A few weeks back, Hazbin Hotel gave us one of its best episodes with “It’s a Deal.”
Well, I am pleased to say that Season Two continues to exceed expectations with Episodes Five and Six, “Silenced” and “Scream Rain,” both of which have standout factors that place them above other episodes.
“Silenced” has the best animation of the series so far, and “Scream Rain” is easily the funniest episode of Hazbin Hotel yet.
Episode Five begins with the musical number, “Bad with Us”, which is used to depict Vox going around to recruit other Overlords for his plan to attack Heaven.
The song has a few humorous moments, like Vox’s attempts to recruit Carmilla, embarrassing both Valentino and Velvette.
It also shows off the extreme talent of Christian Borle, as he sings through multiple different musical subgenres to appeal to different Overlords.
Meanwhile, at the Hazbin Hotel, Charlie is desperately trying to get Emily and other angels’ attention, leading to Vaggie asking Lucifer for help.
It is here that we get the perfect explanation for why Lucifer lets the sinners do as they please.
It is revealed that, since Lucifer being in Hell is a punishment, he is unable to harm sinners, meaning he has had to watch them abuse each other for thousands of years.
This explains why he was so nihilistic back in Season One.
It also answers my question of how Vox would be able to take over Heaven, since I figured Lucifer would try to stop him.
However, just because Lucifer cannot harm sinners, does not mean he is unable to bluff them into thinking he can.
At the same time, it is revealed that Emily and Sera are actually watching Charlie, but Sera has doubts about helping, unsure how she can make up for what she has done
Pentious provides both good advice and a pretty great callback when he tells her, “A wise woman once told me, ‘It starts with sorry.’”
About Pentious though, I do find it strange that Sera and Emily did not bring him with them when they decided to appeal to the Sinners.
You would think seeing one of their own redeemed might sway some of them?
Unfortunately, Pentious is still unable to leave Heaven for undisclosed reasons, which does feel a little too convenient.
The angels travel to Hell and Charlie convinces them to go with her to apologize at one of Vox’s rallies, a decision which I am sure we can all agree was an excellent one with absolutely no chance of backfiring, just like every other decision Charlie has made this season… right?
At Vox’s rally, we potentially see the beginning of Alastor’s plan, with him goading Vox into pushing Valentino and Velvette to the side in favor of himself.
Vox’s show is quickly interrupted by Lucifer, however, kicking off the second song of the episode, “Vox Populi.”
The first half of the song is a Lucifer solo, which is great, before Vox takes over the song, exposing Lucifer’s weakness to the crowd, going so far as to even bring up Lillith to his face.
It is here where we get our first showcase of excellent animation, with the camera panning around Lucifer circling an unimpressed Vox.
Following this, Charlie and the angels arrive, but Vox is able to quickly turn the situation against them, which Charlie really should have expected at this point.
Vox certainly does not have to try hard, what with Lute calling him demon filth (seriously, why did they bring her?), the angels apologizing for genocide with gift baskets, and Sera revealing her true form and stating demons like Vox were the reason she approved the Exterminations.
Vox uses this to build into the final song, “Vox Dei,” a short number but probably my favorite of the episode for the sheer aura it provides Vox.
I will admit that at the beginning of the season I had my doubts about whether Vox could be a threatening antagonist, but this episode more than convinced me.
The animation for this scene is once again amazing, with another panning shot perfectly showing Vox’s threatening presence.
On top of that, it is abundantly clear that Vox is meant to represent extreme right-wing rhetoric in media, given his statements of “manifest destiny”, “make Hell great again”, and “I’m the furor (führer)”.
It is not subtle, but it is definitely effective, both on the viewer and the angels, who flee, leaving Charlie alone.
She returns to the Hazbin Hotel, infuriated with her father and Vaggie.
It is here we get the long awaited calling out of Charlie, with Vaggie pointing out how she is making things worse by not listening to her and engaging with Vox.
Seeing Charlie finally be called out was both a great moment from Vaggie and a worthy conclusion to another really good episode with stellar animation.
Following “Silenced”, we move on to the funniest episode of the series so far, “Scream Rain.”
The episode opens similarly to the last one, with Vox attempting to convince Carmilla to join his cause.
He enlists the help of Velvette to do so, who delivers the most totally not fake apology of all time.
In the end, Vox does convince Carmilla by leveraging her daughters’ safety.
As for Velvette, if last episode saw Valentino souring towards Vox, now it is her turn.
Vox belittles her and he did not even need to feel inferior to Alastor to do so.
Back at the hotel, Charlie and Vaggie are still at odds but have to work together after word of Carmilla supporting Vox spreads.
They go to confront her together, leaving Nifty in charge, since Husk quit because Alastor is no longer there to force him to work at the hotel.
Afterwards, we get our first song of the episode, “Love in a Bottle”, which sees Husk return to his old ways at a casino, winning again and again, until he eventually loses and falls into a drunken stupor.
The song is both catchy and sad, what with Husk’s spiral.
Meanwhile, upon Charlie and Vaggie’s meeting with Carmilla, we get the first of a few great laughs in the episode, with Carmilla complaining about “lesbian drama” while Charlie shouts at her for helping “the TV man!”
We also get a surprising look into Vaggie’s past when Carmilla reminds her of her time with the exorcists.
Through brief flashes, we see Vaggie and another exorcist recruit being mistreated by Adam and Lute.
It looked like whoever this other exorcist was, they were close to Vaggie.
Even stranger is the appearance of the exorcist woman.
They all look alike, with the same hair coloring and facial features.
It makes me wonder if this was a deliberate choice by Adam or something else?
Before we can get answers, the scene transitions to Husk again, where he is shocked to see Angel Dust singing in drag at the casino.
Husk’s shocked “Angel!?” got a good laugh out of the me, and the following song from Angel, “Losing Streak” is so good it makes a few of the sinners in the audience question their sexuality.
Unfortunately for Angel, Vox has plans for him, which we see when he requests his time from Valentino.
Both he and Velvette diss him for using them, to which Vox attempts to lay on the charm until, of course, Alastor starts goading him again.
Seeing Alastor spin in the chair to reveal himself got another big laugh from me, and the idea that he and Velvette were just gossiping about Vox is very humorous and already inspired multiple fanarts.
As for Vox, Alastor triggers his inferiority complex again, and he tries to force Valentino to comply.
This ends with the funniest moment in all of Hazbin Hotel for me, when Valentino storms off while speaking in Spanish, Vox makes a racist remark, and Valentino responds, “I’m from fucking Flordia!” and then decks Vox in the face with a glass.
While hilarious, this scene also pushes Alastor’s plan further.
He has spent the past two episodes manipulating Vox into pushing the other Vees away, and it definitely seems to be working.
I would not be surprised if Velvette and Valentino betrayed Vox in the last two episodes.
How this will tie into the rest of Alastor’s plan remains to be seen.
While Alastor’s plotline is still ongoing, Charlie and Vaggie’s fight is thankfully resolved this episode, when Charlie realizes the error of her ways, and goes all out on an apology by making a romantic setting for her and Vaggie.
This culminates in the last song of the episode, “Easy”, which shows how good Vaggie is for Charlie because, when she gets overwhelmed, Vaggie soothes her back to calmness.
Well, “calm” is probably not the right word considering the whole song is pretty much a substitute for Charlie and Vaggie doing the do, proven by it ending with the two of them in bed.
The episode goes from one couple to a potential one, cutting to Husk and Angel talking in the aftermath of Angel’s performance, where the two further connect, before Angel has to leave for a job.
It is here that the episode goes from funny and feel-good to depressing, when we finally get the scene of Vox hurting Angel from the trailer.
A big twist also happens here because Vox reveals that he has been hypnotizing Angel into spying on the Hazbin Hotel, which is how he knew numerous things, such as the fact that Lucifer could not hurt him.
Vox now plans to use him to make Charlie kill herself somehow, but we will have to learn the details on how this will work in the final two episodes.
Another interesting detail are the eyes watching Angel when he enters the apartment.
These eyes have been seen throughout Hell, but this is the first time the show has deliberately focused on them.
They do not seem connected to Vox, so I am interested in seeing what the explanation is, although I think this might be foreshadowing for future seasons.
Angel Dust is not the only factor is Vox’s plan though because we see him imitate Charlie’s voice to draw Lucifer in, planning to use him as a power source for something.
Vox’s plans are going to come to their climax soon but, with him pushing aside Valentino and Velvette, Cherry and Husk’s suspicions about Angel’s location, and Alastor’s currently unknown plan, I think it is pretty safe to say this will all blow up in Vox’s face in a spectacular and satisfying fashion.
We will know in an hour, when the final episodes of Season Two drop.
As for Episodes Five and Six, they are both great, with excellent animation and hilarious moments.
Season Two has exceeded my expectations so far, and I hope the last episodes will not disappoint.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 