Locke & Key shifts into a higher gear here and it feels earned.
The mythology clicks into satisfying place as long-simmering mysteries finally begin paying off – revelations about Dodge’s true nature and her chillingly eerie manipulation of a vulnerable character are among the most unsettling things the show has done.
The Mending Cabinet sequence is the season’s most emotionally gut-wrenching scene: Nina’s fleeting, heartbreaking belief that she might get her husband back is almost unbearable to watch, and beautifully acted by Darby Stanchfield. Meanwhile Kinsey quietly rediscovers her empathy in a bedside moment that’s the most mature she’s been in weeks.
The final piece of the season’s central puzzle lands in the closing image with quiet, poetic perfection. The final two episodes suddenly feel very urgent indeed.