Happy Town - Questions and Antlers, S01E06

With only two episodes yet to come, Happy Town brought out the crazy, creating even more questions which I fear will not be answered by the shows conclusion. Indeed, I am less interested in who the Magic Man is than I am about the back stories of many of the other characters.

Grieves (Sam Neill) spent a rather peaceful episodes seducing Mrs Haplin (Frances Conroy) with his charming British wit, while Henley (Lauren German) tortured Greggy (Warren Christie). She wanted to know what he had done with her money and why Mrs Haplin wasn't letting her leave town. Although I rather liked the damage both have undergone to go through something like that and still feel some sort of emotional, romantic bond, what I really want to know is what the deal is with that hammer! And what is the connection between Grieves and Henley - they can't possibly only just have met, they have worked together far too often for me to believe that.

Meanwhile, outside of Haplin, crazy Dan Farmer (Peter Outerbridge) found Georgia (Sarah Gadon) and Andrew (Ben Schnetzer) in his trailer. He is absolutely insane, and I love how when Georgia pointed this out to him, he seemed confused as to why so many people made this assumption about him. In the end, he let them go, but terrified about whether they should keep silent to help his investigation, or because, if they didn't, he would find them.

Finally, poor TC (Geoff Stults) finally had to clean up the mess he made with Big Dave (Abraham Benrubi). He's known for some time that Dave was a murderer, and he didn't say anything because Dave was also his best friend. Finally, when he was supposed to bring him in, Dave ran for it, and TC was finally forced to shoot him. The saddest part, though perhaps what happened was best for TC's career, but the saddest part is that he'd bought Dave a plane ticket to Bolivia so that he could escape. What is the right thing to do when you have to choose between the Law and the Code of Friendship? Too bad Dave didn't trust Tommy enough to find out what those papers in his pocket were.

The most important thing that happened in that sequence, though, was that Dave found the underground where the victims of the Magic Man were being kept. Or did he?

With only two more episodes to go, again, I suspect we will have more questions than answers, and we will likely get more questions over the course of those two episodes. I am sad that this show didn't generate a lot of interest, but unfortunately it was too complicated without giving a good enough reason for most people to get hooked.

Happy Town - This Is Why We Stay, S01E05

Oh man was this an exciting episode of Happy Town. Although it has not yet reached a point where I am desperately unhappy that it was cancelled, I still can't wait to see what happens next. I can only hope that the final episode gives me enough answers that I don't wish I had cut and run when I had the chance.

Much of the episode focused on Rachel Conroy (Amy Acker) and the pressure the community is putting on her to remember what happened when she was taken. Although she is a victim, like the 7 other people who disappeared, she was only gone a few days and she has been returned. The grieving and desperate relatives of the other victims resent her, even more so because she cannot be the tool they need to find their loved ones. Poor Rachel, terrified and traumatized, she is still victimized by her former friends.

At first, Rachel wants to run, to get as far away from the chaos as possible, but Merritt Grieves (Sam Neill) will not just let her go. He convinces her to trust him, finally giving us the details about his own personal encounter with the Magic Man, and hypnotizes her. Although we did not see much within her dream, and she could not turn around to face the Magic Man himself, by the end of the episode Rachel is determined to stay with Tommy (Geoff Stults) and to stop the fear which has been plaguing the community for so long.

Meanwhile, some progress is being made on the cases. A letter written by a left-handed man was supposedly left by the female right-handed first victim. She, also, was apparently seeing someone other than her boyfriend at the time. It seems as though that may have been the president of the Breadie, John Haplin (Steven Weber), but while the police seem to think that makes him a possibility, I believe that that tells us why he is so concerned that his son might be the next victim. If his lover was kidnapped, as well as his daughter, perhaps the rest of the victims also have a connection back to him?

So I can't wait to see next week, where we will hopefully find out more, and also see who it was who was trying to kill Grieves at the end of the episode.

Happy Town - Slight of Hand, S01E04

Although Happy Town was pulled after only 2 episodes, we still get to watch the remainder of the season this June. I, for one, am glad because I really want to know who the Magic Man is. Unfortunately, I suspect that will be the only real answer we get. Writers really have to work harder when dealing with this kind of story. Yes, Lost was a huge success, with millions desperate to know what all the secrets were, but most shows don't have that kind of success.

You need to give enough for the audience to relate to and to grab on to before you descend into a world of bizarre insanity.

But Happy Town plunged right into the insanity. In the episode before this, new sheriff, Tom Conroy (Geoff Stults) lost his wife, Rachel (Amy Acker) to the Magic Man. Before this, the Conroy family had supported those who had lost loved ones, had done their best to find them, but now they are affected personally.

The thing I really liked about this episode was the slight of hand that the episode was named after. When a hand was discovered in the bread factory, wearing Rachel's rings, the township learnt that at least one, if not all, of the previous kidnapping victims were still alive. The hope felt by the families was overwhelming and absolutely appropriate. For years, they had been trying to accept that their loved ones were dead, but now they have the opportunity for renewed hope, a hope which they had never been able to give up on because they loved one was never found.

Searching for those missing persons, going back to the beginning, doing what the Magic Man wanted, Tommy got his wife back. Is it too good to be true? And she doesn't remember anything, where she was or how she disappeared. I hope we do learn how that works.

So 4 more episodes, 4 more chances for answers, but more likely those 4 chances will be used to complicate things even more. I remain sad that that is it, but there are a lot of shows which are about this good, but they need to be better and they need to be special.

Happy Town - Polly Wants a Crack at Her, S01E03

Although Happy Town has been bumped for the rest of May Sweeps, and will likely not be renewed after the last 5 episodes are aired starting June 2, I'm enjoying it. Apparently we will learn who the magic man is by the end of the run, so hopefully that will be enough closure, but with all the crazy, I sadly doubt it.

This week was more subdued than the last; the new complications were far less overt and in your face, which was a nice change in tone.

We still had new developments in the shape of a love interest for Henley (Lauren German). Aiden (Warren Christie) is a very attractive and charming young man who just happens to also be the 5th Stiviletto brother and who lifted the weird hammer off of Henley. She got played. Aiden (or Greggy as he is called by his brothers) also has it out for Tommy Conroy (Geoff Stults).

Things are not going well for Tommy. Though he is not yet aware of the return of Aiden, who is supposed to spend 2 more years in jail, he did have to arrest Andrew Haplin (Ben Schnetzer), which has him in trouble with the Haplin family. He's also trying to delay the inevitable arrest of his best friend Dave (Abraham Benrubi) for the murder that started off the series. And if that wasn't bad enough, his darling wife, Rachel (the talented Amy Acker) was apparently just carried off by the Magic Man. Things are not going well at all.

My current theory is that Aiden is somehow the Magic Man. That whatever the Sheriff was talking about before he cut his hand off - now that blood has been spilled, the Magic Man will return after 5 years - has brought Aiden back 2 years earlier than expected. Then again, Merritt Grieves (Sam Neill) did give Rachel and her daughter the notebook that she had when she disappeared.

But we won't know anymore until June 2, and we may never know enough.

Happy Town - I Came to Haplin for the Waters, S01E02

Happy Town is in its second week, and while the ratings are dropping, the crazy is certainly increasing. Which may be why it's not having an easy time finding an audience. I'm sort of fascinated by all the weird stuff going on, the darkness, and the mystery, but that stuff doesn't generally have mass appeal. Too bad, because I really get the sense that it's building towards something very creepy and very cool.

If last week wasn't enough, this week gave more introduction to the nutty folk who control Haplin. We were introduced to Mrs Haplin (Frances Conroy), who not only runs the town but has the power to chose the interim Sheriff, and she picks Tommy Conroy (Geoff Stults) to take over for his incapacitated father not because he's the best qualified but because he suits her best. With a murder to solve and a whole lot of crazy going on, Tommy's going up against a whole lot more than he can handle.

Add to that the fact that Tommy was, in fact, able to solve the murder and discovered that his best friend, Big Dave (Abraham Benrubi), killed the guy believing he was the magic man. Now Dave was a few fries short of a happy meal, so Tommy's desire to protect him was a little odd, but the show has done a very good job of showing that Haplin is a small town which functions on its own subset of laws and rules. Let's just hope what Big Dave knows, regardless of how badly he misused the information, helps Tommy out.

And what is the deal with Dan Farmer (Peter Outerbridge)? Supposedly a State Agent, he drugged Georgia (Sarah Gadon) and dragged her to that farm. Or did he? Did something else happen to her, make her trip out, which had nothing to do with him? I didn't like him from the moment we saw him, but I can't tell who's a good guy and who's a bad guy based on whom I like.

Take Henley (Lauren German) and Merritt Grieves (Sam Neill). I like both these characters; I find them interesting and exciting. I can't, however, help but feel like whatever they've got going on, it's not in the interest of anyone but themselves.

And what is the significance of the goat hammer Henley stole from the 3rd floor. And more importantly, what's with that hawk? What sort of weird black magic is going on, and who's at the centre of it?

***News Flash***

Happy Town has been pulled. While this Wednesday, the 3 episode will be aired, the remaining 5 episodes will have to wait until after May sweeps to complete their run. Too bad, but not unexpected. What are your thoughts?

Happy Town - In This Home on Ice, Pilot, S01E01

Although Happy Town started innocently with a stolen kiss in a car, soon a gruesome murder took place, quickly letting audience know whether or not they were interested in where this new show will lead.

It didn't take long for a creepy feeling of fear that went deeper than one murder, no matter how gross, to take hold. Even the idea of the bread factory filling Haplin (called Happy Town) with the pleasant aroma of fresh baking somehow seemed ominous. And most of the characters obviously had secrets - whether they are benign or threatening remains to be determined.

The sensation of a small town was strange considering how big Haplin appears to be. My only guess is that it is somehow cut off from any other major communities, or at least a fair distance away, otherwise it doesn't make sense to me that such a large population would be so close without ties elsewhere.

Still, the small town feel of everyone knowing each other was well put on, and I did love the quick explanation of how peaceful and happy Haplin had been for the last little while, delivered by Tommy Conroy (Geoff Stults), the Sheriff's son. His wife had hopes of moving away, but Tommy, in quick commentary to their daughter, enumerated all the reasons they had to stay in Haplin, giving us the perfect picture.

Also showing us the small community was the incompetence of the act of informing next of kin. Not only did the men tell the wife of the murder victim in the middle of the bread factory, but they then dragged her down to the station for questioning. Certainly there are guys who are not used to this sort of thing.

Still, it was only 5 years ago that people were disappearing from the small town. Once a year for 7 years, the magic man kidnapped someone. No one has forgotten, but there seems no hope in finding out what went down.

And yet, the recent violence has started some sort of ripple effect which we will have to pay close attention to. The Sheriff, Griffin Conroy (M.C. Gainey), started talking about a Chloe whenever things got stressful. I'm not sure what her link to the Magic Man is, or if there is one, but I want to know. I also want to know what made him go crazy at the end of the episode and cut his own hand off with an ax.

So, questions:

1. Who is Chloe/Henley (Lauren German)? What is her connection to the Sheriff and why did she really come to Haplin?

2. What's the deal with Merritt Grieves (Sam Neill)? We all know (or at least, those of us who have seen Event Horizon know) that Sam Neill can play a pretty creepy/scary character, and Grieves has definitely given us cause for worry, but is the fact that he comes across as the villain too obvious?

3. What is on the third floor of the boarding house?

4. Is the baking flour evil?

5. What does this most recent murder have to do with the Magic Man? Or does it?

6. Why did Rachel Conroy (Amy Acker) want to move away from Haplin?

What are your questions?