You know what they say – you can’t keep a good guy down. Chucky returns with the second half of its third season – a barnstormer of chaos from start to finish. It’s the end of the road for everyone’s favorite killer doll. But if you think he’s going down without a fight, think again. The second half of Chucky‘s third season takes a hard turn toward the paranormal, luxuriating in gothic imagery, haunted houses, and a whole lot of supernatural hijinx. It’s exactly as over-the-top as you’d expect a season of Chucky to be. Unfortunately, however, it comes with a general downturn in narrative coherence. But at this point, that’s par for the course for Chucky. At its heart, Chucky‘s third season delivers an enjoyably baffling thrill ride from start to finish.
The End of the Road
The second half of Chucky‘s third season picks up shortly after the events of its first and America is reeling after the attack at the president’s Halloween party. President Collins (Devon Sawa) and his son, Henry (Callum Vinson), see ghosts all around the White House while The First Lady (Lara Jean Chorostecki) desperately tries to hold down the fort. Meanwhile, Jake (Zackary Arthur), Devon (Björgvin Arnarson), and Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind) are still searching for Lexy’s sister, Caroline (Carina London Battrick), who’s teamed up with Chucky (Brad Dourif) in his latest scheme. Chucky, however, finds himself in a bit of a pickle – he’s dying. But he’s got one last plan up his sleeve – and it’s an explosive one. Can Jake, Devon, and Lexy unravel Chucky’s endgame before it’s too late? Or is the fate of the entire planet in the hands of a dying doll?
These episodes are absolute chaos from start to finish. Gone are the first half of the season’s Agatha Christie vibes. In their place is a mixture of Amityville Horror-style paranormal activity and over-the-top chaos. This is Chucky at its most unhinged – for better or worse. You’ve got ghosts, walls gushing blood, a Beetlejuice-ian afterlife, and all manner of over-the-top mayhem. At times, it all feels a bit too much, like the show’s barely holding all of these disparate elements together. But then creator Don Mancini and the rest of the writers somehow tie everything together. It’s not the most satisfying of conclusions, but there’s a sense of “let’s try everything we can” that permeates these episodes and gives them a healthy dose of energy.

A Reliance on Over-The-Top Spectacle Instead of Character Exploration
Mancini and the rest of the writers are clearly relishing the opportunity to imbue the Chucky franchise with all kinds of horror tropes, and their joy is palpable. But these final four episodes of Chucky‘s third season feel all over the place. At times, they hew a bit too close to Hannibal’s third season, foregoing narrative coherence for visual inventiveness. And that’s such a shame because when the show slows down enough to dig into its characters’ ongoing emotional arcs, there’s a lot of wealth to be mined here – particularly in Jake, Devon, and Lexy’s ongoing struggle to cope with their respective traumas. The final couple of episodes comes the closest to exploring the depths of that trauma but the show never manages to focus on its characters the way it did in its first two seasons.
Instead, the final half of Chucky‘s third season prioritizes its visual creativity and ongoing penchant for over-the-top mayhem. And sure, that’s always been the bread and butter of the Chucky franchise – especially in the post-Child’s Play days. But when comparing these four episodes to the show’s first two seasons, it feels like something’s gotten lost in the mix. Gone are the days when Jake, Devon, and Lexy’s relationship felt like the show’s heart. Instead, these characters all feel like they’re just going through the motions. Things keep happening to them, and they continue to react to those things, but the heart’s missing. The actors – especially Arthur and Arnarson – find plenty of quiet moments to give their characters some much-needed weight. But it’s all undercut by the show’s reliance on its gags. After three seasons, it just feels like Chucky doesn’t have much to say about these characters anymore.

The End of Chucky?
There’s a sense of finality to these final four episodes of Chucky‘s third season. It doesn’t necessarily feel like Mancini’s ready to bring Chucky’s story to an ending or anything. Rather, it feels like this iteration of the franchise is nearing its natural conclusion. Perhaps there’s only so much you can do with this format, only so many ways you can keep upping the ante for Chucky before it all feels a bit too much. And honestly, it’s a problem Chucky‘s third season suffers from. The plots are often a bit hard to follow, careening from one point to another without any real sense of coherence. And for the likes of Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) and Nica (Fiona Dourif), there’s just a palpable sense of been there, done that. As a series, Chucky might need a reset. And, in fairness, these final episodes certainly throw open the door for such a reset. They’re good, but there’s a sense they could always be greater than they are.

Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, the second half of Chucky‘s third season delivers a chaotic, over-the-top conclusion to Chucky‘s biggest, baddest season yet. Crammed with haunted houses, paranormal mayhem, and a bloodbath worthy of The Shining, Chucky is at its boldest visually here. Unfortunately, visual creativity often takes the focus over narrative coherence or character development. If you’ve been watching the series for the way it explores its characters’ ongoing trauma, then you might want to adjust your expectations some. These episodes are more Bride of Chucky than they are Curse of Chucky. And there’s a joy to be had there, for sure. These episodes are never anything less than utterly thrilling. It’s just a shame to see a series that used to do such outstanding character work lose sight of what made it so special in the first place.
New episodes of Chucky air Wednesdays at 10 pm on USA and SYFY.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XgLod06tMk]
There's a sense of finality to the second half of Chucky's third season. And, in that regard, the show succeeds in bringing a lot of its ongoing storylines to some kind of a close. But it frequently loses itself to its more over-the-top excesses, frequently foregoing narrative coherence for visual creativity. It's never anything less than enjoyable, but it also feels all over the place.
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GVN Rating 7.5
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