Razor blades in treats? Unchaperoned teenage parties? A child dressed in a Chucky costume, playing Chucky, who in turn is playing a child? Oh boy, it’s a Halloween episode! A very dialogue-heavy one.
Despite it only being the second episode, there aren’t a lot of introductions of note. We get a look at Lexy’s verbally abusive mother, Mayor Cross, played by the actresses’ real mother, Barbara Alyn Woods. We also meet Michael Therriault, playing her well-meaning father, Nathan. I didn’t realize until my rewatch that Therriault had previously played notorious sleazebag, Doctor Foley, whose head was turned into a fruit gusher by Nica-Chucky’s high-heeled stomps in Cult of Chucky. Nice callback! But I do have a slight suspicion his inevitable death in this won’t nearly be as cool as that one.
Where this episode lacks anything particularly new or wild, it supplements with some interesting dialogue. It’s comprised of a lot of quiet conversations, rather than complex kills or set pieces; more than you’d expect from a show about a killer doll. This effort achieves varying levels of effectiveness: Devon and Jake’s conversation about losing their fathers seemed clunky and rushed for where it’s placed and how it’s scripted. On the other hand, Devon’s conversation with his mother is great at showing her uncomfortable inability to draw the line between her job as a detective and her role as a mother. And the episode structure gives some standout moments, specifically through conversations involving Junior.
The talk between Logan and Bree about the unsureness of raising the boys is strong. It’s amplified even more when you get to see Teo Briones playing Junior’s unsure reactions as he eavesdrops on it. It’s Logan appreciating Junior’s costume, not for its inventiveness but because it’s mostly just his own track and field medals, that really speak volumes about the slowly souring relationship between a doting father and the son he’s living vicariously through. And his snide interactions with Lexy, whether it’s asking for her to show Jake some sympathy or her preying on his emotional and sexual insecurities, have a genuine quiet tragedy to them that surprised me.
And in between, there are moments of Chucky playing videogames or doling out razor apples to unsuspecting neighbors. His presence feels a bit sparse for me, given it’s an episode with the concept of “Chucky runs wild on Halloween.”
However, his sidelining makes sense when you get to the real bombshell of the episode. Seeing Jake witness Lexy’s dead dad costume made my jaw drop the first time I saw it and still made me shrink back in my seat on a second viewing. It’s the exact kind of spur needed to make the audience eagerly anticipate Jake’s implied turn to Chucky’s homicidal call to action. And even if it is unlikely our protagonist will go mental and give in to the hate, this episode lends a believability that ups the ante for what’s to come in a way most shows don’t achieve.
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS: As I said, Teo Brione’s does so much with so few words of dialogue, it’s nutty. And I don’t think I’m ever going to confuse Alyvia Alyn Lind with her sisters again, given she’s seared herself in my brain as playing Lexy with such nastiness. The dialogue she’s given is cartoonishly evil at points, but she makes it work and creates a character you love to hate.
VISUAL HIGHLIGHTS: Annie’s death in this episode pales in comparison to Logan’s in the last, but it was still inventive and bloody enough to make me wince at her dishwasher demise. The episode’s set design of Hackensack at Halloween-time is also so perfectly autumnal.
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE:
“You know, I have a queer kid.”
“You have a kid?”
“Gender-fluid!”
“And you’re cool with it?”
“I’m not a monster, Jake.”
RATING: 7.5 (Instances of Apple Based Mouth Gore)/10. A drop off compared to the pilot, but I still like it quite a bit. The main plot is almost entirely a vehicle for its final few minutes, but that final quarter really is worth it. The character development moments are nice if not stilted at times, but I can accept the less thought-out ones since this is just an aperitif for seeing various characters growing bonds. Which is good because it absolutely succeeds at leaving you hooked and wanting more. It just may be its just a little too good at its job in that regard.
You can stream Chucky on Peacock!