'Happyish' episode 2 review: 'Starring Marc Chagall, Abuela and Adolf Hitler'

There’s a moment in this episode of Showtime’s Happyish, “Starring Marc Chagall, Abuela and Adolf Hitler,” during a pitch where a young woman asks how Coke, the product of happiness by marketing standards, can continue such endorsements in the age of disillusionment. In similar fashion, this Shalom Auslander-created program feels compelled to determine how to sell a show based on middle-aged depression, anxiety in a modern world and make it accessibly funny and relatable. In its search, it ultimately comes to little conclusions and lots of shouting, and while it has wit and knows it, it doesn’t have a lot of new ideas.

Narrated and occasionally focused on our protagonist Thom’s (Steve Coogan) wife Lee (Kathryn Hahn), all while still focused on the main character, this episode feels more narrative unbalanced yet goes down much easier than last week’s premiere. Perhaps this has to do with the more stripped-down focus. The anger is now more contained and this lends to more stability. However, Happyish still has some ways to go before it can become clear-headed. Rattled but not really determined, it jumps from argument to argument with visceral anger. However, its snotty attitude becomes more grating, and just when it expects the viewer to be on its side does it become more meandering.

The cynicism would be more delectable were it not so smug. Happyish seems obsessed with how much it wants to berate millennials, to the point where it comes across more obnoxious and tedious than humorous. It also doesn’t help that it basically says the same thing over and over in just a slightly different way, and this is merely the second episode. Last week’s premiere began with Thom cussing out Thomas Jefferson, and this week it’s Lee yelling profanity in a similar fashion at The Brady Bunch’s Carol Brady. Then we hear more complaints about youth culture from Thom, followed by animated segments and a little family time for good measure.

It already begins to feel somewhat formulaic, and this is a big cross to bear when its mere inches from conception. Even worse is that, for all its soapbox moments —there’s even one character this week on a literal soapbox— there isn’t all that much Happyish offers in term of value. For as much as it wants to poke fun at pop culture trends or rattle the chain of corporate America, it rarely — if ever — presents any answers for what should change, if anything. This could be the point, but because the show seems so dead set with taking issue with this, more convictions should be expected.

That gets to the heart of what could be Happyish main problem, based on these two episodes alone. This Showtime series wants so hard to stand out in its brash, individual ways and yet it seems too uncertain of itself to succeed in its ambitions. The unevenness of not just the narrative this week, but the comedic tone in general is often jarring. It wants to be both surreal and grounded, much like Louie, but the transitions often are briskly placed and feel more abrupt than they should be.

It works in choice moments, as it does in “Starring Marc Chagall, Abuela and Adolf Hitler” when Lee communicates with her estranged mother via a talking, over-sized Amazon package. Other moments, like an animated scene where this same character participates in a Dora the Explorer segment with her Yiddish-speaking mother and a talking monkey named Pants don’t click, however, mainly because they don’t feel cohesive and most just seem forced, both in terms of plotting and in comedy. This episode feels more enclosed in its anger compared to the spitball approach taken last week, yet the direction of the fury doesn’t feel contained still. It seems Happyish and Auslander are angry more to be angry, and it’s hard to relate to pure mean spiritedness when there’s no control on the audience’s emotions.

Happyish still feels too cold. It doesn’t need to be sentimental, of course, but there needs to be some resonance. These characters come across as talking heads or placeholders for those characters, and it’s hard to keep attentions at bay when all characters do is complain and complain and complain without any driving point beyond the evils of corporate America. Still, the performers — especially Coogan, Hahn and particularly Bradley Whitford — are game, and give the material some spice when it seems invigorated with vinegar.

These actors often are what keep Happyish on its toes, as they fire their lines with confidence and pride, and make the most of it. Their stride is notable, and they can make the material occasionally relish in its misery. It’s just a shame, though, how messy their show can be around them. Working without clear direction or a focused narrative or message, they walk around yelling what they need to yell but come across as too scornful to be likable or accessible. For all its smarts, it doesn’t have a clear route, merely walking in circles to find things to make them mad then cuss those they find out while they can. That’s very sad.

Image courtesy of INFphoto.com