You don’t have to search far through Netflix to discover “Lockwood and Co.,” the streaming platform’s latest British detective thriller series with a supernatural spin.

This eight episode show, based on the book series by British writer Jonathan Stroud, follows teens Lucy Carlyle (Ruby Stokes), George Karim (Ali Hadji-Heshmati) and Anthony Lockwood (Cameron Chapman)—the three members of the ghost-hunting agency Lockwood and Co.—on their various ghost-hunting adventures throughout present-day London. 

After watching the first few episodes, I immediately felt like the plot was moving too quickly and that not enough background was given. Due to this lack of clarification at the beginning, I felt slightly confused throughout the whole series, which left me guessing and having to make inferences about things until I slowly started understanding what was happening. To really understand the full situation, I frustratingly had to look several things up.

So, to save you the hassle of extra Googling, here are some things that are good to keep in mind while watching. Firstly, even though “Lockwood and Co.” is set in present-day London as previously stated, the characters are in a parallel reality where the type of digital revolution we are all familiar with never happened, according to British Telecom (BT). 

In this world, people have been living in the presence of real ghosts, known as “The Problem,” since the 1970s. These ghosts, who have the potential to kill by touch, have contributed to a massive increase of deaths and decline in economic progress. With an underdeveloped economy, none of the characters have smartphones, computers or access to the Internet, according to The Cinemaholic. This lack of technology can be seen especially when George, the brains of Lockwood and Co., turns to books, newspapers and old magazines in order to do research on ghosts.

As for the ghosts specifically, they typically come in the form of Type 1 (weaker, more common, less dangerous ghosts), sometimes Type 2 (stronger, more dangerous ghosts) and rarely in the form of Type 3 (able to communicate fully with the living). They only have the potential to be seen by children and teenagers, since some, but not all, are born with the ability to sense these supernatural beings. Those with talent become Ghost Hunters to combat these visitors, yet their talent starts to fade as they get older. 

With all this in mind, the plot becomes easier to follow, but I still found it unfortunate that this was all not directly said in the show. 

What slightly made up for the lack of explanation for the background, however, was seeing all the intriguing and suspense-stirring ghosts. The beginning of the first episode was when I saw the first ghost of the series—the glimmering figure of a young woman named Annabel Ward. She was a glowing greenish white gray and seemed to be made up of a smoke-like substance, which was a different way to portray ghosts compared to other shows I’ve seen. Annabel, floating in mid air, first appeared sad and harmless, but when approached by Anthony and Lucy, she became scarily demonic. When this happened, I became almost petrified, my eyes glued to the screen, somewhat in fear, but mostly out of pure interest in seeing what would happen next.

While not out ghost-hunting, the three agents live in Anthony’s large house (Lucy moved in at the beginning of the series to join Anthony and George after responding to Lockwood and Co.’s job opening). What remains a mystery, though, is how Anthony got the house. I also thought it was an interesting concept that three teens just live there without any parental supervision, which hints at the independence that children in this world have due to “The Problem.” 

The complex relationship and actions of the three Lockwood and Co. main characters were closely focused on throughout. This gave me the ability to feel like an omniscient, invisible fourth member of their agency, where I found myself actually being worried for their well-being when they found themselves in dangerous ghost-hunting situations, and getting angry when characters, usually Anthony, made rash decisions. 

I also felt that the actors were all perfectly cast for their roles— Chapman was able to capture the recklessness and mystery of Anthony Lockwood, Stokes gave just the right amount of bravery and stubbornness to create the persona of Lucy Carlyle and Hadji-Heshmati effectively captured the obsessive personality and attention to detail of George Karim. 

As the episodes progress, another mysterious part sometimes pictured is an off-limits white door in Anthony’s house. I wondered what type of secrets were behind the door each time it was shown, since Anthony seemed very possessive of its contents. In the final episode, he finally decides to reveal to Lucy and George the room behind the door, but it opens into darkness. This cliffhanger gives me reason to believe there should definitely be a second season.

If you are searching for something ominous and exciting, consider watching “Lockwood and Co.” Even though it was somewhat confusing due to the show’s tendency to leave background facts unanswered, this series, with its unique idea of a world filled with ghosts, heightened my senses and has made me think twice about there being a supernatural visitor in the next room.