Many major spoilers below for Locke & Key's first season, so be sure you have the Okay-With-Spoilers Key in your possession before reading on.
After years and years of fans waiting, the live-action adaptation of Locke & Key finally made its debut on Netflix, and showrunners Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill House) did a pretty fantastic job of incorporating the core elements of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's comic book. Of course, not everything made it from the page to the screen, including the more surreal moments from the source material. Still, the Season 1 finale ended things on wild notes for several main characters outside the Locke family.
With certain finale elements coming directly from the comic book, and some coming from the imagination of the TV creators, Locke & Key left its doors open (so to speak) for Season 2, which is reportedly being worked on as everyone awaits Netflix's renewal update. So without further ado, check out how Locke & Key wrapped things up for these four key characters.
What Happened To Ellie Whedon?
When it comes to Locke & Key characters acting suspicious, Sherri Saum's Ellie Whedon could have taught a high school class on it. For good reason, too, since she actually was keeping highly dangerous secrets. For one, she was harboring the evil echo Dodge within her very home in the form of her teenage boyfriend Lucas, whose human form had technically died decades earlier.
If anyone should have known not to go down this road, Ellie is the obvious choice. Not only was she keenly aware of the otherworldly damage the keys and key-related creatures could do, but she also has a developmentally challenged son who was directly at risk while living with Lucas/Dodge.
In the end, Ellie's foolish thinking got her trapped in the ethos, possibly forever. After bringing the Crown of Shadows to life, Dodge used the Identity Key on Ellie and changed her appearance so outsiders believed Ellie to be the villainous Dodge. So whenever Kinsey and the rest of Team Locke tried to end the chaos at the Omega Door, they unwittingly threw Ellie into the weird blue yonder instead.
Considering it's unknown what happens to anything that goes through the Omega Door, I can't rightfully speculate about where Ellie's story could go in Season 2, assuming she's not 100% dead. I certainly hope her son Rufus finds a way to return, though, since his friendship with Bode was just getting interesting.
What Happened To Dodge?
The main antagonist of Locke & Key throughout Season 1's ten episodes, the entity known as Dodge was quite a cold and calculating monster, and one that always appeared to be enjoying just how much havoc she was causing. Starting off as Laysla De Oliveira's Well Lady, the character soon became known as Dodge, and was later revealed to have taken on the form of Lucas Caravaggio in order to take advantage of Ellie.
Every episode gave audiences a look at how Dodge machinated and manipulated characters and situations in order to attain more of the Lockes' magical keys, but it was the finale that featured the biggest jaw-dropper. As it turns out, Dodge had also been using the Identity Key to take on the persona of Griffin Gluck's Gabe, Kinsey's friend and fellow film club member who also claimed to be fairly new to the town of Matheson.
Once it was revealed that Gabe had actually been Dodge for the entire season, so many weird quirks about Gabe's personality made much more sense. Such as how he so quickly jumped on board with torturing Eden with the Music Box Key, or how emotionally available he made himself to Kinsey during every conversation, despite knowing about her burgeoning relationship with Scot With One T.
Dodge-as-Gabe actually took part in tossing Ellie-as-Dodge through the Omega Door, no doubt with the impulse to snatch up all the keys, only she can't actually take them away from anyone in the Locke family. Dodge was last seen having a cheery meal with a new friend made when the Omega Door was opened, which we'll get more into below.
What Happened To Eden Hawkins?
For a character who was perceived to be stuck-up and hateful, Hallea Jones' Eden Hawkins was ultimately one of the most victimized characters in Locke & Key. She was at fault for exiting Scot's movie – and her involvement in the first place was already suspect – but Kinsey and Gabe were 100% guilty for going too far with the Music Box Key, making her pour condiments all over herself before giving a statue a lap dance (among other embarrassments).
Eden was also rather rudely attacked by Kinsey's personified fear, which she didn't directly provoke. And what was her big reward for turning a new leaf and joining the rest of the main characters in (unsuccessfully) taking Dodge down? She was hit by one of the Omega Door's "bullets" that first turned Lucas into Dodge during Rendell Locke's teen years. D'oh.
It's not completely obvious yet if Eden will end up becoming the same kind of evil as Dodge, or if she'll have different motivations and features. The first season capped things off with "Gabe" meeting a clearly affected Eden at a restaurant where she is eagerly stuffing her face to presumably try and satiate the monstrous hunger she now feels with...whatever it is...inside her. She will presumably play larger in Season 2 as a truly devious foe for Kinsey and the rest of the Lockes, assuming Season 2 happens.
What Happened To Sam Lesser?
Thomas Mitchell Barnet's Sam Lesser was a secondary antagonist during Locke & Key's first season, initially serving as Dodge's faithful disciple in murdering Rendell in an arduous effort to attain the Omega Key (which was hidden inside his head the whole time). Dodge gave Sam the opportunity and means to get out of prison, though he still had the same motive to deliver that key.
His return to Keyhouse clearly didn't go as planned, though. The easily fooled Sam kept Kinsey, Bode and Nina hostage for seemingly eons until Tyler arrived and beat the crap out of him for a few. (Not that it knocked any sense into him.) Sam was later attacked by Kinsey's fear, risen from the grave, though he survived and returned to Keyhouse, where Tyler used the Head Key and tapped into Sam's true self that wasn't tainted by Dodge's dark charms.
Not that it did anyone any good. When they came out of Sam's head, he had possession of the Head Key, which Dodge took after stabbing him. Sam might have died a normal death, but in evading the police, he ran through the door where Bode's Ghost Key was still in the doorknob. Thus, he was turned into a ghost as his sorta-corpse was discovered by the cops, who closed the door, stopping Sam from returning to his body. Does that mean Sam is gone forever, or will he find a way to return in Season 2? Probably the former, but Keyhouse is the kind of place where nobody's really gone forever.
Locke & Key Season 1 is currently available to stream in full on Netflix, and let's celebrate that we can finally say such a thing. We're awaiting news about Season 2 officially happening, so stay tuned. And for those who need something else to get obsessed with in the meantime, there's no key needed to unlock our Winter and Spring TV premiere schedule, which will clue readers in on all the big shows coming in the next few months.
