Following an incredibly creative and meta episode that not only saw the return of Glen and Glenda, but also featured a Bound reunion and a very satisfying escape for Nica, this week’s episode of Chucky brought us back to the main storyline involving the kids back at the Catholic School.  And while last week’s episode felt very unusual in terms of plot and style, its ramifications are very much on display here…

Untrustworthy Nice Chucky
Picking up with the previous cliffhanger of muscular Chucky attacking nice Chucky, this episode jumps right into their fight.  Nice Chucky prevails, killing the other and Jake immediately feels that this is truly the good guy that he can be friends with till the end.  Devon is less convinced however, fearing that it’s just another trick.

Father Bryce meanwhile catches up to the aftermath at the perfectly wrong moment, and goes into full inquisition mode (a word he literally uses) and brings down the hammer of judgmental Catholic justice hard, forcing Devon to read Leviticus and insisting that he’s not being strict enough on the troubled teenagers.

Once again, Devon Sawa proves that he’s an absolute asset to this series with his chilling performance as the holier than thou Father Bryce.  In a series that deals with serial killer dolls, his characters, be they Father Bryce or Jake’s uncle are far more terrifying and frustrating villains because many of us have dealt with people exactly like that in our lives.

At this point, we the audience are still unsure if Nice Chucky is genuine or just a ruse.  But his intentions are pure, it’s a fascinating direction to take the franchise, as well as the character.  We’ve seen all different iterations of Chucky ever since he figured out how to split his soul in Cult of Chucky.

And while most of them have inhabited his absolute worst qualities, it does make sense that even someone as evil as Charles Lee Ray has even a tiny bit of good in him.  And that’s what this particular doll could represent.

It also makes sense that Jake is optimistic and hopeful, going so far as to baptize Chucky and accept the role of being his godfather.  This whole series began with Jake buying the Chucky doll at a yard sale, and his life has been nothing but turmoil and tragedy since then.  So finally having a conscious Chucky doll that wants to be his friend is a comfort that he’s been wanting ever since this ordeal started.

Serial Kidnapper Tiffany
After Nica’s daring escape with Glenda, Tiffany is on something of a downward spiral.  She’s watching Liar, Liar (again) and just drinking and falling apart while Glen attempts to console her, and Meg Tilly sticks around, getting more suspicious.  As the two sisters reminisce about the past, Meg starts to notice that Jennifer is hazy on some details, because of course it’s not really Jennifer Tilly.

We then get one of the greatest revelations this series has given us thus far, that Tiffany has been keeping the real Jennifer Tilly prisoner inside the Tiffany doll since the end of Seed of Chucky.  And apparently the real Jennifer has been the one behind voicing Bonnie on Family Guy and playing/winning online poker (something else Jennifer Tilly is well known for).

In a lot of ways, Tiffany seems even more brutal and ruthless than Chucky as keeping people like Jennifer Tilly and Nica prisoner seem worse than death (especially for Nica).  But in a strange way, Tiffany feels less evil because she’s less motivated by pure malice like Chucky and more by a desire to be loved.

Ultimately, Tiffany is a tragic character who devoted years of her life to a sadistic psychopath that clearly doesn’t love her that she did him.  Not that it excuses her behavior, but it does help explain why becoming Jennifer Tilly and living a life of glamor and raising Glen and Glenda meant so much to her.

And all the while, Jennifer Tilly (the real life actress) is just in her element here.  We’ve gotten to see Brad Dourif have fun playing opposite versions of his own character, and this is Tilly’s chance.  While Tiffany argues with Jennifer, you can hear the change in tone and inflection in voice, and you could even close your eyes and still be able to tell which is which.

Overall, “Doll on Doll” was a great showcase of characters finding the good and evil blended within themselves.  It boasted great moments for Tiffany, Jake, Nice Chucky, and featured a pretty shocking cliffhanger ending revealing that a major character we thought was dead is actually still alive…

What did you think of this week’s episode of Chucky?  What do you hope to see next week?  Let us know in the comments!

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