Review: Happy! “The Scrapyard of Childish Things”

This one’s a doozy, boys, and girls.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

When we last left our favorite ex-cop scumbag, Nick Sax, he an imaginary friend Happy had parted ways on a bitter note, leaving Nick on the curb with the half-naked Mikey Scaramucci, one of the Scaramucci brothers who Nick had given the business way back in episode 1. Mikey’s not dead, just nearly dead, and brain dead, with a lovely crater in his chest courtesy of Nick’s spectacular marksmanship. His resurgence, though unexpected, proves to be a blessing; as the last living Scaramucci brother, he knows the secret password that Mr. Blue has been looking for, and that’s just the leverage Nick needs to get Hailey back. He leaves the hapless Mikey at a nearby cathedral in the care of a mild-mannered preacher and begins to sort out his master plan.

Meanwhile, Happy is at some kind of Alcoholics Anonymous meeting for imaginary friends being forgotten by the children that once loved them. To an imaginary friend, being forgotten is tantamount to death. Nothing seems to be able to cheer Happy up, not even marshmallows in his hot chocolate, but he finds some solace in the three-headed dog friend leading the meeting, Raspberry. Raspberry promises him a place with enough imagination to keep Happy alive and kicking. Happy, having nothing else to live for, agrees and follows Raspberry to parts unknown.

Nick ambushes Mr. Blue at his son’s Christmas pageant and informs Blue that he has Mikey in his custody and that Nick will trade the boy for Hailey’s life, and that he’ll meet Blue at his house to make the trade. Blue reluctantly agrees and informs his henchman, Smoothie, of Nick’s involvement. Smoothie, meanwhile, has been using his exceptional makeover skills to dress the kids up like creepy “It’s a Small World” children in their prison classroom. Smoothie tells Hailey that her dad, the washed up, ex-cop, scumbag Nick Sax is dead and that no one is coming for her. This inspires Hailey to try and lead the other kids to escape, but find that they exist out just leads to some kind of weird stage with a New York City backdrop, and Smoothie corrals them back into the classroom with his intimidating presence, even making one of them pee himself.

Happy follows Raspberry to a mysterious house, where Happy is excited to meet this new kid who might believe in him. His excitement soon turns to sheer terror, as we see that the kid in question is none other than Mr. Blue’s own wicked progeny, and he has a penchant for torturing imaginary friends and mounting them on his wall. Happy quickly realizes that he’s in far more trouble than he can handle.

Back at the cathedral, Mikey begins acting very strangely, speaking in Latin and literally scaring the religion out of the preacher Nick had left him with. Mikey wanders off into the night, blankly repeating “Blue”, as he stumbles through the New York streets. Cut to Blue’s sister, Isabella, who’s been trying to summon Mikey with the aid of a creepy old woman’s menstrual blood marinara sauce. (Yikes) Just as she’s about to lose it, a knock at the door signals what she’s been waiting for, and Mikey returns to her, safe and (somewhat) sound. Of course, this is bad news for Nick, who can’t find Mikey, and thus, has lost all the leverage he had against Blue.

Nick needs to adjust his plan, and so sees his old pal Le Dic, the arms dealer from episode two. He’s one finger short of a full set now, and not at all happy to see Nick. Nick pleads with him though, declaring that he needs his help, not for himself, but to save someone innocent, and that this might be his one chance to be something other than a total scumbag. Le Dic isn’t too convinced, but apparently sees something in Nick as he gives him the keys to his warehouse so he can get “an itty schmitty bit of C4.”

Nick goes to confront Blue but isn’t surprised when Blue turns up in his front yard with goons, pistols trained to take Nick out. Nick reveals a detonator in his hand and tries to bluff Blue by telling him that Mikey is in the trunk of his car with a bomb vest strapped to him. Blue shows Nick a photo of Mikey safe and sound with Isabella, and Nick suddenly finds himself about to be executed in Blue’s garage.

This puts both Nick and Happy locked up in Mr. Blue’s house, one kneeling on the floor, the other pinned to the wall at the mercy of a monstrous 8-year-old. Realizing he’s about to die, Nick begins recounting the sheer irony of his life and takes stock of all the terrible things he’s done and all the terrible things that have happened to him. His speech is heard by Happy through the air vent, and Nick declares that he really wishes he hadn’t pushed Happy away. This admission of friendship fills Happy with the strength to stab Raspberry in the chest with his unicorn horn, baptizing Happy with blood and freaking out Blue’s son. The distraction gives Nick enough time to dispatch Blue’s goons, and soon the two reunite, determined to find Hailey and settle this once and for all.

Our Take:

The plot of this season of Happy is starting to reach its peak, and if you thought it was weird before, it seems like its only going to get weirder from here on out. A lot of this episode seems to be retreading old ground, with only minor plot developments and a lack of any major action to move things along. But it really picks up about 2/3 of the way through, with Nick’s redemption as a character being realized at long last in a scene that’s legitimately emotional. Good episode, can’t wait to see more.