9. The Locke Kids Are Great Characters
Though this series is about a demon trying to take over our world, a house filled with magical locks and keys, and the struggle between good and evil, it is also an incredibly heartfelt family drama and coming of age story. At the emotional and narrative fulcrum of it all are the Locke kids: Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode. Each character reveals a unique aspect of adolescence and childhood. Through them we are provided entry points to this weird world because even though we will never experience either the magic of the trauma of this family, we understand the basic human and adolescent things that each kid goes through. The youngest, Bode, gets to go on adventures and find the keys. He's whimsical with wild imagination, and we've all known fun kids who were like that. Kinsey, the middle child, is a young teen. She's struggling with fitting in, finding out who she is, understanding how to deal with the world. Tyler, the eldest, has to step up and become the family patriarch, taking care of not only his siblings, but his mother who can't seem to recover from their father's death. He has to keep it together, all while trying to be one of the cool kids is school and trying to get a girl to like him. Basically, we get all the travails of youth, but amplified because of the trauma and then the supernatural goings on. With these characters we are grounded in real emotional struggle, which makes the series feel realistic and meaningful.