DISCLAIMER: This season finale recap of Happy! contains more spoilers than the number of times Sax has been thrown headlong into near death experiences. He sure loves to dance on the edge. You’ve been warned. Enter at your own peril. 

Welcome back, hit-persons! Season 1 of Happy! came to a thunderous conclusion this week. Sax finally took down Very Bad Santa. Merry tortured Blue and threatened to expose Sonny Shine. Hailey finally met her father, and Happy decided to take on a new partner in crime. We tied up some loose ends and let a few tendrils flap in the breeze. Hey, Season 2 is a definitive event now. I have faith in the Happy! Powers That Be that any and all questions will surely be answered at a later date. 

Alright, ready to delve into “I Am the Future?” Just be sure to please keep your bear traps out of Sax’s path. He has a tendency to fall victim to those pesky buggers. 

We open with a flashback: Sonny Shine (Christopher Fitzgerald) in his humble beginnings. Mr. Shine is among many to audition for a children’s program, which presumably helps launch his later fame. However, he’s escorted out of the audition room for his risque performance. Hey, sometimes you have to crack a few eggs to make that risque omelet. 

Now, flash forward to present day. Sonny receives a phone call informing him of the captive kids’ collective release, thanks to one Nick Sax. His plan to gift actual children as Christmas dolls went belly up. That’s what happens when you mess with inebriated, curmudgeonly hitmen. 

Next, we see Merry (Lili Mirojnick) taser the ever loving fluff out of Blue (Ritchie Coster). She’s thoroughly enjoying herself – perhaps a little too much. Blue continues to dangle Merry’s mother over her head as bait. However, Merry’s mother is no longer in the Land of the Living, and she reveals this tidbit to Blue. 

Meanwhile, Happy (Patton Oswalt) observes the scene as policemen deliver the kidnapped children back to their families. He stares forlornly at Hailey’s empty doll box, wondering where she is now. He studies Very Bad Santa’s green and red glove, and suddenly the light bulb flickers on. He recalls seeing its pair in his imaginary friends support group. Happy scampers off to find Sax. It’s on!

Then, Sax (Christopher Meloni) takes Blue into his own hands. He snatches the information he needs out of the mobster. Happy arrives just in time to divulge what he knows to Sax. Happy’s going to torture the other glove for info on where Very Bad Santa took Hailey. Our favorite little blue unicorn is growing up so fast. 

Pictured: Ritchie Coster and Christopher Meloni

Later, Happy has secured the animated glove to a chair, and brandishes a feather as his weapon for the ultimate torture. Who can withstand a good tickling? Not a one, I’d wager. Happy tickles the glove until the latter bursts at the seams with information. Said glove reveals that he abandoned Very Bad Santa as a child, when he started having devious/dark thoughts. Very Bad Santa was obviously harmed in his youngster days. Happy defiantly stands with the rest of the imaginary friends and chastises the glove for abandoning his companion in his hour of need. That’s not what imaginary friends do!

Meanwhile, Amanda (Medina Senghore) wakes up in Sonny Shine’s orgy room. Yes, you read that correctly. If you recall, Sonny Shine also masquerades as Mr. Bug, Blue’s boss and the head honcho of this whole shebang. He not-so subtly threatens to inflict more harm on Hailey, citing that she’s merely one child in a million. In fact, Sonny has a concert to perform that very evening, where he’ll round up more unsuspecting children. That glittery, pompous fiend. 

Next, we see Very Bad Santa (Joseph D. Reitman) peeling off the layers of makeup from Hailey’s (Bryce Lorenzo) face at his lair. He rambles on about how Smoothie attempted to make her appear grown up, when in reality she should be granted the freedom to be a child forever. That’s what he’s offering her here – a chance to never grow up. Just like Peter Pan!

Then, Sax and Happy arrive at Very Bad Santa’s lair, thanks to the information of one animated glove. They begin scouring the premises for any sign of Hailey. Meanwhile, Very Bad Santa decides to smoke some hallucinogens. He begins hallucinating Toy Land, and even belts out the song as he gazes on a holiday-themed winter wonderland. He urges Hailey to join him in Toy Land but, since she’s not high as a kite, she can’t envision what he’s seeing. She does, however, see a handful of tangible zombie-esque figures move menacingly toward her. Very Bad Santa calls them friends. He may need new friends. 

Pictured: Bryce Lorenzo and Joseph D. Reitman

Later, Merry pays Sonny Shine a visit backstage prior to his big concert. Her plan is to cart him off in handcuffs on live television after his performance. He overtly reminds her that he owns everyone in this town, and his intricate connections make him untouchable. Merry threatens to take him down. Maybe not that evening, but certainly on a day he will least expect it. He can’t hide his crimes behind his notoriety forever. Merry is on the case! 

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Next, Sax and Happy burst outside to where Hailey and Very Bad Santa once were. Happy finds her glove as proof. Suddenly, Very Bad Santa’s also very bad friends loom before our duo. We see holes were drilled into their heads, each spot located between the eyes. This tells us that Very Bad Santa mentally stunted these poor souls, so they’ll “stay young” forever. Sax falls square into a bear trap. Yes, a bear trap. We’ve discovered more ways to torture our favorite hitman. He urges Happy to continue his search for Hailey solo. Happy reluctantly leaves his friend to do so. 

Then, Very Bad Santa attempts to drill a hole in Hailey’s head, so she’ll be a brainless zombie too. However, Hailey likes her brain and wishes to keep it intact. She smashes Very Bad Santa’s snow globe in his face and flees. You go, girl! She escapes into a rickety old elevator, with Very Bad Santa hot on her heels. Finally, she bursts onto the rooftop. Hailey peers over the ledge onto a horde of police cars below. She screams for help while Very Bad Santa approaches her from behind. He attempts to coerce her away from the roof’s ledge. He reveals that when his father abandoned him at a young age, doctors plied him with medication in an effort to mature him. To make him grow up. 

Meanwhile, Merry arrives at Sonny Shine’s opulent headquarters to free Amanda. As per their deal, Sonny offered up Amanda so Merry wouldn’t arrest him on the spot. She assures a distraught Amanda that Sax has found Hailey, and that they will eventually take down Sonny. Girl power, unite! Then, the duo hurries to Very Bad Santa’s lair to meet Hailey and Sax. 

Pictured: Lili Mirojnick and Medina Senghore

Next, Sax enters onto the rooftop and runs into Hailey for the first time. Their eyes lock, and Sax awkwardly reveals that Happy enlisted his help in finding her. Hailey recognizes him as her father and embraces him. Happy watches on, teary eyed. Aw, I can’t wait to witness Sax as a father. Methinks it’ll turn his life around for the better. Suddenly, Very Bad Santa reappears to effectively destroy the happy (pun intended) meetup. Sax feels another heart attack come on while he’s mid fight. Eventually, Sax shoots Very Bad Santa in the head. Very Bad Santa crashes through the glass sun roof and inadvertently hangs himself when a stray cord wraps around his neck. So long, bad guy! His former imaginary friend, the red and green glove, reunites with him after death. That’s sort of a happy ending, right?

Then, Sax carries Hailey outside to reunite with her mother. Sax is hobbling from the puncture wounds in his leg courtesy of the bear trap, not to mention his impending heart attack and the beating Very Bad Santa gave him to boot. In essence, Sax is a mess. Amanda and Sax will discuss his seeing Hailey on a regular basis over a date. Yes, a date. Perhaps there’s hope for these two former lovebirds after all! 

Next, Sax collapses on the ground as his friends huddle worriedly over him. He thanks Happy for all his help and says goodbye to his little blue friend. Sax believes this to be the end. We see the screen go black as Sax drifts off to the Great Beyond. No, that can’t be! What about Season 2?

Later, we see Merry standing over a grave paying her respects. Sax hobbles over to her. Oh thank the heavens. He’s not dead! Merry is paying her respects to her dearly departed mother. Sax is donning a scarf that says “Happy New Year.” At least he keeps up with the Gregorian calendar. Merry reveals that Sax was officially dead for eight minutes. Perhaps he should look at this as a chance to start fresh. Since everyone believes he’s dead, maybe he should stay that way for a while, lay low. However, Sax has a date at Coney Island with his ex-wife and daughter. This is definitely a chance to clean the slate. 

Meanwhile, Hailey says goodbye, albeit unwillingly, to Happy. Happy reveals that imaginary friends are meant to comfort those in need, and since Hailey found her father, she’s no longer in that category. Happy fades away, off to find someone else that needs him. Amanda silently observes Hailey’s last exchange with Happy, then coerces her daughter outside so she can truly meet Sax. Hailey bubbles with excitement. 

Pictured: Christopher Meloni

Later, Sax is standing in the same bathroom at the bar we first met him in. We’ve come full circle, folks! He’s mumbling words of encouragement to himself, as he prepares to meet with Amanda and Hailey. Happy appears, and reveals that he’s here to stay by Sax’s side. Sax needs him now, more than ever before. Fatherhood is tough, especially in Sax’s line of work. Happy urges Sax to find some liquid courage before the big date – or maybe “booger sugar” is more up his alley. Happy is slowly being corrupted by Sax, and I couldn’t be happier (pun again intended).

Next, we see Blue was carted off to prison. Mikey (Gus Halper) pays his dear uncle a visit. He transfers the demon energy reanimating his body into Blue. Suddenly, Mikey drops dead. Like, real dead this time. Now the demon inhabits Blue. Uh oh. This won’t end well. 

Happy! gave us the perfect conclusion to a perfect first season. I’m curious to see where Season 2 takes us, especially with Blue and Sonny Shine still at large. There’s plenty more story to squeeze out of those characters. My hope is that we take time to explore Sax as a father. I want some high quality, humorously heartwarming scenes with Hailey. I want Sax to rekindle the flame with Amanda. To me, Meloni and Mirojnick were the true MVPs of this season. Their chemistry was off the charts, not to mention Meloni was born to play this role. He gave Sax so many interesting layers to play with. Mirojnick was  also subtly brilliant, injecting intricate nuance into every scene she was in, whether she had lines or not. Merry is a bad***. 

Do you think Sax will make a good father? Will he eventually reunite with Amanda? Have we seen the last of Sonny Shine? How will Sax handle a demonized Blue? Will Merry finally get a love interest? Guess we’ll have to wait until Season 2! 

Happy! will return for Season 2 on your SyFy affiliate. 

 

 

Melody McCune
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