Why don't television shows ever slow down? (Lockwood and Co from Netflix)

Submitted by ThuliumNice t3_10nydyl in television

There's a Netflix show called "Lockwood and Co" based on a YA book series by the name by Jonathan Stroud.

I really enjoyed the book series, even though it's mostly a complete retread of his Stroud's earlier series "the Bartimaeus trilogy."

Spoilers ahead for the TV show Lockwood and Co:

In the first 15 minutes of the show, they are already telegraphing the big twist >!the founders of the society to fight the ghosts are responsible for the presence of the ghosts!< from the fourth or fifth book from the series Lockwood and Co. They haven't finished introducing the main characters, they haven't gotten to the primary conflict from the first book, they're mostly focused on a character who I assume will die in the next few minutes to make the main character feel bad and push her character arc forward.

The books didn't hint at the big twist in book one because if everyone guessed it before you'd finished the first chapter of book one, that'd be super dumb.

I don't understand why the show did this. I think the Halo TV show did this also; they rushed through about a billion things in episode 1, and then what sort of story is there left to tell in the rest of the season?

I just want the shows to slow down, and tell a sensible story at a consistent and reasonable pace.

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Negligent__discharge t1_j6brrau wrote

>!the founders of the society to fight the ghosts are responsible for the presence of the ghosts!<

Your spoiler tags can't have spaces.

The show has a very frustrating air of everything is unfair and the mains are powerless. Somehow they maintain that talking to each other. They can't stop to breath, and if they stop to listen to each other, they will die or something.

Everybody is unlikeable. Seems like a trend in modern media.

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ThuliumNice OP t1_j6bu4m7 wrote

Replying to Negligent__discharge (#1,572,236)

> Your spoiler tags can't have spaces.

Thank you so much for explaining.

> They can't stop to breath, and if they stop to listen to each other, they will die or something.

Very much agreed.

> Everybody is unlikeable.

I guess that's ok sometimes, but I don't find it too relatable.

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ThuliumNice OP t1_j6bul3s wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#1,572,601)

> understand why that twist is a big deal

The biggest heroes in the show's universe are really the biggest villains.

> slow burn series tend to have people lose interest really fast.

I don't know if that's true. For example, in Game of Thrones, the White Walkers had their first pitched battle with the humans in season 8. The show took its time to build to that moment, and the tension and the expectation was extraordinary.

The show then blew it by rushing through the 8th season, which completely ruined the show's reputation, in part by moving way too fast.

I think there's a balance. The long periods where Danaerys did nothing were mostly boring.

But for a while the White Walker's were some of the best villains on television because they took their time to build them up.

I want something that takes its time to be good. The Lockwood and Co books built up the mythology over a series. The biggest twist in the series shouldn't be given away in the first 15 minutes.

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anasui1 t1_j6d9wks wrote

YAs watch TikTok, that's probably why

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fiercetankbattle t1_j6ehpbx wrote

You’re reading WAY too much into that 1 line. I saw the whole show but haven’t read the books and had completely forgotten about that before you brought it up.

No idea how accurate the show is to the books (although Twitter seems to suggest it is) but the show itself is really good- never felt rushed at all and the exposition is really well done. All 3 leads are super likeable.

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ThuliumNice OP t1_j6h32i1 wrote

Replying to fiercetankbattle (#1,588,801)

> All 3 leads are super likeable.

You and I have a very different idea of "likable". I think the leads are always picking unnecessary fights.

> I saw the whole show but haven’t read the books and had completely forgotten about that before you brought it up.

Why tho? Fantasy movies don't have conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are usually just true in fantasy novels. (Ex: Matrix had an in universe explanation for vampires).

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CHClan t1_j6l8ybq wrote

I think it depends too much on audiences likely knowing the source material, it also feel very rushed. The main trio is supposed to give “found family” vibes but it feels totally unearned. I don’t get why the one character was so antagonistic to the main girl in the beginning and coming to the end they start to throw in hints of a romance which also seem unearned. I usually like Netflix’s YA adaptations but this one just wasn’t for me.

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