After weeks of waiting, all of the separate plot threads that have been building since episode one (and in some cases, since 1988) have started to violently crash together with possibly the most enticing reveal to date. That’s right, finally making their triumphant return is Alex Vincent and Christine Elise as long time victims turned Chuck hunters Andy Barclay and his adopted sister Kyle. While Vincent last appeared in Curse and Cult Of Chucky; Elise – aside from her after-credits cameo in the latter – hasn’t been seen in the franchise since Child’s Play 2 and it’s great to see her back.
However, what with this storyline – the A-plot featuring Jake, Lexy and Devon; the B-plot featuring Tiffany and Mica and the now trademark flashbacks, isn’t this a little too much to be crammed into a mere, 40 minute episode
Having been fooled into thinking they’d killed Chucky by a simple soul swap, the antagonistic action figure announced to Jake, Lexy and Devon that he was still around by rudely beheading the head teacher of their school. As Devon’s police detective mother wrongfully pins the crime on biology teacher Ms. Fairchild, the teens realise that Chucky will most likely target them next and attempt to set up another trap for him using the movie Cape Fear as inspiration. Meanwhile, Bree finally breaks the news of her cancer diagnosis to her family as a way to prepare them for the end – only the end may be coming sooner than expected and the results are sure to leave son Junior even more closed off than before.
Elsewhere, Mica regains control of her body after once again breaking Chucky’s possession of her mind, but how is she supposed to convince Tiffany that she’s still Chucky if she returns to her paraplegic state when she’s back in control? Finally, Andy and Kyle are on the road after the events at the mental the transpired in Cult Of Chucky and are hunting down all the remaining Good Guy dolls that have Charles Lee Ray’s fragmented soul inside in order to exterminate the vicious little shit once and for all…
With all this going on, Chucky gears up for staging a few more freak “accidents” that will hit close to home with devastating effect…
So, that’s a lot to get through and on top of all that Cape Queer also has to put in work with the progression of Jake and Devon’s relationship while contending with the collapse of Lexy and Junior’s and if I’m being honest, it can’t quite fit everything in as snug as you’d like. Also, certain plot points that doesn’t concern the three main cast clusters either dead-end rather suddenly (what exactly was the point of keeping Bree’s cancer a secret if you were going to throw her out of a window the episode after she reveals it?) or seem to go nowhere (we’re supposed to are about Ms. Fairchild’s arrest because…?). While they’ll probably pay off sooner or later (Bree’s death destabilises Junior more while the other destabilises the town), they just seem to keep us from the good stuff and even the customary flashback (Chucky and Tiffany buy a car) for once seems unnecessary.
However, while the kids plotline also treads water a little bit with yet another Chucky trap failing and ending in tragedy, it’s down to the Child’s Play veterans to save the day starting with the revelation that not only has Tiffany already figured out that Mica’s shaken off Chucky’s possession, but she’d rather continue having a relationship with her instead of putting up with the same old toxic bullshit from Charles. Her deduction is classic Tiffany – she reveals she stabbed Mica in one of her paralyzed legs ten minutes before without her realising – and finally watching her cut loose after her limited screentime last episode is a gas as she attacks every line with that breathy, helium squeak like a woman possessed – pun intended.
However, the real gold for long time Chucky fans is seeing Andy and Kyle driving around, putting stray Chucky dolls out of everyone’s misery like an endearing cross between Supernatural (they even pretend to be from the Bureau) and Pulp Fiction as they empty their guns into a rogue Good Guy like Jules and Vincent blowing away Alexis Arquette (coincidentally also a Chucky veteran).
Aside from them being a couple of doll decimating badasses, there’s even time for Kyle to remark how scarred Andy’s psyche must be after decades of locking horns with his red-headed nemesis and how torturing a living Chucky head for information for four years can’t really be described as healthy behavior.
While crammed to bursting, the new stuff with old characters completely overwhelms the old stuff with the new characters (stay with me) and while Cape Queer has tons of stuff for Chucky fans (like me) to pick at and a high body count, the episode in general is a bit of a mess. Currently as fractured as Chucky’s soul, the quicker all the plot lines merge into one, the better.
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