‘Harry Wild’ Recap: ‘An Unhappy Happy Is a Dangerous Thing’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Harry Wild’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of its first three episodes, the Acorn TV series, Harry Wild, has established itself to be a solid cozy mystery. One that is filled to the brim with engaging and unique cases, that feature gravity and intelligence, that Harry and Fergus solve with a level of glee that never allows for the source material to ever get heavy in the slightest. All of which allows for the viewer to enjoy an entertaining and satisfying ride, one where good always triumphs over evil and it even offers up literary lessons often. Courtesy of Harry’s grounding in that particular world, and well… this particularly important aspect of the show is important to note and reflect upon… simply because the next episode in this wonderful saga… opted to shake things up and inform us of something quite important about the show.
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In that, while the writers’ room is fine with this series being grounded in the realm of the cozy mystery, and pleasing crowds in the process… these same writers want to see if by chance, they can push the envelope of that genre and pepper in bolder and darker stories along the way, as evidenced by the next episode in this tale. For ‘An Unhappy Happy Is a Dangerous Thing’, definitely indulged in some darker storytelling. The kind that is usually reserved for the grittier crime dramas of the world and it accomplished this feat by having a loan shark named Ringo die in a horrible manner. The kind that garnered the attention of Happy, since Ringo was his son, and because Happy wanted his son’s killer brought to justice quickly and efficiently… he enlisted the help of Harry and Fergus. 

Whom quickly discovered that they were dealing with a ruthless killer. One that was basically injecting himself into the world of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment by pretending to be one of the characters, so he could commit/reenact the vengeful crimes present within that novel, and well… once Harry and the man, whose name turned out to be Billy Lund began to speak… did the darkness take over this story. Because Billy wasn’t mentally stable in the slightest and he saw Harry as his equal and nemesis a la Moriarty to Holmes, and basically wanted to play a long game with her, one that would help indulge his already twisted fantasies and of course, Harry was having none of that. For she knew the dangers of indulging fantasy over anything else, especially for someone who saw no gravity in their crimes and that motivated her to do something different here.

Specifically, to try and bring Billy to justice in the sneakiest manner possible. Which in this case, involved taking the time to meet his broken family so that she could secure his address and work with Charlie to promptly bring him in. Allowing for justice for Ringo to take place and keeping more blood off the streets since Happy was planning to murder Billy post haste. But alas, only part of the plan worked. Because while the police were able to search Billy’s home, he was mere moments away from arriving there, shattering his belief that Harry was his equal/endless foe and that motivated him to cross a lot of lines. Such as kidnapping Charlie and teasing Harry as to his location. So, he could indulge in his special brand of darkness face to face and punish Harry in every way imaginable to ease the pain in his heart and the madness in his mind and thankfully, he never had the chance to do so.

Since Happy and Fergus were there to back Harry up, and of course, she was able to broker a deal that saw Billy go to jail instead of dying at Happy’s hands, giving us a happy ending to a harrowing tale. One that really did provide us with Harry’s darkest storyline to date since Billy was scary and ruthless and a true psychopath through and through. A move that quite frankly, needs to be applauded. Simply because this bold decision, never overpowered the story or took the series in a new direction. It simply added a little spice to the mythos and allowed for us to understand that this is a crime series that can simply do it all and that’s wonderful. Because it means that it can surprise us at any moment with a case that is either serious or whimsical or something in-between and this magnificent storytelling decision absolutely motivates us to continue the journey. In order to see what kind of unique cases await us down the line. Until next time.

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