Chucky – S2 E4 – “Death on Denial”
We are back with Haunted MTL’s continuing coverage of the Chucky franchise. This week, we talk about Chucky S2 E4, “Death on Denial,” which presents a format break in the show and some of the wildest stuff seen this season.
Seriously. You’re not prepared for this week’s episode.
Chucky – S2 E4 – “Death on Denial”
Chucky, S2 E4, “Death on Denial” is a break in the established structure of the show to present a meta-humor murder-mystery farce. Plus, it opens with a talk-show-like wrap-around featuring Chucky. This episode is shockingly different for a show that has been more or less telling a fairly typically structured narrative. Right from the start, Chucky introduces the show in a faux-talk show setting, establishing it as a very special episode. Chucky directly addressing the viewers is nothing new to the franchise. Doing so directly and to such a degree shows something different is going on here.
The episode’s narrative picks back up with Tiffany/Jennifer back in Beverly Hills following her murder of Detective Sam Gavin. Shortly after, Glen and Glenda (Lachlan Watson, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) arrive for their 18th birthday (more on this at the end of the review). However, Tiffany/Jennifer’s plans for a small birthday gathering are disrupted when Glen and Glenda invite Jennifer Tilly’s real-life and reel-life friends. With this in mind, Tiffany/Jennifer hires help to guard a room in the house. However, when there is a shocking murder and everyone in the place is a suspect.
The episode’s central question is how much does anyone know about Jennifer Tilly? “Death on Denial” is a wild episode. It presents a break in the series format and swaps out the chaos of Chucky for a parlor-room murder mystery. The episode features Tiffany/Jennifer, Glen and Glenda, and real-life friends of Jennifer Tilly: Joe Pantoliano (Bound), Sutton Stracke (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), Gina Gershon (Bound), and Jennifer Tilly’s sister, Meg Tilly (Psycho II). Also, WWE Superstar Liv Morgan appears in a genre-blending Chucky-hosted wrap-around.
How Was It?
“Death on Denial” is probably the biggest, weirdest, swing-for-the-fences episode in the show so far. It even blows far past last week’s episode in that regard. If you thought a Good Chucky and a Swole Chucky were strange – an improvised murder-mystery party of a possessed actress and her real-life friends is certainly something that will catch most viewers off guard. I don’t think anyone, but Don Mancini could have directed this episode and been so successful in that regard. Everything from the act-signaling title cards to the non-linear structure to the wrap-around reflects his bold approach to the franchise in Seed of Chucky and beyond.
With that said, as fun as the episode is for someone like me who appreciates the weirdness and compartmentalizes the format break, this will be a divisive episode. Instead of continuing the threads of last week’s episode, we spend an hour at a farcical Beverly Hills birthday party that spirals out of control. We spend time with a wrestler, a reality-television star, four acclaimed actors, and three playing versions of themselves as the worst people imaginable, and it is hilarious. It’s an even campier Clue if you believe that possible.
Episode Highlights
Viewers and critics should pay extra attention to non-binary actor Lachlan Watson who steps into the roles of Glen and Glenda with confidence. The whole episode is full of Seed of Chucky references, down to eye-twitches and British accents on their part. Watson also pulls off the challenging prospect of making Glen and Glenda different characters while being part of an obvious split, unified personality. They also look great while doing it. The costume direction is fantastic and helps sell the differences in Watson’s take on the two kids.
The revelation of Nica’s long-term plan and how the fractured personality fits into the situation is also excellent, creating an explosive final 10 minutes. That 10 minutes also confirms the fate of a character who vanished in season one and opens up many narrative possibilities.
It’s hard to talk about this episode without running the risk of spoiling it, so some of these thoughts are best saved for my podcast. I wouldn’t suggest this as an episode for someone new to the franchise; it would be far too confusing. “Death on Denial” is a meta-heavy episode and every bit as ridiculous and hilarious as a “meta-heavy Chucky” episode would imply.
(5 / 5)
Chucky – S2 E4 – Kill Count and Spotlight
Three new corpses pile up in this week’s episode, bringing the season total to eight. This week we have a poisoning, a shooting, and multiple stabbing. The stabbing is probably the most fun of the three, especially given the context and enthused joy expressed by both victim and perpetrator.
Again, this is a weird episode.
Seeds of Chucky
As always, each review features some notes on references and continuity in the whole Chucky franchise.
- Glen and Glenda’s age is a little complicated. Glen, as a singular entity, was born in 1998 during the events of Bride of Chucky. Glen and Glenda are a soul split into twins birthed by Jennifer Tilly in Seed of Chucky. The Valentine/Ray/Tilly family considers 2004 to be their actual birth.
- Chucky’s “affectionate” use of “Shitface” returns, contrasting Tiffany’s iconic “Sweetface.”
- The whole episode owes a lot to the murder mystery genre, but two significant influences up front are Clue (1985) and Agatha Christie’s novels.
- Regarding Clue: characters in this Chucky whodunit have color-based outfits that evoke those of the characters in the film and board game.
- Memory issues seem to be running with split souls. Glenda mentions a nightmare about killing a blond woman. Said woman is Joan from Seed of Chucky. Meanwhile, Tiffany/Jennifer doesn’t remember details about Meg and forgets Dianne Weist’s name and calls her Dianne West.
- Tiffany/Jennifer complains about losing an oscar to Dianne Weist in reference to the 1994 film Bullets Over Broadway.
- Far too many Bound references to convey here. The entire scene with Tiffany and Gina in a darkened bedroom features images pulled nearly directly from Bound. Specifically, a shot of the lips of the two women.
- The same trophy used to bludgeon someone in this episode is the one used to bludgeon Redman in Seed of Chucky.
- This is the first episode of the series not to feature Jake, Devon, and Lexi since their introduction.
- A certain… attachment to a character may reference the Evil Dead franchise.
That is the review and recap for this week. We’re continuing to cover the show at Kids’ Stuff – A Chucky Podcast. However, unlike these written reviews, our discussion show contains plenty of spoilers. If you missed the latest Kids’ Stuff, you could listen to it wherever you get your podcasts.
We have come now to the finale of season four of The Boys. And while it didn’t have the literal blood fireworks I wanted, someone did get ripped in half in the air. So, that’s pretty close.
As a note, I will try to avoid spoilers as much as possible. This ending was a hell of a gut punch that should be experienced as blindly as possible. That being said, I will not be able to avoid spoilers and still give a full legitimate review. Proceed at your own risk.
The story
The main storyline for this episode is the attempted assassination of President-Elect Robert Singer. The Boys join forces with the Secret Service to protect him. But, as we learned last episode, Annie has been replaced with a shapeshifter. A shapeshifter that was welcome not just into Hughie’s anus, but into the protective bunker in which the President-Elect is hiding.
What worked
The first thing I want to discuss about this episode is the ending. But we need to do this carefully.
The important thing here is that the ending breaks your heart on so many levels. So many terrible things are happening to characters that it’s almost hard to keep track. And each moment is significant to each character.
I cannot give a specific example. But no matter who your favorite character is, you’re going to weep for them.
Unless your favorite character is Sage. And this is the next thing that made this episode so fantastic.
I don’t think I’m spoiling anything to say that Sage’s plans worked out exactly as she wanted them to. And she got exactly what she wanted.
What she wanted wasn’t power. It wasn’t money or fame or vengeance. It wasn’t to win the love of anyone. She just wanted to see if she could do it.
That is a terrific, terrifying motivation! Because all she wants is to play a massive game of chess with people as pieces. She doesn’t care about anyone. She just wants to see how many people she can manipulate. She just wants to set things on fire to see if she can.
Fantastic. A plus villain work.
The next thing I want to discuss is a cornerstone of the whole series.
The morality of The Boys shifts through the series. While it’s very much a battle to save the world from overpowered super monsters, it’s also a battle for the souls of our real heroes. And in that battle, there are two warring factors. We have Hughie, always trying to bring everyone up to a better level. And we have Butcher, who has no problem at all hitting rock bottom with a shovel in hand to do some more digging.
In this episode, we saw almost every member of The Boys challenged. Will they rise to their higher angels, or sink with their demons?
On a similar note, I am so glad that the writers kind of addressed my issues with Annie. They did this by having the shapeshifter get right into her face and accuse her of thinking that she’s better than everyone.
While that was devastating for the character, it was a little cathartic for those of us who felt like Annie was a little too good of a good guy.
What didn’t work
This is a small matter, but it is an issue that I want to address. After Annie finds out that Hughie slept with her doppelganger, she is furious at him.
In addition to this being unfair, it’s also a very cliche element to add. In almost every instance of a lookalike in fiction, there’s a moment where the love interest of the victim is fooled. Or almost fooled. And it’s always the same fight. It’s just played out and predictable. I’m just glad that it didn’t last very long.
Now that we’ve come to the end of the season, I can officially say that it was amazing. The story was deep and rich. The special effects were a stomach-turning good time. The character development was spot-on and satisfying. And, of course, it left me just about gagging to see what happens next. Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll have a bit of a wait. Because as of right now, the fifth season isn’t expected until 2026.
(5 / 5)
We’ve reached the second to last episode of The Boys, season four. And, as is appropriate for the penultimate episode of any show, things have to get a lot worse before they can get better.
Let’s discuss.
The story
Christmas is coming, and the whole world is getting ready. Ryan, despite being very clear that he didn’t want to appear on any TV shows or movies, has been strong-armed into participating in a Vought puppet Christmas special. He draws the line, though, when asked to sing about turning one’s parents in if they start talking about woke things.
Meanwhile, The Boys are trying to keep each other together. Butcher decides to take Sameer to the rest of the team. He also gets Frenchie out of prison, hoping they can make the Sup virus necessary to finally take down Homelander. Instead, this decision means disaster for one member of the team.
What worked
I first want to talk about Ryan’s speech near the end of the episode. Because it was exactly the moral of this whole story.
Ryan’s dad is a monster. His stepdad is also kind of a monster. But Ryan is a good kid. He cares about people, about family. And while he loves Homelander and Butcher, he doesn’t want to be like them.
Even better, this speech sounded like something a kid would say. Ryan didn’t open his mouth and start sounding like a college student all of a sudden. He sounds like a kid who misses his mom and wants to live up to the good standards she set for him. And I think that’s terrific.
Speaking of Homelander, he shot himself in the foot in this episode. I said earlier in the season that his hubris was going to be his downfall, and I was right. Without Sage, he just has the same weaknesses he’s always had. He’s going to fail because he just isn’t clever enough or patient enough to succeed.
Without Sage, I think a win is in the bag for The Boys. This isn’t to say that Homelander by himself isn’t dangerous. It’s just that he’s more like a wildfire than a controlled burn. He’s going to cause a lot of damage, but not get anything he wants out of it.
More’s the pity for him and everyone else who has to share his world.
Finally, I am thrilled with A-Train’s redemption story. I love that he wants to be a good person not to save himself, but to be a good person. His honest, pure and warm reaction to that little kid smiling at him in the last episode was heartwarming. It changed him in a moment, bringing to light a goodness that he’s been keeping under wraps for a long time.
This, along with Ryan’s courageous speech, proves once again what The Boys does so well. Yes, it’s gruesome. Yes, there’s blood and balls and batshit events. Yes, someone occasionally gets ripped in half. But there is a true human goodness in the story. One that we catch glimpses of. There are good people among the monsters. There is hope for redemption.
What didn’t work
Of course, so few things in this life are perfect, and this episode was no exception. For instance, I was irritated by the insinuation that Butcher cheated on his wife.
That just doesn’t make any sense. We’ve seen flashbacks of Billy and Becca. They were happy. He was happy. He was head over heels for her. And I don’t think it’s realistic or necessary for the character to throw in that he cheated. It does nothing to add to the story, it’s just a weird and offputting moment.
Doesn’t Butcher have enough to hate about himself? Can’t we just give him that at least he was a good husband?
Finally, I kind of hate that we ended up with Annie being caught. It’s just cliche, which is something I don’t normally say about this show. It feels lazy unless they do something very clever with it in the last episode. Which, I suppose, they might.
Next up is the season finale. And with this season being as insane as it has been, I’m expecting nothing short of bloody fireworks. And I mean literal fireworks of blood. At this point, would it surprise anyone?
(4 / 5)
Episode six of The Boys was one of the most surprising episodes of the series so far. And that is certainly saying something. Because this season has so far been bonkers.
The story
Our episode today revolves around a party at Tek Knight’s lovely mansion. Yes, it does look just like Wayne Manor.
The Boys know that Tek Knight is working with Homelander on something, but they don’t know the details. So they decide to send Hughie in to bug the mansion.
Because that’s worked so well the other two times he’s tried to hide a bug!
It should surprise no one that this time goes no better. Hughie finds himself in Tek Knight’s basement. And by that I mean his BDSM dungeon.
Meanwhile, the party upstairs is no less disturbing. Homelander and Sage are trying to convince some well-off political donors to support a cue after the election. When pressed for details on his plan, Homelander freezes. He looks to Sage for help, but she wasn’t recently shot in the head and still in the junk food stage of her healing.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, Neuman jumps in and saves the day.
What works
If I’m going to say one thing about this episode, it didn’t hold back at all. I didn’t expect them to show a character masturbating, sitting their bare behind on a cake, or spraying breastmilk into someone’s face. But every time I thought they’d cut the scene and let something be left to our imagination, they did not do that.
This is a dangerous move. Whenever you show the monster, you run the risk of them not being scary enough, or gross enough. As Stephen King says in Danse Macabre, to leave this sort of thing to the imagination if the reader makes things so much worse. So when they finally experience the monster, they might say that this isn’t so bad. It could have been so much worse.
But in this case, they managed to avoid that by making the scenes, especially the ones in Tek Knight’s dungeon, so much worse than I imagined it would be.
What doesn’t work
While this was a deeply disturbing episode in many ways, there was one really innocent and sweet moment.
And yes, I did have a problem with it.
Confronted by Firecracker, Annie decides to apologize for spreading rumors about her when they were kids. She tells her that she is genuinely sorry.
And I believe her. I don’t think Firecracker did, but I did.
So why is this an issue? Because I’m starting to think that Annie is maybe too nice. She is too good.
I know that Annie is our good guy. But every one of the other good guys has flaws. Hughie let his pride get in the way and took Temp V. MM hid himself from his daughter instead of teaching her to work through her emotions. Kimiko is far too closed off and has a hard time trusting others. Frenchie numbs himself with drugs. And well, what hasn’t Butcher done?
It is unrealistic that Annie is just so kind and so flawless. We all have shadows in our personalities. We all have weaknesses, we all mess up. We all do things we wish we could take back. The fact that Annie doesn’t seem to have anything like that is not just unrealistic. It’s infantilizing.
Give her some deep dark secrets. Give her something real to regret.
This was a shocking episode, even for someone fairly jaded like me. I wasn’t expecting the sort of weird sexual depravity, though I guess maybe I should have seen it coming. It was dark, upsetting, tense, and funny as hell. And with just two episodes left in the season, I can imagine the stakes are only going to get higher.
(4 / 5)
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