TV
Return to “The Twilight Zone” With Eleven First-Look Images from Season Two
The 10-episode second season of CBS All Access’ “The Twilight Zone” is headed our way this summer, with episodes directed by the filmmakers behind Spring, Sweetheart, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and Gretel & Hansel. Those and other episodes are previewed this week with 11-first look images, which you’ll find below.
Executive producers Jordan Peele and Simon Kinberg’s modern re-imagining of the classic brings the original series’ legacy of socially conscious storytelling to new audiences, exploring the human condition and holding a lens up to the culture of our times. The series’ second season will use introspection and the exploration of self to usher viewers into a familiar dimension.
Peele will return as the host, joining a stellar guest cast, including Morena Baccarin, Kylie Bunbury, Jenna Elfman, Sky Ferreira, Tavi Gevinson, Topher Grace, Tony Hale, Gillian Jacobs, David Krumholtz, Thomas Lennon, Sophia Macy, Natalie Martinez, Joel McHale, Chris Meloni, Gretchen Mol, Paula Newsome, Jurnee Smollett, Billy Porter, Jimmi Simpson, Daniel Sunjata, Damon Wayans Jr., and more.
Season two cast and episode titles, in no particular order, include:
Episode: “8”
Starring (previously announced) Joel McHale (“Community,” “Stargirl”) and Brandon Jay McLaren (“UnREAL,” “Graceland”)
Written by Glen Morgan
Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
Episode: “A Small Town”
Starring Damon Wayans Jr. (“Happy Endings,” “Let’s Be Cops”), David Krumholtz (“The Deuce,” “Evel”), Natalie Martinez (“Reminiscence,” “The I-Land”), and Paula Newsome (“Barry,” “Chicago Med”)
Written by Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due
Directed by Alonso Alvarez-Barreda
Episode: “Try, Try”
Starring Topher Grace (“Blackkklansman,” “Black Mirror”) and Kylie Bunbury (“When They See Us,” “Pitch”)
Written by Alex Rubens
Directed by Jennifer McGowan
Episode: “You Might Also Like”
Starring Gretchen Mol (“Boardwalk Empire,” “Manchester by the Sea”) and Greta Lee (“Russian Doll,” “High Maintenance”)
Written and Directed by Osgood Perkins
Episode: “Ovation”
Starring Jurnee Smollett-Bell (“Birds of Prey,” “Lovecraft Country”), Tawny Newsome (“Space Force,” “Lower Decks”), Sky Ferreira (“Baby Driver,” “Twin Peaks”), Paul F. Tompkins (“BoJack Horseman,” “Comedy Bang! Bang!”), and Thomas Lennon (“Reno 911!” “Night at the Museum” franchise)
Written by Emily C. Chang and Sara Amini
Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour
Episode: “Downtime”
Starring Morena Baccarin (the “Deadpool” franchise, “Homeland”), Colman Domingo (“If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Fear the Walking Dead”) and Tony Hale (“Veep,” “Toy Story 4”)
Written by Jordan Peele
Directed by JD Dillard
Episode: “The Who of You”
Starring Ethan Embry (“Grace and Frankie,” “Blindspotting”), Daniel Sunjata (“Graceland,” “Rescue Me”), and Billy Porter (“Pose,” “Like a Boss”)
Written by Win Rosenfeld
Directed by Peter Atencio
Episode: “A Human Face”
Starring Jenna Elfman (“Fear the Walking Dead,” “Dharma & Greg”), Chris Meloni (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “42”), and Tavi Gevinson (“Person to Person,” “Enough Said”)
Written by Alex Rubens
Directed by Christina Choe
Episode: “Among The Untrodden”
Introducing Abbie Hern and Sophia Macy
Written by Heather Anne Campbell
Directed by Tayarisha Poe
Episode: “Meet in the Middle”
Starring Jimmi Simpson (“Westworld,” “Black Mirror: USS Callister”) and Gillian Jacobs (“Community,” “Love”)
Written by Emily C. Chang and Sara Amini
Directed by Mathias Herndl
Reviews
“Chucky” Season 3: Episode 7 Review – The Show’s Bloodiest Episode to Date!
Not even death can slow Chucky in “There Will Be Blood,” the penultimate episode of “Chucky” Season 3. With the killer receiving a mortal blow in the last episode, Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) can now take full advantage of the White House’s bizarre supernatural purgatory, leaving him free to continue his current reign of terror as a ghost. While that spells trouble for Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), Devon (Bjorgvin Arnarson), and Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind), it makes for an outrageously satisfying bloodbath heading into next week’s finale.
“There Will Be Blood” covers a lot of ground in short order, with Charles Lee Ray confronting his maker over his failures before he can continue his current path of destruction. Lexy, Jake, and Devon continue their desperate bid to find Lexy’s sister, which means seeking answers from the afterlife. They’re in luck, considering Warren Pryce (Gil Bellows) enlists the help of parapsychologists to solve the White House’s pesky paranormal problem. Of course, Warren also has unfinished business with the surviving First Family members, including the President’s assigned body double, Randall Jenkins (Devon Sawa). Then there’s Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly), who’s feeling the immense weight of her looming execution.
Arguably, the most impressive aspect of “Chucky” is how series creator Don Mancini and his fantastic team of writers consistently swing for the fences. That constant “anything goes” spirit pervades the entire season, but especially this episode. Lexy’s new beau, Grant (Jackson Kelly), exemplifies this; he’s refreshingly quick to accept even the most outlandish concepts – namely, the White House as a paranormal hub and that his little brother’s doll happens to be inhabited by a serial killer.
But it’s also in the way that “There Will Be Blood” goes for broke in ensuring it’s the bloodiest episode of the series to date. Considering how over-the-top and grisly Chucky’s kills can be, that’s saying a lot. Mancini and crew pay tribute to The Shining in inspired ways, and that only hints at a fraction of the bloodletting in this week’s new episode.
“Chucky” can get away with splattering an insane amount of blood on the small screen because it’s counterbalanced with a wry sense of humor and campy narrative turns that are just as endearing and fun as the SFX. Moreover, it’s the fantastic cast that sells it all. In an episode where Brad Dourif makes a rare appearance on screen, cutting loose and having a blast in Chucky’s incorporeal form, his mischievous turn is matched by Tiffany facing her own mortality and Nica Pierce’s (Fiona Dourif) emotionally charged confrontation with her former captor.
There’s also Devon Sawa, who amusingly continues to land in Chucky’s crosshairs no matter the character. Season 3 began with Sawa as the deeply haunted but kind President Collins, and Sawa upstages himself as the unflappably upbeat and eager-to-please doppelganger Randall Jenkins. That this episode gives Sawa plenty to do on the horror front while playing his most likable character yet on the series makes for one of the episode’s bigger surprises.
The penultimate episode of “Chucky” Season 3 unleashes an epic bloodbath. It delivers scares, gore, and franchise fan service in spades, anchored by an appropriate scene-chewing turn by Dourif. That alone makes this episode a series highlight. But the episode also neatly ties together its characters and plot threads to pave the way for the finale. No matter how this season wraps up, it’s been an absolute pleasure watching Chucky destroy the White House from the inside.
“Chucky” Season 3: Part 2 airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on USA & SYFY.
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