Skip to main content

Netflix launched Locke & Key in 2020 as an adaptation of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s popular comic series. However, fans of the comics might have noticed quite a few differences from the books in season 1. For starters, the Netflix show isn’t quite as horror-centric as the comics, and many of the storylines have changed.

Locke & Key might have gone in a different direction for the TV adaptation, but the roots of the comics are still present. In fact, Locke & Key Season 1 featured dozens of blink-and-you-miss-it Easter eggs and references to the comic books. Keep an eye out for these four Locke & Key Easter eggs during your next season 1 binge.

[Spoiler alert: The following story contains some spoilers for Locke & Key Season 1.]

Locke & Key stars Connor Jessup as Tyler Locke and Jackson Robert Scott as Bode Locke
Connor Jessup as Tyler Locke and Jackson Robert Scott as Bode Locke in ‘Locke & Key’ Season 2 | Amanda Matlovich/Netflix

The angel wings on Kinsey’s jacket

In Locke & Key Season 1 Episode 6, “The Black Door,” Kinsey Locke (played by Emilia Jones) and the Savini Squad explore underwater caves, where Kinsey finds the glowing Black Door. She wears a denim jacket with two white angel wings embroidered on the front of the shoulders. Aside from serving as a stylish detail, the wings might actually reference a key in the comics.

The Angel Key first appeared in Locke & Key: Keys to the Kingdom No. 4. Kinsey, Tyler, and Bode Locke used the key in one of their escapes from Dodge. The Angel Key goes with an angel wing harness, which gives wears the ability to fly and carry extra weight.

Bode taking swords from the mantle

Locke & Key Season 1 Episode 2, “Trapper/Keeper,” shows Bode (Jackson Robert Scott) playing a game with his action figures at Keyhouse. He sees the swords hanging about the mantle and climbs up to use them in his game but stops when he hears whispering from a key elsewhere in the house. The image of Bode scaling the mantle to reach the swords is almost an exact replica of a scene from the comic books.

Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez as paramedics

There’s nothing more meta than Hill and Rodriguez making a cameo in the Netflix series as a reference to the same cameo in the Locke & Key comic books. In the season 1 finale, Bode calls an ambulance when Rufus (Coby Bird) gets knocked out. The paramedics that arrive on the scene are none other than Hill and Rodriguez. A very similar scene happens in Locke & Key comic Alpha & Omega, once again showing the creators as paramedics.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Locke & Key co-showrunner Meredith Averill said the writers knew they wanted Hill and Rodriguez to make an appearance “if it made sense.”

“We recalled that Gabe, in this very meta way, had drawn a panel in which he and Joe played paramedics in the graphic novel,” Averill said. “So, how much more meta can we get? Let’s have them show up here as paramedics in the series!”

The ‘Locke & Key’ insignia all over Keyhouse

Related

‘Locke & Key’: Why Can’t Adults Remember the Keys? The Comics Call It ‘The Riffel Rule’

Locke & Key Easter eggs are hidden in plain sight all over Keyhouse. Pay close attention to the doorframes, and you’ll likely find several round “KH” emblems engraved in the wood. This is the same symbol featured in the comic series. In fact, the entirety of Keyhouse was custom-made for the Netflix series based on what the showrunners imagined from the comics.

“We looked at a bunch of houses, and there was nothing that even came close to what we imagined Keyhouse as,” co-showrunner Carlton Cuse told Insider. “So we had to build it, and it was expensive to do, but it was really completely worth it.”

Best in Entertainment