How much does a pretty great ending make up for an otherwise okay episode? I suppose the fact that everything leading up to Chucky maniacally laughing as flames crept over a house of partying teenagers was fairly standard probably helped it feel so unexpected. Still, that doesn’t retroactively make this my favorite one yet.

Previously On Chucky.

This one being such a Lexy-heavy episode automatically knee-capped it a bit for me, honestly. For one thing, at no point did I actually think Jake was going to kill her so a bunch of the proceedings felt a bit like treading water. It’s not that I *want* this troubled 14 year old to become a murderer, but the show has been pushing this “Kill Lexy” button since the premiere so at some point it just becomes a put up or shut up situation. 

Any scene Lexy’s in where she isn’t being stabbed is disappointing as I simply don’t care about her frustrations with life. Being a rich, vicious asshole who looks down on everyone and expects the world to bend to her will isn’t interesting or endearing. Even when asking Jake for a favor she’s a raging piece of shit who seems to think that apologizing, if you could call it that (which I wouldn’t), means she’s owed something in return.

All this stuff with Lexy’s little sister is probably supposed to humanize her, or something, but I really couldn’t care less about this garbage person or her dickhead parents–who are also schmucks. 

Thankfully, based on the whole end sequence where Oliver is murdered, Lexy is attacked, and her house ignites into a massive fire I would think the next episode has plenty to deal with aside from wasting time on what makes Lexy tick. She’s obviously not dead, as we didn’t see it happen, but fingers crossed almost being murdered by a killer doll changes her a little.

As for other happenings, Devon also gets a bit more shading to him. He and Jake still have their little flirtation going on (up to and including a shoulder touch that obviously flusters Jake, in a good way), but we learn he’s secretly recording Jake for some reason and that his detective mom has no clue how to deal with a teenager. I assume the secret recordings are somehow podcast related. As for his mom, well, good luck with trying to police your teenage son’s tone and dictate who he can and cannot be friends with–that always works, right?

On the flashback side of things, we learn that little boy Charles murdered his mother and got some killer advice from the guy who stabbed his father to death. While I’m not entirely sold on the purpose of these flashbacks, at least they have some energy to them and don’t take up a bunch of time. Also, I like that Charles was simply always a demented person–not that something happened to him to inspire murderous actions. 

This next thing isn’t terribly important, but considering Don Mancini is a Hannibal fan (he also worked on S3) I choose to believe that Chucky sneaking up behind Lexy in socks so she doesn’t hear him is a fun little shout out to that series. Oh, and the opening narration stopped. Yay!

So, I assume that Chucky has eight or ten episodes to work with, based on how TV seasons work nowadays, and considering how wonderfully this episode ends I sure hope there’s only five more. Why? Only five left would simply mean less filler and that we’ll get around to incorporating Andy, Tiffany, Nica, and who knows who else from the film series sooner rather than later.

As it stands, though, I’m still enjoying Chucky and very much look forward to whatever’s coming next–especially after this episode’s flame-filled finale.

6 out of 10 Maniacal Laughs Amongst The Flames