True crime adaptations remain ever so popular, and Happy Face on Paramount+ is doing a remarkable job of showing why. Based on the life of Melissa G. Moore, who is the daughter of the notorious Happy Face Killer, the adaptation is shocking and salacious, full of curiosity, secrets, and exposure. However, there’s a lot about Happy Face that allows it to stand out as different from other adaptations.
For example, the limited series does not follow the events of Happy Face Killer Keith Jesperson (Dennis Quaid) and his exploits, but instead jumps off from the true story of his arrest to follow his daughter Melissa as he tries to work his way back into her life. Furthermore, instead of focusing on the killer and his actions, the Paramount+ series focuses more on the effects of Jesperson’s actions on his own family, on his victims’ families, on surrounding communities, and eventually on the killer himself.
With time for the 8-episode series almost up, you might be wondering when the season ends. The Happy Face season finale airs Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 12 a.m. PT on Paramount+. The final episode, titled “The Star,” will wrap up this true crime saga and will no doubt drop more knowledge on us as consequences play out for some of our characters' past actions. Here’s when to catch the Happy Face season finale based on your time zone:
- West Coast: 12 a.m. PT
- East Coast: 3 a.m. ET
- Midwest: 2 a.m. CT
- Mountain: 1 a.m. MT
The Happy Face series finale airs May 1 on Paramount+
Over the course of the season, Melissa has gone from living a quiet, happy life as a wife, mother, and make-up artist for a successful true crime talk show to getting wrapped up in the past that won't leave her alone, once again becoming the daughter of the Happy Face Killer. When her father calls her talk show from prison with information about a crime he committed but did not confess to originally, she is wrangled back into her truth to come face-to-face with a father she hasn't spoken to in 15 years only to learn that an innocent man is on Death Row for a crime her father supposedly committed, with a rapidly approaching execution date.
She has worked hard to find the truth and free an innocent man from prison and, in the process, she has outed her family to the world and thus put them in the line of fire when it comes to ridicule and judgment. This isn't the only way Happy Face chooses to force himself into his daughter's life, though. He's also infiltrating it via another method: through her own daughter, his granddaughter - a harrowing scenario to discover as a mother.
In the penultimate episode of the season, "My Jesperson Girls," Happy Face doesn't go where it should and start to resolve our story - no. Rather, it continues on with its mystery full of twists, turns, and surprises, dropping some of the biggest bombshells of the season as it reveals the actual truth behind how deep Hazel and Keith's relationship really goes, who Keith really is (as opposed to who Melissa believed him to be prior to his arrest), how fed up Ben has become and the lengths he has been pushed to in order to protect his family, and what really happened to Heather Richmond. Episode 7 is certainly the episode that makes you gasp in shock, and it leaves Melissa torn, facing the biggest decision of her life: her father or her family.
So, with the final episode right around the corner, true crime fans can't wait to see what Happy Face has in store as a result of everything revealed in episode 7, especially since we thought we knew where we were headed after the events of episode 6. Will Ben go through with his actions? Will Hazel continue talking with Happy Face? Will Keith come to terms with who he is? Will Melissa, once and for all, discover the truth behind her father's games, and will she be able to choose her family over her past, over her identity, and over the man she once called Dad? Moreover, after their argument in episode 7, will Keith ever speak to Melissa again, and will the case of Heather Richmond finally be laid to rest?
We still have a lot of unanswered questions to address and mysteries to solve, but one thing's for sure: Once Happy Face ends, fans will want more. Quaid and Ashford are quite a dynamic duo, and we've enjoyed their push-pull narrative that has led us down some dark, curious paths. This true crime adaptation has turned out to be a compelling mystery full of twists and turns that successfully (and creepily) explores the effects of violent actions on the people involved and those closest to them. This is one finale you won't want to miss!
The Happy Face series finale will premiere on Thursday, May 1 at 12 a.m. PT on Paramount+.