Happyish: Season 1, Episode 5 “Starring Josey Wales, Jesus Christ and The New York Times” (B+)
This is definitely the best episode this show has aired yet, and I’m pleased to see it developing into something that isn’t so entirely pessimistic, able to let its characters breathe for a moment and enjoy life every once in a while. The timing of this train-centric episode is really something, and the offscreen death of one anonymous commuter feels so insignificant in comparison to the casualties and extreme nature of the real-life Amtrak crash that occurred several weeks ago near Philadelphia. Thom being inconvenienced and stopped for several hours on his way to work is nothing like a derailment that might actually cause him some harm or threaten his life. I like that the stillness caused the woman sitting next to him to reconsider whether she should be reading the New York Times rather than try to push him to her way of thinking, while the woman behind him proselytized her aggressive seatmate. I love that Thom turned around and went home to surprise Jules and Lee in the snow, and that he was having an actual human moment while Gottfrid was criticizing his priorities. I wasn’t so fond of Lee suffering through a neverending story from a Holocaust survivor since this show’s obsession with Lee’s hatred of Holocaust guilt is far from my favorite of this show, but it serves Lee right that an offhand remark should result in an hourslong diatribe from an oblivious visitor. It seemed to affect her a lot, but she’s the one who brought it up to someone she mistakenly thought was harmless.
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