This episode we’re breaking down the new Netflix series Locke And Key!
Throughout this, we’re gonna be discussing everything you need to know about the new Horror show including its overall plot and ending.
There will be heavy spoilers here so if you haven’t had a chance to watch the series yet and don’t want to know what happens then I highly suggest that you turn off now.
If you’re still here, I just wanna give a huge thank you for clicking this video, now let’s get into our breakdown of Locke And Key!
Locke And Key Explained
Locke and Key is based on the graphic novel series by Joe Hill. Joe Hill is actually Stephen King’s son and though he has some pretty big shoes to fill in regards to his father, the comic book went on to receive critical acclaim across the board.
Hollywood has been trying to adapt it for almost a decade now with their being several failed film and tv projects that never got off the ground.
Finally, though Netflix put it into production and the series definitely doesn’t disappoint.
Locke And Key Recap
The show masterfully follows the original 37 issue comic book run and it beautiful brings the panels from the page to the screen in a really engaging way.
Similar to the source material, the season follows the Locke family, who after the murder of daddy Locke, up sticks and move to their ancestral home, The Key house.
After Little Georgie I mean Bode,the youngest of the family, discovers a woman known as Dodge in a well he begins to learn about the workings of the property. Through the information that Dodge provides the family begin to UNLOCK the mysteries of their new home.
So what’s the backstory of the house and what is going on exactly? Well luckily for you I dumped the entire graphic novel run in my head in the lead up to the show.
The story of Locke And Key dates back to the American Revolution.
The Plain Of Lengs
A group of rebels occupying the ground discovered that on the land existed a portal to another dimension known as the plains of Lengs.
This dimension is filled with demons that can possess people through touching them, however, if they attempt to enter our world they collapse into piles of whispering iron. Benjamin Locke, the ancestor of the family forged these into keys that all contain special abilities.
The keys all have different attributes to them including some that allow you to change how you look, allow you to travel anywhere with a door that you’ve seen, enter your own head, fix broken things, puppeteer people, talk to the dead, leave your body and so on.
Benjamin Locke forged these along as one known as the Omega key which can open and close the dimension to the other realm.
There’s also a key that makes it so you don’t have to pay for ice cream apparently. We won’t forget Bodie.
The magic of the house has a spell on it so that once you become an adult the memories start to fade but they can creep back in and reignite the desire to get the keys.
Because of this, the house has been extremely sought after by many and though it starts off as a fun-filled ride, the sinister side of the show slowly starts to creep in.
A Slow Start
I kinda felt that the pacing was a little slow starting off and had this not had the entire season online from day one, I think that watching this week by week would have felt a lot worse.
It gets very teen drama at time which might not bother some people I just kinda felt like we spent more time on that early on rather than the more interesting aspects of the show.
It takes a couple of hours before it properly takes off but it’s definitely worth your time.
There’s some awesome moments in the show such as a cameo from Tom Savini, Mr. X from The X-Files, a trip through a mall of memories, Georgie seems determined to lose his arm (episode 2) and we learn more about the powers of the keys as well as the history of the house.
The keys empower the kids and Kinsey is able to take the personification of fear out of her head, Tyler puts the history of Matheson in and Bode takes a ghostly trip to the graveyard.
Dodge
Early on Dodge tricks Bodie into handing over the anywhere key and this starts off a sort of rivalry between the two. I’m gonna be referring to Dodge as a she just because the character we see is in the guise of a female. Originally Dodge was a male and then he transformed into a woman after using the gender key.
In pretty much all the text on the story Dodge is called a guy but yeah it’s just easier like this. I will be referring to Lucas as he though even though they’re the same character.
Throughout the series we learn that daddy Locke, Rendell was experimenting with the keys in 1988 and this pretty much set up the events we see in the show.
With Duncan’s memories, it’s revealed that the group of teenagers decided to open the door to the realm with the Omega key in order to trap a demon and forge more keys.
Now in the source material, Rendell’s younger brother who later grows up to become Uncle Duncan was mesmerized by the door and began walking towards it. When trying to stop him, their friend Lucas’ hand went through the door and Dodge was able to touch and possess him.
However, in the Netflix adaptation, Lucas is just hit by a demon and possessed without the hero narrative.
That night Dodge tried to murder the group one by one in order to get the Omega key.
Left with little option, Rendell killed Dodge. This haunted the character and seeped into his bedtime stories. The survivors covered up the murders and divided the keys amongst themselves.
As we know though, Dodge didn’t die and her spirit brought back by a member of the 88 group using the echo key and she was able to re-enter the world. After becoming trapped in the well, it manipulated Sam Lesser into going to Rendell to try and get the anywhere key.
Locke And Key Season 1 Breakdown
These are the events that lead to the character’s murder and slowly set off the chain of events that would lead to the character escaping from the well.
Dodge is a bad bad person and will do anything to get the keys. She goes through the series hunting for them and trying to get revenge on the remaining survivors of the group from 88.
We learn that Dodge cannot take the keys from the Lockes and she must be given them and left with little options she recruits Sam as her helper once more and gives him the fire key.
To investigate further, Kinsey and her friends travel to the sea caves to try and get to the bottom of exactly went on with her father and his friends.
Here they discover the black doorway and Sam and Dodge make their play. The former takes the family hostage and Dodge seduces Tyler.
This is what happens when you lead girls on bruh.
Fortunately, he manages to grab them anywhere key and back at the property Kinsey is able to stall Sam by unleashing the personification of her fear.
Back at the house Tyler traps Sam with the head key and explains to him that he didn’t hate him and that his father kept a close eye on him because they were worried.
The Keeper Of The Keys
Just as he has a change of heart, Dodge arrives, kills Sam and takes the majority of the keys. Sam manages to become an ethereal ghost and we discover that Dodge has been masquerading as Lucas and lying low at Ellie’s, a member of the 88 crew who we learn are called the keepers of the key.
Using the head key, Dodge is able to enter Erin Voss’s mind and obtain the location of the omega key. Erin has been pretty much in a vegetative state since becoming trapped in her own mind and Kinsey learns the truth about Lucas and Dodge.
It’s revealed that Rendell actually hid the omega key within his own head and since the character was killed and cremated, this now exists within his urn at key house.
Dodge is able to obtain the key to the crown of shadows and with it and the power, it possesses she unleashes an attack on the house.
It’s an awesome finale that really ramps up the tension and I loved seeing the Lockes use toy lightsabres and flashlights to fend of the dark and demonic forces.
They manage to seemingly down Dodge and take her to the Omega door and send her back to her own dimension.
We seemingly get a happy ending with the Lockes deciding that they are happy at the house and that they want to remain there and protect the keys.
They scatter Rendell’s ashes and a new group of the keeper of the keys is created. Everything looks like it worked out well except for one big plot thread that has been left dangling.
That is, where is Ellie?
Ellie did go missing in the finale and no one has been able to find her.
Locke And Key Season One Ending Explained
As we know, Dodge can use the transformation key to appear differently and with this power, she can place it on others.
We learn at the end that Dodge has not only been appearing as Lucas but also as Kinsey’s main love interest Gabe, cough don’t worry Scot we haven’t forgot about you.
With this information, we know that Dodge actually transformed Ellie to look like her, appeared as Gabe and then helped the group to take Ellie to the Omega door and dumped her in the other dimension.
It’s completely lowered their guard and has also made Kinsey put a huge amount of trust in Gabe. Ellie is merely missing and though Bode suspects that something is up, they don’t have any evidence to the contrary.
We also see that with her opening the door she has brought forth an ally with her that has infected Eden as well.
So there are now two members in the camp that have the keepers of the trust of the key and after the last strategy failed I think they will be playing things more tactically.
In the comic books Dodge’s long game actually lasted years and she infiltrated the group by appearing as a student, similar to the series.
So, Dodge is still alive and in the group, no longer making bold moves and playing it tactfully.
So surely she will get the keys soon right?
Locke And Key Season 2 Predictions
Well, there’s actually a lot that happens in the comics and though I think the series may follow this I actually think it will also divert from it in several ways.
Personally I actually think that in the next season that Sam will discover that Dodge is Gabe and that the demon has played the group. Sam is still out there as a ghost and though we haven’t seen him since his last appearance he has likely kept a close eye on everyone. However, he cannot warn them but it is possible that if he steps through the door or if say Bode uses the ghost key once more that they will be able to commune with the character.
In the comics, Dodge ends up possessing Bode at one point and though I’m not going to reveal what happens during this arc, it does have a big impact on the series.
I think Dodge will discover that Bode knows the truth and from this be forced to come to the forefront.
There’s a tonne of potential and I can’t wait to see what happens.
But what did I think of the season overall?
Locke And Key Review
Well though I did have a lot of fun with Locke and Key I felt that the series dragged at some points, especially early on and personally I think the season could have been shortened quite a bit and it would still have hit all the same plot points.
That’s not to say it’s bad, just there is a lot of scenes here that felt like filler and I think had these been removed the shows pacing would have felt a lot better.
In terms of Netflix comic book series I enjoyed The Umbrella Academy more but this still had some good moments.
Locke and Key was still great though and it was good to see such a faithful adaptation. I definitely recommend everyone gives it a shot to see if it’s for them and it gets a…
7/10
Your Thoughts
Now obviously I’d love to hear your thoughts on Locke and Key and what you took from the ending. Comment below and let me know!
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