Happyish: Season 1, Episode 9 “Starring Bill Hicks, Joseph McCarthy and Alfred Bernhard Nobel” (B+)
This show is becoming more and more poignant as it moves away from its main characters’ pent-up anger and towards the very legitimate issues they take with the way the world works. Larry’s suicide was a devastating way to open the episode, especially since his departure was relatively laced with comedy and seen as a natural cosmic follow-up to a productive career filled with hard and honest work. Thom has now become the stand-in for the sane person in the room, furious at the notion that his colleagues wanted to instill fear in the American people of an impending terrorist attack at any turn to compel them to enlist in the army. That the client agreed with him and was equally appalled at the idea was reassuring, but it’s clear that Thom isn’t long from being phased out of his job and the world in which he presently inhabits. Imagining himself as a game show host was particularly effective, and represents the latest successful move from oversexed elves and talking Geico geckos to something more subtle and strong. Lee taking Julius to Hebrew school was also an instance of maturity on her part, embracing the Judaism she often tries to shirk and balking not at the notion of religion but at Julius’ onslaught of questions she couldn’t hope to answer. It was an interesting moment in which she finally got serious and not so pessimistic about her outlook on life but still couldn’t figure out what to say to make sense of everything.
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