Hazbin Hotel’s second season started strong with its first two episodes.
Now episodes three and four continue the formula of the second being better than the first.
“Hazbin Hotel: Behind Closed Doors” is still a lot of fun in its own right, though.
The episode begins with Charlie in mid-freakout over Emily’s reveal that Sir Pentious has been redeemed.
But, if you thought that Charlie’s spiraling would halt because of the good news, this is unfortunately not the case.
If anything, Charlie spirals more, making bad decision after bad decision, which only furthers Vox’s plans. 

I have seen some people complain that Charlie is acting out of character here, but I honestly do not see it.
Charlie was shown to be an emotional wreak in Episode One following Pentious’ supposed death and, given her personality, of course she overcompensates when learning he is alive in Heaven.
This is most likely part of an arc for Charlie, which we will see resolved by the end of the season.
Unfortunately, Vox and Velvette are quick to take advantage of Charlie’s character flaw, marching into the Hazbin Hotel at Charlie’s invitation, ready to blacken her name again.
They get ample opportunity when Charlie announces Pentious’ redemption but, as we suspected, she is not believed because she cannot prove it since Heaven is in lockdown. 
Charlie decides to redeem Angel Dust, ignoring his warnings about the Vees.
This leads into the song “Speedrun to Redemption”, where Charlie attempts and fails to redeem Angel by following Pentious’ example.
The end result is her staging a fake rescue, with Husk tied to train tracks while Angel plays the hero.
As for Charlie herself, she plays the diabolical mastermind, Danny Do-Bad.
Watching Charlie play at villainy was so over the top and cringeworthy, but oddly enough to such an extreme that it became funny. 

Vox turns the scene potentially deadly by interfering, leading to Angel actually having to try and save Husk. 
Vaggie finally gets through to Charlie, convincing her that Angel Dust needs to be redeemed his own way, but this builds into Vox revealing Angel killed his dad, which was the sin that landed him in Hell.
In a similar moment to when Valentino assaulted Angel in Season One, Charlie’s demon form begins to emerge, showing just how much she values her friends.
She even manages to get under Vox’s skin, maintaining that she believes anyone can be redeemed, even him.
As for whether Vox actually will be redeemed in the future, that is going to take a lot of work given his many sins and current actions.
Charlie’s storyline is not the only one this episode because we also follow Cherry deciding to stay at the Hazbin Hotel.
Given the romantic tension between her and Pentious, Cherry is hit the hardest by the news of his redemption, going to Baxter for information because he used to work with him.
It is here we learn that Baxter was the one who helped Pentious create the Egg Boys, before Pentious took them away to protect them from Baxter’s experiments, and to continue his feud with Cherry.
This builds into a song between Pentious and Cherry, reflecting on their many battles titled… “Piss”?

In the aftermath of Vox’s hit piece against the Hazbin Hotel, we see many residents returning their keys to leave, while Cherry takes a key, telling Angel she intends to stay .
I look forward to seeing her and Pentious eventually reunite and how their relationship will progress.
“Hazbin Hotel: Behind Closed Doors” is another solid episode, but it is far exceeded by Episode Four, “It’s a Deal,” which I would go as far to say is not only the best episode of the season at this point, but the best of the show so far.
The episode follows two central storyline’s, Charlie and Alastor’s the first of which is the funnier of the two.
Charlie continues to underestimate how badly Vox and his minions can shape a narrative, planning to go on live tv with Nifty to try and change the hotel’s image.
It is here Charlie talks with Katie Killjoy who, of course, does everything she can to paint Charlie in a bad light, including making it seem like she wants Sinners to be killed.
As a last resort, Charlie calls on Nifty for help, and we get out first Nifty solo song, “Clean it Up.”
Not only is this song really catchy, but it is also hilarious.

The first half is Nifty talking about how disgusting the hotel is, which she views as a good thing because she loves cleaning it.
The second half of the song is sung entirely in Japanese with an anime style, and it is here where Nifty talks about the actual good qualities of the hotel. 
What makes this funnier is that Charlie asked her to “help differently” and Nifty interpreted this to mean singing in another language.
If Charlie had just let Nifty keep singing in English instead of interrupting her, everyone would have understood the good things about the hotel.
Although, there obviously have to be some sinners who speak Japanese, so it would be pretty humorous for a bunch of them to show up at the hotel because they understood Nifty’s message.

As for Nifty believing in Charlie’s dream while thinking Sinners are trash, it makes her even more endearing.
In fact, I would go as for to say that Nifty is my favorite character in Hazbin Hotel at the moment. 
She always gets a laugh out of me, and it is for this reason I love her more than Alastor.
This is not to sell Alastor short because he is also fantastic in this episode.
Alastor has barely been present in the last three episodes, so I was glad to see him finally get a focus here.
After another spat with Lucifer, Alastor decides to quit the hotel, and goes to tell Rosie the good news.
Too bad she wants him to stay at the hotel, and he has no say in the matter because she is his soul owner.
Yes, the big mystery of who owned Alastor’s soul is revealed to be Rosie.
The two seemed like genuine friends in Season One, so I did not see this coming.
It changes the whole context of Alastor bringing Charlie to Rosie for help.
We also get a reveal of Alastor’s backstory, like we did Sir Pentious’ in Episode Two.

Alastor was a radio broadcaster and serial killer in the 1930s, who was mistaken for a deer by a hunter and shot. 
However, before his death, he made a deal with Rosie for power.
In return, he would do some unknown job for her.
What this job is, we still do not know, but it is safe to say it has something to do with his presence at the Hazbin Hotel.
While answering the question of who owns Alastor’s soul, this twist also raises a bunch of questions about Rosie.
Who is she really, and why does she want Alastor to help Charlie?
Whatever the reason, I would wager it has something to do with why both Alastor and Lillith disappeared seven years ago.
It was also revealed this episode that the Exterminations also then, so something big happened seven years ago that we are not yet privy to.
Angered about not escaping his deal, Alastor then comes up with an unknown plan, leading to him confronting Vox, Valentino and Velvette. 

Nifty and Husk also get involved, but the fight ends with Alastor making a deal to be Vox’s prisoner, so long as Vox does not lay a hand upon Charlie.
What follows is a barrage of humiliation for Alastor, with Vox dragging him throughout the city, bragging about defeating him.
Whatever Alastor hopes to gain from this, it has to be worth the humiliation because there is no way he would subject himself to it otherwise.
Perhaps Charlie’s deal to do him a favor will come into play again?
But even though Alastor is Vox’s prisoner, he still gets under his skin more than anyone.
We get another flashback, this one proving that Vox and Alastor used to be friends.
Or at least that is what Vox thought, because the moment he suggests a partnership to Alastor, the Radio Demon laughs in his face, calling him pathetic and weak.
I never thought I would feel bad for Vox, but Alastor’s rejection was so cruel it had me temporarily forgetting how terrible of a person he also is. 

It is also pretty funny to think of how hypocritical Alastor is.
He judges Vox for needing the Vees while he conveniently forgets he owes his power to Rosie.
Back in the present, Vox attempts to regain control through the song “Don’t Your Forget” (itself a reprisal of a song Rosie sung with Alastor earlier), which references Season One’s “Stayed Gone.”
The episode then ends with Valentino saying the two should just screw already.
While you could cut the sexual tension with a knife in this moment, unfortunately for Vox, Al is asexual.
Kidding aside, Episode Four is definitely my favorite of the series so far.
It reveals a lot of Alastor lore, has great action, and funny Nifty moments.
What more could a Hazbin Hotel fan ask for?
Season Two has been great so far, and I hope the quality can continue later tonight with Episodes Five and Six.