The Huge Locke & Key Plot Hole That Still Puzzles Fans

The following contains spoilers for the Netflix original show Locke & Key.

Locke & Key is one of several quality horror-adventure series to materialize in the wake of Stranger Things, and it can boast a genre pedigree that's like few others. Adapted from a comic by esteemed horror author (and Stephen King's son) Joe Hill, the Netflix supernatural drama revolves around the members of the Locke family, Nina (Darby Stanchfield), Tyler (Connor Jessup), Kinsey (Emilia Jones), and Bode (Jackson Robert Scott). After the violent death of family patriarch Rendell (Bill Heck), the first season sees the remaining Lockes relocate to the family's old Keyhouse in Matheson, Massachusetts. There, the children find various strange keys with magical abilities — which would be significantly more awesome if it wasn't for the fact that a demonic presence called Dodge (Laysla De Oliveira) is also after the artifacts. 

Dodge entered our world from the creepy dimension behind the mysterious Black Door. She's come in search of the Black Door-controlling Omega Key, and she's armed with the Identity Key, which allows her to change her appearance. Through cunning, she soon gains the Anywhere Key, which enables her to use doors to travel to any locations she's seen before. For most of the season, she's essentially a devilish, manipulative, teleporting shapeshifter — and that's before the penultimate episode, in which  she ambushes Ellie Whedon (Sherri Shaum) at her house to gain the shadow-manipulating Shadow Key and Shadow Crown. 

It's a fantastical premise, and the first season of Locke & Key certainly succeeds in building its marvelous world. Nevertheless, some viewers think that the show's narrative contains one strange error. Let's take a look at the huge Locke & Key plot hole that still puzzles fans.

By the time Dodge starts making major moves, the Locke kids and their "Savini Squad" are already quite aware of the danger the demon poses. Conveniently, she also appears to be unable to take the keys from the Lockes by force, and has to rely on manipulation instead. This is why some fans are wondering: why did the Lockes allow anyone else to hold the keys at any point?  

One Reddit thread points out a fair few points of Locke & Key season 1 when the Lockes basically handed out keys to Dodge. "Why didn't the Locke kids make sure one of them was always in possession of the keys? Why on earth would you let Ellie go back to her own house, where Dodge was quite likely to be waiting, with one of the most powerful keys, when Dodge could easily take the key from her?" one user asked. "Dodge can't take the keys from the Locke kids, so they should have kept the key. Same with the Omega key — why just leave it in the cabinet like that when it's much safer in your possession?" 

The same user also laments the fact that the crew completely forgot Dodge's Identity Key during the season finale: "They also know that Dodge has a key that lets her change her appearance to look like anyone, and yet they're never suspicious of one another? Not suspicious when Dodge is conveniently knocked out on the floor for them — they just go chuck her through the door!" This fatal oversight means that the "Dodge" they think they threw through the Black Door in the season finale was actually poor, Identity Key-disguised Ellie, and Dodge herself ended the season dating Kinsey under the guise of Gabe (Griffin Cluck). Whoops.