The following contains spoilers for Locke & Key Season 3, Episode 8, "Farewell," streaming now on Netflix.
After three seasons of Tyler (Connor Jessup), Kinsey (Emilia Jones), and Bode (Jackson Robert Scott) safekeeping mystical keys from the forces of evil, the TV show Locke & Key has permanently shut its doors. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, Locke & Key's current third and final season shook up the status quo. With Tyler off re-evaluating his life, Kinsey took charge and embraced a leadership role.
Meanwhile, their mother, Nina (Darby Stanchfield), could finally participate in the family's magical adventures after Bode used the Memory Key on her. That allowed Nina to remember all the supernatural hijinks she witnessed. In the end, the Lockes assembled to vanquish the menacing Frederick Gideon (Kevin Durand) and relinquished the keys by throwing them back into the dimension they originated from. Jones and Stanchfield recently spoke with CBR about their characters' evolution, stunt work, singing, and the series finale.
CBR: Season 2 culminated with the Lockes assembling to take down Dodge. What does normal life look like for them at this point?
Emilia Jones: At the beginning of Season 3, life is great for the Lockes. They are finally having fun with the keys. There's no stress and no one they need to be worried about... or so they think. When we start Season 3, you see Kinsey and Bode having a lot of fun with the keys but also sharing it with Nina, which is a lovely thing to be able to do. For so long, there has been that separation and divide. For me, as an actor, it was really fun. We would shoot, and we would cut, and I would be like, "Oh my god. We get to do this with Darby."
Darby Stanchfield: There was a lightness to the beginning of this season because there was this one wall that was down. Even getting to understand the magic and using the keys and just getting to be in their world, we had a blast. The whole season we had a blast, but it really did start out that way.
Darby, how excited were you at the end of Season 2 for Bode to use the Memory Key on Nina, so now she knows what is going on with her children's supernatural activities?
Stanchfield: I was extremely excited. I think one of the showrunners told me ahead of time, and I lost it. I was so ready. We were also in the pandemic, full swing in self-isolation and quarantine and life inside of a bubble. I was really ready to be done playing isolation and playing being on my own and in so much grief because it was just sort of like playing on top of something that we were all dealing with in person. There's also something great about sustaining the adult life without knowing the magic and the elongated grief, especially with Rendell. I think that it just pays off in the third season. I was so excited to be part of the magic. The closure that this family gets felt really earned.
Emilia, in what ways does Kinsey step up in Tyler's absence?
Jones: It's tough for Kinsey because she always looks up to her brother. Throughout the seasons, no matter what Kinsey has been going through, she's always had Tyler by her side, and she always turns to Tyler. So, at the beginning of the season, although we are having a lot of fun with the keys and it's so nice having Nina involved with all the magic, there is this loss in Kinsey's life. Although we have gained Nina, she's lost Tyler. She's growing up still and figuring out what it means to be the older sister and the oldest Locke sibling in Keyhouse right now. She's battling with that a little bit, which makes it extra harder when things don't go so well for the Lockes. She really needs her brother by her side.
Darby, Nina gets her first taste of mayhem that she can remember with the Snow Globe Key. How does she handle that exposure?
Stanchfield: She does not get an A+ plus with magic. It's terrifying that she practically kills one of her children in the misuse of it, obviously innocently, but it creates great stakes. It was a fun sequence to shoot. There was a bit of stunts involved, a bunch of action, and a bunch of special effects.
Jones: I will say each character has messed up with a key. Kinsey taking her fear out... That was a big mistake, although she learned. Nina had to do something like that to learn very quickly.
Darby, I understand you embraced the physicality this season. Was there a sequence that stood out?
Stanchfield: There was a fight sequence with the two demon sisters. We unlock the snow globe, and they come into the house. There's a bit of a tussle. No, no, no. It was with Emilia. It's when we are in front of the mirror. Nina gets one of the demon sisters upstairs. We trick them. We push them into the mirror. That was sweet revenge after what they did the first time.
That mirror gambit demonstrated how resourceful Nina had become.
Stanchfield: Yes, and also, [that she] had learned from even that. She was wiser not to go into the mirror.
Emilia, Kinsey sang at Duncan's wedding. How did that come about, and how nerve-wracking was it?
Jones: It was the last season, and we did have this big wedding scene. As Darby said, we were all kind of separated. It was weird shooting during the pandemic. I was away from my dad and my family. It was nice to have this big wedding sequence because everybody was in one place. It was the most people I had seen for a very long time. It was really fun, and then to sing was really fun. I love singing. I did it for a film, and that's it. I sing in the shower. I have never sung at a wedding.
The production design on Locke & Key is top-notch. What was your favorite new set?
Jones: For me, Gordie's head was incredible. I remember the first day in rehearsal, I stepped onto the set and thought I had stepped onto a different show set. I was like, "This is so big. This is amazing." It wasn't even lit. Then, we came in the next day, and we were shooting. It was all lit. I just remember thinking, "This is absolutely incredible." You read the script, and you imagine these sequences -- it was better and bigger than I imagined.
Stanchfield: Keyhouse will always be my favorite. That's where I spent the majority of my time. It was fun when we went back into Nina's head. The sets were so specific. I love Nina's head when you go into the actual head, but then when we started to go into the memories and the different houses the Lockes had lived in... Even though they are regular houses, they got Seattle down. I always love shooting outside and the camping stuff...
What was your reaction when you received the script for the series finale?
Jones: I got a little emotional. It was nice knowing, throughout the whole of Season 3, that it was our last. When I read every single episode, I was like, "Oh, this is all going to tie in. This is perfect. The adventure is bigger and better than last season." It was all exciting. Then, when I read it, I was kind of thinking, "Oh yes, it's over." You are in denial for a lot of it. You are so focused on the big sequences that you are doing at the moment, and then when you finally read it, you are like, "Oh, I am never going to play this character again." So, I did get emotional, but then I loved [that] it was tied up so nicely. Nothing was left unsaid. It was bittersweet.
Stanchfield: I loved it. I particularly love that the Lockes make this choice, this particular choice, to give back this power. They are the keepers of these keys, they are the keepers of this whole world of magic, and they make this decision collectively to surrender it and be a regular family. I don't feel like that theme is all that common these days. Everything is always power-driven, so there was something about giving up the power that I found sweet. Then, the moment where the family gets to use the magic one last time to see their dad, [it was] such a fun sequence to shoot. Again, my natural bond and chemistry with this whole group of actors was the foundation for me to play all of those different emotions. I didn't have to try. It was easy with everybody.
Stream Season 3 of Locke & Key now on Netflix.