While Chucky’s season finales are often quite messy affairs – both literally and figuratively – one thing you have to give them is credit for is not being even remotely predictable. Seven days before the final episode of Chucky’s third season, I was having a conversation with a friend and fellow fan where we announced our predictions to how it all ends and I can confidently announce with pride that we didn’t get one single thing right. But then, considering how out there this season has been, can you really blame us?
In a season that’s seen Chucky launch a nuke at the North Pole, age rapidly and gouge out the eyes of the President of the United States, predictably has been in thrillingly short supply and in a time where people seem to get upset if they don’t know the entire plot of something before they see it, this latest season capper should be hailed as a batshit leap into the unknown. Buckle up fuckers, we’re suddenly taking a trip to the other side!
After the weird occurrences that’s plagued the White House have reached critical mass required Agent Pryce to call in psychic investigators, the supernatural shit has really hit the fan. Yes, a dying Chucky has finally been put down for good, but after his spirit started floating around, drowning people in blood, Jake has volunteered to have his vitals stopped temporarily in order to cross over to the spirit realm and end Charles Lee Ray’s rampage by appealing to his better nature and talk him into “killing” himself. While the actual physics behind such a task are fuzzier than Chewbacca’s butthole, Jake realises that to pull this off, he needs to track down Good Chucky.
For those whose memories of season two aren’t great, Good Chucky was a version of the killer doll that Jake, Devon and Lexi managed to brainwash into being good for a couple of days before he spontaneously reverted back to type and threw one of their friends out of a window. However, to reach Good Chucky, Jake has a mere 5 minutes to confront the vengeful spirit of his murdered, homophobic father and negotiate a whole gaggle of Chuckys and Charles Lee Rays who are all sat in a cinema, watching a reel of the killers greatest hits. Can Jake convince Chucky to end his own existence and finally discover the location of Lexi’s sister Caroline before he dies for real?
Meanwhile, a vengeful Mica eagerly waits as the needle of the lethal injection enters Tiffany’s arm at her execution, but before the fateful plunge can be pushed, a random escape attempt suddenly breaks out as her voodoo possessed followers enact a class second plan B.
But as Tiffany escapes in a hail of gunfire and the White House burns, there’s still a metric ton of twists still to come that involves Jake, Chucky, Caroline and the creator of the Good Guy Doll himself, the reclusive Wendell Wilkins.
There is truly so much to unpack in this episode, it would probably have been simpler if I simply did an unboxing video for episode 8 rather than a review – but here goes…
Is I mentioned earlier, Chucky’s season finales usually have a habit of ditching logic entirely in order to nail those last second shocks, and while all of them have been fun, other have stretched the credulity of even the most devout Child’s Play fan – Chucky disguising himself as Tiffany for example was a hell if a push, right? And yet, this is the exact reason I adore this show so much; the fact that it refuses to take itself seriously when there’s a weird plot shift it suddenly wants to drop on us and the best advise is always to just hold on tight and enjoy the ride.
For example – despite the fact that the majority of the episode is still located with the White House, the whole story involving President Collins’ family is essentially dropped like a bad habit in order to make some room, but it’s all in a good cause.
If this season had a glaring flaw, it’s that the show seemed to be so excited that it was playing in the halls of democracy, it didn’t seem to know what to do with its three main characters, instead turning Jake, Lexi and Devon into thinly sketched Chuckybusters who had no real plotline to call their own. Yes, Jake and Devon finally got laid and Lexi dated the First Son, but they didn’t really have much to offer in the grand scheme of things, but thankfully, this episode finally remembers that it’s Jake who supposed to be the main protagonist of this era of Chucky’s existence. Suddenly given an influx if things to do, Zackary Arthur fucking shines, be it dealing with an entire screening room full of Chuckys or pulling of a pretty damn good Brad Dourif impression after this trip to the other is revealed to be a ser up in order for Chucky Prime to possess his body. Maybe I’m wrong and it’s just a well Looper Dourif voice over, but not only does Arthur nail that nasal whine, he shows some pretty healthy comedy chops too as Lee Ray awkwardly says the kind of things he thinks a queer youth would say.
However, even though the episode finally took time to remind us why Jake is the main character (after Chucky of course), the real lead here are those twists and the attention it puts on all things Charles. As a long time Chucky fan, I’ve always loved it when the show regularly delves into it’s own continuity, but now the show is three seasons old, it’s now able to dig back into it’s own continuity in order to pull off some neat callbacks and that screening room scene is virtually a living, breathing Child’s Play museum. Not only is Dourif there, holding court, but his daughter, Fiona, also once again puts on a ton of prosthetics to play 80s era Lee Ray, while the actors who portrayed him in the first season during his childhood flashbacks are also present and correct. But it doesn’t stop there; also joining Good Chucky in all the self-referential fun is Strong Chucky, the Marlon Brando aping Colonal and even Devon Sawa reappears playing Jake’s abusive father back from Season 1 – oh, and don’t think I didn’t notice that amusingly cheeky title either (Devon Sawa? Final Destination? No?).
However, the big surprises are saved until the very end as John Watersturns up playing the crazy, reclusive creator of the Good Guy doll after playing a sleazy journalist in a stand out moment from Seed Of Chucky (“God bless the little people!”). Channelling Vincent Price like his life depended on it, we find that the doll was originally created after Wilkins’ son was murdered as a small child.
From here, the status quo is ruthlessly and violently shifted. Lexi finally realises that her sister is fully team Chucky; a freed Tiffany has her soul put back in a doll on order to avoid the authorities; poor old Mica Pierce is once again captured and – most mind melting of all – Jake, Lexi and Devon have their souls removed and placed into Barbie dolls in order to keep Wendall company in his dotage.
Is it as chaotic as the wrap ups that closed out other seasons? Oh definately! But it’s also far more satisfying and it makes the mind spin when you think where things can go next.
With no Season 4 yet announced, there has been rumblings that franchise creator Don Mancini has hopes to get another movie made. Well, whatever happens, I’ll be first in line to play if things remain as fucking weird as they are.
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