When you throw a drunken hitman, schizophrenic santa and an imaginary friend together into a blood-soaked trippy hell-ride, you get the Syfy original show: Happy!
Don’t let the name fool you, this short series isn’t for the faint hearted.
It’s Christmas and Nick Sax just wants to disappear. The once celebrated police detective has dissolved into to a pill-popping freelance assassin, wallowing among the same filth he once swore to lock away. On a hit-gone-wrong, Sax suffers a heart attack and awakens to a tiny blue unicorn, named Happy, hovering over his face. At first, Sax writes-off the relentlessly positive creature as a hallucination sent to torture him for his sins. However Happy informs him he’s the imaginary friend of Sack’s estranged daughter. The unlikely duo must embark on a wild and dangerous hunt through the criminal underworld to save Sax’s little girl, and foil an elaborate evil plot.
This fantastical dark crime comedy was adapted from a four issue comic book series sharing the same name. The entire set, costumes and quippy puns are all loyal to the graphic novel film style, almost Watchmen-esque cinematography. Additionally, the series is littered with psychedelic special effects and wacky fourth-wall breaks that highlight the show’s chaotic charm.
The best aspect of the series is the juxtaposition of Happy and Sax: they’re the yin and yang, embodying polar opposite personalities. It’s despicably delightful to watch Happy’s pure innocence get marred by Sax’s filth as he experiments with drugs and witnesses countless massacres. Sax, conversely, seems to become more pure as he regains his sense of self-worth looking for his daughter. It’s odd how this unlikely duo of an angel and sinner could work in such perfect harmony and even learn something from each other.
Although the series aired on the Syfy channel back in 2017, it only recently appeared in its entirety on Netflix. Each episode runs just shy of an hour, allowing plenty of time to get sucked into the captivating plot. The first season is only eight gripping episodes long so try not to cruise through too quickly. Happy binging, season two is expected to air on March 27!
