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'Happy Town' review: Much ado about ... what, exactly?
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A whole lot of plates get spinning really quickly in ABC's new mystery "Happy Town." There's murder, political intrigue, betrayal, forbidden love, family drama and enough oddball characters to populate four or five small-town TV shows.Three episodes in, though, viewers are left with almost no clue as to what all the effort is for. It's not because "Happy Town" is so complex that it requires repeat viewing to catch every nuance. It's because the show is so overstuffed and dancing so fast in its effort to achieve cultdom that it forgets some basic things, like making us care about the characters in the middle of this whole mess or drawing some clear stakes for what happens.
That's the biggest flaw in the series: Heaps and heaps of plot exposition come at us, but the story is happening to characters -- and it is happening to them, rather than them making it happen -- that are thinly drawn. And even though several of them are played by very strong actors (the cast includes Sam Neill, Amy Acker, Robert Wisdom of "The Wire," Steven Weber and Frances Conroy), they're not able to elevate the material enough to elicit more than a shrug about what is going on.
Briefly, what's going on is this: Haplin, Minn., is one of those charmingly picturesque small towns that exist mostly on TV, particularly since it has a Dark Secret. It's named for and presided over by the owners of a bread factory (Conroy and Weber, who plays her son) and a sheriff (M.C. Gainey of "Lost") who hasn't had to deal with a major crime in five years. But the last time he did, it was a doozy: A faceless criminal known around town as the Magic Man abducted eight people, none of whom were ever seen again.
When a local "skulker" is killed, all the old fears are reawakened. The sheriff starts going off beam, confusing and frustrating his son and deputy, Tommy Conroy (Geoff Stults, "October Road"). Meanwhile, there's a mysterious new arrival in town (Lauren German) who has secrets of her own.
If that were all there was, "Happy Town" might be onto something (and what we hoped the series might be when a trailer released in December piqued our interest). But we also get a Romeo-and-Juliet story involving Weber's son (Ben Schnetzer) and the daughter of a town outcast (Sarah Gadon), who also happens to be like family to Tommy and his wife, Rachel (Acker). And a rivalry between Tommy and Weber's John Haplin. And four no-account brothers who have it in for Tommy. And Neill's character, who has for some reason -- not because the business climate is so ripe -- decided to move to town and open a movie-memorabilia shop.
We'll grant that we went into "Happy Town" with something of a jaundiced eye. Creators Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg teamed up for "Life on Mars" last season, and dashed a significant amount of goodwill from their adaptation of the BBC show with a series-negating finale that left us feeling like we'd wasted time watching the 16 previous episodes. They'd have to go a long way to re-earn our trust.
So far with "Happy Town," that hasn't happened. In addition to being so very setup-heavy, the show is also overwritten; characters occasionally speak in a sort of sub-"Deadwood" style of flowery speech, which Appelbaum, Nemec and Rosenberg also employed on "Life on Mars." It worked all right on that show because Sam Tyler's reality wasn't supposed to be real, but here, in a place that's supposed to be dripping Americana, it just rings false.
ABC has been looking for an heir to "Lost" almost since the show premiered. "Happy Town," like pretty much every other sci-fi/supernatural/mystery show that's come along post-"Lost" isn't it. And now that "Lost" is only a few weeks away from ending, maybe ABC should stop looking.
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"Happy Town" premieres at 10 p.m. ET Wednesday (April 28) on ABC.
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'Happy Town': Sam Neill on the 'small town with big, big secrets'
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Sounds great! I'll definitely be watching.
I don't have time for the shows that I watch now, and still live life outside of the **** tube. No way do I need a show that needs multiple viewings to make sense.
I'll be watching tonight. If no more than to see Amy Acker. She is a great actress. I loved her on Angel.
Unlike you, Rick, I really enjoyed all of Life on Mars, including the ending. So I'll be giving this a shot despite the mixed reviews so far.
Cheers to the shout-out for Amy Acker - any show that casts her gets a shot in my book. Hot, and totally sells every character she's played from Angel to Alias to Dollhouse. But WTF is with the ragging on Life On Mars? That's like saying the BBC version of The Office is superior just to be snotty about it. Life On Mars US was great, easily one of the best shows in the last couple years. The only reason the finale seemed off was that it was a 2 season series at least, and didn't get the chance to develop over time. The BBC Life On Mars is running on PBS now so I'll be checking it out, but I already know that the guy is in a coma in this one and commits suicide when he recovers and realizes he can't live in 1973. I really can't believe that anyone would prefer this style of a conclusion over the hypersleep space mission. C'mon, what about all the little robots that followed Sam around NYC in every episode? Anyway, what can you do, critics can be bitter and cruel. I loved Life On Mars on ABC and I know I'm not alone. Happy Town has got it going on and there is absolutely no competition on Wednesdays right now.
Peace,
Tom
Will be watching for sure tonight ...
I have to agree with a lot of others here that Life On Mars was GREAT - and not sure I even want to see the brit version knowing that it ends the way it does - what a downer! also, I kind of thought from the previews that it looked more like a one-shot 13-episode mystery (like Day Break or Harper's Island), not something they were hoping to replace Lost with. With the cast and creators involved, I'll definitely be watching!!
If it lasts 2 seasons, I'll their DVDs just before getting into the 3rd. That's my M.O. for all new ABC and NBC series.
Remember day break, journeyman, defying gravity, my own worst enemy, the philantropist, etc. Series which were good, had great potential, but bad time-slots.
Maybe they should put series on the CW, where no matter how bad they are, they keep going and going and going...
This judgement seems aweful heavy-handed. There are a lot of good cast members that indicate this might be something special. Many other reviews have said that it was good. After three episodes, most have said that the stakes and characters are still developing, but you have to give a show that is willing to go against the norm a chance to find its voice since it is blazing a new trail. I want to watch a little more before I write off a show that is will to take a chance. It does not have to be Lost, it can just be its own brand of bold. And kudos to ABC for actually searching to find another show like this instead of making another procedural or spin-off (see CBS).
Kudos to ABC for not putting out a bunch of procedurals, but this show is awful. Saw an early screening of the pilot, and it should be renamed Crappy Town. There isn't going to be another Lost, just like there won't be another Desperate Housewives or Grey's once they end. More than that comparison, I here people talking about this like another Twin Peaks, which is absurd. The only thing they have in common is being on ABC.