‘Locke & Key’ Recap: ‘Family Tree’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

When it comes to television shows that put together a grand mystery, the audience never quite knows when the plot is going to advance in regard to everything hanging over the story. Some shows like to shove their grand reveals into the end of the season, so that the finale is epic and stunning in nature. While others prefer to pepper in little details throughout the season since the powers that be have a grander vision for what they want the series to accomplish. There’s really no perfect approach to this to be honest, but it would seem that for Locke & Key, a series mired in secrets, the latter option is how it is going to handle its style of storytelling. For ‘Family Tree’ took the time to finally address some of the mystery surrounding Rendell Locke and his past and that made for one stunning tale when all is said and done.

But before we dive too deeply into what exactly this particular tale revealed, it’s best we take a moment and discuss some of the other important moments present within the framework of this story. Such as the fact that Kinsey’s decision to murder her fear brought about a fascinating commentary on how that particular emotion is something that can actually be healthy for people to carry in their hearts. Because fear can help keep us out of dangerous situations, and the fear of becoming a bad person or someone that is cruel, can steer us toward making kinder and gentler decisions in regard to the people around us and Kinsey not having this present in her heart anymore, is starting to transform her for the worse.

Because she’s starting to exhibit agitated and cruel behavior, that kind that is indicative of someone who doesn’t fear consequences or repercussions for their actions, and the finest evidence of this unfortunate change, came about by way of her interaction with Eden in this tale. Because Eden took the time to pick on Scot over The Splattering and that prompted Kinsey to make use of a newly discovered key, one that fit into a special lock box hat would allow its possessor to control anyone of their choosing. And she was delighted to make Eden do some ridiculous acts, the kind that left her horribly embarrassed, and really the cruelty in question stems from the fact that she didn’t let up. She just kept pushing Eden to look like a fool and it was fascinating to see her give into such dark emotions and it is definitely creating a void between her and Tyler.

Yet while this exploration into how all of our emotions keep us balanced was fascinating for certain, it’s time we dive into how this tale moved the plot forward in sublime fashion. For the mysteries surrounding Rendell Locke took on new light in this story thanks to some startling revelations. For starters, another key discovery allowed for Tyler and Kinsey to uncover some of the memories that Duncan seems to be missing and they unfortunately had to watch in horror as their dad killed one of his friends back in the day, leaving one to wonder if the drowning story is legit or not. Plus, Nina came to learn that Ellie is lying to her about a great many things, since she showed up to the house while everyone was out, under the guise of a lie and she won’t come clean about the strange scar that she shared with Rendell. And to complicate matters further… it would seem that Ellie killed Mister Ridgeway in the hopes of keeping any knowledge about the past, a secret.

If anything, all of these elements make it clear that some incredible challenges await the Locke family in future episodes to come. Because their quest to uncover the secrets of Key House and their father’s youth, might end in disaster. Because those secrets are clearly buried for a reason and if people are willing to kill to keep them that way, who knows what kind of hell they will unleash if more people try to bring them into the light. And of course, their desire to rush headfirst in using magic is causing more harm than good, and that will undoubtedly lead to more complications down the line. Either way, this really was one incredible and important episode. Because this one, really did start to propel the plot forward in epic fashion and that likely means we are in for more incredible moments as season one rolls along. Until next time.    

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