Warning: SPOILERS for Happy's Place season 1, episode 18, "Alarm Bells."Following the season 1 finale of Happy's Place season 2 is confirmed, the season 1 finale really couldn't afford to end on any notes that it won't follow up on in its next outing. The show has a reputation for dropping storylines midway through, but the season's ending provides a glimpse of how some of those plot points might play out in the future.

Almost every character in the Happy's Place cast has a storyline yet to be resolved. When the show began, it felt like the focus of the show would be Isabella's (Belissa Escobedo) relationship with Bobbie (Reba McEntire) and whether they could run the bar together. Since then, however, the series has introduced a number of side stories that also deserve revisiting. If season 2 even addresses a few of them, it will do better in furthering the plot than season 1 did.

9 Has Steve's OCD Therapy Been Effective?

His Last Appointment Left A Lot Of Questions Open

When the sitcom began, Steve's (Pablo Castelblanco) OCD was very much treated as little more than a punchline. Since then, however, Steve's condition has led to two of the most heartbreaking moments in the entire series. The first was when Steve revealed that his OCD makes him terrified to ever have a child. The second was when he very nearly gave up therapy toward the end of the season.

Steve doesn't need to fully overcome his OCD to better the series, but he can grow past the last benchmark that’s been shown.

Episode 17 of Happy's Place revolves around Steve wanting to replace his therapy with morning visits to Bobbie's house, in which he engages in what Isabella refers to as "trauma dumping." But the truly upsetting moment is when Steve reveals that he hates therapy because it requires him to reassess literally every instinct he has on a given day. Steve doesn't need to fully overcome his OCD to better the series, but he can grow past the last benchmark that's been shown.

8 Is Emmett's Medical Issue Still A Threat?

Brought Up Twice Yet Still Unresolved

One of Happy's Place's more serious storylines is it looking like resident chef Emmett (Rex Linn) suffered a health scare that could affect his well-being in the long haul. Emmett's health scare doesn't technically last more than one episode, but it still comes back as a recurring plotline when Takoda (Tokala Black Elk) and Steve find out in episode 15 that Emmett is keeping secrets from the rest of the staff. Fortunately, his big secret just turns out to be a new love for tap dancing.

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Steve s in on Emmett's tap dance scheme and surprises the whole staff when they put on a performance together. Nonetheless, Steve and Takoda ing Emmett's health scare at all marks a rare moment in the series in which storylines actually receive follow-up mentions. The fact that the series cares enough to bring this back after dropping bigger storylines suggests the plot point's importance, so it's not unreasonable to think this may come up again in the future.

7 Will Emmett & Bobbie Get Together?

It Was Wrong To End This On A Cliffhanger

According to Happy's Place co-creator Kevin Abbott, one of the biggest issues with Reba was that it didn't provide a lot of chances to tell new love stories. The relationship between Bobbie and Emmett, however, has been building over several episodes. Their romantic arc arguably begins when Emmett takes Bobbie fishing to give her some much-needed time off work, even if there isn't much talk of romance in that episode. It shows that Emmett cares about Bobbie and is more attentive to her needs than most people, even when she herself didn't want to it that she needed time off.

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In the past few episodes, romantic tensions between them have been much clearer. The season 1 finale focuses on this entirely, mostly because Isabella's not satisfied unless she's meddling in somebody else's business. Unfortunately, the finale doesn't actually provide closure on whether Emmett and Bobbie will start dating. All they really decide is that Emmett will come by to check on her once in a while. It's a nice development, but fans will have to wait until season 2 to see any actual sparks fly.

6 Is Isabella A True Manager Now?

What Even Happened To Her Training?

Bobbie's storyline with Emmett in the finale is largely pushed ahead by Isabella, which unfortunately isn't all that surprising. Not only does Isabella tend to be meddlesome by nature, but she also has no clear job function or anything to do at the bar but stick her nose into people's personal lives. And that can be extremely frustrating because the first few episodes set up a perfectly fine arc regarding Isabella's management training that the series appears to have forgotten.

From the moment Isabella forgave Happy for abandoning her, the series seems to have forgotten that he also left her half a bar.

Originally, Isabella was meant to spend time shadowing one employee per week until she knew enough to become a tried and true co-manager. She did alright shadowing Emmett, but her time with Gabby (Melissa Peterman) mostly revealed that Isabella is egregiously overconfident in her ability to do the job. She never seems to have shadowed Steve at all, despite his job playing a rather important role in management duties. From the moment Isabella forgave Happy for abandoning her, the series seems to have forgotten that he also left her half a bar.

5 Will Bobbie's Daughter Return Home For Good?

Another Sitcom May Provide The Answer

Possibly one of the best moments in Happy's Place season 1 was seeing Isabella try to process the reality that she couldn't hold her own in a paintball match against a woman with military training. Bobbie has made mention of her daughter Gracie numerous times since the series began, but it wasn't until 10 episodes in that she arrived to help Isabella realize that forcing saccharine friendship on everyone doesn't always win them over. It's now confirmed that Emma Kenney's role in Happy’s Place season 2 will be larger, but what's unclear is if Gracie will actually be returning home.

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It's certainly not outside the realm of possibility. Kenney's role in The Conners is basically over, with just a short six-episode season left before the show closes its curtains for good. And, frankly, adding a new face to the roster might help some of the series' jokes feel less stale. If Happy's Place wanted to use Bobbie's daughter to ister that remedy, there'd be no better time than now.

4 When Will Isabella Find A Use For Her Psychology Degree?

Goodness Knows It Hasn't Been Useful Yet

It's not clear what target demographic the writers had in mind when they were crafting Isabella's character, but the idea they apparently came up with was that Isabella spent four years studying psychology just to understand it about as well as the average Redditor. She uses like "trauma dumping" and "sublimation," but by their armchair psychology definitions without really seeming to understand their deeper implications. She's pretty much just one toxic subreddit away from referring to a white lie as "gaslighting."

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But in the world of the show, we're supposed to believe that she's actually really smart. In episode 13, Isabella's mother Maritza (Justina Machado) reveals that she had the chance to receive a graduate education at Stanford before moving to Tennessee. As frustrating as it is to hear pop-psych advice from someone with no clinical training, it'd be nice if she actually did something to merit her constant psychobabble. Even if she just realizes she's not management material and becomes a "tell me your problems" sort of bartender, that'd be good enough.

3 Does Isabella Have A Relationship In Her Future?

Her Breakup Played An Unexpected Role In The Finale

Isabella technically has a boyfriend when Happy's Place starts, but Jack (Anthony Norman) tooke ight episodes to actually appear. Unfortunately for him, Jack's appearance only serves as an excuse for Isabella to break up with him. Since then, Isabella's shown virtually no interest in dating. In fact, now that Gabby's given up on men to raise a baby on her own instead, Bobbie and Emmett are the only characters with clear interest in a romantic future.

It's unclear what the perfect man for Isabella would be like, but it feels like her storyline with Jack won't be truly fulfilled until the series gives her a chance to figure that out.

This is a bit ironic since it's brought up in the season 1 finale that Bobbie specifically advised Isabella to break up with Jack so she could leave herself open for true love. Bobbie's advice to Isabella winds up applying to Bobbie herself and her relationship with Emmett, but it would be a bit odd if that advice never came back to Isabella at all. It's unclear what the perfect man for Isabella would be like, but it feels like her storyline with Jack won't be truly fulfilled until the series gives her a chance to figure that out.

2 Will We Ever Meet Takoda's Family?

The Show Needs To Do Something With Him

Despite being more or less the moral center of the series, Takoda is one of the most ignored characters in Happy's Place. He's rarely the focus of the episode, instead simply popping up like Wilson from Home Improvement to give people advice when they've mucked things up. But we do know that Takoda is a loving "girl dad" and has a fulfilling life outside the bar. It would be nice to actually see the family that helped him become the mellow father figure that he often has to be for his less mature adult colleagues.

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The oddest thing about Takoda's family never appearing is simply the fact that they're local. Bobbie's daughter and Isabella's mother both managed to make appearances while having to fly in from elsewhere. It's understandable that Takoda might not love the idea of bringing four children to a bar, but Happy's Place has left the bar for episodes in the past, such as when Isabella toured Happy's house or Bobbie went fishing with Emmett. Takoda inviting his friends to get a glimpse of his home life would help round out his character in the way he frankly deserves.

1 When Will Gabby Finally Have Her Baby?

This Should've Been The Biggest Story Of The Season

Gabby decided just a few episodes into the series that she wanted to have a baby, but Happy's Place dropped the storyline for a long time after that. It wasn't until episode 12 that Gabby's arc got a huge boost when she bought an AI doll that grades s on their parenting skills. Gabby is initially distraught when the rest of the bar gets a higher parental grade despite Bobbie leaving the baby in a drawer for half an hour, but she ends the episode once again ready to become a mom.

Since then, however, the storyline's been abandoned yet again. Gabby's plans for motherhood come up a little bit, but there's been no actual progress. Between Gabby's planned motherhood, Steve's therapy, and Isabella's training, Bobbie and Emmett's relationship was actually the least important storyline for Happy's Place to focus on for its season 1 finale. Although she didn't get the attention she should have deserved this time around, Gabby will hopefully receive more focus in season 2.

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Happy's Place (2024)

Your Rating

Happy's Place
TV-PG
Comedy
Release Date
October 18, 2024
Network
NBC
Directors
Pamela Fryman

WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming

Writers
Kevin Abbott