Review: Happy “Year of the Horse”

Its funny because Happy is also a horse.

Overview(Spoilers Below)

If you recall from last week, we had just learned the shocking revelation that the Creepy Santa (Who had just beat Nick senseless with the business end of a crowbar) can see Happy, Nick’s imaginary friend. We pick up right there with Happy in Creepy Santa’s clutches, who proceeds to swallow Happy whole as he explains that only people who believe in him can see and touch him. Naturally, Creepy Santa isn’t exactly right in the head, so he can see Happy in all his imaginaryness just fine. Creepy Santa is about to finish Nick off, when he suddenly pukes up Happy at the last moment, just in time for the sound of police sirens to scare Creepy Santa off. The two find a fortune cookie fortune in Creepy Santa’s spittle, which takes them to the local fortune cookie factory to find out where it came from.

Meanwhile, we spend some time exploring the family life of Mr. Blue, the mobster who placed a hit on Nick Sax. Through the lens of some kind of mobster wife reality TV show, “Secrets of my Sussex,” (Haha) we’re introduced to Mr. Blue’s sister, Isabella, the mother of the Scaramucci boys who Nick dispatched in episode one. She wants answers as to why her sons are dead, and she places the blame firmly on Mr. Blue for not taking care of them. Then, over dinner, Blue proceeds to lay down a verbal slaughtering of Isabella, claiming that God took her sons as vengeance for being in this stupid reality TV show that Mr. Blue has nothing but contempt for. Blue, prompted by a mysterious car visiting his residence, meets with a man dressed in a beetle costume who appears to be his boss; a character so menacing, Mr. Blue is visibly terrified to be talking to him. The beetle man informs Blue he isn’t happy with him, and that the Creepy Santa (Under his employ) cant be trusted with the “Precious cargo” of the kidnapped kids.

Meredith and Amanda’s investigation continues, as they continue to hear the sob stories of families with kidnapped kids. With Meredith getting increasingly concerned about her mother’s safety, the two nearly have a falling out, until by happenstance they come across the guy delivering the calling cards to the kidnap victim’s families. They give him a Nick-esque shakedown; sticking his hands through the spokes of his motorcycle and threatening to pull the throttle. He relents and tells them the location of the sender of the calling cards.

Back to Nick and Happy; an insightful conversation with the fortune cookie factory owner takes them to none other than Chinatown, a place Nick would rather not be. They find the Chinese restaurant that is the cookie’s origin and meet the store’s delivery boy who knows the place Creepy Santa is hiding out since he buys Chinese in bulk from theme every couple of weeks. But just as our heroes are about to catch a break, some Chinatown goons kill the delivery boy in an attempt on Nick’s life to get that sweet reward money. One street fight later (Complete with some fun kung fu) and Nick gets away, minus one delivery boy.

Isabella takes a small aside to consult with an old Italian woman who can supposedly speak with the dead and find out who killed her sons. This leads to the revelation that not all of them are dead, and Isabella goes to the morgue where their bodies are at to find that one of them isn’t there. Mikey is gone, and no one seems to know where he went.

All seems lost for Nick and Happy, who have no idea where to find Creepy Santa until they see the sign of the hotel where Creepy Santa’s dad hung himself. They realize that must be the place, and take off to find him. Nick and Meredith run into each other in Creepy Santa’s warehouse after Meredith stabs him in the leg by mistake with a pair of scissors. However, its too late; all the kids have been taken from their boxes, and the episode ends with Creepy Santa driving down an unknown street with all the kids tied up in the back of his creepy van. Destination: unknown.

Our Take:

It seems like this show gets better with each episode, and as this mystery starts to reveal itself, I’m happy to say that I don’t see this trend ending. It balances a good mix of comedy between Happy and Nick, who get lots of good buddy cop scenes, and a deliciously brutal fight scene with the Chinatown goons. Its entertaining, exciting, and unique. A quality episode if there ever was one.