Wedding Crashers
In the first episode of Locke and Key Season 3, the Locke’s prepare for their big wedding. Duncan shows up with Brian, ready for the big day, while Nina uses the Plant Key to speed up the process of setting the flora up. It’s all laughs and joy… but Captain Gideon watches from afar and he’s certainly not laughing.
Gideon has managed to call forth his old soldiers from the dead. They are echoes of themselves, but with a bit more power and authority. Gideon reinforces that these soldiers must obey his every command, making them deadly assets. And as echoes, they’re unable to suffer physical pain.
Gideon has released the keys from Well House, revealing that the barrier between worlds has been broken. This could have big consequences for the Locke family, as two soldiers are tasked with retrieving all of the keys. ..
Tyler surprises everyone at the wedding by being ready to do the wedding himself. Bode struggles to write out his words for the best man speech, but Tyler appears and helps him out. However, given that Tyler has been out of town and doesn’t know about the wedding key, he has to go through with it on his own.
Kinsey and Bode discuss how much easier it would be if Tyler would just remember, but Kinsey is quick to remind him that’s not what he wants and they should respect that. This becomes more difficult when Tyler admits he’s going back to Montana after the wedding. ..
As Bode begins to spin the dials, he finds himself in a different era, one where women were not allowed to wear suits and men were not allowed to wear clocks. The clock’s hands keep moving back and forth, going back and forth through time. Bode is thrown back into this different time period and must find a way to return home before it’s too late.
Bode shows up to find a young Benjamin Locke alongside Miranda who discuss a Harlequin Chest that’s unbreakable. Suddenly, Bode shows back up alongside Jamie who realizes, with glee, that he time travelled. They deduce that the final numeral is actually an indication of how long they’re in the past for.
Jamie and Bode are sitting at the kitchen table, discussing how Duncan is their Uncle. Jamie mentions how Duncan is his Uncle, but it doesn’t seem to have messed up the timeline.
When they jump back to the present day, Duncan admits he used to mess about with the key too when he was a kid. Bode is forbidden away from using the key, so Duncan gives it to Nina…who eyes it wondrously.
Brian and Duncan are wed and the celebrations get underway. Nina and Josh dance while the others all let loose. Unbeknownst to them though, inside the house Gideon and his cronies begin searching around for the different keys. Gideon strikes gold though when he discovers Bode’s journal, which lists every single one of the keys and what they do. They also find the Plant Key; Gideon’s collection is growing.
Kinsey speaks to her brother about their past and him leaving. However, Tyler notices a key wrapped around her neck and as a result, the memories of Jackie’s death flood back. Tyler begins to hyperventilate, shake and utter how he doesn’t want this. ..
Tyler heads inside the house, needing to get some space. But before he can, Gideon and his lackeys come running. Just before they’re set to hurt him, Kinsey rushes to his safety and scares them away. With a chain around her waist, Kinsey looks like she could easily take them on.
In the skirmish, it was revealed that Gideon also has the Anywhere Key, meaning they will only be able to leave if they leave the house. Tyler decides to stick around for a while, believing these men to be simple intruders. Bode tries to devise a new plan to keep the keys safe.
The Episode Review
The problem with time travel is that it introduces a whole world of problems to worldbuilding and ideas that can easily destroy the credibility of the world. For example, how is it that Duncan doesn’t remember Bode heading back and speaking to his younger self about the keys? Does it not matter to the plot? Is it literally just a one-time thing that doesn’t distort the timeline and once a “visitor” is gone then any changes are undone?
If that’s the case, then I really hope we don’t see the key used to make big changes to the past because that just presents a whole world of issues and clumsy timey-wimey knots that will need further exposition to explain.
The third episode of “Time Key” further exemplifies the problems with the show’s characters. Bode rushes straight into using the Time Key, realizing he’ll go to the past but completely oblivious to all of the consequences this could cause. This is different than Nina in the first episode, who used a Snow Globe key and all of the other issues we’ve had over time. The difference here is that Bode’s decision to use the Time Key rests on our characters making stupid decisions in order to push forward the plot. This becomes tiresome quickly.
The wedding episode felt oddly like a filler chapter. Gideon getting hold of a few more keys was a nice touch, but the episodes ahead need to be much better if this book is going to be worth reading. ..
