Lockwood & Co ending explained — What's next for our young ...

28 Jan 2023

digitalspy.com

Lockwood & Co spoilers follow.

Netflix's latest stab at the YA market, Lockwood & Co, is based on Jonathan Stroud's series of novels. In short, the supernatural fantasy follows their agency's battle against all kinds of ghosts in the wake of a strange event called The Problem, which somehow brought ghouls into our world.

Together, Lucy, George and Anthony Lockwood all face their demons throughout season one, quite literally in some cases, but by the start of the eighth and final episode, things are looking up.

Sure, Lucy's mad at Lockwood for putting their lives in jeopardy, but at least they managed to beat Winkman and retrieve that dangerous bone glass artefact. George is now on his way to drop it off at DEPRAC so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands... except, George isn't back yet, and all those scribbles he drew around the house look a lot like the mirror in question. Cue panic.

Lockwood & Co ending explained on Netflix

cameron chapman, ruby stokes, lockwood co

Netflix

After we saw George veer away from DEPRAC HQ at the end of the last episode, he's now in a graveyard with Pamela Joplin, the researcher who has a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the bone glass mirror. George is too swept up in the mirror's — and Pamela's — influence to notice though.

Meanwhile, Lucy hits a problem of her own when the type three ghoul trapped in that jar warns her that George will soon die. Thankfully though, he's eager to take Lockwood & Co to the graveyard where Joplin's plan will come to fruition, and that's because he wants to be reunited with the spirit of his former master, Bickerstaff.

Lucy and Anthony blame themselves for overlooking what was happening to George. They did sort of notice that something was off, but they were "too wrapped up in their own bullshit" to do anything about it.

Time's running out though because George and Joplin are already underground in the catacombs where Bickerstaff was buried. Quill Kipps, Lockwood's rival, has been on George's tail this whole time, but before he can do anything, a red ghost attacks him. George saves him and discovers that Quill is losing his ability to see the ghosts, which is exactly why he needed saving in the first place.

It's then that Pamela appears with a knife and handcuffs to secure Kipps. Funny how she just happens to be carrying that stuff around with her, eh?

This skirmish buys Lucy and Lockwood enough time to arrive, kicking in the door "like we're cool and really know what we're doing." But no one's there. The room is empty, and so is Bickerstaff's coffin. That's because Joplin already took it down below the mausoleum beforehand where she and George can now be found.

Quill's mates from his rival agency suddenly appear, and just in time too, because Winkman and his thugs also rock up to take the mirror back for themselves. Lockwood suggests they work together to hold Winkman's forces at bay, and it's then that Lucy volunteers to go down and save George herself.

Netflix

Cue a big sword fight and lots of thugs screaming "Aaah" as they fall into the resting places of various, deadly ghosts. Winkman almost gets the better of Lockwood, but then he's taken down too, but this time, with a rock to the head. As more henchmen start to arrive, Anthony heads off to save his friends and slip in a cheeky call to DEPRAC on the way for backup.

Lucy's on her way too, and she's getting a free history lesson from the jar ghoul to boot. It turns out that the artefact was made with the bones of seven suffering souls who have been trapped in the glass. But it's not just creepy bone glass. It's also a window, something that can be used to see into another ghostly realm. "I never looked," explains the spirit. "The way to look is with someone else's eyes. Someone weak..."

Yep, the weak person in question is George, and that's why Joplin really brought him here. The arrival of Kipps might have spared him briefly, but as Quill's lost his talent for "seeing," Pamela goes ahead with the original plan and ties George up in front of the mirror.

"I’m the oddball," he cries, tied up and defeated. "I'm the third wheel, dispensable, I always have been." Lucy hears all this from the shadows, but she's too distracted to realise that Joplin has snuck up on her with a knife. Still, that doesn't stop Lucy from trying to make George feel better.

"You’re not a third wheel! You’re the best of us… We are not losing you, George."

Lucy rightly points out that George will die instantly if he looks in the mirror. What Pamela really needs is someone with Lucy's gift, someone who can survive long enough to tell her what she sees — "This is what I'm made for."

Lockwood's found himself in another spot of bother too with yet another confrontation against The Golden Blade. He's pretty cocky about it at first, especially given how their previous fights went, but things are different this time.

"You’ve no idea who I am... You are insignificant, just like your mother and father's deaths were."

As if that wasn't savage enough, the mercenary then twists the knife in. Well, not literally, which is what you might expect given his name. No, instead, The Golden Blade mixes things up and decides to shoot Lockwood in what looks like the chest.

There's no one left to save Lucy and George after that, so Lucy goes through with what Joplin wants. The mirror is revealed, and out comes a blue, funnel-shaped light that pulls on the back of Lucy's head.

luke treadaway as the golden blade, lockwood co

Netflix

Pamela keeps demanding that Lucy turn around so she can explain what she sees, but instead, Lucy pulls a fast one on her far-too-trusting captor. With a quick turn, she whips out the ghost in a jar who's forced to look into the void instead.

"This isn’t right," it wails. "Something's changed."

The Eternal isn't in there anymore. Instead, the mirror is actually a trap that needs to be destroyed. Visions of dead faces, including Lockwood's, flash before Lucy's eyes before she passes out. And that's when George finally steps up by knocking the mirror over where it cracks on the floor.

Pamela's pissed off, of course, but when she looks into the broken bone glass, some energy still pours out into her face. "It’s extraordinary," she says. "It’s wonderful." But what Joplin fails to notice is that the energy is becoming more intense. And with that, she's burned to a crisp, screaming "It's beautiful!" still in her final moments. Pretty hurts!

The seven suffering souls that were trapped in the mirror are now free, at last, and they're not trying to kill anyone either, so it looks like they're grateful.

That's just as well, because the spirit of Bickerstaff appears then, forming over George and Lucy like a giant black cloud. With his big red eyes, he locks them both in place, but just before he devours the paur with his big, nasty mouth, Lockwood jumps in to save the day.

Yep, Lockwood of Lockwood & Co isn't dead, shockingly. The bullet did hurt though, and now that his adrenaline's spent, Anthony passes out.

Netflix

Up on the surface, Kipps confides in Lucy, explaining how hard it is to lose your psychic gifts as you grow older: "You don’t know what it’s like when your talent starts to fade. You can sense them, but you can’t do anything about it. All that’s left is terror. It will happen to you one day. Every thing that makes you special, gone."

Well, that's a bummer, but at least Inspector Barnes is in a good mood. Thanks to Lockwood & Co, the bone glass is on its way to the furnace, and Winkman's now in prison too. But DEPRAC's going to DEPRAC, so Barnes keeps pressuring Lockwood for more info on who shot him. Anthony keeps quiet though, claiming it was hard to see the gun man in the dark.

Kipps tells Lockwood he's ready to hand his notice in, as per their bet they made on this case, but Anthony shares the commission with Quill's team instead, 70/30.

We then cut ominously to the Golden Blade who's waiting in a car, still on the scene. He apologises to his benefactor — "I'm sorry, I thought I killed him" — but that's okay, it turns out. Just as long as the bone glass is out of his hands and away from the public, that's all that matters.

This suspiciously evil pair drive away then in a car that has a license plate which reads "DUK2E". Expect to see more of them and the "precautions" they plan to take in future episodes.

Team Lockwood later recover with some tea and cakes at home because they're British, in case you didn't notice. Despite what they've endured, everyone seems stronger now than they were before. George still has that hero glow about him, Lockwood's depression seems to have improved, and Lucy is feeling good about her talent at last.

It probably helps that the annoying ghoul jar has finally shut up, perhaps for good. "What do you think it saw?" they wonder. Lucy suggests that they destroy it, but Anthony wants to keep the jar because "it's incredibly rare." Just like Lucy, he flirts adds.

As they munch down on some baked goods, Lockwood reveals that he does know who shot him, after all. It was the Golden Blade, and he isn't working with Fittes like they originally thought. Who he really is and what his connection is to Anthony's parents will have to wait another day though while everyone is still recovering slash when season two is announced.

ali hadjiheshmati as george, lockwood co

Netflix

And in the spirit of no more secrets, Lockwood chooses this moment to finally unlock the door upstairs and show his team what he's been hiding up there all along.

"You don’t have to if don’t want to," says Lucy. But he does, so there goes the door, swinging wide open to reveal... absolutely nothing. And that's not because the room is empty or it's too dark. No, the reason we don't see anything is because the credits roll in then at that exact moment.

If we had to hazard a guess, we reckon there might be some rather tame, awkward British porn piled up. Or perhaps, if we're being more serious, there could be some kind of magical artefact or even portal of great significance. But we're just spitballing here.

Yep, if you want to know what's really going on in Lockwood's secret room, you'll have to pray that Netflix renews Lockwood & Co for a second season. We would be mad, but it kind of makes sense to hold that mystery back, especially given the streamer's recent run of endless cancellations...

Lockwood & Co is now available to stream on Netflix.