Locke & Key – Season 2 Episode 8 “Irons in the Fire” Recap & Review

Irons in the Fire

Episode 8 of Locke and Key Season 2 begins back in 1775 at Keyhouse. British soldiers hurry to the front door on reports of Peter Locke manufacturing colonial weapons. They’re there to see if these rumours are substantiated – and it’s not a request.

The soldiers, led by Captain Gideon, storm the house while Peter is forced down on his knees outside. Not only do the soldiers find gunpowder, they also find a whole host of weapons too. Things don’t look good. All hell breaks loose, as Gideon stabs Peter and leaves him for dead. However, Minutemen suddenly arrive on the scene, forcing the soldiers to scarper.

This scene coincides nicely with the opener of this season as the three soldiers arrive at the cave and decide to hide out. Benjamin and the Minutemen follow their tracks. With Gideon possessed, the Minutemen surround him and try to work out what to do with him.

Eventually they throw him in a cell, which happens to be at well house. Captain Gideon writes journal entries about the gateway between worlds, stashing the piece of Whispering Iron in the book. This happens to be the last entry he writes as he’s subsequently hung for his crimes.

In the present, Duncan organizes the troops. Bode is the odd one out, forced to go to school while Kinsey holds the Hercules key and Tyler the Matchstick key. Duncan, needing to keep busy, decides to join Nina at school.

Eden meanwhile rocks up at a lavish house sitting precariously on the edge of a cliff (honestly, coastal erosion will see that in the sea in a few years) where Gabe has been busy. There’s a whole army of kids at his disposal now and unfortunately he doesn’t need Eden anymore. He forces her out, leaving the girl on her own.

While Jamie snatches up the Small World key from his father again, Kinsey organizes the film crew to work with her to thwart Gabe and his growing army of schoolkids. Well, Scot and Bode both receive messages that Javi is near the Reynolds Building, signifying the beginning of the end.

A big fight inevitably breaks out but they’re completely outnumbered by Gabe’s goons. Gabe is waiting for them in Josh’s dorm, with both Scot and Kinsey held captive. Bode manages to save them though, courtesy of setting off the fire-alarm just as Tyler eventually appears outside the building. Better late than never Tyler!

Gabe isn’t done though, and manages to control Jackie in Tyler’s absence. Eden meanwhile, heads off to see Josh after-hours and piques his interest, revealing that she knows the location of the sea cave and the portal within.

Back at Keyhouse, and with all hope lost, Tyler works out that Rendell’s fish lure is actually holding a chunk of Whispering Iron within. Duncan struggles to hear the whispering this time – only Tyler can. This seems to be a sign that he’s destined to make this key himself, presumably undoing what Gabe has started. With Duncan guiding him, the final fight looks to be upon us.

The Episode Review

Locke and Key returns with another good episode, one that sees Gabe start to flex his powers by controlling a whole army of school kids. There’s certainly an amusing ironic juxtaposition against kids being in this world-ending army and in a way, this season feels quite reminiscent of the world-ending threat of The Irregulars – which Netflix subsequently cancelled not long after its first season.

There’s a little less romance in this now though, as the story starts to lean into its overarching plot involving the sea cave portal and stopping Gabe instead. The flashbacks are a welcome inclusion though, but it’s still unknown exactly what part Josh has to play in all this. So far he’s basically been a walking, talking narrative device so we’ll have to wait and see if he actually serves a bigger purpose!

Either way, this chapter bows out with a decent conclusion, essentially serving as a proverbial deep breath before we plunge into more drama.