While Chucky is the focal point of the entire Child’s Play franchise, it’s the children who act as the series’ foundation. In almost every entry, Chucky harasses a young child in the hopes that he can transplant his soul into their body. However, each one he comes into contact with either runs away or responds with hostility against their tormentor. However, the brand new Chucky series looks to be changing this classic idea by introducing a new child named Jake, who may be more of a friend than a foe.
In the series, Jake is a teenager who is going through a rough patch in his life. Following the death of his mother, he retreats into himself and decompresses by working on strange doll sculptures in his spare time. However, when he faces the world, he is met with a father who treats him poorly and bullies who ridicule him. He finds Chucky at a yard sale and purchases him only to discover there’s more to the doll than meets the eye.
The trailer showcases Jake’s life being dismantled around him as Chucky begins a brand new bloody rampage. In a way, it mirrors Andy’s ordeal in the original Child’s Play trilogy, where almost everyone he meets suffers a grisly end. However, rather than fight back, Jake seems to embrace the chaos to some extent. By the end of the trailer, he alienates his friends and seems to devote even more time to Chucky, driving home the idea that they’re becoming allies.
Chucky also seems to have slight respect for Jake as most of the scenes from the trailer show him terrorizing people that hurt the kid, including his bullies and father. Considering Chucky only cares about himself, it’s hard to say that he genuinely likes Jake as a person. However, it’s a symbiotic relationship where the problems in Jake’s life go away, and Chucky gets to satisfy his urge to murder people.
Like most symbiotic relationships, there comes the point where one party is giving more than the other. By the end of the trailer, Jake looks like a shadow of his former self and seems almost exhausted by Chucky’s endless hunger for bloodshed. Eventually, the doll breaks free from Jake, with the young boy looking at a pair of adults and saying, “Chucky, he’s gone!” Whether Jake is terrified or saddened by his new friend’s abandonment remains to be seen. That said, it’s clear that the killer doll still has plans of his own.
The new Chucky series looks like a reimagining of the tropes that made the Child’s Play franchise such a success. This could even include a child ally rather than an enemy for Chucky, which he can easily use to his advantage. But if the story ends like every unlikely pairing in the films, it could mean a tragic betrayal that won’t bode well for Jake or those closest to him.
Chucky is slated to premiere Tuesday, Oct. 12 on USA and Syfy, serving as a follow-up to the 2017 film Cult of Chucky.
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