The Secret Origin of Alastor the Radio Demon
Hazbin Hotel S2 Eps 3-4 Review
It’s official: the reputation of the Hazbin Hotel is in the gutter. Not the show, mind you; that’s doing great. It’s the hotel itself that is tanking. Thanks to the Vees’ smear campaign, Hell is turning more and more against Charlie and her dream of redeeming people. But now that she knows that redemption is possible, you would think that this would change things, right? It doesn’t. Instead, it leads Charlie to make decisions that only make her look even worse. And to top it off, we learn new things about the Hotel Residents and why they’re in Hell in the first place. Most notably, though, we get to learn about the backstory of the Radio Demon himself, Alastor!! And it is such a huge twist!!
#CharliewasRight
Episode three starts off right where episode one ended: with Charlie learning from Emily that Pentious is alive, in Heaven, and redeemed. In other words, she was right about redemption being possible! Her ideals work, and so does the hotel!
There’s just one small problem: Emily didn’t tell her the bigger details, leaving Charlie in the dark about how redemption works. And this ends up costing Charlie big time.
Charlie has been going through an emotional rollercoaster since the Extermination, and the Vees smear campaign hasn’t helped. If anything, it leads her to make decisions that only serve to make things worse. She’s so desperate to get the word out that she was right that she invites Vox and Velvette over to the Hotel to tell them. Except she forgets until it’s too late that she has no concrete proof of how redemption works, making her look foolish in front of the Vees.
I’m Sure there’s more Context
But that’s nothing compared to what she does next. Charlie gets so desperate to prove she’s right that she starts jumping through some insane mental hoops. Case in point, she tries to get Angel Dust to recreate the circumstances behind Sir Pentious’ redemption, which almost gets him killed. By the time she realizes redemption means making up for one’s worst sin, the damage is already done. And Vox makes it even worse when he drops this major bombshell.
I get the feeling that there is more context to this story about Angel killing his dad. Knowing what we do about him, it’s likely his dad was an abusive jerk, and Angel killed him in self-defense. Either way, he does not appreciate his dirty laundry being aired like this. But this is still a major step back for Charlie, and her attempts to do further damage control in the following episode only make things worse! Why did she think having Niffty talk about the Hotel was a good idea?!?!
The one silver lining to all this, at least, is that Cherri Bomb finally makes it official and moves into the Hotel. Not because of anything that Charlie did, mind you. It’s because she’s still shaken up by what Pentious did, and she wants to see him again so she can sort out whatever feelings she might have. And as the pair’s duet from afar makes it clear, there are feelings in play for this.
If we thought that the big reveal about Angel Dust’s past was shocking, though, then that’s nothing compared to what we get in the fourth episode with Alastor!
Alastor: Origins
From the pilot more than six years ago, Alastor the Radio Demon has been among the most enigmatic characters on the show. He showed up out of nowhere, established himself as the strongest Sinner in Hell, and decided to back Charlie’s Hotel on a whim. But losing to Adam dealt him with a case of humble pie that he’s still smarting from. On top of that, the finale confirmed that Alastor is, in fact, trapped in a deal with another Demon. Which begs the question: who could be controlling Alastor? As it turns out, the fourth episode reveals this to us in full.
After dealing with Lucifer’s snide comments abo it his loss one too many times, Alastor crashes out and declares that he’s quitting the Hotel. The next time we see him, he’s in Cannibal Town where we finally learn who is the one controlling Alastor’s strings: none other than Rosie herself.
Back when Alastor was still a normal human, he made a deal with Rosie. Since he knew he was damned to Hell, he decided to sell his soul in exchange for the right to become the strongest Sinner in the afterlife. And he got what he wanted, but at the expense of having to dance to Rosie’s tune. Now he wants out after losing to Adam, and Rosie won’t let him. Truthfully, though, Alastor has no one to blame but himself. He thought he could handle Adam, but it was clear that he couldn’t, and his pride can’t take it.
Which, of course, only makes what he does next all the more baffling. But I think I’ve figured out what he’s got planned.
The deal with Rosie was that she would make Alastor the strongest Sinner in Hell. Sinner’s power is related to the fear and respect they inspire in others. But if Alastor were to lose all that fear of him, then he wouldn’t be the strongest Sinner in Hell, would he? Thus, the deal would be off. Having sent the episode for myself (and loved Alastor fighting the Vees), I think that this is what he has planned, and Vox fell for it. That, and a part of him does care about the Hotel, no matter how much he might deny it. Personally, I don’t know if this will pan out how Alastor intends, but it’s still a clever plan.
No Wonder Vox Hates Alastor
The best part, though, is that we get to see why Vox hates Alastor so much. Frankly, I don’t blame him.
Alastor pretty much broke Vox’s heart, leaving him the bitter, hate-filled Sinner that he is today. The flashback even implies that Vox wasn’t nearly as bad back then as he is now. He got this way because of spite, and now all existence could suffer for it!
For the time being, though, the Hazbin Hotel is in it deep. It’s rep is in the toilet, its strongest member has turned himself in, and the staff is starting to fracture. And this is only the halfway point for the season! We’ve got plenty more to cover, and I can’t wait to see it all happen!
I Give “Hazbin Hotel: Behind Closed Doors” and “It’s a Deal” a 3/5 and a 4/5 each
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Adult Cartoons, Animation, Hazbin Hotel, Hazbin Hotel, TV Shows, Web Works, Webshows
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