Happy Face Isn’t Your Typical True Crime Drama, and the Official Trailer Promises a Killer Hook

Paramount+ has had some recent hits, such as Landman and School Spirits Season 2, and the streaming platform is poised to keep that streak going with Happy Face.

The new crime drama premieres on Thursday, March 20, with a two-episode drop on Paramount+ territories around the globe.

New episodes will air each week through its May 1 season finale.

The “season” finale is interesting because the newly released Happy Face trailer reminds me of the many crime dramas that have invaded the small screen in the peak TV era.

More often than not, they’re limited series due to the cases having a clearly defined endpoint that didn’t call for more episodes.

It hasn’t stopped some shows from toying with the idea of more episodes, such as HBO’s Mare of Easttown.

Thankfully, Mare of Easttown has remained a miniseries thus far, but it’s unclear how Happy Face will end or whether it will require more episodes.

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Could Happy Face Return for Season 2?

Typically, limited series are marketed as such because they’re a short investment for viewers who like to avoid shows that drag on for years.

The immediate draw for Happy Face is the cast.

Emmy-nominated and Tony Award-winning Annaleigh Ashford co-leads alongside the incomparable Dennis Quaid.

James Wolk, Tamera Tomakili, Khiyla Aynne, and Benjamin Mackey are also set as series regulars.

Happy Face is inspired by the true-life story of Melissa G. Moore.

“Jumping off from Moore’s true-life story, the Paramount+ Original Series follows Melissa (Ashford) and her incarcerated father, known as the Happy Face Killer (Quaid),” the official description teases.

“After decades of no contact, he finally finds a way to force himself back into his daughter’s life. In a race against the clock, Melissa must find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed,” the streaming platform adds.

“Throughout, she discovers the impact her father had on his victims’ families and must face a reckoning of her own identity.”

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Melissa and Her Father Have a Complicated Dynamic

The official trailer showcases the fraught dynamic between Melissa and her father, and it succeeds in its attempt to intrigue me about their past and why their lives are about to be intertwined again.

At the beginning of the footage, Melissa is no-contact with her murderous father because she’s repulsed by who he is and what he’s done.

However, she does admit that he was a regular father until his murderous tendencies came out to play.

Something tells me Happy Face will throw what we think we know up in the air and flip the script to up the stakes.

The trailer’s most chilling moment involves Melissa being told that the Happy Face killer will only speak to her or someone else about a victim that many don’t know about.

I can’t even begin to process how difficult it must have been for Melissa to tell everyone the truth about her father when they got that call.

Check out the official trailer for Happy Face below.

What are your thoughts on the first details? Are you on board, or will you sit this one out?

We’ll be tuning in for sure.

Let’s start a conversation about your first impressions of Happy Place down below. As you can probably tell, we really like to talk about TV.

The post Happy Face Isn’t Your Typical True Crime Drama, and the Official Trailer Promises a Killer Hook appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Source: TV Fanatic