Locke & Key is a fantastic show for a lot of reasons, but what really gets me is how it captures the trauma experience of being the oldest child of traumatized parents.
In some ways you are a literal crash test dummy; your parents make a lot of mistakes with you that they learn not to make with your younger siblings. Sometimes you and your siblings’ experiences are so different it feels like you’re being gaslighted.
When the Locke kids were talking about their dad’s sea monster bedtime story, we find out Kinsey (and presumably Bode) got a happy ending, as opposed to the Grimm Fairytales version Tyler heard. We see Tyler’s flashback, where his dad dissociates and spins the story into something clearly reminiscent of his own trauma. By the time Kinsey is old enough to hear the same story, her dad has healed and gained enough wisdom to not repeat that mistake. But when Tyler tries to vocalize his experience to Kinsey, Kinsey is dismissive: “You remembered it wrong.”
I related to that so hard.
Another moment that really got me was during Tyler’s flashback to his conversation with the student who killed his dad. Tyler says: “I can never just make a mistake. You know, it’s like every little thing becomes a moral lesson. Kinsey’s perfect, but I can’t catch a break.”
This is literally the root of every single one of my (many) arguments with my dad when I was a high school junior and senior.
I’ve just never felt seen in this way before, and I’m really grateful to see my own experience reflected here.
