‘Locke & Key’ Recap: ‘Dissection’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

​Whether we like it or not, at some point or another we will be forced to face the toughest moment in our lives all over again. Because the universe is a cyclical place, one where the past returns to not necessarily punish a person, but to give us a second chance to handle unfinished business, or to allow for us to finally find some closure in regard to something that haunts us. But one way or another, the past will indeed swing back around to say hello and how we handle round two is quite the big deal. Because if we ignore the opportunity, it will continue to hang over us, but if we rise to the occasion, there is a chance that great peace will wash over us. And it just so happens that the return of the past and how it impacts us was explored in the next episode of Locke & Key.
 
Because ‘Dissection’ saw Sam Lesser and the Locke family interacting once again with terrifying results. But before we get too deep into how this unwholesome reunion went for the various members of the family, it’s important we discuss exactly what kind of man Sam was before he arrived at this particular point in his life. For we came to learn in this tale exactly what corrupted Sam to want to hurt Rendell in the first place and it turns out that Sam was a troubled young man. One full of psychological scars thanks to years of abuse from his father, and that trauma in turn helped him to become an outcast, one who struggled who make connections. Which is why Rendell asked Tyler to hang with him and why Rendell went the extra mile to try and help Sam out and despite everyone’s best efforts to help Sam fit in, Dodge’s ability to reach out from great distances is what brought about disaster. For she used his fears and pain and insecurities to make him believe that the Locke family was against him and well, we all know how that story ends.
 
If anything, there was a rhyme and a reason to showing us Sam’s backstory, one that would come to fruition at the end of this harrowing tale. But before we can discuss that, we have to talk about how awful it was for the family to be face to face with the man that murdered their father. Because having him in their house again, demanding the keys, put everyone right back in the moment that they thought they escaped by leaving Seattle, and this is where the notion of how we handle the past came into play. Because this was it, the family had the chance to do something different this time and Kinsey and Bode definitely seized upon the opportunity. For they antagonized Sam at every turn and refused to let him inject fear back into their hearts, and when the opportunity arose to potentially put a stop his maddening quest for the keys; they took it. And it was quite satisfying to see Kinsey use the buried corpse of her fear to teach Sam a lesson about pushing people too far.
 
But Kinsey and Bode weren’t the only ones to face their worst fear in a healthy manner, Tyler received an opportunity as well. For shortly after he discovered the Anywhere Key in Dodge’s truck, he came to realize his new beau was the enemy and used the key to get back home and finally received the opportunity to teach Sam a lesson with his fists. But guns always win in a fist fight, and despite being stopped in hiss tracks by the barrel of a gun, Tyler wasn’t done with Sam just yet. For shortly after Sam returned from his little voyage out into the woods with Kinsey and Bode, he and Tyler squared off one last time thanks to an assist from the Head Key and that allowed for Tyler to make peace with his past and that’s when Sam’s journey came around full circle in this tale. For Dodge arrived at Key House and knocked Tyler and his mother around before taking the keys and informing Sam that he was indeed a pawn all along, simply because she knew how weak he was. And his desperation to feel more and be more was something she was happy to take full advantage of, and as this news broke his heart, she was quick to badly wound him.
 
Which in turn prompted a confused and dying Sam to walk through the still unlocked Ghost Door to escape the police as they closed in, forcing him to depart his body permanently since the door was closed behind him, and forcing a broken man to spend the rest of eternity walking the Earth with regret surrounding him is one hell of a punishment. Yet while that’s a satisfying way to bring this part of the family’s past to a close, not everyone handled it all that well. For this night brought back a lot of pain for Nina, the kind that prompted her to forget about years of hard work and sobriety since she gave into the urge and had a deep and regrettable drink. Which means it won’t be long before the consequences of a binge come to fruition and it should be interesting to see how the kids handle their mother’s moment of weakness before this battle with an unknown evil begins. For now, there are only three episodes left in season one and it won’t be long now, before Dodge and the Locke family face off in proper fashion. Until next time.

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