“Overture” Sets the Stakes of the Season
The first official episode picks up a week after the pilot’s events with Charlie narrating the backstory of the creation of Hell. While it’s been implied in Helluva Boss that Heaven isn’t as nice as it appears to be, Hazbin Hotel outright confirms it. Adam, the first man, was a sexist control-freak towards his first wife, Lilith. And now that he’s the leader of the Exorcists responsible for killing Sinners in Hell, he scoffs at Charlie’s beliefs in redemption. When she tries to pitch her Hotel for him as a better solution, he goes into a metal ballad saying how Hell is forever. Then, just to twist the knife further, he reveals he’s moving the next Extermination up by six months. What no one knows (yet) is that he’s doing this because someone managed to kill one of the Exterminators, something that becomes pretty important later on.
Besides showing that Heaven might not the paradise that it claims to be, the first episode does a good job of reintroducing us to the main cast of characters, complete with updated appearances and new voice actors. While some manage to fit their roles so well that you can’t even tell the difference, others, like Angel Dust, are a little harder to get used to. By the end of the first episode, though, it feels like everyone is getting settled into their new roles. In particular, Alastor’s new voice actor is a notable highlight, capturing the charm and menace that make Alastor one of the cast’s strongest members.
“Radio Killed the Video Star” Builds on Alastor and the World at Large
The second episode picks up with everyone in Hell doing one of three things: panicking about the next Extermination in six months, not caring, or trying to benefit from this crisis; some of them doing all three.
Charlie and Vaggie spend this episode falling firmly under options A and C, thinking it could be a good way to convince others to try the Hotel, only for little to show from it, save for one new member who joins for less than sincere motives (at first.)
Where the episode truly shines, though, is with the secondary cast, particularly Angel Dust and Alastor’s storylines. The pilot didn’t do much to show that he’s taking it seriously, but the arrival of the new guest and their seemingly taking to Charlie’s rehab makes Angel doubt himself. Underneath his sass and status as an adult film star, Angel does want to change for the better. The fact that he goes out of his way to prove their newest guest isn’t genuine at first shows he does care about the Hotel.
Alastor’s Best Character for a Reason
Meanwhile, Alastor gets more time to demonstrate why he’s one of the most powerful denizens of Hell. Despite being confirmed to have been gone for seven years, he wastes no time re-establishing his power against Vox, a Demon whose power’s based in the use of TV. News of his return after seven years sends Vox into a full-on villain song where he attempts to bash Alastor as a has-been, only to be humiliated by his rival. The song’s numerous visual and audio references to the strengths of both mediums only serves to make it the icing on the cake. VivziePop and her crew are incredibly creative with their song and dance numbers, and this is yet another example why so many people love them.
As for the new resident, they turn out to be a spy sent by Vox to see what Alastor’s up to. By the end of the episode, though, that conflict gets resolved with Alastor laughing at Vox’s attempts again.
