Habzin Hotel S2 Eps 5-6 Review
This whole season of Hazbin Hotel has been nothing but one long conga line of humiliation. Vox and the Vees have been dragging Charlie’s reputation through the mud at every turn. Alastor let himself be captured and humiliated by them. And no matter what anyone tries to say, Vox just manages to spin it against them. Now Hell is about to march to war with Heaven. Is there really nothing that Charlie and the Hotel can do to stop Vox and Lute from getting the war they want? Because it looks like Vivzie really wants to give us that war!
Hell has Gone to…Well, Hell!
So, after Alastor allowed himself to be taken prisoner by Vox, Hell has been turned upside down. Vox has been using all that new clout to rally most of the Overlords into joining his “war on Heaven” plan. He even guilt-tripped Carmilla into making him weapons that can kill Angels by playing on her fear for her daughters! Vox is king of Hell in all but name. And the entire time this has been going on, Charlie has been spiraling more and more trying to prove that her ideas can work. It’s gotten to the point where she’s started to neglect her own well-being, yet her tunnel vision is so intense that she can’t even realize that. What makes it even harder, though, is the fact that Vaggie has to watch all this and grow frustrated at being unable to get her girlfriend to listen to her. I’ve never spiraled over things the way that Charlie has, but I have a feeling that this conflict hits especially hard for people who’ve seen loved ones do this. And what she ends up doing only makes things worse: she asks Lucifer for help.
Lucifer Done Messed Up
I have to admit, I was curious as to why Lucifer, the Devil and King of Hell, hadn’t done anything about Vox before. Normally, this kind of power-play would be grounds for a smiting. It seems Vivzie and her team thought ahead and closed that plot hole. As it turns out, part of Lucifer’s punishment of being in Hell is that he can’t actually do anything against Sinners. He just has to watch them as they be their worst selves. He’s king in title, but in practice, he’s all but emasculated. And when Lucifer does try to intimidate Vox as a massive rally, Vox turns the tables on him by calling his bluff in front of everyone!! Which is especially frustrating when you consider how cool the man’s song up to that point was. Hazbin Hotel has some absolute bangers to it!
And then, things continue to get worse where Sera finally decides to do what she should have done and try to apologize. Unfortunately, Emily and Abel’s well-meaning, but misguided, idea of giving everyone gift baskets backfires on them. Vox spins this against them, Sera falls for his tricks, and just like that, Hell declares war on Heaven!
Vox Ruins Everything
We are then forced to watch as everything begins to fall apart for Charlie and the Hotel. Husk briefly quits the Hotel so that he can sink back into his vices. Charlie throws her dad out of the Hotel. And worst of all, Vaggie and Charlie’s relationship undergoes some serious strain. Oh, and most of the Hotel residents leave.
Somehow, this feels like we’re in a repeat of what happened in Ep. 6 of the first season, with everyone hitting rock bottom. The main difference is that Hell is now being the aggressor to Heaven. And they’re not wrong to be angry. What Heaven did to them was morally wrong and unnecessary. Had they thought to better understand how rhe rules worked a lot sooner, none of this would be happening. But their arrogance blinded them to the idea, and now they’re paying the price. But that doesn’t make what Hell’s doing right either. They’re throwing away the moral high ground instead of using it to their full advantage to better themselves. And Vox is only doing this for himself, making him as bad as Adam.
How Long Was this Happening with Angel?!?!
None of that beats what might be the biggest reveal of the season, though. At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that Vox has been hypnotizing Angel Dust into acting as an unwitting sleeper agent! This was something that I did not see coming in the slightest!, and it caught me genuinely off guard. How long has this been going on?!?
Yet, despite how bad things are, Vivzie manages to give us a glimmer of hope. Two, in fact. Firstly, Charlie and Vaggie make up in another song and dance number.
The second and most important glimmer of hope, though, stems from Alastor himself.
Alastor is Messing With the Vees
There’s an episode from the 2000s Justice League series where Lex Luthor and a bunch of villains capture Batman. Despite Joker saying they should kill him while they have the chance, Luthor refuses. That proves to be a massive mistake, though, as Batman uses it to sew discord in the group and get them at each other’s throats before escaping. I don’t know if someone on Vivzie’s team saw that episode or not, but Alastor’s pulling the same scheme in captivity.
Across these two episodes, we see Alastor begin to sew seeds of doubt amongst the Vees, making Vox treat Valentino and Velvette as underlings than equals. All he’s doing is stoking resentment that was already there, but it’s starting to work. Velvette and Valentino are starting to grow sick of Vox getting his way. My best guess is that in the next two episodes, things will come to a boil as the Vees turn on each other, causing this war to fall apart before things get too out of hand. As for why Alastor’s doing this, I think it’s so Vox will become the strongest Sinner long enough to break his deal with Rosie. I don’t know how this will end for Alastor, but I’m eager to find out!
I feel like Vivziepop’s team has really outdone themselves with how hopeless they’ve made Charlie’s situation this season. I have no idea how the Hotel can get out of this mess without losing people in the process. Hopefully, the show can pull a convincing ex machina out of its bag, because it feels like the season could end on a downer!
I Give “Silenced” and “Scream Rain” a 4/5 Each
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Adult Cartoons, Animation, Blog Posts, Hazbin Hotel, TV Shows