Hazbin Hotel Review

 Sorry to disappoint but that's not where this ends!

Not too long ago the long awaited premier of Hazbin Hotel, the little indie animated darling that could, finally dropped after a four year hiatus hinging on the promise 'see you soon'. I've already touched a little on my feelings about the series up until episode six but I wanted to give a more complete overall summary of the product that we got in the form of an honest to goodness review because I ended up being much more invested in this product than I could have ever expected. (Honestly, I figured Helluva Boss would remain my go-to into this world and Hazbin would be a quirky side project; how absolutely backwards I got that!) So without further ado, I'm going to break the premise of this blog once more and talk about something with absolutely no ties to video games whatsoever; sue me.

Hazbin Hotel is a drama/crime fiction show (according to the deranged categorising of the Internet that apparently scoffs at the idea of comedies and musicals), following the Disney-Princess-coded heiress to the throne of Hell, Charlie Morningstar, as she embarks on a naïve quest to establish a rehabilitation hotel in Hell that permits Sinners to enter heaven. Behind her bubbles unrest as the Exorcists from Heaven travel down yearly to destroy the souls of the damned in a 'population control' effort to prevent an uprising that might upset the cosmic balance. What conceptually sounds like a bumbling slice of life turns into a rather complex exploration into the upper rungs of how this universe handles the Afterlife as we bounce from important and consequential characters each episode fast enough to give you whiplash. There's definitely something to be said for the show's pacing and simply how much worldbuilding the team at Spindlehorse crammed to shove into the brief 8 episode 20 minute per run.

The show already boasts a packed core cast with: Charlie, Princess of Hell, Vaggie, her devoted girlfriend and muscle for the Hotel, Angel Dust, spiralling addict feigning control, Husk, disgruntled bartender kept against his will, Alastor, mysterious overlord with questionable motives and Nifty- the best character ever. Exploring all this lot in the time allotted would be a task all of it's own if it wasn't for the added fact that every episode apart from the finale introduces equally interesting demons and angels in the same breath- to the extent that some of the core cast either doesn't get the chance to be explored in the open season or worse- gets their stories crammed around other stories. (I hope Vaggie has a bit more going on because otherwise she really did get sidelined across two episodes around distinctly bigger events.) It should be noted as a testament to writing, design and performance, however, that even with our brief glances every single character sticks out as interesting. I love Nifty to bits and she has nothing but unhinged one-liners throughout the entire show- that takes layers of talent!

The villains are another casualty of the speedy pacing of Season 1, with the advertised badguys that followers of the show's production were already intimately familiar with, the Vee's, getting sidetracked pretty heavily for the incredible Adam and Lute. (Or should I say; 'Dickmaster' and 'Danger tits'?) I think this underpins the change in scope that I think might have dawned not just on my expectations but on the development process as well. What seemed like perfect foils to a preppy story about trying to fix the unfixable, the media-controlling Vee's don't seem to have a place in a narrative that rapidly develops into an exploration of the flaws in systems of ultimate judgement of good and bad, calling to question the justice in a Heaven that damns the ills and rewards the healthy. A leaner production might have cut the Vees altogether and left their concept as a vestige of earlier concepts. Perhaps the security of a second season gave the team the courage to play it a bit more loose with simply how many forces of control they crammed in this narrative. And to be fair- I am excited to learn more about them in the stories to come, so there is that!

Of course we can never get too far away from the defining aspect of the show- it's Musical theatre layout which permits two narrative guiding songs in each episode. This leans off a tradition for Spindlehorse animated episodes which always feature a song, however Hazbin leans into the more 'spontaneous break out' musical numbers rather than Helluva Boss' 'in universe songs'. I can't be sure whether we can chalk this up to the hard work of four years or if the team really were just that good, but there isn't a bad song in the playlist. Spread across a breadth of genre's, featuring solo's, duets and ensembles- juggling different themes playing with complex emotions and sung by a cast of musical theatre stars- Hazbin Hotel's musicals are it's greatest beacon of quality.

I cannot understate how inescapable these songs have been for me. I listen to them pretty much everyday, noticing little nuances that only talented voice-actors and singers would be talented enough to shove in. From the heavy conflict songs like 'You Didn't Know' and 'Respectless' to the emotional ballads like 'Whatever It Takes' or my personal favourite 'More Than Anything'. It's actually somewhat galling that in a year preceding Disney's 100th anniversary this show holds a much better chance of being nominated for a Grammy than anything the house of mouse, formerly kings of animated Broadway, could manage. To think the latest Disney Villain song is the pathetic 'This Is The Thanks I Get', and Hazbin easily trounces it in character, catchiness and cleverness with 'Stayed Gone'. (What a shame.) 

Of course, the heart of Hazbin is- it's heart. On it's surface Hazbin can come across as a very lewd and crass show overflowing with F-bombs and sex references- but there is an emotional intelligence underpinning everything which makes the bad words worthwhile. Angel's oversexualisation is played for laughs at first until the trauma behind it starts to become apparent, Adam's hilarious irreverence to all things holy is complexing giving his position until the core conceit of 'ultimate good' is challenged directly through the course of the story. There is a wealth of substance beneath the surface and though the rather speedy delivery of these episodes means we're still thirsty to drink up the full vintage- the taste we've had is rich and refined. Only Vivziepop could have a world this crass still be this heartfelt under the hood.

Hazbin Hotel is a passion project come to life with every ounce of the passion utterly untouched- a rarity in the modern age. A24 must be commended for their help putting this show in front of as many people as possible and all I hope for in the future is a bit more rope through which to truss up the world of Hazbin in the future. More episodes, slightly longer episodes- a split season; whatever to give this show more chance to breath- because I just know with a bit more working room this is the kind of show that can easily slip into become a undisputed Masterpiece. Literally every bit of talent is on point- the reel just keeps running short. I don't do grades for TV shows, but I'll slap a 'Watch this right now' out of ten with the comment that my only serious gripe is that I wanted more episodes- which is a good problem to have,