Dennis Quaid Traumatizes Annaleigh Ashford as a Menacing Serial Killer in the True Crime Series 'Happy Face'

"Put on a happy face."

In the 1990s, Canadian-American Keith Hunter Jesperson was arrested and convicted of killing women who were often seen as vulnerable: sex workers and those without families or a support system. He would become known as The Happy Face Killer, largely because he enjoyed attention from the media and police, so he drew smiley faces on the letters he sent to them. He is still alive to this day and waiting to meet his maker from a cold prison cell.

But first, he must meet his daughter.

"Happy Face" is a Paramount+ drama series that details the crimes and misgivings of Jesperson (Dennis Quaid) as seen through the eyes of his adult daughter, Melissa (Annaleigh Ashford). As she was a teenager, when her father was apprehended, she chose to live a life very distant from him and the rest of her family. Now an adult and married to Ben (James Wolk), Melissa lives a quiet life with her two children as a makeup artist on "The Dr. Greg Show."

But Melissa's relationship with her father is, dare I say it, non-existent. She has never opened any of the letters he's sent her, nor does she care to. That is until the day that he calls "The Dr. Greg Show" and states he will only talk to Melissa and that he has valuable information about an additional killing that he committed that's never been known.

Melissa is forced to confront her past while contending with the idea that she must talk to her serial killer father for the first time in decades. Playing detective is a new role for Melissa as she works with her show's producer (Tamera Tomakili) to uncover the truth about this supposed killing. The problem is that this crime had been solved years prior, and an innocent man might be in prison for a crime he did not commit.

The real-life Melissa worked for "The Dr. Phil Show," so this part of the series isn't too much of a stretch. Like the real Melissa, the character Ashford plays goes on the show to talk about her father, something she hasn't done publicly. Because of this renewed attention to the case, her teenage daughter (Khiyla Aynne) discovers her grandfather's artwork and becomes popular at school when she invests her time in trying to profit from his talents.

Flashbacks from her childhood indicate a happy existence for Melissa not knowing her father's extracurricular activities. He gives his young daughter trinkets upon returning from long trips, though it's obvious that these are merely trophies from the many killings he's committed along the way. "Every time a woman took her last breath, you got presents," he says at one point. "Time with daddy."

To Melissa, he was just her dad…to the world, he is a monster.

"Happy Face" is an intriguing look at a serial killer's private life and the many, many people he's hurt within his own family. As Melissa meets with her father face-to-face in prison, the series evokes a "Silence of the Lambs" motif that cannot be ignored while focusing on Melissa's private life as a mother and wife just trying to survive. She's strong, determined, and emotionally traumatized but continues to move on with her life.

For a series based on a true story, Broadway veteran Annaleigh Ashford commits to a role that asks a lot out of humanity. She's breathtakingly wonderful while embodying a confident yet reserved woman dealing with the trauma of her own life story. The series serves as a true crime detective show in its own way as Melissa investigates the truth to discover if what her father claims is accurate and to get an innocent man off of death row.

But with a serial killer like Jesperson, facts can be misconstrued. Quaid does a tremendous job taking on a killer's motives while creating a space to entice and frighten viewers in every scene. He has power outside of the prison walls and can command others to visit his family to intimidate and do his bidding…a quality that Melissa treads lightly throughout the series.

As new details about the case are revealed, Melissa's family life gets turned upside down. Her brother Shane and his possible contributions to the killings come into focus as ripples of trauma affect everyone around her. It's because of Ashford's performance against Quaid's menacing demeanor that the series works on the levels that it does.