Happy! Season 2 Episode 2 Recap & Review

Father / Daughter Time.

With the battle lines drawn and Smoothie revealed to be the one pulling the strings behind the Easter Nun bombings, we return to Happy! with Nick haunted by the events at the end of the last episode.  With the prospect of organ harvesting promising a stack of cash, Nick begins the episode with a dream sequence that quickly spirals out of control. A knock at the door helps him snap out of his nightmare and back to reality.

It’s Amanda and today is the day Nick has to look after Hailey. She gives Nick several simple instructions which he inevitably ignores and breaks. After a bout of anxious contemplation over what to do with his daughter, Happy helps him run through some of Hailey’s favourite hobbies. Settling on ponies, Nick tries to connect her love of horses with something he’s passionate about – gambling.

After a string of successful bets using imaginary money, Nick catches the gambling bug and convinces Hailey to gamble her $40 for real. Unfortunately, she loses the bet sending Nick into panic-mode as he begs her to bet again in order to get their money back. Refusing, she runs outside and comes face to face with a strange Jewish man. Nick and Happy follow in hot pursuit and a tense confrontation results in Nick being blackmailed into working for this man, delivering “a package”.

Trying to do right by Hailey, he shows up at the house in question only to find out the task at hand isn’t as simple as it first appears, requiring the sacrifice of a Father in order to satisfy the request of the Jewish man. Nick refuses, only to be greeted by an ominous threat against Hailey’s life. This puts Nick in an impossible situation and after appearing to follow the task, he arrives at the bingo hall to drop off the package. When the Jewish man opens it, an explosion blows half his face clean off, with Nick reminding him never to threaten his family again.

Amanda has had issues of her own as of late too, haunted by the painful memories that occurred last year. Taking advantage of some more free time on her hands, she takes to dating, bringing home a charming man who Nick mistakenly throws off the porch when he returns with Hailey. As his daughter runs upstairs and writes in her diary, angry at her Father for killing the men inside the Bingo Hall, Nick comes to the realization that Amanda is dating again.

For the most part, the episode does well to serve as characterisation for Nick and Hailey’s growing relationship. While there’s not much in the way of progression for the overarching story, Sonny and Smoothie’s cunning plan for Easter appears to be building up to a really intense showdown in the near future. At the moment the second season hasn’t quite managed to reach the same lofty heights of the first but there’s enough here to make for a really enjoyable watch nonetheless.

Quite where this story will lead is anyone’s guess but there’s certainly enough here to make for a very intriguing prospect going forward.