Chucky: Season One is available to rent, buy or stream. Season Two is now showing on Sky TV in the UK.
Anyone following the career of Don Mancini, David Kirschner, Brad Dourif and their four-foot killer doll, Chucky, will know that queer identity and diversity thread through their seven-movie series. However, many of us wondered where the pint-sized nutter would take us next following Curse and Cult of Chucky.
Therefore, when Chucky, the TV series, was announced, I was filled with excitement and trepidation. Would Mancini and Co. honour the stories that had come before or opt for something radically different? Thankfully, they picked the former, and we got a direct continuation of the story built up over seven glorious movies.
In many ways, Chucky season one feels like the Child’s Play 3 that should have been, as it centred on the feelings of detachment adolescence inevitably brings. Here, both seasons of Chucky focus on discrimination, difference and bullying while embracing not one but two queer leads.
In season one, it could be argued that Chucky plays second fiddle to the horrors of adolescence as he attempts to manipulate those around him by exploiting their differences and sense of alienation. In contrast, in season two, he fears his teen foes’ growing confidence.
Chucky arrives in season one as a yard sale piece of junk purchased by Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) for use in an art project. Jake lives with his alcoholic father (Devon Sawa), whose volatile outbursts include an unwillingness to accept his son’s sexuality.
Despite his artistic flair and confidence, Jake is lonely and the subject of constant bullying at school; all he wants is to find some happiness, peace, and room to spread his wings and to finally approach his school crush, true-crime podcaster Devon (Björgvin Arnarson).
Of course, Chucky is not about to be dismembered for any art project and soon worms his way into Jake’s life, using the boy’s experiences of bullying, homophobia and alienation to further his murderous agenda – leading us all to question whether Jake will follow him or discard him before it’s too late. Meanwhile, just across town, his dad’s twin brother, Lucas (Sawa), is unaware that it’s his son Junior (Teo Briones) and his girlfriend Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind) who torment Jake at every opportunity.
Throughout season one, the show’s discussions on sexual orientation, difference and inclusion create a unique TV horror that combines classic coming-of-age themes with a continuation of thirty-plus years of Chucky lore. But as we arrive at the gates of Chucky season two, Mancini and Co. up the stakes as they take everything that made season one tick and build on the foundations of further reinventing the Chucky franchise.
Opening where season one left off, Chucky season two is bigger, bolder, and crazier than the first outing as it celebrates thirty-plus years of nutty storytelling. From the return of Chucky and Tiffany’s queer, non-binary love child Glen to doll-obsessed nuns, a heavenly father who looks a lot like a dead dad, dodgy psychologists, and the Lex Luther/ Apocalypse Now-inspired’ Colonel.’ Season two is a rollercoaster ride of camp horror, gore, comedy and devilishly good performances that leave you eagerly awaiting the next chapter in the diabolical doll’s tale.
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