Streaming YA Randomnees: Locke & Key and Ragnarok
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at 8:00PM
NATHANIEL R in Connor Jessup, Locke & Key, Netflix, Norway, Ragnarok, mythological creatures

What entirely random thing have you found yourself watching lately? With every streaming service showing content from all over the world, it's increasingly rare for everyone to be on the same viewing journey...

When I need to unwind I nearly always sample random series rather than putting in a movie. (I love movies best but they're "work" in a strange way that TV isn't... like we feel duty bound to write about them and end up feeling guilty when we don't)

First I chose Locke & Key primarily due to gay solidarity with Connor Jessup. We stan young actors brave enough to come out at the beginning of their careers when they're hot commodities and have a lot to lose. You'll recall Connor from his Emmy worthy performance in American Crime as a sexually abused high schooler. In real life Connor is apparently now dating fellow TV actor Miles Heizer (13 Reasons Why, Parenthood).

On Connor's new show he's a popular jock who loves the ladies. He's got more to contend with than just the girl he wants to impress when he and his younger siblings realize that there are magical keys in their new house and a demon that's after this same treasure. The plot is hopelessly convoluted and takes a couple of episodes to really get going but it's also a lot of fun in a YA fantasy way. Plus two of the adult actors are favourites from other things (Bill Heck from Pit Stop and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and Off Broadway and gorgeous willowy Sherri Saum from The Fosters). 

Afterwards I moved on to Ragnarok.

I picked the latter because it was a) from Norway where I once lived and I wanted to see if I could watch without subtitles (answer: not really) and b) I've loved mythology since I was a teeny-tiny kid. The show is absolutely ridiculous -- something about a teenager possibly being the god of thunder without realizing it and the local rich family actually being descended from the giants who battle the gods in Norse mythology. But it takes place in a high school so there's the normal mean girls /  cruel jocks / gay crushes tropes mixed with the mythological wackiness of ageless baddies who strip naked to hunt live prey. How do you say "camp" in Norwegian?

How about you? What have you been watching. 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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