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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Child’s Play franchise creator Don Mancini’s Chucky pilot proved a success last week. This week’s episode follows in the aftermath of our human protagonist being taken in by his relatives. The series’ second episode is titled “Give Me Something Good to Eat”. Executive producer Harley Peyton and Mancini serve as the writers of the episode. Meanwhile, Dermott Downs (Doom Patrol) serves as the director.
In this review, I will be discussing Chucky‘s second episode. There will be spoilers to follow, as the title of this article suggests. Please read ahead at your own discretion, or forever be doomed with revelations.
Plot Summary
Halloween 1965
The episode begins with a flashback of young Charles Lee Ray (David Kohlsmith) at home on Halloween night. In his bag of candy, he finds a razor blade lodged into an apple. Hesitant at first, he bits into it.
Morning of Halloween – Present Day
According to Devon Evans (Björgvin Arnarson)’s “Hackenslash” podcast, Hackensack’s Halloween is not just known for its celebration of costumes. He says that “Halloween also means bloodshed and butchery”.
At school, Oliver Hayden (Avery Esteves) invites Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) to his Halloween party, which is full of “costumes, Coronas, and ‘candy'”. Lexy Cross (Alyvia Alyn Lind) teases her boyfriend Junior Wheeler (Teo Briones) with her costume. Evans expresses his condolences for the death of Jake’s father, Lucas (also Sawa). In fact, he says he and his mother, Detective Evans (Rachelle Casseus), haven’t been close since his father’s death.
Day of Halloween – Present Day
Meanwhile, the Wheelers’ housekeeper, Annie (Erica Wood) is cleaning Jake’s bedroom. Prohibited from being taken to school is the Chucky doll, who watches the woman’s movements. A glass vase crashes onto the floor, and she cleans up the mess. She cleans Chucky’s face after seeing a drop of what looks to be blood on it.
In the kitchen, Annie checks the dishwasher, which has knives pointing upwards. Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) pushes the housekeeper towards the knives, just in time for Junior and Jake to arrive home. Jake offers Junior popsicles from the refrigerator. However, Junior berates him for trying to get close with him as family. They find Annie’s dead body and call 911.
Detectives Evans and Detective Peyton (Travis Milne) question Bree Wheeler (Lexa Doig) and her husband Logan Wheeler (Devon Sawa). Bree tells them that Annie lived in the south part of town and had no next of kin. Peyton says this is the second freak accident to have occurred in less than a week.
In his bedroom, Jake asks Chucky if he killed Annie. The doll lies and says he did not commit the murder, that he could have killed anybody inside the house within the past week. Jake refuses to believe this, as he is no child. Upon reading the boy’s journal, Chucky says he has “a queer kid” who is “genderfluid”.
Night of Halloween – Present Day
Later that night, Junior overhears his parents talking about having second thoughts about taking in his cousin. Logan states, “[Jake]’s not a violent kid. He’s just traumatized”. Junior sneaks into Jake’s room and opens his computer to find that his cousin is seemingly stalking Lexy’s social media page. He then tells Jake to stay away from Lexy. Although, right after he leaves the room, he listens through the door; Jake is speaking to Chucky. Junior hears his cousin getting hit in the bedroom.
Lexy’s sister Caroline (Carina London Battrick) is drawing a picture of Chucky using eidetic memory. Her mother Michelle Cross (Barbara Alyn Woods) and her father (Michael Therriault) tell her to take her trick-or-treating. However, Lexy has already made plans. Meanwhile, Junior dresses up as an athlete and takes an Uber to the Halloween party. Jake dresses up as a “victim of circumstances” but is reluctant to join his cousin at the party. He leaves the house to save Lexy after realizing Chucky is gone.
Chucky is directed to the party by a woman handing out candy, Gladys Kravitz (Jamillah Ross). He gives her a green apple; although, later she reports to Detective Evans that a small red-haired person in Good Guy overalls and tennis shoes put a razor blade into her apple.
The Halloween Party – Present Day
Junior finds Lexy, who tells him she is creeped out by the Chucky doll. He says he does, too. The two teenagers kiss on the bed. Meanwhile, Oliver and other kids lock Jake and Devon in a closet. Devon asks Jake what he is worried about but nothing is said.
Chucky plays a violent video game in the basement with Caroline. He tells her that killing is meant to be “good, clean fun for the whole family” in which you could kill a housekeeper, a babysitter, or even a relative. Soon, he tries to kill Lexy and Junior from under the bed but fails to do so.
Out of the closet come Jake and Devon, who see Lexy dressed as Jake’s dying father from the previous week. This triggers his traumatic memory of him in the basement. Humiliated, Jake wants to exact revenge. In the Haydens’ basement, however, Chucky nearly kills Lexy. Jake saves her just in time for Junior and Devon to come down the stairs and for Chucky to revert to his dormant doll state.
At home, Chucky reminds Jake that he is his only friend. He must “man the fuck up” and choose a side of either morality or immorality. The doll offers Jake a knife, which the boy takes in his own hand.
Cast of Chucky
Amanda Cheung plays an older girl at the party, while Lucas Misaljevic and Jaden Kwan play party kids.
Tony Gardner, Peter Chevako, Erik Beck, Pamela Iveta, Steve Newburn, and Gord Robertson act as puppeteers.
Crew of Chucky
Introduced in this episode is Ken Ramos as the episode’s editor. Joining him, we have Nick Zigler as the executive story editor as well as Sarah Acosta as the story editor. Thom Newell serves as the assistant editor for the episode.
Halloween Kills
“Give Me Something Good to Eat” seems innocuous as a title. Below the surface, however, it has a lot to consume from the inside. There is no doubt that razor blades can be hidden in candy, so for something like an apple to be given as a treat is a trick in itself. The writers would also be remiss if they didn’t include such a thing in a Halloween-themed episode centered on a slasher horror character, so I am glad that they did. In the same way, Chucky wearing a Hello Kitty mask is hilarious on the surface but somewhat terrific. No one would ever think that something good for you (or to you) turns out to be the opposite.
This episode of Chucky makes an allusion to John Carpenter’s Halloween films when Chucky uses his killer rhetoric to persuade Caroline into possibly killing her family. If the marketing team creating a commercial of Chucky crossing paths with Michael Myers wasn’t enough, here we are. I mean, “babysitter” and “sister” in the same sentence? This cannot be a coincidence! In fact, I really loved such rhetoric in this episode, especially when the doll compares the world of horror to the Super Bowl. Chucky says, “[Y]ou can’t just sit in the stands. We all gotta get out there and get in the game”.
This week’s kill – the only one in that matter – is brutal. I’m not sure if all U.S. American households wash their knives this way, so I can’t judge for sure if the logic is present.
I also love Hoult’s cinematography and Ashton’s costume designs.
Performances and Character Developments
The juxtaposition between Jake and Junior continues to work wonders. To add, Chucky alluding to his child Glen/Glenda from Seed of Chucky is a great moment for fans. Viewers get to see the disparity in dualities: heterosexual and homosexual, male and female, good and bad, alive and dead, etc.
Junior asks Lexy about her costume to a point where he really wants to know what it is. Lexy tells him that he is not in control of what she wears and that she does not need his approval, either. Junior is a rather curious individual, and I don’t think he comes off as a threat. Sure, Briones’s character is an asshole, but there are no threats of any kind made just yet. Lexy, on the other hand, is pure evil. Only the worst of children would ever think of mocking the death of another’s parent. In this regard, Alyvia Alyn Lind performs well as someone who would be prey to the doll. She proves a great threat to Chucky, who is just as evil as (if not more than) she.
I also like Sawa’s deliverance as Logan in this episode, especially when the character asks about what goes on in teenagers’ minds. This holds psychological meaning, in both the horrific and scientific definitions of the term. It’s poignant yet frightening. This question bears a lot of weight and is something we need to take with us into the future.
I also like the development of Battrick’s character, Caroline Cross. It seems like she might play a key role in the series (or franchise) moving forward.
Final Thoughts
To repeat my point from earlier, Chucky‘s rhetoric is praiseworthy. He truly convinces Jake that “I’m not a monster … You and me, we only kill people who have it coming”. He uses Jake’s father as an example that “some people deserve to die”. Although, you can never trust a supernaturally-possessed children’s doll to advise you on the philosophies of humanity. By Michel Foucault’s definition of the abnormal human aka the three figures that make up the “monster”, this checks all the boxes!
For what they’re worth, the narratives found in this episode of Don Mancini’s Chucky are memorable and hide the appearance of true monstrosity. Not only that, but the intro/opening title is just as great as the first!
Chucky is on SYFY and USA Network!
Have you seen this second episode yet? If you have, what are your thoughts on it? Let us know! For more adaptation, horror, and television-related news and reviews, give The Cinema Spot a follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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