What sounds like an introduction to the life-changing guru advice for happiness is the second episode of the pretty bizarre comic adaption „Happy!“, which started already with a fulminant pilot episode. „What Smiles Are for“ is the second episode and takes it a bit slower and brings us the series‘ characters nearer.
The pilot ended with the embassy from Happy to Nick that the kidnapped Hailey is actually his daughter, and a subsequent car crash. Now the second episode begins with an interesting sequence of Nick processing this fact. He finds himself sitting in an episode of the Jerry Springer Show, where Jerry Springer actually tells us how this is just a metaphor for the situation he got in. Just having had a near-death-experience and not accepting his paternity, Jerry asks Nick „what he’s running away from“. And so he runs, until the end of the episode, where he finds himself back sitting there, maybe even with a changed mind?
So the Jerry Springer Show wraps this episode up, but what happens in between? Well, after he wakes up from his first excursion to the Jerry Springer Show, Nick somehow ends up playing some poker with some members of the maccaroni gang. Which is actually a great idea, considering his invisible donkeycorn friend Happy, who can take a look at some fellow hands. I liked how Happy felt such guilt after cheating, and felt like transforming into a more filthy creature after teaming up with Nick. But all this needs to be done on behalf of Haileys rescue!
We also get a look at Hailey and other children, who got kidnapped by Bad Santa. While the picture of kidnapped children is heartbreakingly terrifying, though I found Hailey putting so much hope and faith in „Happy“ searching for a way to get her out of there, almost uplifting. This series rarely attempts to be very serious, but it still keeps the curiosity level up. I guess a creepy ass Santa dude kidnapping children to keep them children – he literally wants them to not grow up – , mashes in the perfect possible way some weird seriousness into this bizarre show. A bizarre show needs a bizarre antagonist.
Then there is some kind of beef going on between Nicks ex-girlfriend (local officer) and his ex-wife (mother of his lost daughter) which results in them teaming up to find Hailey.
As is wrote before the episode concludes with Nick again in the Jerry Springer Show. While the show and its audience completely escalate, Nick calmly walks out, finally finding himself woke, accepting his fate (?), and teaming up with Happy to continue their mission on finding Hailey.
The pilot was action-filled and funny and stuff, but I didn’t really know if for this alone this was worth watching, but since I am – after the second one – a little more committed to the characters, I guess I have to continue watching.
The soundtrack theme of the series still is pretty christmas-ish, which is great, but I don’t know if it is the right time already for such kind of christmas vibes. What am I tellin‘, there is no wrong time for creepy Santa dudes, city streets covered in snow and cloudy grey skies. The combination of the violent slaughter of villains with christmas music jingling in the background is uh funny. Do you want to build a snowmaaaan?
swagkultur 