Somewhere between science and superstition, there is another world, and in it…lies another perfect hour of television, and another excessively long recap!
The episode opens in a flashback stylized after Curse of Chucky, with Jake (and other key players throughout the episode) in a monochrome confessional booth opposite Father Bryce. While Jake and Nica wallow in self-hatred over being unable to stop Chucky, Andy confesses he’s worried he might lose all purpose if he destroys the doll and isn’t sure who he would be without the little redheaded menace. Glenda confesses that all they wanted was to know who their father was, and now that that trail has gone cold, they feel completely lost.
In the present, Mixter holds a gun on the kids in exchange for Good Chucky. Kyle arrives to stop Mixter, and the two have a standoff. Outnumbered, Mixter makes a deal with the crew: Bryce gets to destroy “Good” Chucky’s spirit in an exorcism, Nica gets to put Nica-Chucky into the doll, and Mixter walks free with this final iteration of Chucky, aka Chucky Prime.
On the road to the exorcism, Tiffany is caught at a diner by her own vanity and flees after being recognized by stray fans. She insists on taking control of the original Tiffany doll body and swapping with Tilly…but not before the car engine burns out, leaving Team Glen stranded in a parking lot. Soon after, a botched escape attempt by Tilly results in the actual real-life Jennifer Tilly dying, getting splattered in doll form by a truck, sending Tiffany into tears.
How many people with the voice of an angel do we have to lose this season?
As everyone prepares for Hurricane Divine Intervention, Lexy is at the end of her rope and has completely lost all her faith in Jake and Devon’s reassurances. She confronts them with the hard question of whether misery and death are the only things keeping the crew in one piece, and it’s not only an impressive performance by Alyvia Alyn-Lind, but it also brings into question the nature of their relationships in a significant way.
Lexy relapses and takes the temptation of Good Chucky fully, hearing Nadine’s voice before tearing down all her posters and seeing a hallucination of Nadine as an angel. In her last appearance of the season (maybe, there’s still a Christmas episode!) Nadine reassures Lexy that she and everyone else will be okay, and convinces her not to commit suicide by overdose. Sister Ruth, however, wakes the sleeping Lexy and takes her hostage.
Downstairs, Team Glenda officially expands to Team Incarnate Lord (including Jake, Devon, Dr. Mixter, Andy, Kyle, Nica Pierce, Glenda, Father Bryce, Sister Catherine, and DEAR LORD what is this, an Avenger’s line-up?), with all the characters finally united and playing off each other wonderfully. Father Bryce settles on going rogue following his excommunication from the church, you know, on account of telling the Vatican there’s a possessed doll running around. He even gets a cute suiting-up montage, so that’s how you know he’s serious.
It’s then that we get the biggest of all the flashback confessions, surprisingly coming from Father Bryce to Sister Ruth. He confesses that he’s struggled with his sexuality his entire life and has been externalizing some seriously internalized homophobia. Father Bryce made such a standout heel-face turn in such a short time, and it hurts that he really started to grow on me here. Why did it have to be so close to his inevitable death?!
Father Bryce begins the exorcism with the whole Chucky Survivor Support Group at his back, and following a chorus of “the power of Christ compels you” Father Karras style, Charles Lee Ray’s spirit is sent back to Hell!
…Sorry, did I say Hell? I meant directly into Father Bryce’s body, who he makes violently explode all over the chapel and its inhabitants.
What did we say? It was inevitable!
Following that grisly demise, Nica unveils a new, uncut Damballa chant, and finally rids herself of her father’s presence in her body and mind. A vengeful Jake begins drowning Chucky Prime in burning holy water, but Sister Ruth comes in with Lexy at gunpoint and forces him to give the doll up. Mixter runs, and before Ruth can turn this church to Jonestown, Glenda throw’s Chucky’s very own bowie knife into her eye and kills her. Andy catches up and blow’s Chucky’s jaw off with a few expertly placed shots, forcing Mixter to retreat. Andy finally gets to finish off his long-time nemesis. Temporarily at least, this little rascal will never die.
As Chucky’s final(-ish) doll body burns, the kids watch with worry. Andy and Kyle walk off into an uncertain future together, and we get a heartwarming flashback to the ending of Child’s Play 2. Nica shares a cigarette with Glenda and thanks them for the second chance at life. Tiffany and Glen arrive at the showdown late, and while the twins reunite, a wrathful Nica pulls a gun on Tiffany. Though Valentine begs her to spare the kids from having to see this, Nica takes the shot anyways, and Glen jumps in front of the bullet, trying to save their mother. Tiffany and Glenda drive off with Glen in hopes of saving them while Mixter rides off into the night.
Oh, and we see one last off-screen confession…at some point in the exorcism, Mixter became the true host of Chucky’s spirit, and everything went exactly according to her plan. So much for ending the season on a win.
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHT: If Father Bryce had been played by anyone else this season (including Michael Theriault), I don’t think they could have pulled off the challenge Devon Sawa did in this episode. His confessional was heartfelt, and painfully explains so much about his character, granting magnitudes of unexpected depth. Though part of me wished this wasn’t all crammed into one episode, the emotional whammy his performance delivers is undeniable.
VISUAL HIGHLIGHT: All of the special effects in this episode stunned me. From Glenda’s insane knife throw to Father Bryce exploding out of nowhere, to Tilly getting turned into a jelly donut getting smashed at high speeds, this episode was a crunchy, wet, gore-filled special effects fest that would make Childs Play’s 1 through 3 blush with how wild we’ve gotten. But of course, the love has to go to the incredibly lifelike severed, post-explosion Bryce head.
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE:
“You think I’m scared to go to hell?! I’m from Jersey!”
– Chucky, on state pride
OVERALL RATING: 10 (Ooey Gooey Person/Doll Explosions)/10. With a classic scenario as the central set piece of the episode, homage’s-a-plenty to the most legendary horror film of all time, as well as an incredible closer for several characters, “Goin’ To The Chapel” is as close to a perfect episode as can be. From Father Bryce, to Lexy, to Nica, the episode is as much of an emotional thrill ride as it was a visual one. The only question left: how we’re going to top this level of quality, let alone insanity, in the finale?