In Hazbin Hotel on Amazon Prime, the forces of Heaven, fearing the great numbers of sinners in Hell, hold an extermination once a year where they kill a lot of souls. (In this world, all dead people either become demons or angels.) Idealistic Charlie Morningstar (voiced by Erika Henningsen, who was the original lead in Broadway's Mean Girls the Musical), is tired of this, so she decides to create a hotel that specializes in redeeming any who stay there so that they can get into heaven.
The pilot for this came out four years ago (this was an indie animation that had to first be picked up, plus animating takes time), and I've been waiting, genuinely curious as to the final outcome, and yeah, this doesn't disappoint. Characters are well defined, there's great world building, and the show manages to hit the funny bits pretty well. One is engrossed with the story as it develops and whether Charlie will achieve her dream. This is kinda like The Good Place in that it questions the concept of eternal damnation for people that were lousy or made poor decisions but weren't evil, evil.
Be forewarned that this is very adult. Very, very adult. Maybe more sexed up than the Rocky Horror Picture Show and more foul-mouthed than South Park (I've heard the words b**** and holes, as in orifices and not in the ground, more times than I ever have.) And this, show can be pretty bipolar when it comes to its content. Hazbin Hotel can have a funny part and then something dark may happen. Unlike Bojack Horseman, which was known for balancing lighter and darker humor, I don't know if this finds the balance. The creator Vivienne Medrano is definitely a talent, but she's like those two guys who created the Venture Brothers, they're definitely creative, but you're truly worried about their state of mind. Medrano's original pilot and her web cartoon Helluva Boss, which didn't have to censor for streaming, are a LOT. Things can get uncomfortable with her. The subplot of hotel occupant and porn star Angel Dust (Blake Roman) gets DAAAARRRKKKK. It is front and center in episode four and their is a reason why it is rated 18+ while all the others are 16+.
Also understand that this season is only eight episodes long. The show has a lot of characters and ideas, but they don't all have their equal time to shine. There's so much plot being revealed that it's easy to remember what's going on this season but so hard to remember what was the main story of each individual episode.
The voice cast is good. This show is a musical, and I'm happy to say everyone they cast are good singers. Henningsen really manages to sell Charlie's sheer unbridled optimism. (A big part of her character is how pure she is despite living in a terrible place with awful people.) The other star of the show is Alastor, the Radio Demon (Amir Talai), who sounds like he's speaking over an old-timey radio. He's a very powerful demon that's sponsoring the hotel not because he believes in it, but because it amuses him. He's the "aren't-you-glad-I'm-on-your-side"-type, equally charming and funny and a terrifying fellow when you cross him.
People have already pointed out that Charlie's girlfriend Vaggy (Reno 911/Encanto's Stephanie Beatriz) sounds like and is kinda similar to Poison Ivy in the Harley Quinn show. But in fairness, the pilot came out before HQ. Credit to be given to the show for how the lovers' relationship is made clear through showing without having to explain.
The animation feels like a Deviantart artist's page come to life with a distinct type of character design. It's a very unique depiction of the afterlife. The animation is colorful, and the quality itself is really fluid and detailed.
The songs are pretty good; there are weaker entries but no bad ones. I particularly like the variety; none of the songs feel like parodies/homages of existing songs like I've seen in many other musical TV shows.
Kinda recommended. This is definitely not for everyone. If you don't like M-rated stuff, stay away. And I do not fault anyone for episode four being too much. However, if you're okay with all of that, you may very well like this creative, well produced work. (You might want to see the pilot on Youtube first. The first episode does explain the premise, but the pilot explains stuff more.)
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