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Fridge Brilliance
- Being a ghost, there are a few situations where Zero could just go through a wall to escape, like the stew pot. Why doesn't he? The page attached to his collar won't come with him, and being nonverbal, he needs it to ask Santa to help him find the Holiday Doors.
- There are many, many subtle hints that Christmas Town isn't as cheery as it seems. From the elf kids rough-housing with Zero, to an incident where Shock (legitimately) accidentally knocks over a pot of cider and instead of being helped, gets yelled at (note: she had it coming, but the elves in this area didn't know she was a troublemaker just yet), to Myzer's story, to elves being Mind Controlled to work faster to make toys, it seems Christmas Town is the Light Is Not Good to Halloween Town's Dark Is Not Evil.
- From a meta/story telling standpoint, and playing into the aforementioned theme, it actually makes a lot of sense to use Lock, Shock, and Barrel to shake up Christmas Town's status quo. With the aforementioned contrast, they're the only set of characters in Halloween Town that's neither truly good, nor truly evil (and thus, don't really fit into either extreme). They can directly cause trouble to shake things up and start exposing the uglier parts of Christmas Town. They also know when things go too far, and have just enough of a conscience to do something about it, as seen in the original movie. If Jack went as originally planned, he'd just get Zero and leave, because he's learned his lesson. Maybe Myzer's plot would have been resolved, but otherwise, nothing else would change.
- Issue 13's reveal that Lock, Shock, and Barrel legitimately don't know right from wrong only strengthens this theme.
- From a meta/story telling standpoint, and playing into the aforementioned theme, it actually makes a lot of sense to use Lock, Shock, and Barrel to shake up Christmas Town's status quo. With the aforementioned contrast, they're the only set of characters in Halloween Town that's neither truly good, nor truly evil (and thus, don't really fit into either extreme). They can directly cause trouble to shake things up and start exposing the uglier parts of Christmas Town. They also know when things go too far, and have just enough of a conscience to do something about it, as seen in the original movie. If Jack went as originally planned, he'd just get Zero and leave, because he's learned his lesson. Maybe Myzer's plot would have been resolved, but otherwise, nothing else would change.
- Jack trusting Lock, Shock, and Barrel again makes more sense when you realize that outside of Halloween planning, he's not exactly known for making the most thought-out decisions. This is the guy who decided to take over Christmas on a whim, after all. It's further Justified in that this time around, he had the additional pressure of being the Pumpkin King and needing to be there for his citizens conflicting with his desire to find Zero, which was probably a major factor in his decision. He regrets it after the Halloween meeting concludes and he has time to actually sit and think on it without that pressure.
- Santa believes Lock, Shock, and Barrel when they tell him they don't understand the difference between good and bad. There's a subtle clue that they're probably telling the truth: they don't use their trademark gesture when making this claim. Their hands even stay right where Santa can see them while he interacts with them.
Fridge Horror
- Issue 11 shows that several elves are Mind Controlled to work to their limits to meet demand. It's likely Santa doesn't know the extent of this, so how long has this been going on right under his nose, and what other kind of abuse can be going on in Christmas Town that he isn't aware of?
- Issue 13 reveals that Lock, Shock, and Barrel legitimately don't understand right from wrong. Knowing this, and thinking of their song and the kind of work they did for Oogie, how many poor victims were hurt/killed just because they thought it was all in good fun?
- This actually puts their whole relationship with Oogie, and by some extents, Jack, into another perspective. If they actually don't know the difference between good and bad, then what they do understand is success and failure, and that there will be a punishment for the latter. They explicitly say that they "stay on [Oogie's] good side" in their song, and while the games (both of the stand-alones as well as Kingdom Hearts) aren't canon, they are consistent in showing that while Lock, Shock, and Barrel work for him, they fear him, and more distinctly, they fear failing him. In regards to Jack, this explains their Heel–Face Turn in the movie: going behind his back to bring Santa to Oogie means they failed their task, and therefore, they'll likely get a punishment. Assisting him means (hopefully) avoiding it.
