Chucky Review: "He Is Risen Indeed"

Today is a huge day for us Chucky fans: it's the anniversary of the very film that started it all, Child's Play. On November 9, 1988, the original Child's Play film hit theaters, with the cast including Alex Vincent as six-year-old Andy Barclay, Catherine Hicks (later of 7th Heaven fame) as Andy's mother, Karen Barclay, Chris Sarandon as detective Mike Norris, and of course, Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray, the infamous Lakeshore Strangler who is gunned down by Mike and transfers his soul into a Good Guy doll, Chucky. 34 years and six sequels later, we have this TV series, more specifically, this very episode, "He Is Risen Indeed."

After a flashback to the season opener, where Andy sends the truck full of Chucky dolls over a cliff, we then pick up from where last week's episode left off: Andy being held captive by "The Colonel" in a cabin, where Dr. Mixter, Chucky's longtime therapist, enters. Of course, Mixter's in on this whole thing, but we all sensed this, and while Mixter warns The Colonel about the demise of the dolls, The Colonel proclaims that he's the only worthy Chucky remaining, even insulting "Chucky Prime" (the original soul that entered Nica Pierce). Mixter further establishes her bloodthirsty and sadistic persona with a plea to kill the protagonists herself, only for The Colonel to refuse, after which the pair left the cabin and headed off to Incarnate Lord.

Devon and Lexy freed Andy, who is now sporting long hair and a beard, while back at the school, Sister Ruth's worshipping "Swole Chucky," and Father Bryce has instituted a lockdown due to Devon and Lexy's departure, though they do return with Andy. Mixter returns as well, with Jake seeing her with The Colonel and realizing her true alliance. She then approaches Devon and Lexy and voiced her glee over Chucky's plan to kill them.

Meanwhile, we see Kyle, Glenda, and Nica for the first time since their escape in "Death on Denial," with Glenda having the nightmare again before receiving a text from Glen: a photo of the doll they shared in Seed of Chucky. They later join Kyle and Nica, with the latter revealing that she and Chucky had an agreement to separate, after which Kyle (who revealed that she lost her right ear in the explosion) spoke to Chucky, who claimed that he killed Andy, a claim that Kyle disbelieved. Chucky disarmed Kyle and gave the gun to Glenda, while ordering them to kill Kyle, only for Glenda to ask Kyle to bring Nica back, while all three see a news report about Jennifer Tilly--who is wanted for murder!

The Colonel makes his impact during a confrontation with Swole Chucky, who finds himself addicted to the communion wafers. It ends up being his downfall, as The Colonel had laced them with arsenic, though upon seeing her "Lord" deceased, Sister Ruth swears that she will avenge him. Oh boy. The kids, along with Good Chucky, prepare to face The Colonel, but the confrontation becomes anti-climactic, as after uttering a series of different catchphrases, including William Shatner's famous "KHAN!!!" line (damn Gen-Zers didn't understand it, SMH), The Colonel falls dead, having been stabbed with a pair of scissors by Andy, who attempts to go after Good Chucky.

At that moment, the evil Mixter appears with gun in hand, locking Andy and the kids in the room before taking Good Chucky and lambasting him for his genial personality, while revealing that she plans on having "Chucky Prime" enter Good Chucky. She later reveals that she first met Chucky when he was just seven, and upon seeing his childlike innocence, Mixter used her methods to squash anything good about him and force him to focus on his sinister qualities. Good Chucky frees himself after Mixter accidentally shoots Sister Catherine, and we see him at the tower, where he's fretting to Nadine about how he still has evil inside of him. Nadine promises to be his "fairy godmother," but at that moment, Good Chucky suddenly sends Nadine out the window and to her demise, and it's followed by the doll suddenly asking what he had done!

You know, I figured that "Good Chucky" wouldn't last too long under that personality, but I'm still reeling off Nadine being killed off, oh man! Also, we received more confirmation of how deep Dr. Mixter is with Chucky. Apparently, we have Mixter to thank for how Chucky turned out. Again, this doesn't surprise me. As soon as I saw her with that bride doll, I figured Mixter was all in on this twisted plan. As for Sister Ruth, well, we should definitely see how deep down the proverbial rabbit hole she ends up going in the final weeks of the season.

It was nice to see Andy and Kyle in the same episode for the first time this season, but they have yet to know about each other's whereabouts, though Kyle is very certain that Andy's alive. I also loved seeing Kyle, Glenda, and Nica, because that alliance had been intriguing me ever since it was formed in the end of "Death on Denial."

Episode 2.06, "He Is Risen Indeed," aired on USA and SyFy on November 9, 2022. This episode definitely set the stage for the final two episodes of the season, and I'm still hoping we see some surprise appearances from characters from any of the sequels.

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