I must say I was delighted with this episode. The first two episodes of the season were somewhat uneven, and I was a bit worried about the direction of the show, but “Polly wants a crack at her” had me on the edge of my seat. I’m excited to see where Happy Town will take us now. A lot of things happened in this episode, and there will be spoilers in this recap. Read at your own risk.

Last week’s episode ended with Henley driving off the side of the road when a large bird flew into her windshield. Henley awakes to see a concerned man peering down at her. He asks her if anything is broken “arms, legs, promises?”, and offers to drive her to a medical clinic he passed by. He’s easy on the eyes, and Henley accepts his offer, insisting that she first grab her bag (which holds that hammer she found in the attic.) He introduces himself as “Aidan” while they are driving to the clinic.

Aidan is embarrassed and Henley is amused to discover that she has been taken to a veterinarian (played by director David Cronenberg, in a cameo.) Aidan stumbles all over himself, but Henley doesn’t seem to mind. The two trot across the street to the “Knotty Woods” hotel (get it? knotty=naughty) and get it on. While Aidan is (sleeping?) Henley checks on the hammer. It’s all safe and sound.

When Aidan drives Henley back to her house, the old ladies watching in the window are stunned, because they recognize the fella.

This is a recap for Happy Town, episode 2, “I Came to Haplin for the Water,” and it will have spoilers in order to discuss plot points. If you did not see the pilot for Happy Town last week, you can watch it on the official ABC website.

Now that I have seen the first two episodes of Happy Town, here are a few of my initial thoughts on the series. I enjoyed the second half of both episodes quite a bit more than the first. I have found it difficult to initially get into the show, but by the end of each episode I have been completely engrossed.

I enjoy quirky, but I do not enjoy goofy, and some of the characters are quickly veering into annoying territory (I’m looking at you, Stiviletto brothers.) I feel like some of these characters are coming across as being badly acted, and it seems to take down the quality of the show a notch. There are still plenty of talented actors on the show, and that might be why some of the weaker ones stand out.

I do think the show suffers in the writing department. I didn’t notice it so much the first episode, when I was trying to keep all the characters and plot-lines straight, but in the second episode I noticed sloppy dialogue and meandering scenes that easily could have been tightened up.

ABC has been heavily promoting the new serial drama Happy Town during Lost this season, touting it as “from the network that brought you Twin Peaks.” Let’s face it, there will never be another Twin Peaks, but the Happy Town premiere is intriguing enough to keep my interest. It boasts a town mystery and some quirky characters, but the comparisons to Twin Peaks should stop right there. Happy Town is more accessible to mainstream audiences, though it still throws enough oddities in the mix to satisfy the more serious television fan.

This post will not have spoilers beyond those that can be seen in the promotional trailer for the series. Haplin, Minnesota is a quaint little town, home of “Daily Bread” bakery and confectionery, and a mysterious character called “the Magic Man.” The Magic Man earned his name because for eight consecutive years, someone would go missing, never to be heard from again. The missing residents were all children or teenagers. Suddenly, five years ago, the disappearances abruptly came to an end, and the townspeople have been enjoying a peaceful community.

The calm is shattered when a brutal murder is discovered. This time a body is quickly found, but rumors begin swirling about the Magic Man. Town sheriff Griffin Conroy is joined by his son (and fellow deputy) Tommy Conroy, and the two start investigating the murder. Griffin starts having some very odd spells where he seems entranced, and he keeps speaking of “Chloe”. As soon as he snaps back to reality, he has no idea what he has just said. Naturally, this concerns his son.

We haven’t given you much info on ABC’s upcoming mystery show Happy Town so far. However, ABC must really have confidence in the show because they’ve put the first fourteen minutes of it online over at Hulu. Of course, we’ve got the video for you here as well so no need to click the link.

In this clip we don’t really learn much of what the show is about, only that it features an attractive and quirky cast of mostly familiar faces. Among the citizens of this town are Sam Neill, Amy Acker, Steven Weber, Lauren German and Lost alumni M.C. Gainey.

We do learn one or two other things including the fact that people are missing from the town and a presence called “The Magic Man,” who is probably not a good guy, needs to be dealt with. The first bit of the show held my interest to I suppose I’ll tune in for the entire thing when it premieres, if only to satisfy my curiosity about what happens in the rest of the premiere episode — and because I love Amy Acker. After that, we’ll see.

Happy Town premieres on ABC at 10/9C on April 28. Until then, check out the video after the jump.