CHUCKY – SEASON 3

  2023/358m

“The country is Chucked.”

Created by: Don Mancini / Cast: Zackary Arthur, Bjorgvin Arnarson, Alyvia Alyn Lind, Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, Devon Sawa, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Gil Bellows, Jackson Kelly, Callum Vinson, Michael Therriault, Fiona Dourif, Alex Vincent, Carina Battrick, Annie Briggs, Kaleb Horn, John Waters.

Body Count: 48

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After the relatively disappointing second season, I didn’t hold out much hope for the continuing saga of a possessed doll and the hordes of friends and foes of his caught up in a never ending killing spree. So it was with glee that the third season, released in two lots in 2023 and 2024, is easily the best to date.

Things were left off with Chucky surprising Tiffany and Caroline in their New York hideout, while Nica watches and plots but, before he can kill Tiffany, the cops arrive and arrest ‘Jennifer Tilly’ for the murders carried out at her house.

And now? Some months later, Chucky is the property of Henry, first son of President James Collins, and living it up in the White House, calling himself Joseph, name of Henry’s recently deceased brother. Henry is scared by the prospect of ghosts haunting the place and the family begin to show concern after a member of the secret service apparently shoots himself in Henry’s bedroom, and then the president’s secretary disappears. Meanwhile, Jake, Devon, and Lexy are in the care of their teacher, Miss Fairchild, while looking for both Chucky and Caroline. When they spot him on a news bulletin, they set about getting into the White House via the older Collins son, Grant.

Episode 3 finally clues us into why Chucky is bothering at all. After an absolutely hilarious taxi cab scene (with guest Kenan Thompson as the driver), Chucky discovers he’s beginning to age and both Voodoo for Dummies and a voodoo doc advises that dabbling with a Catholic exorcism has angered Damballa, and he needs to make an ultimate evil sacrifice to get back in his good graces. Initial attempts at killing in an evil place (the Amityville House) fail, and so Chucky rationalises that more evil has been conducted from the White House, so offering up six souls there should do the trick.

A gruesome ‘accident’ at the Collins’ Halloween party – and a possible homage to the mirror-ceiling denouement from Bride of Chucky – should fulfil the criteria but Chucky continues to age, losing his hair and starting to look more like a Terrahawk than a Good Guy Doll. Tiffany, meanwhile, uses voodoo from death row to get the guards working for her in a bid to escape. In a final call with Chucky, she recommends he try going out with a bang, and so he makes a bid for the nuclear codes to take the world with him when he goes.

Any further plot points would spoil a lot, but suffice to say the youthful trio of Hackensack kids aren’t going to standby and let it happen. There are seances, trips to ‘the other side’, and of course scores more deaths before things end with another face from the past (albeit in a different role) and a promise for season 4.

What has given season 3 a major leg up from before is wit. Already notable for the occasional fourth wall breaches and cultural commentary, this time the writers really go for the jugular with non-stop jibes, gags, and full on call-outs. The best of which is when an ageing Chucky flicks through TV channels from his bed, first encountering The Boy, then Dead Silence (“this guy didn’t even get a franchise!”), and finally M3gan (“this little bitch stole my bit! Fuck you Muh-three-gan!”) A medium is later described as being hired by Taylor Swift after each of her breakups, and during a dream sequence where Chucky exacts revenge on Andy, we get this gem of an exchange:

• “You’re my white whale, Andy, my Moby Dickhead!”
• “Are you actually trying to make a literary reference!?”
• “No – it was a fat joke.”

The gore level is off the charts as well, beyond the catastrophic multi-fatality chandelier accident, people drink bleach, get their heads fried, eyes gouged out, electrocuted, drowning in elevators of  blood… It goes on.

Devon Sawa returns in yet another role (well, three roles) as President Collins, while his wife is played by one of the nuns from S2, and the VP by Lexy’s dad. Gil Bellows, from Ally McBeal, basks in his role as a skeezy fixer, and Brad Dourif gets to appear beyond vocal contributions alone during the scenes on ‘the other side’, which was also nice to see. A lack of Andy and Kyle (the former seen only during the dream) is curious, but will hopefully be addressed in the future. Where the hell can he go next!?

Blurbs-of-interest: Devon Sawa was in Final Destination; Jennifer Tilly was also in Far from Home and The Caretaker.