A Recap of Season 2 of ‘Chucky’

10/4/2023

Written by Theron Reynolds

CHUCKY -- “He Is Risen Indeed” Episode 206 -- Pictured in this screengrab: Chucky -- (Photo by: SYFY)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Season 2 of ‘Chucky’. To revisit Season 1, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

In 2021, Don Mancini, USA & Syfy brought us an unexpected follow-up to one of the most beloved horror franchises and characters in history, Chucky. The 1st season ended up being a bloody fun season of television that brought us some outrageously fun practical effects, gruesome deaths that only Chucky could give us, and it not only honored what came before but built anticipation for what could be coming next!

It was an ambitious order as there’s a lot more care placed into the lore of Chucky compared to a number of other franchises out there, and even then, the show pulled out just the right stops to appease long term fans while still pulling in new ones. It also managed to tackle the tough task which understandably would come from transitioning an always R rated film property into something appropriate for TV. What can be shown on Cable TV has certainly changed since the original Child’s Play film, and even though it can’t have the exact same level of violence, gore, or language, Mancini has found creative ways to make sure that not only do Chucky and Tiffany not lose any of their bite, but they’re actually more vicious and crueler than ever before. It was nice not having to worry about a loss of intensity considering the large number of storylines juggled over season 1.

Whether it was finally giving us Chucky’s backstory into what made him a killer in the 1st place, following Andy & Kyle in their quest to find and kill every Chucky they could track down, Tiffany Valentine in the body of Jennifer Tilly trying to figure out what to do with a Chucky-possessed Nica Pearce, or following “The Good Guy Trio” (as I call them) of Jake, Devon, and Lexy in Chucky’s hometown of Hackensack just trying to stay alive, season 1 gave viewers a multiple choice of what they could choose to enjoy!

By the time the season ended, Kyle was presumed dead in an explosion, Andy had commandeered and driven off in a truck filled with Chuckys, Tiffany had amputated Nica’s limbs to protect herself from Chucky taking her over, and Chucky had murdered multiple people in Hackensack including friends and family of The Good Guy Trio leaving them broken and scattered amongst foster care just like Andy before them. Basically, any step forward any of our heroes were able to make over the season, Chucky and Tiffany were there to knock them 3 steps back, going into season 2 things were not looking great.

Season 2 finds itself taking up a “Less is more” approach compared to the multiple storylines being followed in the 1st season. Rather than split time between 4 different perspectives, the 2nd season scales things down to two with the focus being split between The Good Guy Trio now residing at the School of the Incarnate Lord, and Tiffany Valentine who is still in possession of a Chucky possessed Nica Pearce, but now has to juggle the arrival of her children Glen & Glenda along with more of Jennifer Tilly’s friends. The first season worked well as a transition for long term fans, even if it wasn’t 100%, there was some much-needed closure provided for a number of long-term dangling plot lines, and for new fans it allowed them to settle into a new story and not have to worry tremendously that they didn’t have a full picture.

CHUCKY -- “Death on Denial” Episode 204 -- Pictured: (l-r) Joe Pantoliano as Himself, Meg Tilly as Herself, Lachlan Watson as Glenda, Tony Nappo as Jeeves -- (Photo by: Rafy/SYFY)

The Good Guy Trio truly gets to shine and not only gets fleshed out but are forced to deal with the fallout of season 1’s events. Jake and Devon’s relationship is strained and while Devon desperately looks for a way for them to reconnect, Jake’s obsession with Chucky not only leads him to a new friend that no one would ever expect but will put his relationship with Devon to the ultimate test. Lexy has lost her taste for popularity and fallen into a depression and is only able to cope by abusing her mom’s prescription drugs, she’ll make an unexpected new friend of her own which will force her to work through her problems if she’s going to help save her new family. With Jake and Lexy not dealing with the events of the previous season, well, it’s an interesting dynamic seeing Devon take on his pain and anger head on and acknowledge everything that’s happened, it puts him at direct odds with both Jake and Lexy who spend a good portion of the season ignoring the danger right in front of them. This results in one of the more fun pairings of Lexy & Devon on an investigation later in the season and we better get this pairing again in season 3!

Over in Tiffany’s world, our Majestic Murderess has discovered her apparent true feelings for Nica and is searching for a way to exorcise Chucky from Nica’s body all while under the nose of her kids Glen & Glenda (Lachlan Watson – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). Glen and Glenda only have slight fading memories of their time in their doll body (back during the events of Seed of Chucky) and while they grew up truly believing themselves to be the children of Jennifer Tilly, are clearly aware that something’s off with their mother. The tone of the scenes with Tiffany, Nica, Glen, and Glenda over the season are a nice contrast with the scenes set at the School of the Incarnate Lord. While the scenes away from the school are still very much dark, they’re played more for laughs. This includes one of the best episodes of the show so far “Death on Denial”, written by Alex Delyle and Kim Garland that focuses on a Murder Mystery Party thrown together by Tiffany featuring Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, Sutton Stracke, and Meg Tilly as houseguests. The various interactions between Tiffany (in Jennifer Tilly’s body), Nica-Chucky, Glen, Glenda, and Jennifer Tilly (in Tiffany’s doll body) bring some much-needed levity to the season to keep a good balance.

The season is left off with a bit of a mixed bag depending on where your fandom falls, there’s some shocking kills, hilarious jokes, great turns from Devon Sawa and Bella Higginbotham in guest roles, and Brad Dourif gets to play Chucky a variety of different fun new ways! The Good Guy Trio experiences more loss and are left in a similar predicament to where they were at the end of season 1, Tiffany however finds herself in imminent danger as she’s got just as many enemies as Chucky now, and they’re all looking for her! While Season 2 boasts a more focused story for viewers, long term fans may have found themselves missing the abundance of easter eggs and nods, along with more focus on other legacy characters back in Season 1.

It's likely that Season 3 continues to move further away from the ties of the past as it wisely seeks to set the franchise for more new viewers. Selfishly, I’ll always hope for more Andy & Kyle, but it would be nice if Detective Norris, DeSilva, or even Jade eventually showed up!

Season 3 of Chucky premieres simultaneously on USA & SyFy, tonight, October 4th, with new episodes available on Peacock the next day.

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