The Tragic and Twisted Life and Times of Nica Pierce

This year is a big year for the Chucky franchise. In November, the franchise will celebrate 35 years, while the season premiere of the TV series is on the horizon. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the film, Curse of Chucky, which was released during a big milestone year for the franchise, and was also the the sixth film in the franchise. Curse followed 1998's Bride and 2004's Seed, and after those two instilled loads of humor into the franchise, Curse brought it back to straight horror.

The film introduced us to a character who became the new regular central protagonist, Nica Pierce, a paraplegic young woman who was introduced as living with her mother, Sarah Pierce. It's during the opening scenes that a strange package is delivered to the Pierce home, and surprise, surprise, it's a Good Guy doll. This is followed by Nica finding her mother in a pool of blood, and after Sarah's death, Nica's older sister, Barb, along with her husband Ian and their daughter Alice, move in with Nica, though Barb has her own plans that involve putting her sister in an assisted living facility, as well as her revealed mistress--the family's nanny, Jill (10 years and I still find that last tidbit so sexy).

So to get down to the true meat and potatoes of this, Alice bonds with Chucky, and it's followed by Chucky offing nearly the entire family, save for Nica, who Chucky tells his history to. And I'm not just talking about during the franchise's event, I'm also talking about why he targeted the Pierce family. So as it turned out, Chucky had a bit of a thing for Sarah Pierce, and I have to say this, I beamed when we actually received flashbacks of Brad Dourif on screen as Charles Lee Ray--the first time we actually see him in the franchise since the beginning of the first film. So Chucky introduces himself to the family, and it's followed by Chucky abducting Sarah after he kills her husband. Chucky was set on picking Barb up from school, but at that moment, he's found by the cops. Chucky lashed out at Sarah, and as part of his anger, he stabs Sarah's stomach--her pregnant stomach.

That's right. At the time Sarah was held prisoner by Chucky, she was pregnant with Nica. That attack was the reason why Nica was born paraplegic. The scene reveals that all of this happened on the evening of November 9, 1988--the date that the first film came out. Chucky ran out, headed to the toy store, got killed, and...well, you know the rest. Sarah's murder was Chucky enacting a quarter-century-long revenge on the woman he blamed for his original demise; though, eight years later, he would learn who really was responsible for that--more on that later. Nica's showdown with Chucky only resulted in her being caught holding the bloody knife by police, and she ended up going down for killing her family.

The seventh film, Cult of Chucky, came out four years after Curse, and showed Nica in a psychiatric hospital, as (of course) her true story about Chucky isn't believed. In addition, we learned that Nica's niece, Alice (the only other relative who survived the rampage) actually died at some point between Curse and Cult. On a brighter note, Cult marked the return of the OG central character, Andy Barclay, who actually returned via a post-credits cameo in Curse, where he shoots Chucky, though his head is kept alive in the seventh film.

Now, I want to get to the reason why I chose today to write about Nica Pierce. It's simple. Cult of Chucky was released six years ago today--October 3, 2017. Which means that six years ago today, this happened:

So Nica learns the truth about Alice's death; Curse ended with Chucky attempting to possess Alice, but Cult revealed that he was successful, and in her possessed form, Alice killed multiple people before being killed by an intended victim who fought back. One of the Chucky dolls (there were three in this scene) revealed the truth to Nica, and it's followed by one of the most epic moments in the franchise's history: Chucky possessed Nica. This is followed by Nica actually standing up from her wheelchair, and brutally crushing her sicko therapist's face with her new red pumps. The possessed and maniacal Nica later cackles as a Chucky doll kills one of the patients, and she taunts Andy before trapping him in the hospital and leaving with Tiffany. My thoughts on this later, I promise.

Nica would return four years later in the Chucky TV series, which featured a new group of young protagonists, as well as a few returning characters from the films--namely Andy and Kyle (the latter having returned in a post-credits cameo in Cult). When we first see Nica, she's actually herself, as Devon suddenly find her, but she later reveals her possessed persona to Devon, complete with that sinister cackle. Nica's debut came in the episode, "Little Little Lies," which revealed that Tiffany had, well, maintained a bond with Nica after Chucky possessed her. One of Nica's Season 1 episodes was the finale, and she bore witness to a quite a shocking confession.

I mentioned this earlier. Chucky blamed Sarah Pierce for his original demise all those years ago, but the woman to blame was actually Tiffany. As it turned out, Tiffany called the cops on Chucky on that fated day, and that drove Chucky furious with anger. He vowed to end Tiffany right then and there, and that leads to the one moment that I absolutely hated from that finale. So we see the epilogue regarding the characters, and when we get to Nica, it's just terrible. The scene shows Nica without her arms and legs, revealing that Tiffany dismembered Nica because she feared Chucky's wrath following her confession. Nica returned in Season 2, still in Tiffany's house as a prisoner, though the premiere revealed that Nica was in league with Chucky when it came to taking down Tiffany. She did escape in the final moments of episode 2.04, "Death in Denial," though her attempt to eliminate Tiffany later in the season ended with Nica accidentally shooting Tiffany's offspring, Glen.

To say that Nica Pierce is cursed would be an understatement. Her life was ruined by Chucky just weeks before she entered this world. In the decade that has passed since Chucky instilled himself into Nica's life, Nica lost her entire family at the hands of Chucky, and sadly, that included Alice, who became possessed by Chucky and ended up killed as a result. She was set up as a family murderess and institutionalized, and later became a vessel for Chucky, and of course, she had her arms and legs removed by Tiffany. Seriously, I hated that. Nica had already suffered way more than enough entering the series. What happened to her in that first season finale was just too much.

Since the fall of 2013, Nica Pierce has been played by Fiona Dourif; yes, the daughter of the voice of Chucky himself, Brad Dourif, joined the party herself and has been part of this big phenomenon for a decade now. Fiona has been shining as Nica with every appearance she's made, and that includes her greatest claim to fame in Cult.

As I said, Cult of Chucky was released on October 3, 2017, and I remember that date because that year's MLB postseason kicked off with the American League's Wild Card Game between the Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees. However, as a Yankees fan, my focus that night was the game, which the Yankees won, so I watched Cult on the following day after watching the National League's Wild Card Game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies. Even after a decade, I'm still beaming over Chucky possessing Nica, it was just epic. I (and others who saw this) was treated to seeing Nica being deranged, maniacal, and bloodthirsty, as well as the climactic moment where possessed Nica traps Andy in the hospital. The capture is from that scene, and it was Fiona at her best while acting out Nica's possessed heel persona, with her crazed mannerisms, and of course, her maniacal cackle.

It made perfect sense that Nica would be a vessel, and that brings me to an interview that Brad and Fiona Dourif participated in regarding the film. It was a spoiler interview I watched after the film, and one statement from Fiona stays with me. Regarding Nica's possession, Fiona stated that she and her father "have the same cackle," which is so true. I truly believe that Don Mancini (the genius behind Chucky), a number of the writers, and especially Brad himself, wanted Fiona to take that mantel and take on the possessed Chucky role. Fiona has done very well acting out Chucky's insanity for five years, until Nica was finally free from Chucky's soul late in the TV series' second season.

We should see Nica back somehow in Season 3; remember, she had maintained her vow to take down Tiffany in the Season 2 finale. In addition to playing Nica, Fiona Dourif also played Charles Lee Ray in 1980s flashbacks on the TV series, and her other credits include playing Good Leader Tavis on The Purge TV series, as well as the Rat Woman in 2020's The Stand reboot. She has also appeared in episodes of Law & Order: SVU, True Blood, and Rizzoli & Isles, and she was even in a Lifetime movie--appearing in 2016's Her Last Will.

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