Episode Recap: Year Of The Horse

And we're back at it! Bad Santa's got Happy in his clutches, and he can see him, too. Weird. Turns out that if you believe in Happy, he's not imaginary. Santa then swallows Happy, because beating the crap out of Nick worked up in him a mighty appetite. But before Santa can finish Nick off with a pipe, Happy forces himself back up Santa's esophagus. The cops come, and Santa flees. But before he does, he leaves with Nick a clue: a thrown-up fortune cookie.

Over at the local coroner's, a reality TV film crew is taping the mother of the slain Scaramucci boys, Isabella, talking with Mr. Blue. She's cashing in on her family tragedy. How novel! But when she gets a look at the real carnage, the cinematic glimmer wears off, and she succumbs to her misery.

Meanwhile, Amanda and Merry are interviewing another family whose daughter was taken when they see a helmeted man drive up on a motorcycle outside. He's got an envelope in his hand (just like the one they’re looking for), and might have some connection to the missing kids.

On the other side of town, Nick pays a visit to the fortune cookie factory that made the fortune… and the cookie. He meets with the owner of the factory, and insults her by rejecting her belief that the universe works according to a divine order. Not the best way to get information from someone. But she gives in anyway, and tells him what restaurant that fortune went out to. And it's in Chinatown.

Back at Mr. Blue's home, Isabella has some strong words for her brother. She believes that somebody, she's not naming names, but somebody very high up put a hit out on her boys, and she wants to know who. Of course, Mr. Blue denies any implications or allegations, instead claiming the murders were revenge killings — an act of God.

Mr. Blue is whisked away on business, and is picked up in a car and taken to the home of a… beetle. A human-sized beetle that really puts the squeeze on him. Mr. Blue is getting sloppy, and this beetle he works for is not pleased with all the exposure. This beetle guy also needs Blue to make some deliveries, and pick up some “kid”. Interesting.

Meanwhile, Merry and Amanda interrogate the messenger they found dropping off the letter. He doesn't know nothing about nothing, but that's not good enough for nobody. After enough torturing, the guy gives up the details: it's a dead drop. He gets message and a location, and picks up. It's super secret.

While at the Chinese restaurant, Nick Sax is introduced to the shop’s delivery boy. He knows the guy Nick's looking for. He also sells pot. So he's got everything you need. Only thing is he's a little fuzzy on the details. So Nick takes the delivery boy with him as his guide. Of course, when the two step outside, the local Triad gang attempts to assassinate Nick, but only succeed at impaling the delivery boy with a flying knife. Triads spotted Sax in the restaurant, and are out for the password. A fight ensues, and Nick takes down the gang members in something that's not quite Kung Fu, and not quite pretty, either. The Triads take the fight outside, where Nick proceeds to take them down one by one, and escape.

Isabella meets with an Italian mystic who, in exchange for a hot hamburger, reads her fortune. She tells her that Isabella has an enemy in her own house. And this enemy killed her three sons. Mikey, she says, is not with them… is he not dead? Hot damn! When Isabella returns to the coroner's, Mikey's body is missing. Is that what the beetle man was looking for?

Merry follows the trail, alone, to the warehouse where Bad Santa is keeping the kids. Of course, Nick also arrives at the same warehouse, and thinks that Merry is the abductor. So he tries to tackle her. She, in turn, stabs him with a pair of scissors, and he goes down, injured. Honest mistake. By the time they get there, though, Bad Santa has relocated all the kinder somewhere else. The crates are all empty. Bad Santa is taking them to who-knows-where in the back of a van. Nothing ever good comes of a van.