Hold onto your dicks, because there’s nothing that can prepare you for the second season of Brian Taylor’s insanely and uncompromisingly weird HAPPY! At the end of season one, Christopher Meloni’s Nick Sax was reunited with his daughter and ex-wife, trying to grasp onto what little of a semi-normal family life he may or may not have left. His imaginary friend Happy said goodbye to his connection with Hailey, but decided to stick around beside Nick who was still able to see the little guy. Whereas the first season was the absolutely demolition of Christmas, season two is the dismantling and resurrection of a much sexier and cooler EASTER! If you weren’t sure about that, it only takes a few minutes into the second season premiere to witness a twisted leather clad murder Bunny strapping bombs to nuns while they hunt for life-saving eggs. There may not be a more disturbing and wonderful season premiere that matches the chaos of HAPPY! in all of 2019.
If you thought the concept of imaginary friends existing alongside humans in the world of HAPPY! was strange, then get ready for demonic possession, fleshy monsters that look like Patrick from Spongebob via Rick Baker and hospital murder orgies. The list goes on and on, including taser dance fights, unicorn orgasms and a healthy unexpected dose of Jeff Goldblum in the finale. I don’t know if Grant Morrison ever expected his comic would evolve into this beautiful monster but thanks to Taylor’s “no fucks given” vision and Christopher Meloni’s unhinged leading performance, HAPPY! has become the most original TV series on the air because it doesn’t limit itself to any genre in particular. The only genre that HAPPY! can be classified as, would be “fucking awesome” – and nothing else. There’s a healthy dose of action in every episode and laughs up the ass thanks to brilliant supporting performances by Patton Oswalt’s titular character and Ritchie Coster’s enigmatic mastermind mustache twirling evil genius. Christopher Fitzgerald’s Sonny Shine is killer but holy shit Coster came out swinging this season and delivered one of the best TV big bads in a very long time.
Which brings me to Patrick Fischler. Spoiler alert – he didn’t die in season one. Sorry – not sorry, so let’s talk about how legendary Fischler’s performance as the torturer/assassin Smoothie was this season. Physical alteration aside with the creepy, ever glitching red eye he now has since he took a bullet to the face, Fischler is a full-on compelling psycho serial killer with a backstory that I genuinely cared about. The man is delivering his career-best work here and his scenes with Hailey (Bryce Lorenzo) are among some of the best acted sequences you’ll see this year. Fischler has always been a wonderful supporting actor but after this performance he deserves to be the lead in far more productions.
Despite such a convoluted and seemingly disjointed story which looks like it mashes up sci-fi with fantasy, HAPPY! will indeed reveal most of its main mysteries as the season veers to it’s unexpected and satisfying conclusion. Confused about the demonic possession storyline and how it relates to Sonny Shine’s dastardly plans to make Easter great again? You’ll figure that all out in due time, so if you’re confused as Hell, calm the shit down and just enjoy the ride.
HAPPY! season 2 is crude, outrageous and above all else – entertaining from beginning to end. If you’re easily offended, don’t worry – you’ll be in tears by the time Meloni is birthing himself from the ass of a dead monster behind the scenes of a kids television show. Season one was the redemption of Nick Sax the cop turned hitman while season two is his ultimate downfall as he tries to save what little of a family he has left. Amongst all the scenes where people’s heads are cranked and torn from their torsos, there’s also a lot of heart underneath all that crazy shit and I appreciate that. Praise be to SyFy for letting Brian Taylor and company tear as much shit up as they wanted and high fives all around to a team that never played it safe or conventional.
Rating: [star rating=”4.5″]