Lockwood & Co. – Season 1 Episode 5 “Death Is Coming” Recap & Review

George’s Downward Spiral

Lucy sits at the dining table as Lockwood & co episode 5 begins, staring at the skull in the jar, willing it to move but it doesn’t. Lockwood arrives and they discuss their plan to go to the cemetery.

George enters and is about to get his coffee when Lockwood says there’s no time, he needs to go off to the archives while Lockwood and Lucy go to the cemetery. George is annoyed at this and even more so at Lockwood making the stupid bet with Quill Kipps that put their jobs at risk. Lockwood is confident they won’t lose. Lucy puts a stop to their argument by instructing George to come along to the crime scene and telling Lockwood to give George two quid for a coffee.

They reach the cemetery to find Kipps and his team are already there. Kipps taunts Lockwood, saying he’ll once again end up in an empty house.

Pamela Joplin and Sebastian Saunders meet them. Joplin is upset about the mirror being stolen. George agrees with her about its value. The trio then have another look at the crime scene and find a Tendy’s (an agency) badge near the ground. They also realise this was a two-man job. As they talk, George gets lost in the swirling liquid of his coffee cup and needs to be broken out of his reverie by Lockwood.

Lockwood tells him to head off to the archives but he walks through the cemetery instead. He comes across some bloodstains near a stream and when he gets close to the water, a dead body with no eyes floats up to greet him.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Lockwood brainstorm about how the relic men could have gotten in and out. They realise that they must have scaled a wall near the canal. They head there to find George and the dead body. Lockwood says he knows who the man is.

As officers pull the body out of the water, Lockwood tells the other two that the man’s name was Danny Clough. He was an older agent that got him out of trouble a few times. They need to find his partner. Barnes informs them and Kipps’s team that the body was most definitely a relic man. The tissue under his fingernails suggests he gouged his own eyes out. Barnes insists that the mirror is lethal and must be found as soon as possible.

George heads off to the archives. Lucy asks Lockwood if he’s okay about Danny’s death. Lockwood claims he hardly knew him. He tells Lucy they are going to meet an old friend by the river.

George goes to the archives only to be told they are full. He meets Joplin outside, who is on the board and pulls some strings for him to be able to research there.

Lockwood takes Lucy to the banks of the Thames. She encounters the ghost of a small baby which is then followed by the ghost of a screaming woman — a cold maiden. It rushes towards her and then suddenly disappears. A woman walks up to Lucy and says it disappeared because she secured the source. Lockwood introduces the woman as Flo Bones, a relic hunter. Lucy makes clear she disapproves of selling ghost sources for money. Flo says everyone uses the dead to make a living, the only difference is Lucy is part of the scheme run by the rich. They argue but Lockwood soon interrupts and tells Flo he knows a place where she can get money for her relics and put them safely away. In return, he wants information on Danny Clough.

While doing research, George absentmindedly draws spirals on a paper. Joplin reminds him that it is past curfew and asks him to come over for dinner.

At a diner, Flo tells Lucy and Lockwood about how Danny had it hard once he began to lose his talent. He was expendable to his agency and so turned to this kind of work. His partner was Jack Carver, who she warns is very dangerous. She tells Lockwood he can leave a message for Carver on the diner’s message board. She also informs them about Julius Winkman, an antique dealer who does business with relic men and who will most likely be the current owner of the mirror. She warns that he is even more dangerous than Carver. Lockwood gives her Danny’s Tendy badge. She appraises Lockwood with a glance and says she’s surprised he’s not dead yet.

At Joplin’s place, George and her bond over their research and knowledge of the Problem. Joplin says she had no Talent growing up but that spurred her into learning as much as she could. They talk about what they saw in the mirror. George admits it made him feel like he wanted to see more.

Lucy asks Lockwood how long he’s known Flo. He says he’s known her for ages and can’t recall where they met. He tells Lucy they should head to Winkman’s now and see if they can steal the mirror. Lucy points out how dangerous Flo said it was but Lockwood isn’t worried.

They reach the place and break in through a side door. The room is filled with knick-knacks that all turn out to be relics with strong psychic charges. When a young boy suddenly appears, Lucy hides. Lockwood tries to get him to lead him to the mirror but his mother arrives and stuns Lockwood.

At home, George draws more spirals. He falls asleep on the dining table but a vision of Danny’s corpse jolts him awake.

Lockwood wakes up to find himself strapped to a chair. Winkman tries to threaten him into spilling the beans, but Lockwood holds out. When his death threats don’t work, Winkman uses a machine to hurt Lockwood with electric shocks.

Lucy sneaks around and locates the buzzing sound of the mirror coming out from a locked cabinet. The young boy, Leopold, sees her. She talks to him about it and when she touches his toy, Lucy can sense that the boy has been hurt by his parents. But his mother arrives at that moment and stuns Lucy too. She drags her to the room with Lockwood. Winkman plans to kill both of them and make it look like a suicide pact. Lockwood says Winkman can do anything with him but he must let Lucy go as she knows nothing about all this. Lucy wakes up in time and manages to throw flammable liquid onto both, Winkman and his wife. She threatens them with a lighter and frees Lockwood and they escape.

George stares into his coffee again. He gets surprised by the vision of a ghost outside the house and punches the window, cracking it. The ghost in the jar watches everything.

Back to safety, Lucy demands to know what Lockwood was thinking and how he could so easily offer up his life. He says he would have had a plan in the end. Lucy asks him what’s really going on but he is unable to open up.

Anticipating Carver at their house, the two rush back home. A few seconds later, someone knocks on the door. They open the door to see Carver but he walks flat onto their carpet, having been stabbed in the back! He mutters a few words about a bone glass and there being “seven, not one”. Lucy hears him say “come with me” but the other two don’t hear it. Lockwood says Carver’s dead.

The Episode Review

For how electrifying the earlier episodes were, Episode 5 doesn’t quite fit the mark. And it’s not just the slower pace of events but rather their significance.

George’s entire arc this episode, for instance, is done really well. His feelings of isolation from his team and his connection with Joplin are clear. So, even an ordinary dinner conversation between him and Joplin is insightful about how he feels. Meanwhile, the mirror’s effect on him is made visual in a thrilling way — the use of spirals, coffee and spectral faces is fantastic.

Elsewhere, Lockwood’s encounter with Winkman is just too drawn out. Their exchanges, Winkman’s threats and electric shocks (was this necessary?) are not enjoyable nor insightful.

Of course, I appreciate the mental health angle the writers have taken with Lucy questioning Lockwood’s readiness to give up his life. His recklessness in the books is never quite questioned and it’s nice that the show’s probing into it. But I’m hoping that they don’t make the story arc a typical and simplified one as is present in many shows.

It is by no means a bad episode. Apart from these caveats, the plot moves along in interesting ways. Watching the characters, in general, is a delight and Flo Bones is a lovely new addition to the story. All in all, it still keeps you invested in Lockwood & Co.