Happy Face

It's not bad, but I think it tries to do a lot of things at once, and as result does not get particular good at any of them. There are multiple plotlines (which is fine, of course), and they do make sense considering the circumstances, but most of them feel quite shallow. And investigation bits are not that compelling.

On one hand, that's all understandable, since it's based on real life, and real life is not that "dramatic" most of the time, but this is a TV show, so some extra dramatization could be beneficial. As is it feels more like they had specific points in a plan, that needed to be checked off, and they did just that.

On the other hand, the show has moments when it tries to be almost like a "thriller", especially with some choices in music, and with some camera shots. As if there is some mystery, but there actually is no mystery at all. If the same tension was applied to the whole series, especially to parts related to relationships inside the family - it probably would have had more impact.

This is still a decent watch, though. Annaleigh was great, other actors were not far behind most of the times as well. "The Cranberries" in the soundtrack? And it is way more cohesive compared to "Good American Family", that started around the same time and is also based on true events.

This is more than a story of a serial killer and true crime. After watching the first two episodes, I'm drawn in and want to see how it plays out, not necessarily because of the plot or story line but more because I became invested in the characters' lives and emotions. What is probably most compelling is how I am drawn to the character of Melissa, whose father is the serial killer. We the audience see the flash backs, her experiences, and emotions as she is now dealing with her father's new confession on a 9th victim. In real life, Melissa has written a book about her experiences, which I have not read, nor did I know anything about this story, which means my review of the series is not biased. The acting and script is also decent, and I will keep watching.

Great to see Dennis Quaid pull through with a creepy and hateable character.

The show is compelling and has got me well booked into where it's going to go

The hateable cast making dumb decisions details the otherwise interesting progression of the case, with the horrible performance by Annaleigh Ashford not doing any favours to my ability to watch more than 5 minutes without absolutely cringing.

Not 1 sentence, not 1 frame, not 1 expression is worthy of giving this woman the title of an "Actor". Absolutely drags the sub par performance of everyone else down with her...

Let's see where this goes...

Some actors I find a bit questionable and cringe but everytime Dennis is on the screen he nails his character and I even sometimes get chills. He does the creepiness and the quick change of emotions really well. You can tell he really took the time to prepare for his character. I think the actress playing Melissa can feel unserious and quirky at times but in a good way if that's the role she was meant to play.

Definitely give this show a chance - it feels alot lighter than other true crime series and i was hesitant at first but I'm glad I started the first episode and then after I was hooked!

The story of the Happy Face Killer was interesting enough without making up some BS.

While I know that most movies based on true stories embellish, I found watching the fictional side story and subsequent "investigation" distracting and I watched only 3 episodes before I just had had enough.

Merging characters and events for time constraints or to try to provide clarity I can understand, but making up the side quest out of whole cloth really detracted from the show, and really felt quite exploitative.

I'm pretty offended on behalf of the real victims and their families; this smacks of totally tone-deaf cashgrab.