Chucky 2×8 Review: “Chucky Actually”

Chucky season 2 episode 8, ‘Chucky Actually’, offered a very fun Christmas-themed finale while also making me excited about what’s to come next. I hope the show gets renewed for a third season, because I know it’s going to be awesome!

‘Chucky Actually’ opened with an explanation about what transpired between Chucky and Mixter before the Good Guy Doll was shot by Andy and Mixter was able to run away from the Incarnate Lord. With Mixter giving us an evil laugh at the end of the previous episode, I thought we had another Nica/Chucky situation, with Chucky splitting his soul and sharing Mixter’s body. However, it turns out that a full-on exchange took place. While our heroes were busy trying to save Lexy, Chucky knocked out Mixter and chanted the spell.

Mixter never got to give her permission for Chucky to use her body in such a manner. But then again, she should have expected that. Chucky’s all about killing and injuring other people to get what he wants, even if he had known said people for a very long time. When it came down to it, Mixter was just another person he could use to ensure his survival. Mixter, now trapped in the Good Guy Doll, didn’t have time to accept what had happened to her. Or else, I think she would have asked Andy not to shoot her.

As for the flashback featuring a young Chucky and Mixter, I still have no idea why she was so obsessed with him. Over in DC Comics, we know that the Joker made Harley Quinn fall in love with him and twisted her mind. However, that dynamic doesn’t fit a young adult Mixter and a kid Chucky, in my opinion. Seeing her be fascinated by his evil and encouraging it, while interesting, felt weird to me. It was as if the writers just wanted Chucky to have someone like Mixter around instead of really diving into what caused her to team up with him in the first place. 

The not-so-distant flashback of how Chucky and Mixter had been targeting Jake and the other teens from the very beginning made for a nice scene. There was a method to Chucky’s madness as he made sure to traumatize the teens by targeting their families.

One of the early major reveals was how there was still another Good Guy Doll being kept safe in Mixter’s office because of course there was. There’s always another Good Guy Doll. Chucky transferred his soul from Mixter into the Good Guy Doll and began working on his plan to go after Jake, Lexy, and Devon… again.

‘Chucky Actually’ had a short time skip by taking us to December and showing what Lexy, Jake, and Devon had been up to. It was nice to learn that Lexy had been to rehab and was getting the support she needed. Things were still quite tense between Lexy and her mother, Michelle, and while the writers gave us a well-written scene between the two at the dinner table, I knew something was going to happen to Michelle down the line. And it did. These teens just can’t catch a break.

As for developing Jake and Devon’s relationship, the two finally got to talk about how they had been drifting apart ever since Jake found a new foster family. Jake felt guilty about allowing Chucky to get into his head twice and he thought he wasn’t good enough for Devon. Devon just wanted Jake to be himself. He fell in love with the version of Jake who was kind and stood up for his friends. Jake’s kindness also helped reel Devon in a bit when Devon got a bit too vengeful. The two were able to make up while spending Christmas at Lexy’s house, but I do feel that they still have more to talk about otherwise they will continue butting heads because they aren’t out of the woods yet. Chucky’s still out there and he will return.

Another conversation I liked was the one where Lexy wondered if the three of them would end up like Kyle and Andy. The OG characters were traumatized by Chucky at a very young age and that led to the siblings living a life focused on ending Chucky’s reign of terror. As Andy mentioned in the previous episode, he wasn’t sure who he was with Chucky gone. So, yeah, Lexy’s concerns were valid. And while unfortunate, our Trio will indeed always have to live a life looking over their shoulders.

‘Chucky Actually’ also showed what had happened to Glen after they got shot. With the doctors saying Glen didn’t have much time, it made sense for Glenda and Tiffany to take matters into their own hands. At first, I thought that only Glen’s soul would be transferred into the Glen/Glenda doll. But nopes, with the twins sharing a single soul, Glenda had to die, too. I’m not sure how I feel about such a creative decision. I really liked the work Lachlan Watson had done in the role and yes, I’m a bit disappointed to see them being written off like this.

As for the Glen/Glenda doll, now going by the name G.G. (Billy Boyd reprised his voice acting role from the Seed of Chucky), they decided to travel the world, with their first stop being London. I’m not sure if G.G. will return for the third season or not, but in a sense, I’m okay with them getting to live their life without the constant drama involving Tiffany and Chucky.

With Tiffany wanting to get out of Jennifer Tilly’s body, she made her way to Lexy’s house after Michelle posted a video of a nativity scene that featured a Belle doll. I side-eyed the Belle doll the moment it appeared onscreen early on in the episode. I was sure the Belle doll had been blown up in the explosion during the season 2 premiere. Where the heck did Caroline get a new one?

The big action-centric finale in ‘Chucky Actually’ had Chucky entering Lexy’s house with a very quiet chainsaw and Tiffany also breaking in to steal the Belle doll. The anticipation of the two getting to meet each other was exciting. The writers really delivered on the camp with Michelle being busy interacting with Tiffany and Chucky coming in from behind to slice Michelle straight through the middle.

I liked how Lexy ended up being the one to kill Chucky as revenge for what he had done to her parents and Junior. Lexy needed that. While Lexy sliced up Chucky with his chainsaw, Jake and Devon took on Tiffany. I really thought they were going to kill her. Devon was okay with letting a stabbed Tiffany bleed out, but Jake’s kindness intervened and he told Devon to call the police. Sigh!

However, Tiffany was able to leave Lexy’s house with the Belle doll because of a major twist. I was not expecting Caroline to be the one to stand against the Trio. It was revealed that Caroline had been putting up an act for a very long time. She had believed Chucky’s story of how she was adopted by the Cross family and how one day her true mother, Tiffany, would come to take her away. The young actress Carina London Battrick did an awesome job of playing an unhinged Caroline as she threatened the Trio before leaving with Tiffany and the Belle doll.

But wait, ‘Chucky Actually’ had even more surprises. With Lexy now becoming an orphan as well, the Trio didn’t know what to do to get Caroline back from Tiffany. And that’s when Ms. Fairchild (the biology teacher from season one) entered the scene to support the teens. Jake mentioned Chucky to Ms. Fairchild and said she believed the Trio.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t completely trust Ms. Fairchild. When she first appeared in the previous season, fans thought she might be Glenda. And while that fan theory was disproven, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was indeed related to Chucky somehow. What if she’s Chucky and Mixter’s daughter? I wouldn’t put it past Don Mancini to go down that route with her.

During the closing moments of the episode, another short time skip (three weeks long) took us to Times Square, with Tiffany (in a new getup) getting a call from Nica, who had been keeping an eye on her. It made sense to learn that she was still focused on getting her revenge on Tiffany. Nica wanted to torture Tiffany before killing her. But for now, Nica was enjoying seeing Tiffany freak out. Apparently, Nica was also in contact with G.G., who was doing well on their excursion abroad.

The season 2 cliffhanger involved Tiffany trying to transfer her soul into the Belle doll and failing. The spell had worked but not in the way she had expected. The Belle doll was revealed to be Chucky in drag! As I said, I knew something was off about Caroline being in possession of another Belle Doll in the first place. There’s always another Good Guy Doll available whenever the plot required it.

With Chucky seemingly stabbing Tiffany as Caroline looked on with interest, I’m not sure if Nica was also able to see what was happening a couple of buildings away. However, if Nica did indeed see Chucky coming back, I think she will try and contact Andy and Kyle and also let the Trio know.

The groundwork has been laid for a very fun season 3. I hope that the third season tries to dive into the lore behind the voodoo chant being used by Chucky for resurrection. There’s got to be a way to prevent him from being resurrected ever again. And while I have enjoyed both seasons of Chucky, I think the story should end by season 5 at the max. In my opinion, four seasons would be ideal. And after that, the franchise should go on a break. But let’s see what happens.

What did you think of ‘Chucky Actually’?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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