Spoilers for Chucky episode 4, “Just Let Go,” which aired on Syfy Nov. 2, follow.
Going into “Just Let Go,” I was concerned Chucky was going to repeat the dynamic of its first two episodes: a wildly eventful mini slasher movie followed by a slower episode to unpack what just happened and fill in gaps in the lore. Last week’s chaotic cliffhanger certainly primed this week’s episode to be another breather… which, given the fact that a kid gets their ventilator unplugged by Chucky this week, was a figurative and literal misprojection on my part. Even as the characters regroup in the hospital, “Just Let Go” wastes no time getting its foot back on the gas, forcing Jake and Lexy to confront their transgressions against each other as Chucky’s motivations become clearer.
With Chucky’s (Brad Dourif) attack on Lexy’s (Alyvia Alyn Lind) party nearly burning the Cross home to the ground, most of the characters find themselves at Hackensack’s hospital, with Devon (Björgvin Arnarson) and Junior (Teo Briones) among several kids being treated for smoke inhalation. Jake (Zackary Arthur) and Devon spend most of the episode dealing with Chucky in the present and past, respectively, so their time together is brief, but impactful. Their mutual crush is an earnest bright spot in a show which so gleefully celebrates mayhem.
Junior’s interaction with dad Logan (Devon Sawa) is a lot less sweet. Just like his dearly departed twin, Luke, Logan has a dark side which comes to the surface as he practically coerces Junior into saying he likes cross-country and doesn’t do it because he’s forced. It’s sinister work from Sawa that sets up Logan as a more villainous figure going forward.
“Just Let Go” finally forces Jake and Lexy to work together as they attempt to put a stop to Chucky. Even in the midst of a truce, the teens have serious problems with one another and Arthur and Lind’s performances keep that disdain just under the surface of their teamwork. Even though some of their arguments veer hard into melodrama, Arthur and Lind’s chemistry smooths out a lot of those rough patches and elevates the clunkier dialogue. Impressive, considering Lexy totally has a point about how messed up it is that Jake kinda sorta sent Chucky her way.
Even with the chaos going on in the modern day, Chucky still finds time for another vignette from Charles Lee Ray’s childhood, which shades in the killer’s attempts to mentor Jake nicely. Devon’s research reveals details of Charles’ stay in an orphanage after the man who invaded his home murdered his father, inspiring him to do the same to his mother. That Charles wanted to pay forward that spark of inspiration from a young age is a smart way to add to Chucky’s backstory in a way that’s still relevant to Jake in the present.
While just that’s enough to make these scenes worthwhile, the identity of the boy Charles takes under his wing will delight longtime Child’s Play fans in a way that’s unobtrusive for newcomers. But “Just Let Go” does cut corners as Devon researches Charles Lee Ray’s early life. Google as a vehicle for exposition is never a satisfying way to keep a story rolling, and basic floating text headlines around Devon’s head only get worse when images of soon-to-return Child’s Play alumna — images that are obviously promo images from previous films — are none-too-subtly left on-screen for longer stretches of time, each in turn captioned blandly as being a “known accomplice” and a “escaped psychiatric patient.”
Chucky — Two-Faced by the fire at the Cross house — spends much of the episode in the shadows, adding tension into an already hostile atmosphere. This week’s showstopper kill, the insufferable Detective Peyton, sets a new bar for Chucky going forward, and deserves a place in the upper echelon of Child’s Play deaths. Start with Chucky managing to sever Peyton’s spinal cord by throwing a scalpel, pepper in Brad Dourif at his pithy best, cap it off with a hilariously inefficient murder weapon: that’s a textbook piece of camp slasher gold.
That energy’s present throughout the episode. As the bad blood between Jake and Lexy boils over and Lexy slips over a bannister, Jake catches her, while a knife-waving Chucky below deviously tries to convince Jake to “just let go.” We all know Jake’s no killer, and as he exclaims it himself, the drama gives way to the farcical competition of what’s funnier: that Lexy’s only three feet off the ground or that Chucky still can’t reach her with his knife. Blending horror and comedy is no easy feat and, with little surprise given its pedigree, Chucky’s tone is a consistent strong suit.