The inaugural season of “Chucky” packed multiple storylines, twists, and surprise reveals into just eight episodes. Killer Good Guy doll Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) returned to his hometown to begin a new reign of slaughter and Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) came to his aid, while Nica (Fiona Dourif) fought for control of her own body. Then there were flashbacks to Charles Lee Ray’s life milestones, an introduction to Hackensack’s residents, and the return of Andy (Alex Vincent) and Kyle (Christine Elise).
While Chucky’s plan started to come together by the season’s end, including the surprising return of the Tiffany doll, some lingering questions and loose ends remain. Where does the budding love triangle between Chucky, Tiffany, and Nica leave poor Nica now that she’s been, well, clipped? How exactly does the soul splintering among Good Guy dolls work?
Bloody Disgusting went to series creator Don Mancini for answers.
Chucky’s Army
CHUCKY — “An Affair to Dismember” Episode 108 — Pictured in this screengrab: Chucky — (Photo by: SYFY/USA Network)
Just as Andy and Kyle think they’ve culled the multiple versions of Chucky down to one last Good Guy doll, our favorite pint-sized murderer reveals he’s been busy building up another army. One that seems new to the world.
When asked how exactly the Chucky horde operates, Mancini answered, “It’s definitely not a hive mind. I considered both avenues when I started putting this together. It started in Cult of Chucky because we did three Chuckys there or actually four if you count the head that Andy had. It’s something that I wanted to do for a while. Once you get into your fourth decade in a franchise, it’s trying to forge ahead into unseen, unexplored territory. And the idea of multiple Chucky dolls always appealed to me.
“First, of course, just as a visual, it’s irresistible, but then conceptually, there are so many things you can do with it. I can’t talk too much about that because I don’t want to spoil fun coming in season two, but insofar as it impacted what we’ve already done in season one. Yeah, it was important that they not have a hive mind because I think it’s more interesting to do this and, again, turn Brad on subtle variations of the Chucky persona. On a lot of fronts, that’s something we were doing a lot of in this season of Chucky, which is dissecting the persona of Chucky and the persona of Charles Lee Ray. We have many different versions of that in the season and many different actors playing Charles Lee Ray or Chucky.”
It wasn’t just Mancini shaping how the multiple Chuckys behaved, but Dourif himself. Mancini explained, “One of the things that I know was important to Brad was that they seem sort of like fresh out of the egg. There’s a kind of innocence about them. We played a little bit with that in Cult, but I think we went further with it in this one, and I think he did an amazing job.“
The Chucky/Nica/Tiffany Love Triangle
CHUCKY — “Little Little Lies” Episode 105 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Jennifer Tilly as Tiffany, Fiona Dourif as Nica Pierce — (Photo by: SYFY)
One of the most exciting evolutions in Tiffany and Chucky’s fraught relationship this season was how Tiffany realized she might find a healthier partner in poor Nica, creating one warped love triangle. Mancini shared how that naturally evolved, “The love triangle was always really interesting for us to dig into, and the concept of having Nica’s body be the boxing ring for this dual between these two different personalities, these two souls- Chucky’s and Nica’s. I knew that would be interesting, but then factoring Tiffany into it. It just seemed like a fun twist, the idea that Tiffany would end up preferring Nica. It made sense because over the course of the franchise up to this point, that relationship with Chucky has always been very fraught, and he’s always been very abusive, and it’s very codependent. It ultimately always ends up with one of them killing the other.
“As absurd as that all is, it is grounded in reality. I think it seemed logical that Tiffany would suddenly see this new port in the storm. It’s like, wait a minute. Here’s someone because Nica herself, of course, is a kind spirit. And that’s one of the aspects of Tiffany that I’ve always loved writing, and Jennifer plays it so well, which is that she’s a demented, psychotic murderess, but she also has this weirdly gentle romantic side.”
Nica’s Future
CHUCKY — “Cape Queer” Episode 106 — Pictured in this screengrab: Fiona Dourif as Nica Pierce — (Photo by: SYFY/USA Network)
Of course, Tiffany’s psychotic side won out by season’s end, with the murderess deciding the best way to keep Nica for herself was to amputate all four limbs. Where does that leave Nica for season two?
Mancini teases, “It’s really fun to write for an actor and a character that you know well and to tailor it to their person and their particular strengths. Fiona is such a versatile actress. I just thought, wow, what new challenge could I give her? This being the horror genre, and, given that we are talking about Tiffany in her demented way. I think it’s believable that Tiffany would do such a thing to keep it. She clipped the butterfly’s wings to keep it, and she thinks that it’s for the best because we are meant to be together.
“But it’s not the end of Nica’s story by any means. And I’ve always had a plan for this. And I think that people will hopefully be really gratified when they see what lies in store for Nica.“
The Odds of Returning Characters Like Glenda
CHUCKY — “An Affair to Dismember” Episode 108 — Pictured in this screengrab: Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay — (Photo by: SYFY/USA Network)
Season one of “Chucky” carefully layered in legacy characters and marked the surprise return of Tiffany in doll form by the finale. That opens the door for more franchise players to return in the future, especially Glenda, who was referenced by dad Chucky in an early episode. Will we see them in season two?
“I love those characters, and you probably haven’t seen the last of them. Stay tuned.”
“Chucky” season one is available to stream now on Peacock.