Lockwood and Co.: Ghost of a Chance

Based on the book series of the same name by Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co. takes place in a world where ghosts not only exist but are fully accepted and feared by society. Even worse than ghosts actually existing, is that their very touch is deadly.  What is referred to as “The Problem” started fifty years before and it was discovered that some children have the ability to hear, see, and sense them, and therefore children have become the ones fighting the foes. As they age, their powers fade.  There are whole sets of rules and laws surrounding the agencies that hire these children.  One teen, Lucy Carlyle (Ruby Stokes), after falsely being blamed for her team being killed, gets hired by a new agency, Lockwood and Co., run by the talented Anthony Lockwood (Cameron Chapman), just a teen himself with cerebral teammate George Karim (Hadji-Heshmati).  The agency is unorthodox and not strictly run by the established rules and is in trouble most of the time. The goal of any team fighting the ghosts is to find the source which is tied to the entity and neutralize the source. The first season covers the first two books of the series, The Screaming Staircase, and The Whispering Skull.

At first, I thought this was just going to be another teen drama with some supernatural elements, but I was happily surprised that it was something more. The show has good humor, characters and the storyline.  Ruby Stokes is wonderful as the maladjusted teen whose mother is only interested in the money she can earn as one of the special children.  Cameron Chapman is charismatic and charming with a wry sense of humor.  Ali Hadji-Heshmati is appropriately socially awkward but in a good quirky kind of way.  Together the trio make a great family, who not only fight with each other, but obviously care deeply for one another.

The show’s production value is good with some nice special effects and imagery, but it was nothing we haven’t seen in the past. The show uses original music and does not rely on pop songs which I really appreciate! The dialogue felt natural, and the story flowed well with a good rhythm and pacing.  The plotlines are interesting and the mysteries intriguing.  I was only going to watch the first episode and am now four episodes in, so I say it is completely binge-worthy!