When last we saw Melissa, she had just discovered that an innocent man named Elijah was about to be executed for a murder her father Keith Jesperson (AKA The Happy Face Killer) had most likely committed.
In the second episode of Happy Face, we get flashbacks to Melissa’s childhood, starting with the night the cops showed up at the front door, and Mom subsequently told the kids that their father had been arrested for murder.
In the past, we see Mom packing up the kids and gathering all of the newspapers in town. Melissa looks at the newspaper headline, which reads that Keith had been arrested for murdering eight women, meaning her desperate mother just wanted to avoid anyone else in town seeing that headline.
Melissa meets with Elijah’s attorney, and watches a video of him professing his innocence. His attorney says he was convicted with no real evidence, and he has now been in prison for nearly 30 years, his execution date getting closer.
We later see teenage Melissa being beat up by a group of girls, who taunt her about her father’s status as a serial killer. This is why she is hesitant to speak up for the wrongly accused man, because she doesn’t want her kids to go through what she did.
Melissa pays a visit to the Whiskey River Bar, where her dad met Heather, the woman he has just confessed to killing. She talks to the owner of the bar, who doesn’t recognize Keith from the photo she shows. Then she sees a photo display set up, one that includes pictures of Heather, and of Elijah. The bartender tells her he went to school with Heather, and that he basically can’t wait until her killer is executed. We can tell that the guilt is starting to overwhelm Melissa.
Cut to Keith bragging to some of his fellow inmates about talking to Dr. Greg. He insists he is only confessing “because it’s the right thing to do,” but his massive ego is very evident.
Meanwhile, Hazel is being picked on by some of her classmates, who snatch her phone and see Keith’s photo on it. She tells them that her grandfather is a serial killer. Later, Hazel is at a drug store looking at bikini wax, when a cute guy from school approaches her. Being a teenage girl, she hides the package while she chit-chats with him, then starts to leave, flustered. The security alarm goes off, and though the store manager lets her go, she is in trouble with dad, despite insisting she didn’t steal anything, it was an accident.
The next day, Hazel is approached by the girls who had picked on her, and they refer to themselves as “murderinos”, inviting her to go with them to a Murder Museum.
Ivy and Melissa are setting up a photo shoot at the murder site to be featured on a story about Heather, and Ivy is giving Melissa the cold shoulder. She doesn’t understand why she is afraid to speak up about being Keith’s daughter. They are approached by Elijah’s tearful sister, who thanks them. Melissa’s husband calls about Hazel shoplifting, and she suddenly notices a happy face carved into a tree at the murder site.
Elijah’s attorney Gabriella brings the DA to see the carving, but he just blows it off, saying there isn’t enough evidence. Melissa asks what if the killer’s daughter is willing to testify, and he scoffs, saying he would destroy her in court, that the daughter of a serial killer is bound to have “issues.”
When Ivy and Melissa find out their planned prison visit with Elijah has been revoked, they figure the DA must have called them.
Back home, Melissa tells her husband that she is going on the Dr. Greg show to talk about Keith for the first time. He disagrees, and says she needs to leave it to the experts, and she retorts that they are old powerful white guys who will not admit they made a mistake. The authorities don’t care about people like Elijah and her.
Hazel walks in, and tells them she knows about Keith. She thinks Melissa should speak up, that nowadays people think murder is “cool.” Little Max comes in, and Melissa tells him she lied about his grandfather being dead – he is really in prison for hurting people. He asks if Keith is going to hurt them, and his parents tell him no.
Though Melissa and Hazel both think telling the truth to save Elijah is the right thing, Ben still disagrees. He said it won’t be good for Melissa, and says she is doing the same thing Keith did – staying out on the road, then returning loaded down with gifts for the kids.
Hazel goes to the Murder Museum with her “friends”, who tell the owner that she is Happy Face’s grand daughter. The owner is delighted, and says she has some of his artwork. When Hazel tells her he sent her a drawing for her birthday, the woman offers to buy it from her.
Melissa goes on the Dr. Greg show and admits she is the daughter of Happy face. Pressed to give some happy memories, she mentions going to the lake with her family and hiking and swimming. But she says she isn’t here to humanize him, she wants to talk about Elijah. Pressed by Dr. Greg (and Ivey behind the scenes), Melissa talks about Keith’s MO, and about Louise, the victim he knew and dated. She says the DA is biased where Elijah is concerned. Dr. Greg asks if she ever worries that she is like him.
Hurt, she insists she would never hurt anyone, and Dr. Greg gently tells her she should stop blaming herself for loving her Dad and not knowing he was evil. She shouldn’t feel unworthy of love, and she should believe she deserves her good life.
She pauses, then asks, “What if I’m like him?” He just seemed so normal. Dr. Greg tells her that her father manipulates her. “You are your father’s daughter, but you are not like him.”
We see a brief scene of Keith putting up news articles about himself in his cell, then we see a man walk into a general store and notice a newspaper article about Keith. Could this be Melissa’s brother maybe?