'Locke and Key's final moments provide a cathartic, satisfying conclusion to the series.

 After years of failed attempts, multiple pilots filmed and passed on (including one from 2011 that you can watch here), Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s beloved graphic novel series Locke & Key finally received a well-deserved full series order by Netflix in 2019.

 The inventive urban fantasy series follows the Locke family as they explore a magical, inherited mansion dubbed “Keyhouse” in the fictional town of Matheson, Massachusetts. Released on August 10, 2022, the series’ third and final season provides a satisfying conclusion to the series while introducing a new antagonist in the form of demon possessed Revolutionary War soldier Captain Frederick Gideon, portrayed by Kevin Durand. 

Season 3’s final arc not only wraps up Gideon’s quest for the keys but also the entire magical saga of the Lockes, all while introducing a brand-new key late into the game. The final two episodes (one co-written by series creator Joe Hill) also feature some of the most surreal imagery in the series, courtesy of the collective dive into the mind of thespian Gordie Shaw (Michael Therriault) to retrieve the Creation Key.

Season 3, Episode 7, “Curtain,” opens with a flashback to 1995, with the original “Keepers of the Keys” testing out the newly forged Creation Key. Aiming to add some realism to the school play, a young Rendell Locke (Nick Dolan) draws up a tiny Caliban monster from “The Tempest,” who spouts Shakespearian lines and scurries behind a costume cart. The group is then confronted by a young Gordie (Kaeleb Zain Gartner), who sees the creature and freaks out. 

Gordie tells the play director what he saw, leading the group to use the head key to go inside his mind and erase his memories. While there, a young Ellie (Sabrina Saudin) tucks the Creation Key away in Gordie’s head. It is fitting that the series’ final arc brings one final piece of unexplored lore into the series’ mythology, especially as the '90s key crew are the ones who inadvertently opened the demon door and released Dodge (Laysla De Oliviera) in the first place.