Chucky Review: "The Sinners Are Much More Fun"

I apologize for being late with this; I actually had to watch this later than usual because on the same night that this episode aired, the Colorado Avalanche kicked off their season as the defending Stanley Cup Champions, and it included the raising of the championship banner, which was a very emotional moment for this longtime Nordiques/Avalanche fan. This episode was a good one (no surprise) and it began with the second season's first appearance of Tiffany Valentine, as well as Nica Pierce.

Tiffany is continuing to pose as her real-life portrayer, Jennifer Tilly, and as we diehard Chucky fans know, Tiffany has been occupying Jennifer's body (and yes, I admit to saying "Jennifer's body" because I'm a fan of the Megan Fox horror film under that same title) since the final, climactic moments of 2004's Seed of Chucky. She wakes up to a see a severed Tiffany doll head (a remnant from the previous episode), and afterwards, Tiffany wakes up Nica, with the revelation that a full year has passed since she held Nica prisoner after severing all of her limbs--it really kills me to mention that.

Nica's rightful lashing out is met with Tiffany explaining that she severed Chucky's limbs (oh boy), and it's followed by Tiffany cutting her hand and using her blood to talk to Chucky, who--through Nica--cackles and reminds Tiffany that he is planning to enact a hideous revenge against not only her, but also Andy, Kyle, and the trio of protagonists, as he still remembers what Tiffany revealed to him in the first season finale.

As for our trio of protagonists, Jake, Devon, and Lexy officially join the Catholic School of the Incarnate Lord (yeah, that name isn't ominous at all), and deal with all of the flaws that come with it. For one, as Jake and Devon mention, the immense and barely surreptitious homophobia from the school's headmaster, Father Bryce, who is played by--yes--Devon Sawa. Of course, Sawa pulled double duty during Season One, playing twin brother Lucas (Jake's father, who Chucky kills in the premiere) and Logan Wheeler (Jake's uncle and Junior's father, who the latter kills late in the same season. Now as much as I already despise this character, I couldn't help but mark out when he said "Idle hands are the Devil's playthings," a very familiar saying. The reason: Sawa starred in the underrated horror comedy, Idle Hands, which also starred Seth Green, Vivica A. Fox, and Jessica Alba, and in the film, the right hand of Sawa's main character is possessed by the Devil.

Of course, as we recall in the previous episode, a Good Guy doll was delivered to the school, and in this episode, Chucky made his first impression on Sister Elizabeth, as his very appearance caused Sister Elizabeth to suffer a fatal heart attack. Chucky voicing his amazement over this occurrence absolutely amused me, as he did this before in Child's Play 3. We also see Lexy meet her new roommate, Nadine, who is an admitted kleptomaniac, and also encounters her former bully, Trevor Cain, who (facetiously) apologizes for his actions against her, and claimed that she was placed in the school so Trevor can make things right with her.

Jake blames himself for everything that has happened, and takes an opportunity to kill Chucky inside Sister Elizabeth's office, only for Father Bryce to catch him and order him to find a passage that "speaks to him" before locking him in the office. Chucky later emerges and climbs up the chimney, but not before taking a picture of Jake. We later see Chucky taking a photo of Lexy, who catches the doll in the act, with Nadine seeing Chucky as well. Jake and Devon catch Chucky in the bathroom, but just as the latter is about to kill him, Jake stops him, as he realizes that this Chucky doll is an agent, not an assassin, and he was sent to the school for reasons that they need to figure out.

As for Tiffany, we see her and Nica watching Liar Liar, the 1997 Jim Carrey comedy that Tilly co-starred in a year before she did Bride of Chucky. As Nica revealed, Tiffany went through all of Tilly's divorce money from Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, and she would need a job, though Tiffany refused, saying that Nica (a quadruple amputee, mind you) would try to escape. Tiffany later placed a ball gag on Nica and answered the front gate, only to see a detective, Sam Gavin, who asked her about Nica's whereabouts, after mentioning the murders that she (while possessed in 2017's Cult of Chucky) committed in a mental hospital.

Gavin returns again as Tiffany is preparing a birthday cake for Glen and Glenda (more on them later), with Tiffany hiding Nica before answering the door. While Gavin and Tiffany converse, which ends with Tiffany killing Gavin and voicing her sadism in the process, we get quite an epic reveal: Chucky and Nica are working together against Tiffany. We see Nica and Chucky's souls conversing with the former sensing that Tiffany knows something. Though Nica despises the concept of even tolerating Chucky, she knows it has to be done because Tiffany needs to get what coming to her. Speaking of Tiffany, right after she kills Gavin, we see Glen and Glenda make their lavish entrance, and upon realizing that her children were arriving, Tiffany hides Gavin's body and then greets her two children.

Episode 2.02, "The Sinners Are Much More Fun," aired on USA and SyFy on October 12, 2022. Without question, Fiona Dourif stole the entire episode, and I was so happy that I didn't have to wait too long for her first appearance of the second season. However, it really does suck to see Nica in this situation. Nica's entire life was nothing but misfortune and horrors caused (directly or otherwise) by Chucky, who plagued Nica even before she came into the world (he caused her to be born paraplegic). As 2013's Curse of Chucky revealed, Chucky had pined for Nica's mother, Sarah Pierce for a long time, even going as far as abducting her and holding her captive as recently as that fateful night in 1988. The events of Curse saw Chucky kill Sarah and the rest of Nica's family, with Nica being left to be accused as a murderess before being committed, and Cult saw Chucky finally possess Nica.

Nica's limbs being severed by Tiffany in the first season finale was an ultimate downer for her (understatement of the year, I know), but this development from Nica is quite interesting. The Nica/Chucky alliance brings a warped meaning to the classic saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," because there is definitely no friendship here. Despite this, it's been five years since Nica has been possessed by Chucky. That's enough time for Nica, as outlandish as it may sound, to actually embrace having Chucky's damned soul inside of her. This development should be interesting as this season progresses.

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