Review: Happy! “Tallahassee”

Nick Sax is doing great things for the Hawaiian shirt.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

It’s Nick’s day with Hailey, and he awakens from an organ-stealing nightmare to find her and her mother, Amanda waiting for him at his front door. With Happy’s help, Nick has to somehow find his way into being a wholesome dad for a day. He takes Hailey to a build-a-bear type crafts place but finds Hailey to not really be into it, since she’s more interested in her dad’s life. Nick decides to take Hailey to a place that he knows quite well, the horse gambling parlor.

Meanwhile, the sinister forces of the world of Happy! advance their plots and machinations. Smoothie continues to torture his victim from the last episode by skinning him alive, while Sonny Shine rejoices at the success of his plan to start a “War on Easter.” Mr. Blue, meanwhile, tries to take a deal with the feds to get out of prison in witness protection, so he can find his way into the midwest, motivated by some demonic urge.

Nick’s day with Hailey starts well but doesn’t stay that way for long. Hailey seems to have a knack for picking out ponies at the parlor, but when things don’t work out, Nick starts regressing to his old ways. Hailey starts to cry and they leave the parlor, only to come across a Jewish man, David, looking for Nick. He informs Nick that the men Nick killed last night were his, and Nick needs to make up for that by doing a job for him. He tells Nick to go pick up a kidney from his brother, Saul, which Nick reluctantly accepts since he can really use the money.

Nick goes to Saul’s place only to find that the kidney he’s been asked to pick up is still inside Saul, meaning there’s only one way for Nick to take it: by force. Nick tells Hailey to wait in the car, and we’re left to assume he got the kidney. Nick goes back to David that night with a briefcase in hand. He gives it to David, but it explodes as soon as he opens it. Nick proceeds to butcher David and his men. He returns to Hailey in the car and tries to pretend he didn’t kill those people, but she can see right through him.

Our Take:

You can’t keep up a lie forever, even if you are the most disgruntled ex-cop in all of New York. Happy!, this week, gives Nick Sax a challenge that is way over his head, trying to be a good dad. What follows is a frustrating struggle that pushes Nick Sax to the limits of his patience and ability to hold back. Like a time bomb, Nick controls himself as long as he can, trying to make his day with Hailey work out, but by the end of the episode, violence finds him once more. This plot is set up and executed really well, making for an episode that’s got a great mix of emotional family drama and violence. It’s a step forward to the show, for sure.

The engine of this episode is all about Nick and his interactions with Hailey. Anyone who’s ever had an awkward outing with an estranged family member will no doubt be familiar with this kind of conflict. The back-and-forth between Nick and his daughter is a little cringy to watch, but only because we know that Nick is trying his best despite being an unstoppable murder machine. The tension between Nick and Hailey is palpable, and one can really feel for Nick when he ultimately comes up short despite all his best efforts. This “Trouble finds Nick” problem doesn’t feel forced, rather it’s a natural extension of Nick’s past coming back to haunt him, which makes it feel all the more real despite the wackiness of this show. Even better, there is an incredible sincerity to Hailey in that she really does just want to be part of her dad’s life.

The parts of the show that don’t really hit for me are the little side stories playing out across the episode which don’t have a lot to do with the main plot. While it’s entertaining to see Smoothie torture a guy without any more skin, it doesn’t do much to add the story that’s going on. I think, however, these problems will abate once the side plots start finding their way into the main story of the season.

I enjoyed this episode significantly more than the first of the season, which was too scattered to really grab me. This episode does a great job of keeping the focus on Nick and his daughter, giving us an emotional conflict that rises above the violence that usually defines this show. With a great ending, it sets us up for next week in a way that gets my hype meter up.