The Old Man And The Key

The Old Man and the Key is the Third episode of the Second Season. The Episode aired on the 20th of July, 2014 and attracted 1314 million viewers.

Summary
Ingrid prepares to move out while Freya tracks down Killian. Dash discovers the identity of his blackmailer and plans revenge. Wendy and Joanna follow Frederick to figure out what his motives are since reconnecting with the family.

Plot
As “The Old Man and the Key” starts, Joanna is watching Frederick sleeping while she recalls when she came through the portal from Asgard without him. The year is 1662 and they are dressed like Greek goddesses in flowing white gowns. Victor is in a cape. Wendy’s necklace is a lovely blue. Today, Joanna sees the King’s symbol branded into Frederick’s chest. It’s the ultimate symbol of loyalty, meaning he’s bound to his grandfather for eternity.

Joanna calls Wendy to talk about her doubts, but still sticks up for her boy when Wendy accuses him of spelling her earring. Wendy has an idea to help discover Frederick's intentions.

Freya’s leaving for Santo Domingo, realizing Ingrid will no longer live at home when she returns. She’s both happy and sad at the thought. She always wanted to be the first one to flee the nest. Ingrid wants to talk to Dash. He’s probably scared and confused, and it’s not his fault Penelope took his powers when he was a baby. Now that they’re rightfully his again, he could use some guidance from someone who has been through a similar situation. Freya worries about what he could do if he knew what he was capable of. The girls find a door inside the closet. How they have never seen it before is a mystery, but an even bigger one is where it leads, because Joanna is lying when she tells them it used to lead to the dining room. Change seems to be happening too fast for Joanna, as she cries seeing Freya off. Joanna gives Freya her necklace, an casts a blessing spell to ensure her trip is a success.

Dash wakes up next to an unnamed woman who he has had a one night stand with. Dream-Killian is giving Dash advice again. This time he pressures Dash into finding his blackmailer before he ruins his life. The girl sleeping with Dash wonders who he’s talking to.

Wendy goes to the morgue and wakes up Dr. Foster with a spell for information. She doesn’t quite expect him to be ranting about “being one of them” and puts him back to sleep quickly. That’s when she sees the King’s brand on his chest.

Joanna’s cooking dinner when she receives the text from Wendy with the brand. Large piles of fresh vegetables and bowls of herbs make everything look so delicious. Frederick agrees, noting the air here smells like food. Joanna takes the opportunity to ask after her father. He’s still in power, but there’s not much left of Asgard. Entire cities have been leveled. When Frederick admits he loved his grandfather until he became corrupt, Joanna wonders why he didn’t join them in the rebellion.

Frederick was fed lies about all of them, and by the time her realized what his grandfather was doing, it was too late. Joanna wants to better understand what he went through, but Frederick wants to forget and start over. The ultimate insult is delivered when she says “I love you Frederick,” and he merely says thanks.

Joanna again loses herself in memories of the night she came through the portal. She puts up a great fight to leave the portal open to await Frederick, despite pleas from all of the others to use the Serpens Clavem to seal it so the King cannot come through. Victor knows Frederick is a warrior and will survive. As they argue, Frederick comes through. Joanna hands him the key to lock the portal, but instead he looks his mother straight in the eyes and tosses the key back through to his grandfather, betraying all who stand with him.

Dash finds Kyle Hutton on Facebook. His boat is in the right position to take the photos Dash has been receiving. Dream-Killian encourages Dash to get rid of Kyle Hutton in the same way Dash got rid of him.

Joanna hears from Victor. He’s coming home. He’s thrilled about Frederick. Wendy wonders how he could be thrilled when they still have doubts. Wendy, actually, thinks he is responsible for the deaths. Thus, she made a potion and rubbed it onto Frederick’s shirt. It will show them where he’s been. “Yeah, that can’t be good,” Wendy says as they watch him take a knife from the kitchen and stash it in his backpack.

Freya has landed in Santo Domingo. She finds Killian–and his wife. He married Eva. He and Eva lightly caress each other all over as they share a drink with Freya. Eva gloats as she realizes how much Freya must care about Killian and even more when Freya shares that she and Dash broke up. Eva snuggles up on Killian’s neck when they learn Penelope is dead. Freya tells Killian that she is sorry for everything.

As Joanna and Wendy continue to track Frederick, Joanna continues to recall that fateful night of betrayal. Joanna knew then that Frederick wasn’t bad and tried to talk him into coming with them, but he refused.

Dash visits Kyle Hutton and blows up his car. Uncertain if his message was received, Dash calls Kyle and tells him not only his name, but the news he’ll do worse if he ever contacts him again.

Joanna and Wendy catch up with a shirtless Frederick, speaking a different language (“Sounds like old Norse”), kissing a dove and then killing it for a sacrifice. He disappears and the sisters get a closer look at the scene.

Eva wants to talk to Freya in private. She senses Freya and Killian have history and doesn’t want Freya to be upset. It’s complicated and fine, Freya assures Eva, who wants to be friends. Everyone thinks the world of everyone which is just plain odd, given the situation. At least I know Freya is in pain and Eva a liar.

Ingrid visits Dash, and when she’s about to tell him she wasn’t exactly honest about her MRI, he gets a text from Kyle Hutton—he’s upstairs! I certainly didn’t expect Ingrid to wait in the living room as he asked. Dash may not know what he’s doing, but he can pack a wallop. Hutton pushes all the right buttons and the electrical punches Dash throws kill him while Ingrid watches in horror.

Ingrid misunderstands the situation, thinking Dash was trying to protect her but that he went too far because he can’t control his powers. Dash is like, “Powers? What Powers?”  Ingrid is talking about the bolts of electricity that were coming out of his fists. Ingrid continues to explain that they share an MRI, and he’s not a regular person. She knows this because neither is she; they’re witches. She says he’s technically a warlock. She explains about the dormancy of his powers and offers to teach him about them. In the meantime, they need to figure out what to do about the dead guy on Dash’s attic floor.

Joanna and Wendy confront Frederick. He claims not to have killed anyone, and he seems pretty sincere. Frederick was doing a blood spell to try to rid himself of the brand. After his grandfather branded him, he threw him in jail for 100 years without sun, and he just wants to rid himself of anything connecting him to the pain. He can’t get rid of it, even with a spell.

Wendy thinks Frederick is lying though his teeth. Frederick screams, “Grandfather has armies of hunters that are loyal to him to the death! Of course he’d send one after me!” He is concerned they’re all in danger because of him and doesn’t blame Wendy, who walked out of the room cackling her disapproval, for not trusting him. Joanna has something she needs to tell Frederick about that night so long ago.

Joanna recalls Frederick kneeling in front of the portal as her father walked through, the Serpens Clavem is wrapped around his wrist. He says death is too easy a banishment because he wants them all to live a long, long time in misery, fear and pain. He wants them all to suffer, he says, as he spells them all–a vanishing King’s brand on each of their foreheads and Wendy’s necklace turns from blue to green. In anger Wendy grabs his sword and slices off his arm, the key slinking away. As Frederick starts to follow his grandfather into the portal, Joanna begs him not to go. When Frederick disappears through the portal Wendy immediately uses the key to seal it.

For ages Joanna thought she let go of his hand when it was Frederick’s choice to make; he is the one who let go. That does not discount how they feel about each other now or that they will once again be a family when his father comes home. As Victor runs up on to the porch, he hears a strange sound and hesitates opening the door. A car appears to drive by and as red lights come over him, a growl is heard and then a squeal. It goes black.

Dash is on the cliff by the side of the ocean, tossing Hutton’s body into the turf below. Ingrid has crafted a doll representing Hutton in a jar. As long as the doll stays under water, no one will ever find the body. Dash appreciates not only her help but the truth she told him about who he is.

Killian finds Freya and their conversation is quite uncomfortable. He apologizes for what he did before the wedding, believing it was probably never about her, but because he was so screwed up. That’s certainly not what she wants to hear. Eva saved him, he believes, and he feels like he’s finally with the right person. He doesn’t know that person is a freakin’ owl who is either protecting or harming him and it’s looking more likely to be the latter every second.

Freya lies to Killian as she tells him breaking up with Dash had nothing to do with him, but she cares too much about him to ruin whatever happiness he has found. Shortly later, Freya is in Ingrid’s old room, where she used to go when she needed to talk to her sister. She thought her wedding day was the worst day of her life, but this topped it. Freya thinks Killian’s happy aura when he looks at Eva means he’s not her soul mate. As often happens, Freya starts to reconsider Dash. She thinks Ingrid should help him with his powers. When Ingrid says she’ll think about it, there is a look of corruption on her face. She was the last person I expected to be corrupted by it, but she’s been touched by darkness.

Dash is playing with his Electrokinesis and hears the piano. He goes downstairs and finds Killian at the Paino. He tells Killian to get out, because he thinks he’s a vision. Killian approaches and gives his brother a hug.

Worried about Victor since his plane landed hours ago, Joanna calls Victor. His cell phone is on the porch, covered in blood, a domesticated rat sitting nearby. Victor is hanging, his wrists in chains, in a dungeon somewhere, shirtless and beaten. Frederick is on the couch asleep, so unless it’s all been done via a spell, he’s without fault for this one.

Used Powers

 * Telepathy
 * Aura Reading
 * Electrokinesis
 * Telekinesis

Main cast

 * Julia Ormond as Joanna Beauchamp
 * Jenna Dewan-Tatum as Freya Beauchamp
 * Rachel Boston as Ingrid Beauchamp
 * Mädchen Amick as Wendy Beauchamp
 * Eric Winter as Dash Gardiner
 * Daniel DiTomasso as Killian Gardiner
 * Christian Cooke as Frederick Beauchamp

Guest Stars

 * Joel Gretsch as Victor
 * Bianca Lawson as Eva
 * Shaun Smyth as Dr. Foster
 * Steven Berkoff as King Nikolaus
 * Casey Manderson as Kyle Hutton

Trivia

 * This is the first Episode to feature Steven Berkoff as the role of King Nikolaus.
 * Some of the fight between Dash and Kyle was deleted from the final cut for unknown reasons.
 * The title is a reference to the novel from Ernest Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea