Episode 7 Review
Gordie is also there and is injured when this creature attacks him. Rendell shrugs and claims that Gordy will be fine. He wants to use the key to make a bigger one, but young Ellie isn't so sure that's a good idea.
Fast forward to the present and Gideon is driving with Ellie and encouraging her to drift so she can experience the thrill of driving fast. Teary-eyed Ellie suddenly slams on the brakes and decides to run through the forest. Of course, Gideon steps up in true villain fashion and knocks him out.
Back at the Locke house, Nina listens to Sam apologize and refuses to forgive him for what he did. However, he wants to atone for his sins, and part of that comes from the group trying to band together to stop Gideon, whatever it is. For now, these hostilities have been suspended to prevent Gideon.
Of course, Gideon and Ellie end up at Gordie's place, as later flashbacks show Rendell tapping into Gordie's memories and retrieving the ones related to the little sprite that attacked him. This explains what happened to the key and why he doesn't remember everything about it.
Memory Key
In the present, Gideon stabs Gordy and uses the Memory Key, hacking into his psyche to get the key back before it's too late.
Meanwhile, Bode and Nina try several ways to break into the halequin chest, even though Bode is clearly told that no one can get in without a key. He even tells the others this early in the season, which is why he was chosen to keep the keys inside. Big brain moment from Bode.
Anyway, a visual treat ensues as these two go about their meaningless busywork, digging through Gordie's memories to find the final key. Back at Gordy's office, Rufus shows up and sees the boy bleeding and hastily calls 911. The thing is, with Gordy's death, the key is likely to be lost inside forever. Thankfully, the band finds the key inside the piano on stage and prepares to leave.
As Sam fights Gideon inside Gordy's head, he throws his grand piano at him and walks away. However, Gordy fades out and we see the blinders he entered his mind disappear. He is dead? Is all lost? We'll have to wait to find out!
Episode Review
7 episodes in, and we finally got to see some of the visual flair and imagination that made the first season so endearing. Ironically, this episode comes with a completely different writer in Carlton Cuse and Joe Hill.
This creative ability is something that was lost in the previous season, and we finally see it in the wonderful discovery of Gordie's memory. The entire sequence is reminiscent of Persona 5, and I salute you for Phantom Thieves meets PS4 game!
These visuals work well in the context of the mission, but it also feels very last minute, like too much busy work to delay Gideon. Having a final switch and we just heard about it, without any information or predictions, seems like a bit of lazy writing.
Speaking of laziness, the show itself is full of stupid character choices, and that's one of my biggest pet peeves this season. There have always been echoes of this in the show as a whole, but season 3 in particular has been terrible for characters just acting stupid.
Why does Bode try to break a chest he can't open when he knows it's impossible? The whole sequence with Nina just feels like a waste of time. They could have at least tried to pick the lock, maybe that would have been a little more believable!
Everything hangs in the balance for the final episode as Gordie is taken to the hospital and his life ends. Will Locke rise to the occasion?