SPOILERS for Happy! in this review.
Happy! did something that few shows often achieve: a stellar first season. Most series take a while to find their groove or stumble right out the gate. Not Happy!. From the first episode, it was a confident and remarkable slice of WTF fun. And considering all the insanity it presented in its first batch of eight episodes, it’s astonishing how well it all came together in the season finale.
Saint Nick vs. Santa
The driving plot of the season has been Nick Sax’s (Christopher Meloni) quest to find Hailey (Bryce Lorenzo), the daughter he never knew he had. She was kidnapped by a lunatic in a Santa outfit (Joseph D. Reitman) who planned to give her a lobotomy in order to keep her mind young forever.
Once Happy (Patton Oswalt) realized that they could get the location of Very Bad Santa by interrogating his imaginary friend, we got treated to a reenactment of the Mr. Blonde torture scene from Reservoir Dogs. But, Happy! put its own delightfully silly spin on it by turning it into tickle torture.
The ensuing battle between Nick and Very Bad Santa was equal parts hilarious and horrifying. So, it was an episode of Happy!. The big highlights were Nick getting caught in two bear traps, Happy leading a battalion of imaginary friends, Nick’s badass delivery of the line, “Hocus pocus, motherf–ker,” and the dispatching of Very Bad Santa by a gunshot to the head. Which, by the way, led to this wonderfully trippy image:
The Villains of Season 2
With Very Bad Santa out of the way, the episode also gave us some more focus on the players who will be causing Nick Sax trouble in Season 2. The episode opened with an audition tape that featured a psychotic performance by Louis Shineberg a.k.a. Sonny Shine (Christopher Fitzgerald), and what else we see of him in the episode implies that he is a force to be reckoned with. He imprisons Hailey’s mom, Amanda (Medina Senghore), but releases her to Detective Meredith McCarthy (Lili Mirojnick) as long as his secrets are kept safe. Expect him to be a big source of trouble next season.
The really big setup for Season 2 comes during a post-credits surprise. Blue (Ritchie Coster) has been imprisoned for his involvement in child trafficking. But, he receives a visit from Mikey (Gus Halper) that gets very, very weird. Mikey was resurrected from certain death and seems to be possessed by … something? A demon? Or something even worse? Blue’s ominous final line is a great way to send us into the next story arc: “I’m hungry.” Creepy!
The Best Damn Show on Television
We’ve been singing Happy!‘s praises for a while now. The pilot blew us away at New York Comic Con and the following episodes only solidified our love. We don’t get shows like Happy! very often on TV, so it’s important to help spread the word. This first season is so perfect that it’s downright magical. Everything works in its own viciously kooky way without sacrificing any genuine emotion or character.
Everyone involved in this show should be immensely proud and we should consider ourselves lucky to have it. Season 2 can’t get here soon enough.
