It’s time for a prequel this week on Chucky. “Jennifer’s Body” brought us back into the past to find out how everything led to The White House. Any burning questions that left us hanging after Chucky Season 2 were answered. We got the whereabouts of Jennifer Tilly/Tiffany Valentine, why Caroline wasn’t with Chucky, and why Chucky set his sights on the First Family. Expect a huge exposition dump along the way; “Jennifer’s Body” was more about information than pushing the momentum forward. It’s a nice break from the murder spree of the main mission.
The biggest news at the top of the episode was that Tiffany survived Chucky’s surprise resurrection. Was anyone else ecstatic too that she’s still in the Chucky franchise? Jennifer Tilly (the real actress) does an incredible job portraying the murderous Tiffany Valentine and Tiffany’s eccentric interpretation of actress Jennifer Tilly. It’s not a Child’s Play/Chucky property without Tiffany & Jennifer Tilly. And Tiffany’s eventual capture by the police was so perfectly campy and hilarious! Tiffany frantically screaming in front of a crowd made the takedown extra fun as it captured her desperation and never being one to have a subtle moment.
At Tiffany’s trial, the insanity defense could’ve worked in other cases, but “Jennifer Tilly” had racked up too high of a body count. She admitted to too many murders; no one would’ve believed she was trapped in her character persona throughout every kill that much. And the kidnapping and disappearance of Caroline only added to her criminal behavior — there was still a missing child out there. All that matters is that we still have Tiffany/Jennifer around to potentially pop up again in the future. If this is how her character gets written out, at least we got some closure to what happened to her.
Tiffany’s other satisfying finish is her confrontation with Nica. Their complex relationship/animosity has been a major thread throughout the Chucky series, so for Nica to get the last laugh, it was a fitting end to their story. If no one else had been around in the courtroom, Nica would have for sure killed Tiffany. I loved her smile after hearing Tiffany was sentenced to death and confronting her in the room; she got her big moment and made it known to everyone. If only Nica was able to stop Chucky, she would’ve been riding high on taking down her two biggest enemies.
Speaking of Chucky, his new curse puts a lot of things into perspective. For instance, if he’s now aging rapidly and Dambala has abandoned him, could this mean this might be the final season of Chucky? The doctor said Chucky only had one life yet, so if the kids succeed in stopping him, Chucky will be gone permanently. No magical switches, no transferring into another doll, no returning from the dead — this would be it. His failed experiment transferring into Caroline’s body proved that he can’t move into another human ever again. This season could be the big final battle that will confirm Chucky’s fate once and for all. (Or, if the ratings do really well, Chucky will no doubt come back. The story will find a way.)
Will the ritual at The White House prove successful? Chucky seemed very positive that he needed to please Dambala with multiple murders in an evil place. However, his murder spree at The Amityville Horror house failed to reverse the curse, so he could be running on wrong information. It wouldn’t be surprising if, at the end of the season, it’s revealed that Dambala has abandoned him completely or if he read the interpretation wrong. Chucky has amassed decades of murders and victims; for him to be abandoned, this move goes deeper than him simply getting killed continuously.
Beyond the main story, Chucky’s training of Caroline gave us plenty of horror. For any horror movie fans out there, The Amityville Horror location was a sweet nod to the genre and a great moment for fans. Chucky delivered all the bloody carnage in an iconic place, and Caroline learned a lesson or two about how it’s done. Even his murder of the cab driver and his dream of killing Andy were both fun kills that added to the body count. Chucky will always find a way to include a bloody killing scene that feels natural and over-the-top.
“Jennifer’s Body” clued us into the past before we could move forward in the story together. Any questions we had after watching the season premiere were answered as to why things were the way they were. And it gave the series a ticking countdown for Chucky’s big mission if he wants to avoid death. This episode was a nice break from the main story, but it slowed the momentum down for us to catch up.
Chucky airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on USA & SYFY.
REVIEW RATING
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'Chucky' 3x03 - 6/10
6/10
