Chucky #7: Twice the Grieving, Double the Loss

Article by Sean Wilkinson,

a.k.a The Ticketmaster

With so much going on right now for me personally, I've missed out on a lot of reviewable content. Disney Plus Day came and went without much fanfare, I haven't seen Shang-Chi or the first two episodes of Hawkeye yet, I'm just now working on this review the day of the season finale, I haven't reviewed any anime in over three months, my Halloween plans to review the Hatchet series were replaced by Chucky (though if I were less encumbered by work, school, and personal life, I could have planned an actual rollout schedule to stick to and accomplished all of these and more), and I have yet to complete the first class of my final undergraduate year in the accounting program at WGU. A course that I've already taken twice. And failed twice. And I am feeling all the loss. It sucks.

But not as bad as having all of your closest friends and family die or otherwise leave you because fatal "accidents" follow you everywhere you go. I'm not talking about myself, of course; I'm just using a weak connection to the title as a transition into today's review of last week's episode of Chucky. The "previously on..." for this entry isn't inspired like it was in "Cape Queer," so if you'd like to do your own "previously on...," go binge the first seven episodes at the app of your choice (USA Network or SyFy Channel) or through your local provider, and read all of my other Chucky-related coverage at the links below:

Welcome to the Dead Parade #12: Chucky Gets Chyerminaydit (Child's Play 1-3, Bride, and Seed)
Just the Ticket #69: Breaking The Curse of Chucky, Sequel-itis Cured? (Curse) NICE!
Welcome To the Dead Parade #14: Chucky's Cult Following (Cult)

Episode 1: Chucky #1: Deth By Misadventure

Episode 2:

Chucky #2: Give Me Something Good to Eat, and

Chucky #2.5: The Coming Of Rage

Episode 3: Chucky #3: I Like To Be Hugged

Episode 4: Chucky #4: Just Let Go

Episode 5: Chucky #5: Little Little Lies

Episode 6: Chucky #6: Cape Queer

Time for House of Pain, Criss Cross, and Curtis Flow to bring you a jump break!

We open the episode at Bree Wheeler's funeral, with Jake (Zackary Arthur) in resting Sad/Angry/Disinterested/Confused/Smelling Shit/Eating A Lemon-face mode (read: the look he gives everyone and everything that isn't Devon, a.k.a. the "see what sticks" method of dramatic acting). Elsewhere in the Wheeler house, Mayor Cross ditches the funeral for a publicity stunt in an effort to fill the bitch vacuum that was previously filled by her daughter.

Speaking of Lexy, she is effectively under house arrest (and bonding with Caroline by ripping Barbie doll heads out of their sockets), Devon is planning to move out of town to live with his aunt, and Jake is getting punched in the face by Junior. We get three pieces of information out of this scene: the series considers Hackensack and New Jersey to be two different places, Chucky has seemingly succeeded in dividing the main alliance against him, and Devon's mother didn't just show up at the Wheeler house at random. Apparently, Chucky called her offscreen and told her Devon was in trouble. Thanks for filling in the plot holes with forcibly injected exposition, writers!

Oh, and speaking of forcible injections, after forcibly injecting his fist into Jake's face, Junior watches as Tiffany forcibly injects herself into the funeral to forcibly inject her tongue down Logan's throat. I do kind of hate him, but can someone please cut this kid a break?

In a reminder that people die in horror movies and cemeteries exist, the title sequence this time is composed of miniature gravestones, including those of Lucas and Bree Wheeler, and Rosemary Evans. Huh. And all this time I thought her first name was Detective. Or Mom. I mean, it's not like anyone ever called her Rosemary in the show. A reporter at the press conference later even says her name is Kim. And Devon isn't the kind of prick who would call his parents by their first names. Does Devon even have a father? Are we supposed to actually pay attention to the closing credits now? Or get a cast list off of Wikipedia or IMDB? Who has time for that? Sarcasm is funny because it's true.
Anyway, next is the flashback for this episode (Chicago, 1988--the same year that the original Child's Play was set and released), wherein Chucky and Tiffany (still badly dubbed with the modern actors' voices) get their first apartment and celebrate by ordering a pizza. Said pizza is more of a life-sized, human-shaped calzone, and is definitely not filled with marinara sauce. In a later scene, we get more of Chucky's "murder as relationship" philosophy; this time from Tiffany's viewpoint, as she accuses him of cheating on her by killing people on his own. But, is masturbation really cheating?

Back in the present, we catch up with Andy and Kyle, who are bickering over each other's driving skills, and stop at a gas station for their own killing supplies (including a pack of cigarettes for Kyle). Andy snatches another glance at the poorly lit, barely-in-focus picture of Kyle and her...boyfriend? Husband...? Partner...? Dude...? and decides to drive off without her, leaving her on the side of the road to Hell (a New Jersey-adjacent part of New Jersey, in this case) like the good-intentioned asshole that he is.

Back in the aforementioned Hell that is Hackensack, Not Jersey, Devon breaks up with Jake, rendering six episodes of passably acted and awkwardly but touchingly culminated buildup pointless, and proving that horror movie stupidity comes in all forms, even those you don't expect.

Chucky reveals himself to Junior, who immediately accepts the living doll concept despite having been repeatedly described as someone without imagination, and starts grooming him to kill Jake and Logan. Personally, I don't see why anyone would need an incentive to kill the Paul brothers, but maybe that's just me?

Oh, wait. They're talking about Jake and Logan Wheeler. Yeah. No; that's bad. I mean, Logan is a failed track star and alcoholic who's trying to live vicariously through his dishwater, bowl-cut snowflake of a son, and probably cheated on his cancer-ravaged, presumed-suicidal, recently dead wife with a serial killer's quasi-hot girlfriend, and Jake sent said serial killer after said dishwater, bowl-cut snowflake's formerly bitchy ex-girlfriend, causing a fire that damaged government property, landed Junior in the hospital, and strained his relationship with his father, thus bringing the story to its current, natural state of death, insanity, and solitude. But it's not like they're sensationalist social media "personalities" or anything, and one of them is a main character, so yeah, don't do that.

Speaking of blonde media whores, next is Mayor Cross' press conference! She announces Miss Fairchild's arrest for the principal's murder and how safe Hackensack is (despite all of the other accident-murders that have taken place before and since then), as well as a charity movie night with a special celebrity guest. The movie? That old, G-rated Universal classic about an insane pseudo-scientist who made a body from stitched together parts of deceased serial killers and gave it a soul during a lightning storm, Frankenstein! And who could the celebrity guest be? My money is on Tiffany/Jennifer Tilly, as the "previously on..." segments for the last two episodes used the "I want to be Jennifer Tilly" clip from Seed Of Chucky. The celebrity guest announcement is a nice throwaway line that could bear fruit in the finale, or remain a throwaway to the furor of the Chucky fanbase, and I kind of love it for that. I also love Caroline's deadpan delivery when a reporter asks if she wants to be Mayor when she grows up: "Chucky told me to kill mommy." The Whathefuckness of it all spreads like wildfire, and it short-circuited my brain for sure. Unfortunately, it gets lost in the background just as quickly when Lexy pulls her aside to elaborate (the entire Cross family is at risk, with Lexy herself slated to die last), and we're forced to cut to another scene.

Said scene is of Logan coming home drunk, Chucky taking advantage of Junior's lack of imagination (otherwise, Junior would have asked him at least ten sensible questions that would have led to Chucky being stabbed and bashed to pieces), and Junior watching as Jake runs away from home with over $300 of Logan's money.

Devon is packing up to move in with his aunt in an arbitrary, non-Hackensack region of New Jersey, and he stops to look at pictures of his mother. But his attention soon lands on an article about Chucky's house, and a few interrupting scenes later, hgoes to investigate, finding Nica/Chucky tied up in the basement, along with this episode's cliffhanger moment.
But more on that later, because we have to see the knife get twisted on Junior some more! Tiffany pays Junior a visit, rambling vaguely about her relationship with Logan, dropping off a plate of Swedish meatballs (Chucky's favorite, according to one line in the flashback, and also possibly Logan's favorite, though it's also hinted that Chucky could be Junior's father), and creepily offering to be his new mommy.
It isn't clear where Jake intended to go, but he spots a courier at a bus station carrying a Good Guy doll (which was to be delivered to Charles Lee Ray's old house) and spends all of Logan's money to buy the doll off of him, then meets up with Lexy with the doll in tow. They share a "chosen family" bonding moment that is surprisingly touching, considering the characters involved, before the plot decides that they should know where Devon is.

Meanwhile, in a case of "who's using who," Junior confronts Logan about his drinking and infidelity before bludgeoning him to death with Chucky. We know the answer, and we can see it coming, but it's still sudden and brutally symbolic, the kill is unique, the look of euphoria on Chucky's face is manic and hilarious, and it's one of the best sequences in the episode, if not the entire show.

Not to be undone in the moment-ruining department, we cut back to Jake and Lexy, who are going to rescue Devon. By staying home and waiting for an Uber. Walking would be faster, you morons! Of course, we wouldn't get the scene where Lexy tells Jake about Chucky telling Caroline to kill her family, or the scene where the doll that Jake left lying near a fully stocked butcher block (instead of smashing it to pieces and lighting it on fire) was a Chucky doll playing dead. Or the scene where Chucky and Junior sing a GoGos duet?

After this, the cliffhanger (which is slightly ruined by the cut to Devon being tied to a chair in a roomful of Chucky dolls several scenes earlier) comes when all of the dolls start to move in unison, and Andy finally arrives in Hackensack.

This was not the best episode, given the quality of the flashbacks, the scattered plot, the character stupidity, the neutering of perfectly good moments by said stupidity, and the impact of the ending being snuffed by bad editing, among other flaws. But the good bits were good while they lasted, and even some of the atonal absurdity (like the brief "We Got the Beat" duet) proved memorable. I am definitely looking forward to tonight's finale.

Ticketmaster,

out.