Things somehow go from bad to worse in Happy! but honestly, we wouldn’t be here if it didn’t. In this week’s episode, we get zombies, Russian Roulette and at feeble attempt at redemption on the part of Nick Sax. Let’s jump into this but be warned, there are spoilers for this episode throughout.
1. Rock Bottom
Happy has hit his bottom and is a bottom none of us will ever see. Happy is without Nick and as Hailey’s situation becomes more dire, Happy is beginning to fade. Obviously imaginary friends only exist as long as someone believes in them and between Hailey’s dire straits and Nick’s general awfulness, Happy is literally fading away. He goes to a support group for imaginary friends who talk about how they are close to fading too because their kids are too old or they’ve just stopped believing. Death for these characters is blinking out of existence unless they are literally killed and that’s what almost happens to Happy when he goes home with a 3 headed dog pal that promises him something better. This imaginary friend actually belongs to the son of Mr. Blue and the apple does not far from the tree. Happy thinks he’s found a new place to belong but it turns out that this little boy loves to torture and kill imaginary friends and we see that first hand when he makes Happy play Russian Roulette. After a completely bonkers sequence, Happy finds more friends nailed to the wall. They wait there until baby Blue decides what he wants to do to them. It’s graphic and it sort of plays out like a hyper violent Toy Story. Happy eventually gains the courage to fight back and he kills (yes, kills) his way out of this. Obviously he learned this whole thing from Nick so let’s blame him for this. Happy’s arc in this episode is one of the things that the show has had the luxury of adding and I’m really into it. I like that Happy has become an actual character and not just a marketing ploy. He does what he does in the end to defend himself but he’s still Happy. He’s still optimistic about saving Hailey and he’s still got his sense of humor. It’s really strong writing even if it’s twisted and warped.
2. Zombie Boy
Oh dear little Mikey. He’s been through a lot and most of this is blamed on Nick and the family he got born into. As the Italian witch told Mikey’s mom, he’s not entirely gone and we find out what that actually means. Nick has him and Mikey is now some kind of zombie. He’s alive (I think) but his brain is all shaken up and he keeps only saying the word blue. Nick wants the password now because with Hailey being his daughter, it’s become personal. Nick has to go figure out a plan of attack and so he leaves Mikey in a church with a very confused priest. Mikey goes to the confessional booth and ends up talking Latin in a really demonic voice and it freaks the priest out to the point that he ups and quits being a priest. Mikey wanders the streets and ends up home and on reality TV with his mom. Mikey’s whole adventure in contrast to his mom’s reality show is the funniest, most mismatched thing I think the show has done so far. It’s so bizarre and so completely insane but it works. I think though that this part of the story is the weakest so far but this episode saves it a bit.
3. Merry’s Not So Merry Christmas
Merry has had a bad few days and it gets worse when she gets home and sees Blue in her house. He tells her about her dad and threatens her again and she’s left confused about what to do next. Merry’s mom wakes up and she’s brought her her medicine, which when mixed with milk, will be a bad idea. Merry’s mom tells her more about her dad and explains that it’s time that she protect her instead of the other way around. She goes into the kitchen and collapses. Merry’s mother took too many pills, mixed it with milk and is seemingly dead. She took away the one thing Blue was holding over her daughter (her life) by killing herself. It’s extremely tragic but I’m curious to see what this causes Merry to do. She’s obviously going to go after Blue (I hope) but what I really hope is that it pushes her to be more heroic and not turn into Nick Sax. She’s so close to being irredeemable so it’d be nice to see her not become that.
Continued below4. “I’ve Got A Plan”
Hailey is definitely Nick’s daughter and shows just how much spunk and courage she actually has. Smoothie has prepped all the kids in the classroom. They’re all wearing costumes and tons of makeup and have already been “promised” to buyers. It’s really disgusting and it gets worse when Smoothie gets called and is told that one of the kids is Nick’s. He asks the kids who’s dad is a fat, stinky cop and when one girl lies, it spurns Hailey to confess because Smoothie threatens her with violence. When Smoothie leaves, Hailey stages an escape. She sees that Smoothie goes outside but when they escape, the see that it’s all a trick and more of a stage. However, that doesn’t stop her. She figures they have the numbers so they all run away and split up. I’ve discussed this before but I really like how much more Hailey has to do. She’s not just a victim here. She’s a victim but she’s a fighter and she’s got a personality. This episode tonight shows off the traits she got from her parents. Intelligence and courage from her mother and a tiny bit of recklessness from her father. It’s good and I love it.
5. Nick Goes It Alone
One of the things you’ll notice about this review and this episode is how separate everything is. Because Happy and Nick aren’t together and because Merry isn’t with Amanda now, everything is very separate. That’s why I saved Nick for last because his whole thing this episode is probably the most important. Nick spends the episode trying to figure out how to get one over on Blue and he goes back to his old poker buddy from earlier in the season to try and get some explosives. This is the most important scene of the whole damn series to me because one of the things that stories like this try to do is they try to redeem their protagonists. They refuse to just let their ugly protagonist be ugly but Happy! does a thing here that I really like. Nick goes on this whole monologue about wanting to do something good and selfless and it sounds heartfelt but his scumbag associate tells him that he’s not that. He’s a killer and a scumbag and that’s all he ever was. However, he does ultimately help him but indirectly by simply giving him explosives. The rest is up to Nick and it goes super badly. When he gets to Blue’s house, the explosives don’t work and he’s almost dead until Blue’s son comes barging into the garage. This gives Nick an opening and he fights his way out and he’s then reunited with Happy. Again, an opportunity is given to Nick and he says nice things to Happy to revitalize him because he does believe in him but the show is very careful about painting Nick in a good light. Nick is doing a good thing but he’s still the absolute worst kind of scum. I like this. It’s refreshing. It’s different.
