‘Locke & Key’ Recap: ‘Cliffhanger’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season two finale of ‘Locke & Key’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Often times in horror stories, the end of the journey is quite the violent and bloody affair. Wherein good lives are lost in a final battle with evil, and the whole fight is so emotionally taxing that the story more or less fades to black once the monster has come to its end, and our heroes realize they’ve made it to see another day and well… it makes sense as to why this formula is so prominent within the genre. For it does offer up some serious value since the reader or the audience is taken on quite the emotional rollercoaster. One that gives them exactly what they want… so why bother dragging the story out beyond triumph and resolution? But while that does indeed provide everyone with a finale that satisfies, let’s be honest… this isn’t realistic in the slightest, and it does rob the fans of true denouement.
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But as the genre and storytelling continue to evolve and people demand a touch more realism in their entertainment, horror is starting to respond to that by offering up tales of terror that give us a little more than just a fade to black. They’re starting to look at the emotional impact that would come with loss after such a brutal battle, and they’re even taking the time to explore what the impact would be upon the survivors of that battle and for proof that this is the case… then look no for further than the season two finale of Locke & Key on Netflix. For ‘Cliffhanger’ offered up that deeper ending, one that explored the impact of an incredible final fight with the monster that is Dodge/Gabe. Something that quite frankly, came about unexpectedly.

Simply because Tyler and Kinsey and Duncan, were concerned more with leveling the playing field by stealing the Demon Key from Gabe. A move that should have bought them time to properly figure out how to conquer this evil army and well, despite being able to distract Gabe long enough for Tyler and Duncan, and Scot to sneak in and complete the steal, they were spotted, and chaos ensued and eventually… that final showdown came to fruition. One where Duncan was able to get the army of demons to turn on Dodge when her original form returned, since he learned that he who creates the key… commands its creations and by getting the army to turn on their master, they were able to get the key and eventually… defeat Dodge courtesy of the Alpha Key. Which allowed for her evil reign to come to an end and for the happy stuff to come into play.

For the family got most of the keys back and Lucas got his life back and well… once the reality settled in that Dodge was gone at last, is when the story took the time to expand upon the positive and negative fallout of this final battle. For we were able to watch a family reunite the wake of this battle, since Ellie was able to get her face back and make her way to her son, which was beautiful to see play out, and Bode took the time to help his mother remember Rendell properly, even going so far as to make use of the Mind and Memory Keys to aid her. As for the darker stuff, well that came about by way of Tyler. Since he decided he needed to escape this part of the world for a while to heal from the loss of Jackie and well, going this route was brilliant. Because it added depth and gravity to everything that happened and added a real human element to the story as well… one that undoubtedly is going to come into play in season three of this series.

Because this episode also revealed Eden’s tragic fate, and her end in this tale came about because she used the Echo Key to summon Captain Gideon from the beyond, who quickly killed her because he takes orders from no one, and thanks to her… he has the Anywhere Key and now… a new enemy with a new agenda awaits the family and considering how much they went through emotionally here… are they up to the task? Because having to plunge themselves back into that world will be no easy task. But while we wait to see what comes out of Gideon’s return and how the family responds, we can bask in the majesty of a quality season finale. One that really did shake up the tropes that horror usually uses for its endings to give us a story that felt complete and was realistic and moving for that matter as well, and now that Dodge/Gabe’s evil reign has come to an end… all we can do now is sit and wait for season three of this fascinating series. Until next year.  

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