Locke & Key season 1, episode 5 recap: Family Tree

New keys present themselves to the Locke children in episode 5 of Locke & Key, but they soon become corrupting influences. Are the children equipped to handle this kind of power?

In episode 5 of Locke & Key, Matheson’s darkest secrets slowly begin to unravel, as do the bonds between the Locke children. The keys promise great power, but the children need to hold themselves responsible—a task that one Locke child finds particularly challenging.

The Music Box

Thus far, Bode has been the only Locke child to hear the call of the keys, but that changes in this episode of Locke & Key. Tyler and Kinsey hear a new key calling to them—hidden in the piano, the key opens up a music box. Not very magical—until Kinsey accidentally tells Tyler to stop talking, leading to Tyler’s mouth closing up. Looks like the Music Box Key allows the user to control anyone they so wish. And Kinsey has uses for it.

At school, Kinsey decides to teach popular girl, and high school bully, Eden Hawkins (Hallea Jones) a lesson. Eden hasn’t been very nice to Kinsey, or to Kinsey’s friend, Scot. At lunchtime, Kinsey uses the music box to make Eden look like a fool. Scot is fine with it for a while, but when their mutual friend Gabe (Griffin Gluck) sees the magic, he joins in and eggs Kinsey on to push Eden towards further ridicule. Scot is appalled and leaves—but that doesn’t deter Kinsey or Gabe.

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The moment Tyler finds out, he takes Kinsey to task—he’s the oldest and the most responsible. He feels he needs to be the father, now that Rendell is dead, but Kinsey refuses to listen. Without her fear, she has become completely irrational—despite her protestations otherwise. She no longer seems to be aware of the consequences of her actions—instead, she is living in the moment, to everyone’s detriment.

But not everyone is as unforgiving of Kinsey’s actions—that evening, Scot meets Kinsey at Key House and the two make up. Scot doesn’t condone Kinsey’s mockery of Eden, but he does ask for them to use the keys to better purposes.

On the way out, he sees the picture of Rendell’s friends’ group and informs Kinsey that three of them died in the nearby sea cave. This is news to Kinsey—she’d been told people had died nearby, but not that they were her father’s friends. What other secrets was Rendell hiding from his family?

Duncan’s Memories

Quite a few, apparently. Despite falling out over the music box, Kinsey and Tyler are drawn to the mystery surrounding Rendell’s friends. At that opportune moment, another key calls to them—this one is located in the cemetery on the grounds.

The key fits into a keyhole in a nearby tree and unlocks a cornucopia of… jam jars? These jars have memories, specifically Duncan’s memories. Kinsey and Tyler see memories of Duncan and Rendell using the ghost key to fly; Duncan spending time with Rendell and his friends; Duncan using a key to change his appearance.

But Tyler finds a far more disturbing memory—where Duncan walks in on Rendell brutally murdering his friend Lucas. Did those friends of Rendell’s really drown in the cave? Or were they murdered in cold blood by Rendell, who definitely wasn’t anything like he seemed to his children?

The jam jars also help explain why Duncan seems to remember so little about his childhood, including the deaths of Rendell’s friends. Bode asks Duncan about using the Ghost Key to meet Chamberlain Locke, but Duncan doesn’t believe in magical keys.

Now we know why—the memories are no longer with him. But why would he—or someone else—remove those memories from Duncan’s mind? Were they trying to protect Duncan from what he had witnessed, or to stop anyone from using Duncan to find more keys?

Nina Investigates

The longer Nina stays in Matheson, the edgier she gets. She is no longer sleeping well and she misses Rendell immensely. But there’s more to her concerns—she isn’t sure whom to trust in Matheson. Nina had been becoming close to Ellie but that friendship is put to the test in this episode of Locke & Key.

Nina and Bode come home from school early—because Bode was caught with a hammer at school and sent home. Bode needs it for protection against Dodge, but it’s not something he can explain to the adults in his life.

But while Bode is fighting a real demon, Nina is fighting an existential one—when she hears a noise in her home, she immediately rushes to lock her door. Only to find Ellie in the basement—apparently Rufus had left a toy behind and she needed to retrieve it to make him feel better.

Nina is rattled but even more so when she notices a small scar on Nina’s chest—an upside-down teardrop, the exact same kind and placing that Rendell had had. Ellie says she received it as a child, while Rendell had confessed to an adult accident. Who is Nina to believe?

She turns to the only other person she can trust in Matheson—Joe Ridgeway. The school principal has been nothing but kind to the Lockes and he lends a sympathetic ear. But, having faced grief himself, he asks Nina to put aside her doubts and allow herself to live in the moment. These investigations will consume her otherwise, and may even kill her.

But Nina is relentless—Sam Lesser specifically mentioned Key House before he murdered Rendell, and there are so many mysteries about Rendell’s past that keep cropping up. Nina can’t afford to let sleeping dogs lie—she needs answers as to why Rendell was murdered.

Ellie’s Secrets

Ellie’s connection to Rendell made her an ideal companion for Nina, but she is proving to be less than trustworthy. She may have had an excuse for being in Key House without permission, but that falls away when Nina asks Rufus about it. He hadn’t lost any of his toys—so Ellie was snooping in the basement, as she had done in the previous episode of Locke & Key. But what is she looking for?

The fact that Ellie and Rendell share the same scar is another point of contention—it is clear that Ellie is lying about the circumstances surrounding the scar but how then did she and Rendell receive it?

Things are really hot up by the end of the episode. Ridgeway calls Nina in a panic, saying he saw something in his home and needs her help immediately. But when Nina arrives, Ridgeway is dead from asphyxiation, and there is a noise in his house. Nina follows the sound outside to the balcony but doesn’t see anyone. However, just below her, hiding in the darkness, is Ellie. Did she murder Ridgeway? Why? What is Ellie hiding?

Final Thoughts

Locke & Key has hit its stride with episodes 4 and 5. This was another well-paced and well-executed episode—plenty of tension and excitement, ramping up the suspense for viewers.

Readers of the books will know that the story is picking up at this point—secrets are about to be revealed and a very tangled web of intrigue and horror is about to unfold.

BBC's War of the Worlds coming to AMC Premiere. dark. Next

At the halfway mark of the first season, we have already been introduced to most of the principal characters and a number of important keys. But there are more exciting keys on the way and it is going to be interesting to see where the show goes in the next half of this season.

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