Line #42 Series/HappyTown


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Happy_Town_2999.jpg]]
2
3	->''"Don't let the name fool you."''
4
5	''Happy Town'' is an Creator/{{ABC}} television series that aired in the spring of 2010, and was canceled after only one season.
6
7	Underneath the surface of Haplin, Minnesota -- nicknamed "Happy Town" (and which is in Haplin County) -- is a dark secret involving the "Magic Man" (so-called because of his ability to make people just vanish into thin air), who had a reign of terror in Haplin seven years in the past. After a murder in town, it begins to look as though the Magic Man has come back... Among those who want to solve the mystery of both the murder and the Magic Man are Tommy Conroy (Creator/GeoffStults), the son of the town sheriff, and Henley Boone (Creator/LaurenGerman), a seeming newcomer to Haplin County, who has secrets of her own... secrets that connect her to the already-existing secrets of Happy Town...
8
9	Has a [[Characters/HappyTown Character Sheet]].
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11	----
12	!This work provides examples of:
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14	* AffablyEvil: Apparently [[spoiler: Dan Farmer]].
15	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Andrew for Georgia.
16	* AlliterativeName: The Magic Man, Baby Boy Stiviletto, Big Dave Duncan, Joanie Jenkins, and M. E. Murtaugh.
17	* CassandraTruth: Georgia tells Andrew why she has a bruise on her forehead, but he dismisses it as a joke and assumes her [[AbusiveParents father is responsible]].
18	* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler:Big Dave]]
19	* DistressedDamsel: Georgia [[spoiler:possibly getting drugged and then ending up at the Stiviletto house.]]
20	** Henley [[spoiler:getting attacked by a eerie bird that crashes through her window while she's driving and she ends up crashing.]]
21	* [[spoiler:ADeathInTheLimelight: Episode six starts off with a flashback focusing on Dave's childhood with Tommy and the friendship is played up more than in previous episodes. By the end of the episode, Dave is dead by Tommy's hand.]]
22	* FeudingFamilies: The Haplins and the Bravins.
23	* HappilyMarried: Tommy and Rachel.
24	* IllKillYou: Andrew threatens to kill [[spoiler:Georgia's father, convinced that he was the one who gave Georgia the bruise on her forehead, despite Georgia's protests.]]
25	* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[spoiler:After admittedly not having ever fired a gun on the job and having only a half-second to aim, Tommy shoots Dave right through the heart in a moment of self-defense.]]
26	* IntergenerationalFriendship / OddFriendship: Between Henley and Merritt Grieves.
27	* ItsPersonal: [[spoiler:Convinced that Georgia's father Carl was the one who bruised her, Andrew takes matters into his own hands by wreaking his own car and telling his friends Carl was the one who did it, so Andrew and his friends go to Georgia's home to confront Carl, though things don't go quite as planned when Carl stabs Andrew instead.]]
28	* MeaningfulName: "Happy Town" is the nickname for [[strike:Haplin County]] Haplin, Minnesota, ''located in'' Haplin County, and an [[{{Irony}} ironic]] one at that, what with the [[TownWithADarkSecret ''mysterious disappearances]] and all...''
29	** The Magic Man got his name from his ability to make people disappear without a trace.
30	* [[LikeASonToMe Like A Daughter To Me]]: Georgia to Tommy and Rachel.
31	* [[spoiler:MissingMom]]: [[spoiler:Rachel literally becoming one in the end of 1x03, thanks to the Magic Man.]]
32	* MysteriousPast: The entire town.
33	* NaiveNewcomer: Henley. Subverted because [[spoiler: she's not who she says she is and she's there for a purpose.]]
34	** She is [[spoiler:"Chloe."]]
35	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Magic Man.
36	* PapaWolf: Tommy's BerserkButton is naturally pushed when [[spoiler:he finds out about Georgia possibly getting drugged and then ending up at the Stiviletto house. He goes over to the Stivilettos' and kicks their asses. Though Georgia is not Tommy's daughter, she is the babysitter of Tommy's and Rachel's daughter Emma and is like a daughter to them.]]
37	* RuleOfThree: The third floor of the boarding home Henley stays in is off-limits. [[spoiler:And locked. But Henley manages to duplicate the key, and she finds a room filled with caged birds and a box underneath the floorboards. Inside the box is a strange, goat-shaped hammer.]]
38	** There are three different character storylines: newcomer Henley Boone learning about Happy Town and its dark secrets, son of the sheriff Tommy Conroy's search for leads on the Magic Man and who "Chloe" is, and regular high school student and babysitter Georgia Bravin dealing with her secret relationship with Andrew Haplin and with her few run-in brushes on the mystery of the Magic Man.
39	** Merritt Grieves is able to acquire all his antique items for his shop through a [[spoiler:journal. He has [[RuleOfThree three steps]] in order to do so, following writing down the things he wants onto the pages: all he has to do is close it, tap it [[RuleOfThree three times]], and turn it around. Then his journal is emptied so that he can start all over again.]]
40	*** That's possibly just a story he tells to entertain a young girl. [[spoiler:The journal does seem to be magical in some way, though.]]
41	* SarcasticTitle
42	* SecretRelationship: Georgia and Andrew, though Georgia is tired of keeping up with the Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet charade.
43	* SpiritualSuccessor: To Series/TwinPeaks.
44	** It's a bit like what would happen if ''Series/OctoberRoad'' was evil.
45	* TitleDrop
46	* TownWithADarkSecret: The premise of the show.
47	* YouAreFat: [[spoiler:Dave is initially treated with a fair degree of sympathy and respect, but after Tommy finds out Dave killed Jerry Friddle, a furious Tommy hurls a number of insults about Dave, including some about his weight, which of course had nothing to do with the issue at hand.]]

Context Series / HappyTown