“Happy!” ran for two seasons on Syfy, from December 6, 2017 to May 29, 2019, and it never quite decided what it wanted to be.
Trailer, via SYFY.
Nick Sax Wakes Up in a Hospital
The premise comes from the four-part graphic novel by writer Grant Morrison and artist Darick Robertson. Christopher Meloni plays Nick Sax, a disgraced police detective who lives as a social outcast, filling his days with light drinking and substance abuse, moonlighting as a hitman to feed his habits. After a massive cardiac arrest, Nick meets a small, blue, winged unicorn named Happy.
Happy is animated, and apparently only Nick can see him. Patton Oswalt voices him.
Hailey Is Nick’s Estranged Daughter
Happy explains he is the imaginary friend of a little girl named Hailey, who has been kidnapped by a deranged man dressed as Santa Claus (“Very Bad Santa”). Happy reveals that Hailey is Nick’s estranged daughter. Bryce Lorenzo plays Hailey.
Happy sought Nick’s aid, believing him to be the hero cop that Hailey envisioned him to be. Nick is skeptical at first, then reluctantly agrees.
A Global Conspiracy Involving Child Trafficking
The search for Hailey slowly reveals a massive, global conspiracy involving child trafficking, sex cults, aliens, ancient gods, and the apocalypse. That is a lot of plot for a show that also wants to be a comedy about a blue horse.
The cast around Meloni is deep. Ritchie Coster plays Francisco Scaramucci / Orcus. Lili Mirojnick plays Det. Meredith McCarthy. Medina Senghore plays Amanda Hansen. Patrick Fischler plays Smoothie. Christopher Fitzgerald plays Louis “Sonny Shine” J. Sheinberg.
Brian Taylor Directed Seven of the First Eleven
Brian Taylor directed a majority of the episodes, seven of the first eleven. The series premiered on December 6, 2017, receiving mostly positive reviews. Syfy renewed it on January 29, 2018. Season two premiered on March 27, 2019. Syfy cancelled it on June 4, 2019.
Eighteen episodes. Two seasons. That is the whole run.
Corrupt ex-cop turned hitman Nick Sax’s life is changed forever by a relentlessly positive, imaginary blue winged horse named Happy.
The Tone Is the Whole Bet
The show’s bet is that Meloni’s dead-eyed wreck and Oswalt’s relentlessly positive horse can carry a story about child trafficking and sex cults. That is a hard bet. When “Happy!” works, the gap between the two tones is the joke and the horror at once. When it does not, the show is just a man shouting at a cartoon.
The conspiracy is where it thins out. Aliens and ancient gods and the apocalypse arrive as escalation, not as story. Each new layer costs the show the thing it does best, which is two characters in a room, one of them invisible to everyone else.
What the Cancellation Cost
Two seasons is a short run for a show this dense. Syfy cancelled it on June 4, 2019, three months after season two premiered. The graphic novel had four parts. The series had eighteen episodes to build something and then stopped.
KEY FACTS BOX
- Score: 6.5/10
- Network: Syfy
- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 18
- First aired: December 6, 2017
- Last aired: May 29, 2019
- Renewed: January 29, 2018
- Cancelled: June 4, 2019
- Metacritic: 65/100
A 6.5 Is the Honest Number
“Happy!” is worth watching for Meloni and Oswalt, and for the first season’s willingness to be genuinely ugly about a kidnapped child. It is not worth watching for the conspiracy, which grows past the show’s ability to hold it.
The 6.5 is the right score. The premise is stronger than the execution, and the execution is stronger than the mythology. A tighter, stranger show is buried in here.
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