This recap of Locke & Key contains spoilers, so reader discretion is advised. Welcome back to another recap of season two of Locke & Key, the show based on the comic book series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez. Last episode, the Locke family battled a giant spider.
Related: Locke & Key Recap: (S02E03) “Small World”
“I’m not gonna lie. I’m a little worried.”
We open Locke & Key season two, episode four, “Forget Me Not,” on one of Duncan’s memories. Lil Dunc (Owen Ois) is playing with the Ghost Key, even though he’s gonna be late for school. Present-day Duncan (Aaron Ashmore), Kinsey (Emilia Jones ) and Tyler (Connor Jessup) are walking through their house. Duncan stops right behind the Ghost Key Door, stares down at the carpet and says, “I think I died here.”
Apparently, Duncan still only remembers bits and pieces of his childhood. He remembers opening the Ghost Door and being dead, but not anything about any damned Keys. At the mention of Keys, Duncan pulls the Anywhere Key he found in Kinsey’s room out of his pocket. The kids excitedly bombard him with questions he does not have the answers to. Read the room, y’all.
Cut to Bode (Jackson Robert Scott), who’s mad at Erin (Joy Tanner), Kinsey and Tyler for breaking Uncle Dunc. They protest, but I mean … Anyway, Erin realizes that replacing his memories was only half the solution (I mean, duh). They still need to fix him with the Memory Key. Erin doesn’t know where it is, though. Scavenger hunt!!!
“He’s already dead. He’s a ghost.”
Over at school, Evil-den (Hallea Jones ) pokes holes in Godge’s (Griffin Gluck ) plan to confront Chamberlain (Chris Britton) about his little trickeroo with the Key-making. But, Godge doesn’t want to kill him, he just wants to know why he got played. Evil-den and Godge remind the audience that the demons can’t just steal keys; they have to be freely given.
So, Scot (Petrice Jones) witnesses this heated exchange from afar and clocks it as super sus. His spying is interrupted by Mansplaining Weasel (Brendan Hines ), who wants to know if Scot’s going to be able to control his violent tendencies at the dorm social that evening.
Elsewhere on campus, Tyler has decorated Jackie’s (Genevieve Kang) locker for her 18th birthday. He’s also borrowed the Anywhere Key so they can play hooky in Bath, England, one of the places Jane Austen lived.
“Chowder is not dorm party food.”
Back in the school hallways, Nina (Darby Stanchfield) wants to know what Mansplaining Weasel has planned for his big dorm social. The answer is nothing. Kinsey sees him plant a goodbye smooch on her mom’s cheek. But, before any processing can be done, Scot pulls her into an empty classroom.
He insists that the fight yesterday was magically created. Scot tells her he’s pretty sure Godge orchestrated the fight. And, insists that Kinsey should trust him because she knows him. How well does she actually know Godge?
Point goes to Kinsey, who replies that she’s known both of them for the same amount of time. Scot tells her about the intimate argument he saw between Evil-den and Godge. She’s not having it, and so he tells her she can’t see clearly anymore since she got rid of her fear. Dude, you better stop before I give you a baddie nickname.
Back at Keyhouse, Bode is babysitting Duncan, so I guess he’s skipping school. Duncan’s resting (with his shoes on the bed!). Then, he finds a photo album from his childhood, so he thumbs through that, which just triggers more memory flashes.
Downstairs, Godge rings the doorbell. He lies to Bode about needing the Ghost Key to do some location scouting. Because that’s a totally normal thing to do in the middle of the school day.
“I don’t want him to see your body and freak out.”
Ghost Godge confronts Chamberlain about his misdirect. And Chamberlain’s like, Dude, you’re obviously evil. There’s a giant leech on your back. For whatever reason, Chamberlain tells Godge exactly what he wants to know, ie “You’ll never make a key. You’re not one of us.”
Meanwhile, Duncan’s headed out back to the shed, because Keyhouse itself isn’t creepy enough for him. Well, the photo that triggered his memories was taken right outside the shed. In the shed, he gets flashes of making the Memory Key and proceeds to freak the eff out (fair).
Then, Duncan remembers his brother and friends removing his memories. GAH! Like, why? Seriously, what was the point? Present-day Duncan is on the verge of collapse because he cannot understand either, both because he’s an adult and magic’s a difficult concept to grasp, and also because betrayal, much?
Bode finds Duncan in the shed, and woah, this was not a task to give to a ten-year-old. Tyler, Kinsey and Erin mean well, but they do not make the best judgment calls. Even though she looks like an adult, Erin isn’t. And this is a lot for anyone to deal with, much less children.
Back with the ghosts, Chamberlain has enlisted Sam (Thomas Mitchell Barnet), Rendell’s (Bill Heck) murderer, to take Godge out. Godge and Sam race back to Keyhouse, both trying to reach Godge’s body first. They both enter it. So, it’s a battle of the souls. Sam valiantly tries to off Godge, but that boy’s an Echo and too clever for anyone’s good. He successfully ousts Sam from his body.
So, Godge peaces out, Ghost Key in hand.
“He didn’t have to shave till his senior year.”
Later, Erin’s snooping around Keyhouse library, looking for the Memory Key. In books. Wait. Has she been there all day? Nina catches her and is understandably perturbed. Erin tries to distract her by looking at a Locke family photo and talking about Rendell’s beard.
Both women are teary, talking about this man they each love(d). Erin shares that Rendell had told her about Nina, the final time they spoke, freshman year of college.
Kinsey comes home and upon hearing that Dunc’s getting worse, she suggests they take Duncan’s memories back out. Then, she starts getting down on herself about all the mistakes she’s made since taking her Fear out. Scot, I swear.
Bode tells Kinsey just to put her Fear back in, easy-peasy, lemon squeezy. He’s pretty sure she can find it. Kinsey is skeptical.
Over in Bath, Jackie and Tyler are souvenir shopping. Things are going swimmingly until that whole pesky being-18-the-Keys-are-sentient thing kicks in and Jackie doesn’t know where she is, or how she got there. She finds Tyler, and she just wants to go home.
“Duncan? You all right?”
Back at Keyhouse, Duncan hears some noises. But, it’s no one at home, it’s not a Key; no, he’s remembering the OG Keepers of the Keys murdering Lucas (Felix Mallard).
Erin finds Duncan in the basement, staring at the floor where it happened. And he tells her what he remembers. She starts to tell him that it was complicated, and he starts towards her, realizing she’d been there too. Kinsey now joins the basement party. And it’s all too much.
Duncan runs back upstairs for more rest. Kinsey decides she has to act now. But, that thought train is interrupted by some wild noises outside. Turns out meditating for a couple minutes can call your Fear back home.
So, now Kinsey is “whole” again. Which just means she’s afraid of a lot of things now.
Erin wants to borrow the Head Key to poke around and see if she can’t find the Memory Key in her own mind. Nina walks into Kinsey’s room to see Erin and Kinsey chatting on the bed and is not thrilled about that. Like, Nina was cool with her daughter spending countless afternoons visiting this woman when she was catatonic. But now, that she’s a real, live, breathing person, she’s suddenly a threat?
Nina wanted to talk to Kinsey about Mansplaining Weasel, but Kinsey’s actually late for his party, so that convos gonna have to wait.
Now back in Matheson, Jackie is not pleased with Tyler. She doesn’t want him to keep trying with the magic. She wants him to just let her forget. He begs her to give him just a little more time to find the Memory Key.
“It’s perfect for you, since you’re pocket-size.”
At the dorm party, Scot’s still acting like a toddler, Abby (Leishe Meyboom) doesn’t have time for their hetero nonsense, and Evil-den’s off the gluten-free wagon.
Godge catches Evil-den’s eye from across the room, and she returns his gaze like, Dude, just let me eat my pizza. Kinsey wants to know why Godge ditched class that AM, but her heart’s not in it.
Next, Mansplaining Weasel’s showing off his vintage rifle to some of his students. Doug (Jesse Camacho) also excitedly asks about a piece of Whispering Iron Mansplaining Weasel has, passed down to him, along with a journal, by an ancestor of his. Godge witnesses this whole exchange.
Back at Keyhouse, Erin tells a dejected Tyler she may know how to find out where Rendell hid the Memory Key. The last time she saw the Key was during their final meeting. Tyler stands watch as she goes back inside her head.
“Always thought Brits didn’t let on how they’re feeling.”
Through some “whacky” miscommunication, Kinsey finds out from Abby that Scot didn’t get into his dream school.
Evil-den and Godge sneak into Mansplaining Weasel’s office, to steal his Whispering Iron. Godge tells Evil-den she should be grateful the crumby professor has the Iron, ’cause now he doesn’t have to kill her to repurpose the Iron inside her. Jay-kay?
Kinsey finds them in the office together, which gives her pause. Kinsey + Fear is a very timid creature, indeed.
Next, Erin returns with the videotape of her memory. Apparently, they made the Key not forget the guilt of what they did but hid it because adults aren’t supposed to remember magic. All right. Anyhoo, the Key’s hidden at Matheson Academy.
“You need a Locke in order to make a Key, right?”
Godge and Evil-den return to their exploded abode and notice that Kinsey’s Fear has escaped. They’re both very upset about this, but Evil-den suggests that Godge use it as an opportunity to grab his Lockesmith.
In the Keyhouse kitchen, Nina again totally misreads the situation and thinks that Kinsey’s being short with her because of the kiss she witnessed earlier. If only. Kinsey reassures her mom that she’s happy for her.
But, Kinsey does wanna know how to tell if something’s a red flag, especially when you second-guess everything you’ve ever done. And Nina, oh Nina, does not win this parenting moment. She doesn’t see this as the cry for help it is, and instead, smiles and tells her baby to just trust her gut, telling her she’s an overthinker.
Duncan’s up in his room, sketching something when Bode comes in to check on him, and oh boy, is ish about to get dark. He imagines Bode as his younger self, grabs him by the shirt collar, yells at him to get out and throws him out the room.
The episode ends with both Bode and Duncan crying.
That was intense, y’all! I sort of feel like I enjoyed season one in spite of myself, but that season two is managing to combine some of its campier moments with more nuanced drama. How much did that last scene get you in the feels? Click below for the next recap.
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Both seasons of Locke & Key are available now on Netflix.
Author’s note:
My recaps for season two of Locke & Key were nearly complete by the time that Netflix leadership’s transphobia came to light. While it is absolutely true that all corporations are evil to varying degrees and that everyone has their “problematic faves,” in my opinion, this situation is quite different. Netflix is an international company with a yearly revenue of $25 billion. Their behavior towards marginalized communities matters.
I am a nonbinary person. It was not an easy decision for me to post these recaps. I have canceled my personal Netflix subscription and following this season of Locke & Key recaps, will no longer be covering Netflix content, unless they change their ways. However, I believe that rather than staying silent, the most productive way to help my community at large is to publish these recaps and provide resources at the bottom of each article.
Thank you for reading.
More about the Netflix controversy:
- “Netflix trans employees and allies release a list of demands ahead of the walkout”
- “Netflix’s CEO Is Wrong. Transphobic Media Causes Real Harm“
Help save trans lives:
- Glaad’s trans resource page
- The Trevor Project
- National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition
- Transgender Law Center
- The Okra Project
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/27-queer-content-creators-of-color-we-love-and-support/
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