Chucky: Season 2 Review

Chucky is one of those things that anyone beyond the 1990s might not know about, but there are enough people out there that this killer doll has become one of the main characters in horror, with several movies and now 2 seasons of a TV series. While there were some issues when Chucky went into production as there was a Child’s Play reboot at the same time, leading to some brand confusion as what we get with Chucky is not the same thing we got with the Child’s Play reboot.

One thing you might be wondering when going into this review is where the review for Season 1 of Chucky is… Well, I have no excuse, I was lazy. Ultimately I forgot about reviewing the show. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great season, in fact, it was an amazing work from Don Mancini, the creator of the Chucky character with nothing censored or downplayed for a TV audience. This is why there was enough enjoyment and numbers in terms of viewership to warrant a second season. So what does Chucky do after establishing a bloody beginning? Let’s take a stab at it.

Title: Chucky: Season 2
Production Company: Pheidippides, David Kirschner Productions, Eat the Cat, Universal Content Productions
Distributed by: NBC Universal Syndication Studios
Directed by: Don Mancini, Jeff Renfroe, Samir Rehem
Produced by: Mallory Westfall, Mitch Engel, Todd Copps
Written by: Don Mancini, Mallory Westfall, Nick Zigler, Rachael Paradis, Alex Delyle, Kim Garland, Isabella Gutierrez, Amanda Blanchard
Starring: Zackary Arthur, Björgvin Arnarson, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Teo Briones, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly
Based on: Childs Play created by Don Mancini
Release date: October 5, 2022
Running time: 41–54 minutes (8 Episodes)
Rating: Australia: MA15+, Canada: 16+, United Kingdom: 18, United States: TV-MA

The stalking continues… (Story)

Chucky Story Summary – SPOILERS

[toggler title=”Episode 1 – Halloween II” ]While the Tiffany doll holds him at gunpoint inside the truck of Good Guy dolls he stole, Andy drives it off a cliff. Six months later, Jake now lives with a foster family in Salem, New Jersey, with his younger foster brother Gary (Simon Webster). Both Jake and Devon receive threatening phone calls from Chucky, who reveals he is outside Lexy’s house. Caroline lets him in, believing he is a trick-or-treater. Devon calls the police, but Chucky is already gone. Mayor Cross, attending therapy with Caroline and Lexy, blames the Hackensack murders on Junior. Their therapist helps Caroline overcome her new fear of dolls by giving her a “non-possessed” doll of her own, which resembles the original bride design of the Tiffany doll. Lexy grows suspicious and warns Caroline not to trust her, or any other doll. Lexy alerts Jake and Devon of the new doll; they arrive at her house and stay the night. The next day, Gary arrives at Lexy’s house with Chucky in tow. Carrying a homemade bomb, Chucky explains that his army of dolls survived the truck crash and that he planned to lure Jake, Devon, and Lexy to the same location so he could kill all three of them. When Chucky is distracted, Devon tases him, causing him to drop the bomb. Gary picks up the bomb and runs, but Chucky attacks him and detonates the bomb, killing himself and Gary. Jake, Devon, and Lexy are blamed for Gary’s death and, in lieu of juvenile prison, they are sent to the Catholic School of the Incarnate Lord. When they arrive, Devon immediately recognizes the school as the same building that contained the boarding home where Charles Lee Ray grew up. Shortly after their arrival, a mail truck delivers a Chucky-box-sized package to the school.[/toggler] [toggler title=”Episode 2 – The Sinners Are Much More Fun” ]Tiffany wakes up next to the bloody head of the Tiffany doll that Andy killed. Nica-Chucky, who has now been Tiffany’s captive for a year, says it’s a warning that he is coming to kill her. A detective later visits Tiffany to investigate Nica’s disappearance, but Tiffany kills him. At the School of the Incarnate Lord, Jake, Devon, and Lexy meet the headmaster, Father Bryce, as well as Lexy’s eccentric roommate, Nadine, who admits she is a kleptomaniac. Lexy also discovers that Trevor, her childhood bully, is a student and altar boy. Meanwhile, the Chucky doll sent to the school awakens and causes a nun to die of a heart attack, who he then photographs. When Father Bryce catches Jake confronting Chucky, he locks them in the same room. Chucky photographs Jake and escapes through the chimney. He then makes his way to Lexy’s room and photographs her snorting clonazepam. Jake and Devon arrive and tie him up; Jake theorizes this specific Chucky is merely a scout for someone else. After it is revealed that Nica and Chucky have formed an alliance to take down Tiffany, Glen, and Glenda, Chucky and Tiffany’s twin children, arrive at their house.[/toggler] [toggler title=”Episode 3 – Hail Mary!” ]Lexy discovers that Chucky has only one contact in his phone, named “The Colonel”. Trevor, who sees the drugs in Lexy’s possession, informs her that her mother lost re-election. He later threatens to use his leverage to ruin her life. When Chucky refuses to reveal any information, Jake instead attempts to sway him to their side by means of sensory overload and aversion therapy. It appears to work, turning Chucky docile (and, seemingly, amnesiac). Jake and Devon argue over their methods, with Devon wanting to kill Chucky, while Jake, still overcome with guilt over Gary’s death, believes he can only forgive himself if he can also forgive Chucky. Father Bryce witnesses the two kissing. Meanwhile, another Chucky doll is delivered to the school; he kills a priest while Nadine is in the confessional. When Lexy suffers an anxiety attack, the docile Chucky leaves, later showing up on Father Bryce’s desk. Lexy admits to Nadine that she suffers from depression and anger, and they grow closer. The next day, Trevor enters Lexy’s empty room, but the newer Chucky follows him and brutally kills him. Jake, Devon, Lexy, and Nadine are forced to hide the body. The newer Chucky, who is bigger and stronger than normal, enters Father Bryce’s office and threatens the docile Chucky.[/toggler] [toggler title=”Episode 4 – Death on Denial” ]Presented in a homage to Noir TV shows, Chucky introduces the story via a Talk-Show style sequence. In the main story for tonight, Glen and Glenda, who believe Tiffany is actually Jennifer Tilly, question her about her knowledge of Nica; Tiffany feigns ignorance. Glenda then tells Tiffany of a recurring nightmare in which they murder a young woman. Glen and Glenda also reveal they’ve invited over Tilly’s friends and family – Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, Sutton Stracke, and Meg Tilly – as part of a surprise party. Tiffany has also hired a butler, Jeeves, who quickly aggravates the guests with his crass questions despite Tiffany only hiring him to guard Nica’s room. When Nica disappears from her room and Jeeves turns up dead, Tiffany pretends she’s hosting a murder mystery party. As Tiffany searches for Nica and questions her guests about Jeeves’s death, it is revealed that Glen is aiding Nica and attempting to help her escape. A flashback from three months ago further reveals that Glen and Glenda discovered a tied-up Nica, accidentally triggering the emergence of Nica-Chucky, who convinced Glenda to help him kill Tiffany. In the present, as Glen tries to usher Nica out of the house, the sight of Joe’s corpse reawakens Nica-Chucky and Glenda knocks Glen unconscious. With the aid of new metal arms, Nica-Chucky tries to shoot Tiffany, but the bullets are gone. Tiffany slaps Nica-Chucky, bringing back Nica; Glen elects to stay behind as Nica escapes with Glenda, entering a car driven by a still-alive Kyle. Finally, Chucky reveals to the audience that Glenda killed Jeeves, while Gina used up the gun’s bullets, killing Joe. After the reveal, Chucky kills WWE Superstar Liv Morgan who was helping him with the reveal of the murderer in the main story.[/toggler] [toggler title=”Episode 5 – Doll on Doll” ]The two Chuckys fight inside Father Bryce’s office; the docile Chucky, now calling himself Good Chucky, gets the upper hand and incapacitates the evil Chucky via crucifixion. Nadine and Lexy discover that Trevor’s body is gone. Devon becomes exasperated at Jake’s continued defense of Good Chucky, who begins to doubt his own morality. The evil Chucky recovers in front of nun Sister Ruth, who is immediately convinced that he is a reincarnation of God. Meanwhile, Glen, who has been having the same nightmare as Glenda, confronts Tiffany about Nica’s captivity, but Tiffany refuses to divulge any information unless Glen reveals Nica’s whereabouts. When a suspicious Meg decides to stay at Tiffany’s house, a captive Jennifer – trapped inside a Tiffany doll feeds Tiffany false information, and Meg and Glen walk in on the two arguing. When Jennifer begs Meg for help, Tiffany murders Meg and reveals her true identity to Glen, bequeathing the original Glen/Glenda doll. Tiffany and Glen burn down the house and leave with the doll and a tied-up Jennifer to find Glenda. Meanwhile, Devon and Lexy follow clues from the photos on Chucky’s phone, leading them to a cabin near the grounds; in it, they see “The Colonel”, who is a bald Chucky torturing a still-alive Andy, and Dr. Mixter.[/toggler] [toggler title=”Episode 6 – He Is Risen Indeed” ]A flashback reveals that after the truck crash, several of the remaining Chuckys, including The Colonel, dragged an unconscious Andy to captivity. Dr. Mixter, who was Charles Lee Ray’s childhood therapist, offers to help The Colonel kill the other teens. When they leave the cabin, Devon and Lexy free Andy, who demands they take him back to school. Father Bryce, furious at Devon and Lexy for leaving the grounds, locks down the school. Devon and Lexy bring Andy (posing as a homeless man) to the school, and Father Bryce begrudgingly allows him to stay thanks to the influence of Sister Catherine. Meanwhile, Kyle convinces Nica to allow her to speak to Nica-Chucky, but he merely taunts her about Andy and unsuccessfully urges Glenda to kill her. Kyle, Nica, and Glenda later drive toward the school. Sister Ruth attempts to convince Father Bryce of the evil Chucky’s God-like sentience, but he accuses her of heresy; The Colonel later kills the evil Chucky via arsenic-laced communion wafers. Sister Ruth vows to avenge him. Andy informs the teens that The Colonel went insane and killed all the other surviving Chuckys from the crash. He kills The Colonel but is disturbed to see Good Chucky. Dr. Mixter, armed with a gun, retrieves Good Chucky, locking Andy and the teens inside their room. Good Chucky sees Father Bryce and begs for help, while Andy breaks down the door; in the ensuing chaos, Dr. Mixter wounds Sister Catherine and knocks Andy unconscious, while Good Chucky runs upstairs with Nadine in pursuit. When Nadine tries to comfort him, he briefly turns evil and pushes her out of a window to her death.[/toggler] [toggler title=”Episode 7 – Goin’ to The Chapel” ]Dr. Mixter claims she needs Good Chucky, the final Good Guy doll, to free Nica-Chucky, who she calls “Chucky Prime”. She forces Father Bryce, along with the rest of the group, to perform an exorcism on Good Chucky to send Chucky to Hell, in exchange for performing a voodoo ritual to move Chucky Prime to Good Chucky’s body. A traumatized Lexy overdoses on clonazepam, causing her to hallucinate Nadine’s ghost, who convinces her to keep going. Glenda demands answers from Chucky, but he simply calls them a killer and demands they help him escape. The exorcism causes Chucky to enter Father Bryce’s body; Father Bryce then explodes. Nica successfully performs the ritual and Jake attempts to kill Chucky Prime, but Sister Ruth arrives, holding Lexy at gunpoint. Jake allows Dr. Mixter to leave with Chucky Prime; Sister Ruth prepares to kill Lexy anyway, but Glenda kills Sister Ruth before she can. Andy chases Dr. Mixter and Chucky Prime; he kills Chucky Prime, but Dr. Mixter escapes. Meanwhile, with Jennifer Tilly now wanted for murder, Tiffany has formulated a new plan: to swap bodies with Jennifer again. However, Jennifer escapes from the car and is killed by an oncoming truck, devastating Tiffany. Tiffany and Glen arrive at the school, where Nica attempts to shoot Tiffany, but Glen jumps in the path of the bullet. Tiffany and Glenda take Glen away to get help.[/toggler] [toggler title=”Episode 8 – Chucky Actually” ]A flashback reveals that Chucky Prime was able to perform the ritual to swap bodies with Dr. Mixter before Andy killed the doll. Now in her body, Chucky retrieves a new Good Guy doll from her office, which he transfers himself into (resulting in the police finding Dr. Mixter’s body). With Glen’s condition worsening, Glenda and Tiffany decide to save them by transferring them into the Glen/Glenda doll. After killing a suspicious cop, they perform the ritual – transferring both twins into the doll, now calling themselves G.G. Tiffany ships G.G. to England, so they can learn more about their origins. Weeks after returning home, Jake and Lexy enlist in group therapy, and Lexy invites Jake and Devon to stay at her house for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Jake and Devon, along with Lexy and Mayor Cross, mend their respective relationships. Chucky arrives at the house, as does Tiffany, who is searching for Caroline’s Belle doll. Chucky murders Mayor Cross when she comes down the stairs, and Tiffany doesn’t intervene when Lexy arrives and kills Chucky. Jake and Devon wound Tiffany, but Caroline, whose mind has been fully corrupted by Chucky, claims Tiffany is her real mother and leaves with her and the Belle doll. The next day, Jake, Devon, and Lexy are visited by Miss Fairchild, who believes their stories about Chucky. Three weeks later, after Tiffany and Caroline have moved to New York, Tiffany receives a threatening phone call from Nica (who is in New York as well), who swears revenge. Tiffany attempts to transfer her soul into the Belle doll, but fails when it’s revealed to be Chucky in disguise; he attacks Tiffany as Caroline smiles. Chucky then recaps the season’s kills as he did in the first season.[/toggler]

Story Review – Some Vague Spoilers

From the very beginning, Chucky is one of those shows where nothing is going to go as expected. After torturing Jake, Devon, and Lexy (along with murdering most of their families), as well as getting the attention of longtime victims Andy Barclay and Kyle, Chucky begins his long-range plan to send himself (though copies) across the United States in order to slaughter as many people as possible. However, thanks to the intervention of Andy and Kyle, most of the Good Guy dolls are destroyed. The main crux of the story revolves around four characters: Jake, Devon, Lexy, and Tiffany/Jennifer Tilly (Tiffany used a Belle doll during the events of Bride of Chucky, ending up transforming herself into the body of Jennifer Tilly during Seed of Chucky).

Jake, Devon, and Lexy are sent to a religious boarding house/school due to the deaths that have been placed on them after the first season of Chucky, with the three teaming up with Lexy’s roommate Nadine in order to escape Chucky once again. The romp through the house of God is a fun and interesting one as this brings Catholicism into the mix, with the head Priest coming to odds with the group while Chucky kills their teachers, classmates, and anyone else within stabbing range.

The other story shows the woes of Tiffany as she adapts to the life of the somewhat popular Jennifer Tilly, with members of Tilly’s acting inner circle, and her award-nominated sister showing up and questioning the change in personality. Add to this the appearance of they/them twins Glen and Glenda (The child born in Seed of Chucky, split into twins through voodoo), and the kidnapped (and possessed by “Chucky Prime” due to the events of Cult of Chucky) Nica, and you’d know things are going to go south very quickly in a bloody way.

All of this manifests into some of the best twists and turns over 8 episodes with there being different versions of Chucky being thrown into the mix as the clones develop different thinking and personalities. This change in the Chucky character shows a few different abilities to Brad Dourif’s vocal style with the character while giving a lot more interesting look into different types of psychopaths instead of sticking with the one Chucky the whole season.

List of victims… (Characters)

• Zackary Arthur as Jake Wheeler
  Jake is the main target of Chucky throughout the series. In the beginning, Jake was a bit of a loner who buys one of the Chucky dolls and ends up being tortured by him. In Season 1 Jake was manipulated by Chucky through the death of people around him in order to get Jake to crack and kill people himself. When this doesn’t happen, Jake teams up with other students from his school, including his crush Devon, to stop Chucky from killing more people… Ultimately failing. In Season 2, the obsession with stopping Chucky gets a bit murky when they brainwash one of the dolls back into being a “Good Guy”, leading Jake to think things are over before finding out Chucky played him again and then once again vowing revenge.
• Björgvin Arnarson as Devon Evans
  Jake’s classmate becomes his boyfriend by the end of Season 1. During the events of Season 1 Devon is used more for his knowledge of town history and the Charles Lee Ray killings. With Season 2, Devon becomes more the voice of reason, seeing Jake losing his own mission to stop Chucky as something to worry about, thinking Jake has changed and borders on becoming the next Charles Lee Ray himself. Outside of this, Devon doesn’t get enough time to grow as a character himself which sucks.
• Alyvia Alyn Lind as Lexy Cross
  Lexy is the daughter of the town Mayor, a child of Political manipulation. In Season 1 she is the party girl who gets away with everything to the point of power-tripping thanks to her mother’s position in the town. When her boyfriend is killed by Chucky, Lexy begins a downward spiral that sees her getting addicted to medication, chasing the high she gets from it instead of facing the reality of what happened. By the end of Season 2, the drug addiction is solved and Lexy leads the charge to find Chucky for a possible Season 3.
• Brad Dourif as Chucky
  I don’t think I need to tell anyone about Chucky. Dourif comes back to the role that has carried his career for over 30 years. As Chucky, we get to not only see the psychopath that carries the series but also in Season 2 we get to see Dourif flex his voice-acting muscle by taking on different versions of Chucky. Dourif gets some good moments such as “Good Guy Chucky”, “Buff Chucky”, “PTSD Chucky”, and other versions of the Chucky character that are a delight to see.
• Devon Sawa as Father Bryce
  The headmaster at the Catholic School of the Incarnate Lord, Father Bryce is the one who puts himself and his version of teaching of religion ahead of everything else. When Chucky appears in the school, he is the one who doubts everything because the Catholic School of the Incarnate Lord is a school for delinquent children, so he blames Jake and Devon for everything. Once he is proven wrong, he assists the group before meeting a really gruesome death. Devon Sawa is a great actor who previously appeared in Chucky Season 1 as Lucas and Logan Wheeler, the father and Uncle of Jake.
• Fiona Dourif as Nica Pierce
  A paraplegic woman who, since the events of Cult of Chucky, has been possessed by Chucky. As the daughter of the voice Chucky, Fiona does a great job of acting with limited body movement. But it’s when Nica allows Charles Lee Ray to take over her body that things really get good. Since Fiona has grown up with her Father doing Chucky, she was able to mimic her father’s voice and mannerisms really well, giving some of the best moments outside of the main group.
• Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany Valentine
  It’s good to see Jennifer Tilly back in the series. From the time she was included in Bride of Chucky, she has become just as iconic as Chucky himself. In Season 2, we get to see how deep Tiffany’s obsession with being Jennifer is pushed after a couple of episodes where she is the focus thanks to a dinner party seeing Jennifer’s friends, fellow actors, and even sister showing up. This leads to another good Jennifer moment where we see what happened to the “real” Jennifer Tilly after the events of Seed of Chucky.
• Christine Elise as Kyle
  Andy’s foster sister returns once again to back up Andy during his moments in Season 1, and then goes out to help Glenda to save Nica from Tiffany, with the understanding that Nica contains the original Chucky personality and that by killing Nica she can end everything. Kyle doesn’t get too much screen time in either season, mostly being a driver or something that keeps her involved but not the focus of any episode.
• Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay
  Chucky’s original owner and archenemy, who appears in Season 1 to help Jake get rid of Chucky, also foils Chucky’s plan for world domination by taking a truck full of Good Guy dolls before they can be distributed throughout the town and beyond. In Season 2, we see that “PTSD Chucky” is able to capture Andy, torturing him for most of the season before the main kids find him and bring him back to school for the final confrontation of the season. While Andy isn’t a focus with Chucky either, he’s around enough to help the kids in their moment of need, showing that the feud is not ending anytime soon.
  
• Lachlan Watson as Glen & Glenda
  Watson gets one of the harder assignments in Chucky Season 2 by playing the twins Glen and Glenda, and in a great piece of writing, Glen/Glenda are exclusive “They/Them” is Gender-Neutral in personality and look. While I don’t like pushing such things in media as it’s become almost a requirement than an achievement, in Chucky, this works REALLY well given the past of the character. Watson’s acting is really good here with Glen being the “good” twin and Glenda being the “bad” twin who is more like Chucky. I really liked these characters, especially their ending in Season 2.
• Bella Higginbotham as Nadine
  Nadine is Lexy’s classmate/roommate, who is also a kleptomaniac and religious nut. The newest addition to the Chucky series in Season 2, Nadine is a very odd character to talk about because she is more like the Luna Lovegood-style character where she knows what is going on, but also isn’t too disturbed by it all. Nadine’s pension for taking everything not nailed down comes in handy at times, working almost like a religious weapons supplier at times. However, just as we grow to like the character, she is killed off in one of Chucky‘s major plot twists.

A bloody good time! (What Worked)

After going through 2 seasons of Chucky, I can’t find the words to express how much I LOVE this series. As a fan of the Child’s Play movies and the rest of the series, Chucky just ticks all the right boxes and doesn’t push too much modern-day bullshit into itself to score Internet brownie points. The 3 mains (Jake, Devon, and Lexy) are exactly what you would expect from teenagers both now and back in the 80s when the movie series began. Lexy shows the level of stress and anxiety that comes from being the child of a Political leader who expects perfection from their children all the time, leading to being on medication to the point of abuse. Jake and Devon are the typical interracial LGBTQI+ couple that seems to be included in all media these days BY INTERNET LAW OR YOU’LL BE CANCELLED! However, as characters, Jake is the embodiment of obsession with a subject while Devon is the more level-headed of the two, giving them things to work off each other with while also coming to heads with their personal differences and opinions, but always shows that their love is stronger than their different opinions.

Then we have Kyle and Andy, returning to the scene in order to end the threat of Charles Lee Ray once and for all. As we saw in Cult of Chucky, Andy has been torturing the original Chucky throughout the many years since the end of Seed of Chucky. During this time we have seen a darker side of Andy, where he is willing to do anything to finish his mission. Kyle is there more for support when Andy is not available, taking over the torture or lending a hand when needed. The change in these two shows how much trauma people would go through in their situation over many years. They are obsessed with the mission and will do anything to end things for good.

Lastly, we have Tiffany and Chucky. Tiffany has become Jennifer Tilly, something that happened in Seed of Chucky, and is enjoying the lifestyle that comes with being a long-time Hollywood celebrity. She also has brought up her children, Glen and Glenda (An excellent addition for the They/Them crowd), though with the time jump its unsure if her kids are aging quickly due to voodoo or its really been something like 18-20 years between Seed of Chucky and Chucky. Speaking of the killer doll, we get to see some awesome work here from Brad Dourif with the traditional Chucky doll (or dolls in some cases) where we get different variations of the Chucky personality as well as the standard unstoppable killer. On the other hand, we get Fiona Dourif as Nina/Chucky as she pays a split personality that mimics her father’s original mannerisms extremely well.

My long-winded point being is that Chucky is a series where not only do we have the long-running canon of the movies addressed and represented, but also do a passing of the torch in terms of Chucky’s victims to create a new generation in which horror and slaughter can happen. Chucky is one of those series where they do things right from start to finish, unlike many other series that use replacements or swaps in order to create something “new” and alienate the original audience. Chucky works well for long-term fans as well as bringing in a new generation to the franchise.

In need of a soul switch. (What didn’t work)

While I do heap a lot of praise on Chucky for the terms of casting and how it brings a new generation into the franchise, I will admit that nothing is perfect.

Some of the storytelling in Chucky has a big problem where it wants to do more, but somehow just misses the mark. There are plot threads coming from the movies which are not addressed with the Glen/Glenda age being something that was never addressed. Another thing is that Chucky tends to lean too heavily on the twist tropes where you think Chucky is dead only to find out through some “off-screen” or “you missed this” replay showing something where Chucky was able to escape death once again.

There is also something we were promised originally that was starting to be followed up on during Season 1 that Season 2 pretty much dropped, and that was the past of Charles Lee Ray. When Chucky was announced, we were told that there was going to be some focus on the past of Charles Lee Ray and how he grew into the serial killer that would become Chucky. Season 1 did a couple of half-episodes on the topic, giving us moments from Charles’ past showing abuse from parents and stuff like that. However, Season 2 did not follow up on that at all and I think we are missing out on a huge part of the storytelling experience.

To be continued? (Closing)

Chucky is a really weird thing. On one hand, its a great continuation of the movie series in a new medium, with none of the slasher gore and violence toned down like so many other horror franchises suffered throughout the years (Anyone who saw Freddy’s Nightmares or the Friday The 13th TV series in the 1990s would know the problems from back then). With Don Mancini at the helm of the project, we have gotten something that is perfect for a weekly fix of horror thrills and kills. Chucky is a ton better than the Child’s Play reboot could ever think of being, and with a bit of luck, we will see more of our favorite psychopathic killer doll with many more seasons to come.