Brad Dourif reprises his role as the infamous Chucky in Don Mancini’s new horror television series “Chucky,” offering a modern take on the antagonist of the Child’s Play slasher film franchise. Serving as a sequel to “Cult of Chucky,” the seventh film in the franchise, the series reintroduces the Good Guy doll’s history, diving deep into his life before he used the voodoo ritual to transfer his soul into the doll.
The show sees Chucky torment Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), an outcast middle-schooler who unfortunately finds Chucky at a yard sale. Macini plays with modernity in “Chucky,” shedding light on bullying, sexuality, parental abuse and mental health. With the first two episodes, “Death by Misadventure” and “Give Me Something Good to Eat,” available to stream on the Syfy app, the USA app and Hulu, “Chucky” is shown in a new light. Rather than murder the entire Wheeler family, including Jake, Chucky remarkably attempts to befriend him and only kill those who prevent him from being his true and happy self.
The story follows Jake through his life in the small suburban town of Hackensack, New Jersey, where he is not only tormented by Chucky, but is equally plagued by his father’s (Devon Sawa) abuse, betrayal from his cousin Junior (Teo Briones) and constant bullying from Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind), Junior’s girlfriend. It’s Jake’s vulnerability that truly reels Chucky in; he uses Jake’s flaws in an attempt to manipulate him into killing alongside him.
While the murders seem ordinary due to the fact that it’s in the Good Guy doll’s nature to end lives, Mancini pursues a relatively new take for his story. Rather than reheat the franchise’s typical storyline — an evil and vicious doll who kills because he enjoys the pain it causes — “Chucky” suggests that the doll sees a bit of himself in Jake, explaining his constant need to protect Jake from harm and teach him how to stick up for himself. Or maybe he simply enjoys hurting people and is using Jake as a means to justify killing more innocent people. It also nosedives directly into the dolls origin story, reeling in fans of the franchise with a more detailed look into Charles Lee Ray’s childhood and his odd behavior.
During a TCA panel interview for the new series, Mancini unpackaged the reasoning behind bringing the story of Chucky to television and emphasized that the Good Guy doll will in fact stay true to his style in the show, while including other key elements from the movies.
“Exploring Charles Lee Ray’s origins has been something that the fans have wanted to see and have been asking for literally for decades now,” Mancini said.
The first episode “Death by Misadventure” premiered on Oct. 12, quickly attracting fans by getting straight to the point and straight to the killing. Jake is a doll-obsessed middle schooler who struggles with his sexuality and expresses himself through the artwork and sculptures he creates with body parts from various dolls he finds at yard sales. Upset and haunted by his wife’s death, Mr. Wheeler indulges in alcoholism, taking his anger out on his son, and can’t seem to accept that Jake is queer. Chucky witnesses the constant aggression taken out on Jake and within his first week at the Wheeler household, he electrocutes Mr. Wheeler while he’s checking the power breaker in the basement. By the conclusion of the first episode viewers become hooked, but not because of its familiarity. It is mainly due to Mancini implementing elements of relatability for younger audiences, while highlighting the key components that made the films so watchable.
The second episode, “Give Me Something Good to Eat,” stays on the same path while accentuating the differences between the series and the film franchise. The main difference being that Chucky cares, or so we think. Other than pushing Junior’s live-in nanny to her death, the doll goes after those who make Jake’s life miserable, with Lexy front and center. It is also interesting to note that “Chucky” uncovers the doll’s own opinion on the topic of sexuality. At the end of the episode, Chucky has a heart-to-heart with Jake in an effort to win him over. Basically, he wants Jake to become a self-obsessed psycho killer as well, but only to get rid of the people who make his life miserable. During this conversation Chucky also reveals that he has a gender fluid child, insinuating that he may be a murderer, but he isn’t a complete monster.
Even with only two episodes out, “Chucky” is already popular amongst horror fans and those obsessed with the chaos and violence that lurks in the shadows of the notorious Lee Ray who embodies the Good Guy doll. Viewers can continue to indulge in “Chucky” every Tuesday at 10p.m PT on either SyFy, USA Network or on Hulu depending on viewers subscription.
McKenzie Boney is an Entertainment Staff Writer. She can be reached at mboney@uci.edu.
