Article first published as HAPPYLAND Review on Seat42F.
MTV’s
newest venture, HAPPYLAND, seems more like an ABC Family series than a
program that belongs on the network once home to music videos. The half
hour dramedy features much drama, mostly at the hands of an extremely
rare situation, one that most viewers will never experience or even meet
someone who has experienced. The story seems to be focused on
overcoming adversity and is made up of characters who will pull together
in heartwarming ways. But there’s an edginess in the premise that ABC
Family is still a few years away from reaching, so perhaps that’s why it
landed on a network that is OK with being inappropriate a bit more
often.
HAPPYLAND takes place at a
theme park that is clearly modeled on Disney, given the range of
costumed and human characters that work there, though Disney would never
license their material for a project like this. We quickly meet Lucy
Velez (Bianca A. Santos, The Fosters), a smart teen who wants to escape
this empty, near-poverty lifestyle she is following her mother, Elena
(Camille Guaty, Prison Break), into at the titular place. This is
derailed as she tries to cover for her mother’s mistakes.
Elena
herself seems a totally uneven character. She is a bit loose, so that
lines up with her teenage pregnancy, but she’s responsible enough that
she’s never missed a performance in fifteen years. Yet, she misses one
in the pilot, and the park is ready to fire such a long-time, reliable
employee for one mistake? And she always show up for work but she has
trouble paying the rent on time? I don’t really understand what type of
person HAPPYLAND is trying to build with her.
Lucy
is easier to figure out, a stock character seen way too many times.
She’s a girl who is supposedly independent and strong-willed, but all it
takes is one cute guy being nice to her to ruin her willpower. This,
despite the fact that the guy exhibits bad tendencies at their first
meeting, and shouldn’t be able to make up for things so easily. Lucy
also has a weak spot for her mother, but that’s a little more
understandable, as many kids will protect and only believe the best
about their parents long after being disillusioned out of a desire to
restore an earlier balance.
The guy
that gets in Lucy’s way in HAPPYLAND is Ian Chandler (Shane Harper,
Awkward.), the son of the park’s owner. He is first seen smoking pot in a
character costume, and passes out during a show. Yet his abs and
gentlemanly conduct when later wearing princely garb knocks down all of
Lucy’s defenses. One may assume he is just having a bad day at the
beginning, rebelling about getting into the family business like his
more responsible brother, Theodore (Ryan Rottman, Gigantic), has done.
But it’s hard to tell because Ian has basically no character development
in this pilot.
Anyone who has been
following along this article the least bit will probably assume that Ian
and Lucy are the central couple of HAPPYLAND, and that’s the way it
looks as the episode comes to an end. But the twist of the series (and I
feel comfortable spoiling it here since it’s been covered extensively
in the press) is that the two share a dad, something they don’t find out
about until after they kiss. It’s an icky, icky situation.
The
first episode ends abruptly with this revelation, so it’s hard to tell
were the show will go from there. I tried skimming the second episode
sent to press, but it just had the pair fighting with each other, and
considering how bad I think this series is, I couldn’t keep going to try
to figure out what the equilibrium will end up being, which I don’t
think will be settled quickly. Surely, even MTV wouldn’t let (half-?)
siblings date for any length of time, so the relationship between Lucy
and Ian will have to be one of siblings, not lovers. But that’s not the
vibe being put off in the first episode.
While
HAPPYLAND’s tale is conceivable, it’s certainly not a set of
circumstances viewers will be able to relate to, nor is it ripe for good
character study. Instead, it seems offensive purely for the shock
factor, and will make a weak premise to drive the show forward. I don’t
know where HAPPYLAND is going, but I’m exiting the ride right now before
it makes me any more nauseous, which, for the record, is being caused
more by the overall poor production than the kiss itself.
HAPPYLAND premieres Tuesday, September 30th at 11 p.m. ET.
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