Locke & Key creators open up about Season 2 finale, the new 'Big Bad' and what's to come

Well, that just happened. After fighting like crazy to get rid of persistent demon Dodge, the Locke family now has a whole new menace to contend with, and he’s definitely not afraid to get his hands bloody. Season 2 of Locke & Key might’ve just arrived on Netflix, but we’re already getting a strong taste of what’s in store for the show’s upcoming third season in the fearsome form of Captain Frederick Gideon.

**Spoilers ahead for Season 2 of Locke & Key**

Gideon (Kevin Durand), of course, is the revived Revolutionary War Redcoat who makes more than a splash when he enters the picture at the end of Season 2. Seen in historic flashbacks that, it turns out, actually tease a deeper history with the Locke family in Massachusetts, Gideon makes his present-day debut after Eden (Hallea Jones) summons his spirit with the Echo Key…only to have him immediately turn on her and toss her headfirst down a well (and, presumably, to her death).

How does Gideon’s arrival unlock a new story path for the Netflix horror hit’s third season? Showrunners Carlton Cuse and Mereditth Averill aren’t saying for certain — but in a new look at how Season 2 paves the way forward, they tease he probably poses a bigger threat than Dodge ever did — not least because he and the Locke family go way, way back.

“Dodge is someone who’s okay to take her time. She had a lot of patience. She kind of was playing the long game. But Gideon is a fist. He is just all brute strength,” Averill explained in Netflix’s behind-the-scenes chat. “He has no patience for anyone. So things are gonna heat up very quickly in Season 3.”

While Gideon’s emergence might be bad news for Eden, it’s great news for fans of the comics-based series waiting to see what new Season 3 key (or keys) could possibly contain for the 18th-Century soldier who discovered Matheson’s portal in the first place.

“It wasn’t good for poor Eden, sadly, but that doesn’t sound good for the show in general. I mean, Gideon out there, portal creator, big bad guy…” joked Cuse. “And, we see him use the Anywhere Key and escape into Matheson, so this guy is out there and he has a long history with the Locke family. So something tells me he is going to be out for them in Season 3,” added Averill.

Averill recently told SYFY WIRE that the show’s new season is filled with Easter eggs that subtly hint at what’s to come. “I think the comic fans, if they look very closely, they might see some Easter eggs in Keyhouse that could give them some clues as to some keys that they might see moving forward,” she teased.

But in Netflix’s new deep dive, she offers an even stronger clue about linking Season 3 to what we’ve seen so far. Specifically, Season 2’s 8th episode — the one filled with those historic flashbacks — might be a good place to start for fans looking to divine how Gideon’s up-close and personal brand of confrontation could test the Lockes in a whole new way.

Episode 8 “is a good one, because you’re seeing Gideon’s character for the first time in Episode 1, but you really get to meet him and see what a badass guy he is in Episode 8 in full display,” Averill hinted. “And there’s also some other characters within those scenes that you’ll see pop back up in Season 3. But I think because he is our ultimate villain going into Season 3, it’s probably great to really focus on him as you’re seeing those scenes in Episode 8.”

That almost sounds like homework — but when the subject is Keyhouse and all its hidden secrets, no one’s likely to complain. Based on the comics series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez, Locke & Key’s first two seasons are streaming now at Netflix…while we wait for news on a premiere date for Season 3.