Season 1 Episode 3
Tonally, by the third episode, Locke & Key has not let go of mourning, and it is one of the things I appreciate about it. Having gone through a period of grieving myself, I am well aware of how long it stays with you. That may mean that Locke & Key is a bit of a downer for some, but I don't see it that way. That space is given for pain in a world that moves too quickly gives me hope that eventually, there will be more shows focused on similarly difficult subjects (there currently is a campaign to renew Spinning Out, which was cancelled by Netflix after one season).
If joy is what you want, then look no further than Bode, who is Locke & Key's light. Bode found another key attached to the portrait of his great great grandfather. They key opened the door with the skull knob, and turned Bode into a ghost, able to fly through the property. Bode found a cemetery on the property, and there he met his great great grandpa Chamberlaine Locke. It turned out that Rendell and Duncan used the keys, too, and used to love flying around the Key House grounds.
Bode was happy to be a ghost for a bit, because he hoped he would run into his father. Bode's mind may be an arcade, with a physical manifestation of his glee jumping around (he invited Tyler and Kinsey in after he used the head key) but that did not mean he missed his father any less. Great great grandpa Chamberlaine, however, said that only those who died on the property roamed there. It has been a long time since he last saw Rendell.
Bode was the very picture of youthful resilience. Even with everything that happened, even with his fear of the 'well lady' (I have been referring to her as the 'echo lady'), he was always ready for another adventure. Tyler freaked out when he found Bode's seemingly lifeless body; Bode, after he returned from his flight, simply told him about his new discoveries.
Would Kinsey be more like Bode now that she has taken away the fear in her head and buried it in the woods? Though Kinsey had expressed her valid concerns over how Tyler was coping, she hasn't been doing that great, too. Scot was there, always friendly, even a potential date. The Savini Squad accepted Kinsey pretty much as soon as they met her. Even Jackie (the girl Tyler liked) went out of her way to be nice to her, forcing Eden to curb her mean girl ways. Kinsey was not without support, but she still obsessed over which drawing to send to Parsons for her summer internship rather than hang with Scot. Tyler was dealing with his issues by falling with bad company (Javi and Brinker). Kinsey kept retreating within herself.
Kinsey, who used the head key with Tyler to get inside her head (it was a very well organised mall), figured out that it was fear that was holding her back. Inside her head, she wanted to go see her memories with her father, but was transported first to the scene where Tyler beat up a jerk who was trying to hit on her, then to Seattle, on the day of Sam's attack. Kinsey said she saw the fireplace poker and could have grabbed it whilst Sam was turned away from her direction. She was paralysed with fear. Though Tyler tried to reassure her by pointing out that their mother came into the room and hit Sam, Kinsey still hated herself for her fear. Curiously, Fear Kinsey showed up at the Seattle location and attacked Tyler whilst they were inside Kinsey's head.
Kinsey was with Tyler when she used the head key for the first time, but the second time, she did it all on her own. Based on the bloody knife she threw in with Fear Kinsey in the pit she prepared, it looked like she stabbed her own fear before burying it. In the shadows, echo lady (I suppose I'll call her well lady now, because that's what Bode calls her) watched. She now knew that Kinsey had the head key, the one she was searching for.
And now we move on to Tyler. We know that Tyler was just outside the house whilst Sam shot at his family. We know that Rendell forced Tyler to befriend Sam. Now we know why he has been having such a tough time with his father's death. It was not just that Tyler and Rendell have been fighting before Rendell was killed. Once, whilst upset because he got in trouble for being 15 minutes late of curfew, Tyler told Sam that if he ever decided to kill his father, he should kill Tyler's father as well. It was one of those things said in anger by an emotional child going through a difficult period with his parent. It just so happened that Sam later on killed Rendell, and Tyler has carried this guilt with him ever since. Of course what happened to Rendell was not Tyler's fault, but just the fact that his father's death once crossed his mind, and then it actually happened, haunted him.
'Head Games' is another mournful episode by Locke & Key. It underscored the importance of having Jackson Robert Scott in the show. When everything feels heavy and dark, there was Bode's joyful face, flying through the air, a happy ghost.
Strays
🗝Whilst Bode was a ghost, he saw Ellie use a key to enter the well house, then call out for Lucas.
🗝Tyler and Kinsey had different memories of how Rendell's story of the sea monster ended. Bode never got to hear the ending because he fell asleep.
🗝Keys roundup, where they were found and where they were at the end of the episode
🗝🗝🗝Anywhere key - on the bracelet Rendell gave to Kinsey. Currently with well lady. 🗝🗝🗝Mirror key - in the drainage of the sink. With Tyler. 🗝🗝🗝Head key - inside the vacuum cleaner. With Kinsey.
🗝🗝🗝Ghost key - on the portrait of Chamberlaine Locke. With Bode.
🗝🗝🗝Matchstick key - taken by the well lady from a kid who found it in the burnt house
🗝Bode finally told Tyler and Kinsey about the scary well lady.
🗝The well lady was terrifying. Look at how casually she flung that kid into an incoming train even though she got the key she wanted.
🗝Because Tyler took things too far with the jerk after their hockey game (I think it was the brutal hockey player, Chuck), he would likely get suspended from the hockey team.
🗝 Tyler really should hang with Logan, not Javi and Brinker.
🗝 Nina told Ellie she was a recovering alcoholic and has been sober for six years.
🗝 Whilst looking through Rendell's old yearbook, she found multiple drawings of what looked like an omega sign. It was similar to the tattoo she saw on the wrist of Sam.
Director: Tim Southam
Writer: Meredith Averill
Original Release Date: February 7, 2020
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