On the flip side, consider the popularity of The Vampire Diaries and the way its handled its ever-evolving, answer-filled set of storylines.

The series premiere of Happy Town threw a lot at viewers and intrigued me to the point where I excitedly tuned in again last night. But something strange happened on “I Came to Haplin for the Waters” and it had nothing to do with the Magic Man.

It felt like the show couldn’t fill an hour of television. Literally.

Multiple scenes and conversations just dragged on, as if the writers only had enough for a 45-minute show. First, there was the extraordinarily odd instance of Henley sneaking out to copy Mrs. Meadows’ third floor key.

This involved the use of slow motion, a dramatic score, a dance between Merritt Grieves and Mrs. Meadows. It was directed as if this was the concluding scene of a season finale, not a random sequence about 10 minutes into episode number-two.

Then, there was Georgia’s drugging. This could have been interesting as a way to introduce the individual who we later learned was from the state police force and assigned to help with the Haplin murder. But, again, it dragged on and on and on.

Clearly, Happy Town thinks the way to draw in viewers is simply to confuse them. But this isn’t accomplished by five minutes of flashing lights, out-of-focus camera shots and images of a character screaming. It’s way too much. Just write fascinating characters, please. That’s all we ask for.

Tommy: You did it?
Big Dave: Jerry was the Magic Man.
Tommy: No, he wasn’t.
Dave: Yes he was.
Tommy: No, he wasn’t.
Dave: He told me where the bodies were buried.
Tommy: You’re an idiot.
Dave: He told me where the bodies were buried.
Tommy: What are we gonna do?

And on and on and on it went. How did Tommy not ask where the bodies were? Shouldn’t the show’s very next scene have been this pair searching for them?!?

Moreover, this storyline changes the tone of the show. We don’t know Tommy or Dave well enough yet to care about their friendship or this cover-up. By not turning his pal in, Tommy just looks unethical and incompetent, not loyal.

If Happy Town is about mysterious happenings and intrigue, let it be about that. If it’s about characters and how they interact with one another, it must do a much better job at developing these people.

I am intrigued by Henly/Chloe, however. Actress Laura German is GORGEOUS, for starters, and I’ll watch the show again next week to find out more about her agenda. I’ll also be hoping Big Dave turns himself in, so we can move past this storyline and on to more Magic Man-related material.

What did you think of the episode?

The post Happy Town Review: So… Where are the Bodies? appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Also, a state investigator assists Tommy with Friddle’s murder; and a stranger lures Henley into a surprising relationship.

The post Happy Town Season 1 Episode 3 Recap: Polly Wants a Crack at Her appeared first on TV Fanatic.

ABC moves ahead with episode number-two next week, as Tommy takes over for his hospitalized father as sheriff of Haplin; and Chloe/Henley makes it clear that she knows a lot about this mysterious town.

Check out the official promo for “I Came to Haplin for the Winters” now:

The post Happy Town Promo: “I Came to Haplin for the Winters” appeared first on TV Fanatic.

On the series premiere of Happy Town, we met a bunch of interesting individuals, most of whom are hiding secrets or playing some role in a killer-based conspiracy.

This is pretty much ABC’s third attempt at replacing Lost. Its first two, FlashForward and V, have tanked in the ratings and are unlikely to be renewed for a second season. But Happy Town feels different, at least after one episode. Unlike those two shows, which took every situation so seriously (FlashForward star Joseph Fiennes may not have smiled once all season), there’s a wink and a nod to this drama.

It wants to scare us, sure, but it’s also aware that it’s a campy television show version of most horror movies.

For example: one old lady said “murder” in an almost mocking way; one character laughed about the sheriff giving him a “This town isn’t big enough for the both of us” talk. There was an irony and a light air about the pilot episode, even as it told us all about the Magic Man and his past in Haplin.

After one hour of the show, I’m curious for more, aren’t you? First, the Magic Man is a nice hook. Instead of biting off more than it can chew with a global mystery (again, such as FlashForward and V), the series focuses on a single, overarching issue: Who is the Magic Man? Why did he stop kidnapping? Has he returned with this new murder?

The episode was also sprinkled with clues and facts seemingly related to him. To wit:

• Henley is actually Chloe, and she has a tattoo on her back of the symbol that mourners in town use to remember their late loved ones.
• Merrit Grieves knows… something. It wouldn’t shock me if that Blue Door speech was just a red herring, but Sam Neill plays this character with the sort of light-hearted irony mentioned above – while still remaining intriguing and, at least to a bunch of elderly widows, sexy.
• Griffin rants about Chloe in an occasional trance, of course, but this fact struck me as more interesting: his wife died five years ago, around the time when the Magic Man disappeared.
• What the heck is on the third floor of that house?

John Haplin is the grieving father whose wife still washes the sheets of their dead daughter.

We’ve seen these characters many times before, but Happy Town isn’t trying to win any Emmys or writing awards. It’s a guilty pleasure. The cast seems solid enough and )perhaps we’re just comparing it to the aforementioned pair of flops that quickly ran out of steam on ABC) but it has potential because it’s grounded in a small town and focuses on just a few characters.

The show is too self-conscious at times, going out of its way to alert the viewer to every cliche-ridden scenario (look, this couple is akin to Romeo and Juliet! One guy is called “Root Beer” because “it’s a small town; everyone gets a nickname.”), as if to say: yes, we’re campy and quirky and not too original, but we know it. So that’s okay, right?

My answer? Yes, that’s okay. Just don’t place your tongue too squarely in your cheek, or you lose any semblance of seriousness and become nothing more than a parody of horror films.

Still, blood has been spilled, as Griffin Conroy kept saying to close the episode. The Magic Man might be back. How can we not tune in again to see what this actually means?!?

The post Happy Town Review: Blood Has Been Spilled… appeared first on TV Fanatic.

He feels overwhelmed, but gets a call from the lab that says the baking powder found on the victim contained NYC tap water. Big Dave’s Pizza uses that in its dough. Tommy goes over to his best friend’s place and finds a hidden room on the basement with photos and clippings from the Haplin kidnappings. Dave comes in and admits it: he killed Jerry Friddle because he thought he was the Magic Man and no one was doing anything about it.

But Tommy flips out, telling Dave Jerry had an alibi for many of the kidnappings and that he got it wrong. Tommy, however, also makes it sound like he’ll protect his friend.

Elsewhere, Georgia gets drugged at the hospital. A man puts creamer in her coffee and she somehow ends up in the living room of the Stiviletto brothers. It was a very long, weird scene. Turns out, the guy who talked with Georgia at the hospital and gave her the creamer is the new state agent that is in town to help Tommy with the case. We learn this at the end of the episode.

Also, Henley makes a copy of the key to the third floor of the house and breaks in. There are many birds in cages there and she steals a hammer with some sort of animal head. She then buys a used car and is driving out of town when another bird (a crow, I think) flies into her window, purposely it seems, and causes her to crash badly. That’s how the episode concludes.

The post Happy Town Season 1 Episode 2 Recap: I Came to Haplin for the Waters appeared first on TV Fanatic.

While other ABC mystery shows, such as V and FlashForward, have tanked in the ratings, the network hopes to hit a home run this time by sprinkling in suspense and horror to the town of Haplin, Minnesota.

That’s where a slew of kidnappings many years ago have created an underbelly of fear among the city residents when Tommy Conroy moves in.

Starring Sam Neill, Geoff Stults, Amy Acker and Steven Weber, Happy Town introduces viewers to a bunch of shady, intriguing characters on its pilot episode. We’ll review it in depth soon after it airs and encourage readers to give this new drama a shot.

Watch a couple of clips from the premiere now, and click on the following photos from it:

ABC has also released a new promo for the series. Check it out below.

The post Happy Town Series Premiere Preview: ABC Promo, Episode Stills appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Like CBS’ critical hit, Harper’s Island, the ABC drama is scheduled for a limited run. It’s based around a town in Minnesota that’s full of secrets, quirky characters – and an evil, mysterious villain referred to as “The Magic Man.”

It also boasts a killer cast, led by Sam Neill, Amy Acker and Steven Weber, Lauren German and M.C. Gainey.

You can watch an extended preview for Happy Town now, as well as the first 14 minutes of the pilot episode below.

The post Watch the First 14 Minutes of Happy Town… Right Now! appeared first on TV Fanatic.

The mysterious drama focuses on the supposedly cheery town of Haplin, Minnesota, where a series of kidnappings from five years ago remain unsolved.

When the show kicks off, we’re introduced to a slew of intriguing characters, many of whom were affected by those developments – and many of whom still are.

Take Steven Weber’s John Haplin, for instance. As the clip below reveals, he won’t let go of his daughter… or of the “Magic Man” he thinks was behind the crime:

Below, we’ve posted another clip from the April 28 debut. Will you tune in for it?

The post Happy Town Sneak Peeks: Series Premiere Clips appeared first on TV Fanatic.

But then it starts to pour and she heads home. Viewers are taken inside this shack, where an old man is tied to a chair. He says he’ll tell his anonymous killer everything the guy wants to know and we see him whisper stuff to a guy whose face they never show. After this information is exchange, the older man is killed when a stake is driven through is skull.

We’re then taken into sunny Haplin the next day. We meet Henley, fresh off the train and picked up by a very, very friendly and talkative realtor. The latter tells the former all about how great a place Haplin is. For example, there’s the Our Daily bread factory, which employs 12% of the town and makes everything smell great. Henley says she’s in town because her mother died, used to love to visit Haplin and Henley wants to use her inheritence to open up a candle store.

Until she can find a permanent place to live, Henley is placed inside an old home where a woman named Rose rents out her rooms. The rest of them are filled by elder widows, and one mysterious man named Marrit Grieves. Rose has one key rule: the third floor is off limits.

Also in Haplin, we meet Rachel and Tommy Conroy. They have a daughter in first grade and have been together since prom. She works at the bread factory, he’s the son of the sheriff, in a town with no crime, he says early on. Their babysitter? The girl that opened the show by making out and hearing stuff at the pond. Her name is Georgia.

Tommy is quickly called into work by his dad, Griffin. First, they go check on the square, where protestors have hung a banner that reads “Remember to Never Forget.” It includes the names and faces of people, along with a symbol: a question mark with a halo over it.

Griffin confers with John Haplin – whose wife we later learn still sits inside his dead daughter’s room, changes her sheets, etc. – and says he thought they had a deal. No more banners! They just incite the crowd and remind everyone of darkness. Later, when Henley visits the shop Merrit is opening up in town (an old movie memorabilia store), he tells her all about the banner and the “Magic Man.”

For years, this mystery individual would make people disappear. They were numerous kidnappings and, everyone assumes, killings. But it stopped five years ago and it’s all been quiet since. Strangely, Merrit also explains to Henley why he loves old movies and specifically cites one called “The Blue Door.” Keep that in mind.

Meanwhile, the murder victim is an old man that a lot of people in town thought was a pervert. But not his wife. She tells the cops that the Stiviletto always had problems with her husband. Tommy, who has never been part of any real case before, accompanies his dad to speak with them. There are four siblings and they’re all your sterotypical redneck drunks. They say they didn’t commit the crime and one appears to have a past with Tommy.

Throughout his investigation, Griffin keeps occasionally asking questions about “Chloe,” almost as though he’s in some kind of trance. At night, we see him visit Big Dave’s pizza parlor and run into Merrit. They have a conversation in which Griffin says he thought he told Merrit to leave town a week ago. But Merrit doesn’t seem bothered about it, or anxious to do so. At one point, he reaches down and finds Griffin’s ring on the floor. How did it even get there? (Griffin’s wife and Tommy’s mom died five years ago.) Weird all around.

Also weird? Rose. At dinner in her large, rented-out home, the ladies are having a grand old time, but she pretty much tells them all to zip it and makes them eat quietly. Later that night, we hear Henley on the phone. She tells the person on the line: “Hi, it’s me… CHLOE.” We also see that she has a back tattoo of the question mark/halo symbol and she says she’s about to hear to the off-limits third floor. She does so, but we never see what she finds.

Instead, we’re taken to the police station, where Griffin has locked himself in his office and has lost it. He’s yelling about Chloe. He grabs an axe and actually hacks off either his hand or maybe just his ring finger. Either way: yikes! How does the episode end? With Griffin’s final words (Now that blood has been spilled, The Magic Man will return) and with a shot of the shack on the pond: it has a blue door.

The post Happy Town Season 1 Episode 1 Recap: Pilot appeared first on TV Fanatic.

So states many of the ABC promos for Happy Town, the upcoming new drama that premieres on the network in a few weeks.

Set in the fictional small town of Haplin, Minnesota, the series focuses on a community that may put on a jolly face… but is still haunted by a number of unsolved kidnappings.

When Happy Town debuts, a new, dark crime brings back memories of the elusive “Magic Man,” who citizens believe is responsible for the aforementioned abductions. Has he returned to claim another victim?

Among other actors, the show stars such familiar names/faces as Sam Neil, Steve Weber and Lauren German. Check out an extended promo for it and let us know: Will you tune in for Happy Town‘s premiere on April 28 at 10 p.m.?

The post Will You Watch Happy Town? appeared first on TV Fanatic.