Happy Endings, Season 3, Episode 7: “No-Ho-Ho”
Written by Prentice Penny
Directed by Michael Patrick Jann
Airs Tuesdays at 9pm (ET) on ABC
BUSTED!!! At least Jane is, when she hands over her ID to the waiter and a new revelation is revealed- Jane has been lying about her age for the past several years, even going as far as having her driver’s license changed so that it would match up with her lie. So when is her birthday? And why did she lie about it? Because she’s a Christmas baby and she was upset and tired of sharing her birthday with the holiday. Which sets up how the gang is going to change the way Jane feels about Christmas and her birthday.
The start of the episode brings in quite a bit more laughs than the entire previous episode, especially when the gang surprises Jane and she ends up pepper spraying all of them. Watching the group roll around in shock, clutching their faces, is actually pretty hysterical. The gang, after recovering from their pepper spray attack, tells Jane that they are going to postpone Christmas and celebrate her birthday. Dave and Penny are immediately ousted from the operation after Jane sees Penny’s Santa socks and Dave’s phone goes off blaring “Jingle Bells”. This ushers in a few funny moments with Penny and Dave, each of them claiming that their respective infractions are not Christmas-related, but from Jurassic Park.
Throughout the episode the gang finds themselves trying to keep out Christmas, but as Jane puts it, “it always finds its way in.” And it does so in some hysterical ways, including Alex stabbing Max’s backpack bladder of eggnog in a foiled attempt to open one of Jane’s presents, creating a scene that is very reminiscent of the hotel opening in Season Two that culminates with everyone drenched in eggnog.
The holiday episode, or Jane’s birthday, does bring in several laughs and everyone is back on their A game this week. It’s nice to see that Pete, Penny’s boyfriend, has stuck around for three episodes now. Props need to be given to the writers for keeping that story arc going. Pete clearly makes Penny happy, so hopefully he’ll be around for a few more episodes.
The center of the episode focuses mostly on Eliza Coupe’s character, Jane, and she definitely doesn’t let us down. We feel for her, laugh with her, and get a little angry with her. She lets us into Jane’s world, showing how she is feeling. Coupe must be singled out for carrying the episode on her shoulders.
That being said, each character had at least one laugh out loud moment; Alex’s absurd Christmas wrapping obsession, Brad finding his Hip Hop Santa, Dave and Penny trying to cover up their Christmas items with Jurassic Park, and Max giving in to his eggnog addiction. Plus, the added tag, their dance-off with Hip Hop Santa, makes it clear that all six are on their game and they all deserve to share the MVP this week
Happy Endings definitely goes out with a bang this year. It’s a shame that we will have to wait until January until we can have our weekly laugh out loud moments again. Until then, ring in the New Year with friends and family, and if you feel like it, go ahead and have your own dance off with Hip Hop Santa!
Josh Bouye