short or something? I have been there and dealt with interfering network execs blah blah blah but there is really no excuse for this. And it happens time and time again.

It is still less dreadful than Nancy Drew I guess.

And if there is to be a next season, someone needs to take everyone in the music department and throw them into the freaking blue bad CGI demon realm with glowing demon possession bullets whatever the fuck it is. Stop with the Christmas music already.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by BaskingsharkGTX

[Natalie25]

I thought there was something off about Gabe the entire time - he was the only teen that didn't have a realistic, skeptical reaction to the keys, and was instead all in with believing magic. So finding out he was Dodge the entire time was a nice touch, the actor was great at the end portraying the demon version.

[Lunula]

Another show for me that started off strong - I was interested, fun concept, creepy house, etc. - but it degenerated into a hate watch by the last episode and I won't be back for S2. 

I simply cannot get over how stupid everyone was, making decisions consistently that made zero sense. Such lazy writing that I found myself yelling at the TV more than once and literally laughing at scenes that were not meant to be funny. 

I just can't... no, not my cup of tea. 

 

[tennisgurl]

I found this to be a solid binge, even if, like many Netflix shows, it started off really strong, then kind of starts to tread water towards the middle and the end rushes kind of frantically towards the end. The ending felt so anti climatic, I half expected the characters themselves to start questioning how easy it was to take Dodge out after everything. And like others have said, the characters make a lot of really dumb choices, some of which I can probably understand, being kids and having a whole lot of traumatic shit going on, but some are just silly. You have a music box that controls people, make use of it! 

But, yeah, its easy to backseat drive a life or death struggle with a demon when your on the couch and not a kid or teen fighting to stay alive and also deal with your issues surrounding the horribly traumatic death of your father. Maybe next season we see them learning and using the keys better when they realize that Dodge and the demons are still around?

Also, not enough Aaron Ashmore. Its very rarely enough Aaron Ashmore. 

I mean, come on guys! When your fighting a bad guy who can shapeshift, you gotta prepare for the fact that they could be anyone! I feel pretty smug, I started suspecting Gabe of being another Dodge identity pretty quickly. So this kid shows up the exact same time as the Locke kids, starts immediately making eyes at Kinsey, he was always encouraging her worst impulses, like the music box and the cave, he seems WAY too nonchalant about finding out that music is a thing, we never see him when he isn't with Kinsey, its all kinds of sketchy. Its super creepy that Dodge has now creepily seduced both of the older Locke kids, who are teenagers. Ick!

The keys seem cool and all, and do cool stuff, but they mostly seem to cause nothing but problems. Of all the people we know have used them or even been associated with them, all of them are dead or worse (Sam is dead or a ghost, Ellie got shoved into hell, Erin is locked in her memory and catatonic) except for Duncan, who had his memories of them erased. Bringing in more people is probably going to just make things worse. 

That all being said, I am still glad that I watched. The premise is fun (I love old houses and old keys, which is specific but true) the actors are all solid, it had a lot of fun and creative magic moments, the family dynamics were interesting and felt very natural, and it just generally went down easy, even if it was frustrating at times. I had fun watching, and they did make me interested in seeing what happens next, and thats definitely something.

Edited June 1, 2020 by tennisgurl

[Mabinogia]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

That all being said, I am still glad that I watched. The premise is fun (I love old houses and old keys, which is specific but true) the actors are all solid, it had a lot of fun and creative magic moments, the family dynamics were interesting and felt very natural, and it just generally went down easy, even if it was frustrating at times. I had fun watching, and they did make me interested in seeing what happens next, and thats definitely something.

I'm with you. I liked more than I disliked. I loved that house and I love fancy keys too. I liked the actors. Sure the characters did dumb stuff but I kind of expect teens and kids to do dumb stuff so I am okay with that.

The only thing I really didn't like was Dodge. Wasn't a fan of the actress, wasn't a fan of the character. I'm curious to see if that changes next season if Dodge is in Gabe more than in that chick.