‘Happy’s Place’ Star Melissa Peterman Breaks Down Gabby’s Chaotic Search for a Sperm Donor

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Happy’s Place Season 2 Episode 3, “Straw Man.”]

Happy’s Place‘s resident bartender, Gabby (Melissa Peterman), continues her journey to become a mother in the latest episode, “Straw Man,” as she searches for a sperm donor.

Teased in Season 1, Gabby’s desire to become a parent has become more urgent, but it seems that most of the options online aren’t detailed enough for her to secure a donor and move forward with IVF. In order to ease her concerns, the team at the titular bar seeks out Chance (Andy Favreau), a prospective donor from Gabby’s list, whom they want to cross-examine, unbeknownst to Gabby.

The situation backfires, though, when Chance learns about the real reason he was lured to the bar with a coupon for a free burger and fries, leaving Gabby uncertain about her next move. When it’s suggested that she explore asking someone she knows to be a donor, she’s pointed in the direction of Emmett (Rex Linn). The trouble? He’s her best friend Bobbie’s (Reba McEntire) new boyfriend.

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When Bobbie hears this, she works to prevent Gabby from asking, and ultimately, Emmett addresses the matter by asking if Gabby was going to ask him. She plays it off like it’s a joke and admits she just isn’t sure if she’s ready to be a mom, especially with how hard it’s been finding a donor. Emmett offers some sage advice, saying she needs to make up her mind sooner rather than later if she plans to proceed the way she intends, and he reveals that he decided a while back that he wasn’t going to have kids. This pushes Gabby to finally settle on a donor by the end of the episode, as her Happy’s Place team rallies around her.

“I love the storyline,” Peterman tells TV Insider. “We definitely continue the journey on her quest to motherhood, and we do come to a conclusion in Season 2 of where that’s gonna land.”

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“I don’t want to always know,” Peterman says of where Gabby’s storylines are heading. “I just want to play what I’ve got in front of me, but I think Gabby, in the midst of it, looks at every guy through the lens of, like, how tall is he? Does he seem smart? What are his parents like? Does he have any medical conditions? I think she sort of lived in that place for a while, and I really like how we ended it.”

As for what has driven Gabby towards becoming a mother, Peterman reveals, “We’ve talked about Gabby’s childhood and how she was mothered, and I think she didn’t have the family she wanted growing up; she maybe found it at Happy’s Place, but she also wanted to make someone to love.”

When it comes to Gabby’s consideration of Emmett as a donor, Peterman admits, “I love playing it, and I love that Gabby has no boundaries. I mean, I think that’s a hallmark of a lot of the characters I play in sitcoms, zero boundaries.” We wouldn’t want her any other way.

Let us know what you thought of Gabby’s search for a sperm donor in the comments section, and tune in to see how her path to motherhood continues to unfold on Happy’s Place Season 2.

Happy’s Place, Fridays, 8/7c, NBC