Locke & Key’s Second Season of Mystery Comes to Netflix

The Locke kids return for a second season of interdimensional adventures

After an eventful introduction to their father’s childhood home and all its supernatural secrets, the Locke siblings finally seemed to have a handle on the keys that opened them up to a magical, sinister new world. Dodge, the evil demon in the well? Eliminated. The boy who brutally killed their father? Now a wandering ghost without an earthly body to return to. The demonic activity behind the Omega Door? Very much under lock and key. Or, so they think…

“A lot of the tension in the first half of season two is what the audience learned at the end of season one, which is that Gabe [Griffin Gluck] is actually Dodge and that Eden [Hallea Jones] is a new demon,” says Canadian Connor Jessup, who plays eldest Locke sibling, Tyler. “There’s a greater threat than ever looming over the Locke family, but we don’t know about it. In fact, not only do we not know about it, but Gabe and Kinsey [Emilia Jones] are dating, which is a complicated dynamic.”

If the first season of the Nova Scotia-shot drama was about establishing the rules of this gritty fantasy world, the second season follows through on the tension of two forces on a collision course. “You get a real sense of these trains rushing toward each other, and you know that they’re going to crash at some point,” teases Jessup. “The threat of Dodge is much more intense than it was in season one.”

That’s not to say that the show loses its charm and the humour that comes with the discovery of keys that redefine space, time and the fundamental rules of reality. “Now that all the pieces are on the table, we can really start playing,” says Jessup. “The kids start to have more fun with these keys, they start to ask more questions, we start to find out more about the history of the keys, how they were made, where they come from. There’s much more to learn.”

Season two also highlights a new but relatable obstacle for the Locke siblings. “One of the big plotlines is the threat that Tyler is going to forget magic, because we know that adults can’t remember,” Jessup explains. “It’s really hitting him in season two, that he is almost an adult and, if he loses those memories, a lot of who he is and the relationships he’s gained may also slip away.”

Not only the deterioration of his relationship with girlfriend Jackie (Genevieve Kang), if the two can’t remember the experiences that brought them together, but Tyler’s inability, like his mother Nina (Darby Stanchfield) and uncle Duncan (Aaron Ashmore), to protect his own family, becomes the impetus to give all Locke adults their memories back. “Tyler feels so much responsibility because he can’t go to his mom. She can’t help,” ponders Jessup. “And, without knowing why, Nina feels on the outside. She senses that there’s something that’s made them happier, and that there’s something that’s wrong, and she just can’t see it. For Tyler, Kinsey and for Bode, to have Nina gain the ability to enter this with them and to confront these challenges with them, would be so meaningful.”

The series, based on the graphic novel series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, has taken a long time to find its way to the screen. While Jessup doesn’t have definitive answers to why the Netflix version has been able to succeed where others failed to get off the ground before it, he believes its appeal to both young adults and older viewers gives them a leg up. “The comic is incredible, but it’s pretty dark. It’s definitely for adults and the show broadens the scope of that so a family can sit down and watch it together. A lot of the people who really respond to the show are kids,” he explains. “I also think the show’s willingness to look beneath the layers of fun and magic and be serious about what it means to struggle with grief and step into responsibility that’s too big for you, is what works for adults watching.”

With the Locke & Key narrative still going strong on the comic book side, the TV show gets to exist as a parallel universe. “There’s two different Locke and Keys. And I think for Joe Hill, it’s really exciting that this show can take his characters, ideas and world and remix it,” says Jessup. “For us, it gives us a sense of liberation. For people who are fans of the comics, it hopefully allows you to be surprised.” And for those who just enjoy the escape, Jessup hopes it continues to deliver. “I hope that the show gives a sense of comfort, fun and freedom. When I was reading Narnia and Harry Potter as a kid, what connected to me the most to this kind of story was that it removed my limitations, as a reader. There’s a lot of possibilities in this world and I hope that people watching feel that.”

Locke & Key streams on Netflix