Free Bird

Bolton heads off to question the historian about the whereabouts of Nina, but he is unsuccessful. Gideon then orders Locke to head back home.

Bolton shows up at Josh’s house with a gun, demanding to know where Nina Locke is. Josh doesn’t know where she is, but Bolton shoots him down and takes Jamie hostage. ..

Meanwhile, ghost Bode speaks to Chamberlain and tries to find a way out of the graveyard. Sam is there too, trying to atone for his sins, but Bode demands he leave. That is, until Chamberlain encourages him to follow and speak to Sam about how he aided their family before. However, when Sam refuses to talk about what happened before, Bode becomes angry and threatens him with retribution. ..

Bode heads to the Well to speak with Sam about the past. He apologizes for what happened between them and admits that he used the birds to help Kinsey find the Angel key. As a result, Bode decides to do the same thing, conjuring forth the birds with guidance from Sam. ..

Rufus suggests they use the Timeshift Key to go back in time and change the past, but Ty is completely against this. Instead, they come up with an alternate plan.

The plan is that they will use Bolton as bait so that Jamie can temporarily possess her body and take the kids hostage. Interestingly enough, Bolton walks right in with Jamie at gunpoint, letting her go in exchange for taking the kids captive.

Tyler makes a play to get the final key from Gideon, claiming it was the safest place for it. Bolton is sent to get it. ..

Nina tells Josh that she saw Gideon coming back through the portal and that he is now opening it again. She also reveals that she knows about the other world and how it works. Josh is completely okay with this and believes her.

While Bolton wanders around the Ghost Plane, Ellie and Nina both show up at Key House to try and stop this foe. However, Bode also uses his newly acquired bird powers to distract Gideon in the process. He manages to slip back in the chimney, returning to how he was. ..

Gideon agrees to let Rufus go in exchange for information about the key. However, when Rufus shows up, he is held at knifepoint by Gideon and learns that the key is actually inside the head of Gordie Shaw. Ellie promises to tell the Captain where the key is if he releases Rufus. ..

James Bolton returns to the group and holds them at gunpoint, locking them in the closet. However, he lets them out when Gideon and Ellie drive off. He admits that he is not Bolton - it is actually Sam possessing his body! ..

The Episode Review

With Bode back in his own body and Sam returning in the body of Bolton, the final key to Locke and Key is finally in sight. But as the two men work together to get their hands on it, they quickly realize that there are many dangers ahead.

Some of the acting in this episode isn’t great (namely that of Nina while escaping at the start, which felt really forced), while the character arcs have been pretty lacking this whole season. Ultimately, most of the drama here has stemmed from characters making stupid decisions or showing up to exude exposition before leaving. ..

This is the last season, so it seems like the magic is gone from the show. We’re now lurching our way to the finish line. Will this one end on a high? We’ll have to wait and see!