Hazbin Hotel: Redemption and Family Drama

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Hazbin Hotel hit YouTube with its pilot in 2019. Vivienne Medrano crowdfunded the project on Patreon. Medrano, also known as VivziePop, spoke of plans to fund the entire first season via Kickstarter, but its then 41 million views caught the attention of big name studios in 2020.

A24, of Everything Everywhere All At Once fame, snapped up Hazbin Hotel. A pandemic later, the show finally aired its first season of eight episodes on Amazon’s Prime Video.

In the meantime, VivziePop’s kept quite busy. A spin-off set in another part of Hell named Helluva Boss aired on YouTube starting in late 2019. Now two seasons in, Helluva‘s been renewed for a third.

 

Hazbin Hotel: From YouTube to A24 to Amazon

Seeing indie creators who begin on YouTube rising to great heights of success is always encouraging. Franky, it’s good for the entertainment industry as a whole. More creative, unique ideas are needed amidst a sea of studio execs who seem to only want guaranteed success and don’t even like film all that much.

Still, with the switch to a big-name studio, Hazbin Hotel underwent some shifts. The production and crew changed since the 2019 YouTube pilot. Notably, the voice cast changed to more experienced singers and voice actors. Keith Richards even stars as Husk and chews up every line he’s given.

The songs are high quality, with “Respectless,”  “Loser Baby,” and “More Than Anything” as standouts. The animation flows nicely. While the art style is polarizing, it’s certainly eye-catching. Most importantly, it tells a relatable and thematically interesting story. Plus, the characters are all lovable!

 

Charlie Morningstar, Protagonist of Hazbin Hotel

Hell’s very own Disney Princess serves as Hazbin Hotel‘s founder and protagonist. Regarding Charlotte Morningstar, the first episode tells us:

Watch as she tries to work through her Daddy issues by FIXING you!

Complete with power anthems, ballads, and her own well-written love story, Charlie establishes herself as an optimist.

Despite the accurately described “daddy issues,” the show treats Charlie’s optimism and hope as beautiful. Her goals are worthwhile, her faith in people is naive and untested but never idiotic, and her understanding of concepts like love and choice develop with her challenges over the season.

As the daughter of Lucifer and Adam’s mythological first wife, Lilith, Charlie’s very existence is founded on free will and love. Both promise to be interesting themes in her arc going forward.

 

Lucifer: Dad and Lover 

Hazbin Hotel‘s Lucifer is less based on the Biblical concept of Satan and more on your local well-meaning but bumbling dad. Well, and with some mythological ideas thrown in that actually don’t come from the Bible but instead extraneous texts like the Book of Enoch and Jewish legends.

In Hazbin Hotel, Lucifer was once an angel, but he offer love and free will to Lilith. She took the bait. In Jewish myths, Lilith was Adam’s first wife, and so she is here, too. He clearly adores his daughter, but can’t communicate with Charlie. To the point where, when he finds out Charlie’s in a committed relationship with a woman, he’s excited that they have something in common: liking women!

Without giving too many spoilers, Lucifer grows to appreciate Charlie. In fact, the show might be about his growing up as much as it is about Charlie and sinners doing so.

 

Angel, Hazbin Hotel’s Hope 

The show opens with a single guest staying at the Hazbin Hotel: Angel Dust. Yes, his name is a pun. Angel is an adult film star, a victim of his abusive boss, and seemingly unapologetic about who he is.

Does he have to be apologetic to improve, though? Especially when his mistakes are mostly geared towards self-destruction. Throughout the season, Angel starts to understand how his actions affect those around him who care for him, and importantly, starts to reciprocate that care.

Not to mention, Angel portrays an addict’s struggles in a realistic way. Yet his addictions don’t entirely define him. As the layers unravel, viewers realize that Angel’s seeming pride in himself stems from a deep, fearful self-loathing.

Hazbin Hotel, despite Charlie’s plans, is far more interested in showing Angel’s journey as a character than in giving him a step by step guide to redemption. With the show’s last scenes showing us that sinners can indeed redeem themselves into heaven, too, Angel’s name seems like potential foreshadowing.

 

Hazbin Hotel’s Wild Card: Alastor

Alastor gave Charlie’s project, and thus the show, its name. Alastor serves as another father figure to Charlie, but he’s far less invested in the wellbeing of guests. Redemption? He scoffs at it. He’s just along for the fun (and perhaps has another motive, as revealed in an ending twist!).

Plus, he’s presented as a major foil of Lucifer. In fact, Charlie’s contrasting relationships with Lucifer and with Alastor contain most of the show’s themes. Alastor also bears a far-more-traditional “devil” design with red and horn-like ears. Is he the devil to Lucifer’s angel on Charlie’s shoulder?

Not quite. Alastor may see no need for redemption, but he does also act as Charlie’s fairy godmother. Plys, he did risk his life to save Charlie’s dream. Even if he then expressed disgust with himself for it.

Going forward into future seasons, this contradictory nature means that Alastor might be one of the most compelling characters.

 

Hazbin Hotel’s Antagonists 

Naturally, antagonists populate Hazbin Hotel. Considering most of the cast resides in hell, often characters like Angel are their own worst enemy.

However, the most delightful antagonist of the first season is the repulsive Adam. First man, first husband of Charlie’s mother, longtime enemy of Charlie’s dad. Adam spends his screen time uttering the kind of misogynistic and dismissive quips you might expect on TRUTH Social.

Yet, he’s the kind of villain viewers love to hate. He’s too over-the-top to take too seriously, but realistic enough to make you steam. His eventual comeuppance in the finale is intensely fitting and hilarious. Should Adam return in season two, he has the potential to add a lot to the plot. Especially given that he may find himself in some, um, new accommodations.

The story sets up the rest of heaven as well-intentioned. Emily, an angel, is clearly Charlie’s heavenly parallel. Sera, her parental figure and a seraphim, is scared and sympathetic. Their development promises a lot of interesting themes.

Lastly, the final scenes of the finale offer a look at a twist antagonist that promises lots of drama in season two.

 

Hazbin Hotel: Offensive, Thought-Provoking, Or Both?  

Of course, whenever you’re writing about religion or politics, people are going to get up in arms. However, thus far Hazbin Hotel has been fairly respectful, while also being incredibly profane.

Heaven and Hell are more ideas than anything else. Rather than explore eschatology or mock beliefs, the story is ultimately more interested in using the most basic ideas of “heaven” and “hell” to explore a very human question:

What does it mean to live a good life ? Especially when nobody’s perfect, and we all have regrets.

Yep. Despite having a cast of demons, angels, and the dead, Hazbin Hotel primarily focuses on the lives of people, including how we live here on earth. While it adapting certain characters or concepts from a religion might make it not for certain people, the story aims to criticize hypocrisy and shallow answers far more than it criticizes religion itself.

 

If You Like To Waltz With Theology…

Actually, Hazbin Hotel has clearly done a fair degree of research into theology.

The story’s entire premise explores different aspects of eschatology, which Hell being a physical place combined with “extermination,” which is a Christian eschatological theory known as annihilation. The Hazbin Hotel as an idea explores Christian universalism and Catholic purgatory.

Plus, there are also more specific theology references. For example, a heavenly court scene debates atonement theory. Adam’s speeches at times mimic those of theological conversations. In his opening song “Hell is Forever,” he sings about how whether people deserve hell is “cut and dry” and proceeds over Charlie’s “well actually.”

Not to mention Adam refers to ending up in heaven as “for those of us with divine ordainment,” and how there’s “no defying their fates” for poor sinners. This mimics arguments from Calvinism, a Protestant theory that some people are chosen for salvation and some for hell.

 

Princess Charlie, Daughter Of Man

Charlie isn’t just an R-rated Disney Princess. The writers also model her loosely on Jesus, the Son of God in Christianity who became human to save sinners. During the series’ climax, Adam taunts:

Risking your immortal life for sinners? That’s some crazy [expletive]. Even for Lucifer’s brat.

Charlie responds:

These sinners are my FAMILY!

While basing Lucifer’s daughter on Jesus could certainly be controversial, it’s also a very interesting way to explore the fundamental ideas of the religion. For those interested in such topics who aren’t offended by the obscene exterior, it offers an intriguing look at redemption, free will, love, and eternal life. You know, just the things humans have been pondering for millennia.