Review: Happy Town

Posted by Cynical Sarah on April 29, 2010

ABC has a new show that debuted this week – Happy Town. I was mildly intrigued by the previews I saw and curious to see what a TV show that Sam Neill has attached himself to would be like. (For those who don’t know, Sam Neill is the guy from Jurassic Park, and how a rugged palaeontologist was going to fit into a small town in Minnesota was beyond my imagination.)

I set the show to record on the DVR last night and fired it up this morning during the dead hour on TV when then only thing on the HD channels are Dr. Phil, Maury, Dr. Oz and things getting killed or autopsied for nature/learning shows. I guess the first good thing I can say about Happy Town is that it filled that hour of my life much better than the regular programming on TV would have.

It’s got murder. It’s got intrigue. It’s got interesting characters that I’m curious to eventually learn their back stories. I was entertained for the hour it was on, and I’m even willing to record and watch the rest of the series.

That’s a pretty glowing review from me considering the format of the show is something I’ve confessed to hating. It’s a series that’s going to drag the main plot out for at least the entire season. I like my shows to have nice neat storylines that wrap up with each episode.

I’m forgiving Happy Town for that one flaw because it has two things going for it.

One: it looks like it’s only eight episodes rather than say 24. I can handle following a storyline through just eight episodes. That’s more like a cross between a mini-series and a TV series and suits my attention span.

Two: It’s a murder mystery show. I love murder mysteries from the various CSIs and Criminal Minds to random made-for-TV movies that have completely crazy plot lines and predictable endings.

That doesn’t necessarily say much for my taste since I did watch one of those made-for-TV movies today as well, knowing full well that the plot was ridiculous and that the woman who was convicted for the crime was obviously set up by her own lawyer. What are the odds of that?

Anyway, the very first episode of Happy Town sets up the intrigue of the small town of Haplin, Minnesota, perfectly. The town has that quaint, everyone knows everybody, and everybody is happy look on the exterior. However, little cracks start showing right away and throughout the first show to reveal some of the ugliness beneath the surface.

One of my favorite “cracks” has to be Dot Meadows, the woman running the boarding house where Henley is staying. Dot comes across as your typical, friendly middle-aged woman running a happy little home, but there are a couple scenes where her edge shows. Her “not kidding” about kicking Henley out if the rules are broken, and her absolute control over the other ladies living at the boarding house makes you think Dot isn’t nearly as nice as she wants people to think she is.

There’s a back story there I can’t wait to see unearthed in upcoming episodes. And that’s just one of many that I’m hoping will develop as I watch the show. There’s also the story of the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff that obviously is going to be juicy, and the Haplins who pretty much own the town. Henley, of course, isn’t who she says she is either. Plus I’d put money on something being seriously crazy with her real estate agent too.

That also brings me back to “How does a man who played a palaeontologist fit into all this?” Sam Neill plays Merritt Grieves, a resident at the boarding house and a movie-paraphernalia store owner. He’s actually sort of a distinguished gentleman who has charmed the local widows brigade but also gives of a distinctly odd vibe. I don’t want to call him creepy, but odd doesn’t quite describe the vibe either.

The crux of Happy Town’s success is going to be the intriguing characters and their development. I can’t say that I was completely invested in the basic murder/intrigue plot set up in the first episode, but I was interested in the characters.

Sure, I want to find out the back story of the plot as well and how all these people are going to play into it and solving the murder and disappearances. But, I’m telling you right now if they screw up with the character development, it won’t matter that the season appears to be only eight episodes, I’ll drop it and stick with my usual shows.

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Tags: Happy Town, Reviews, tv series, tv shows

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