Review: Happy! “Pervapalozza”

What has been seen cannot be unseen.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

The Odyssey of Happy! continues, with new mysteries being revealed as Nick and pals go deeper and deeper into the incredible strangeness of this show. Nick and Meredith run into each other in their disguises and, after punching each other for a bit, realize who the other person is and regroup. Amanda, meanwhile, in Sonny’s kooky cartoon jail, is confronted by the wishies, who communicate with Sonny telepathically to tell him that Amanda is pregnant. Amanda is shocked, but Sonny is rather compassionate and gives her a vial of weird white liquid that will medicate the strange symptoms she’s been exhibiting.

Meanwhile, Happy’s fledgling romance with his Bo Peep friend continues to blossom, as she expresses her disdain for being discarded by her kid. After Happy reveals his internal doubt to her, she brushes it aside and uplifts Happy by reminding him of his success in defeating Psycho Santa. The two then share some intimate time together. Nick, back out in the regular world, tries to make amends with Hailey by taking her out to lunch but is interrupted by Smoothie, who taunts him for being a shadow of the murderous man he once was. The two of them lay out the intensity for each other, as each explains just what horrible things they would do to each other if given the chance.

After lunch, Nick and Hailey go to Nick’s mom’s house. Nick’s mom adds a whole new level of strange to the show and really helps to explain why Nick is so messed up. Nick’s mom and Hailey spend some awkward time together, and Hailey learns a little bit more about her family. Amanda, free from Sonny’s prison, then goes to a women’s health clinic to receive an abortion, but realizes it’s a shady abstinence-only place and soon departs, drinking the weird liquid that Sonny gave her to calm her nerves.

Nick, leaving Hailey with his mom, runs off to meet up with Meredith, and tells her that Smoothie is still alive, which she already knows. Nick is pissed that Meredith didn’t tell him, but she’s more concerned with the pertinent information she’s learning about Sonny Shine. Hailey soon departs Nick’s mom and meets Smoothie at the mall, where she gets her ears pierced.

Our Take:

I feel like I’m repeating myself, but Happy! really does only get weirder and weirder as time goes on. Part of me is fascinated by it, but part of me also wonders if it’s constant desire to push the strangeness envelope is starting to turn me off. There’s psychopop, and there’s pure insanity, and Happy! is straddling that line, if not crossing it. The show is straying from what made it so good in its first season, namely the fun ultraviolence, and is opting more for the gross-out factor, which I’m really starting to grow tired of. Morbid fascination is fine, but these latest episodes almost have me dreading their viewing because so much of them is an endurance test for disgust. Both this season and this episode take a direction that is detrimental to what this show should be, and needs to correct it’s course as soon as possible.

There is good in this episode, though, namely in the interactions between Nick and Smoothie. Nick is a character who needs a big baddie to be in the same room with him so he can have someone to play off of and threaten. Smoothie is basically his arch-nemesis at this point, and I really like the battle they’re both having over Hailey’s soul. Smoothie represents a darker side to Nick that he has to face, and that grounded conflict is far more compelling than Happy having imaginary friend sex.

The interactions with Nick’s mom are pretty funny, I will concede. I’m not certain, but it seems as if Nick’s mom is also played by Chris Meloni in drag, which adds an element of farce to her that is chuckle-worthy. The cartoony element to Happy! is still around, but I think is being underutilized in the show. Happy! is best when it feels like a comic book in motion, but an over-reliance on dialogue scenes and gross sequences tends to stand in contrast to that.

As always, providing an objective review for Happy! proves to be a challenge unlike any other, because this show is unlike any other. Overall, though, for all the little bits that I like about this episode, there are some big problems that are preventing it from being given high marks by me. It feels as if this show is running its tires and not pushing the plot in an interesting direction. Instead of a roller coaster ride all the way through, it feels like it’s stopping and starting suddenly, not giving me what I want to see, but just treading water enough that the show is watchable enough.