Hazbin Hotel S1 E5 “Dad Beat Dad”: Review
Previous Review: https://medium.com/@roryaphunter/hazbin-hotel-s1-e4-masquerade-review-53eeaafa5848
Score — 8/10
Foreword — A Note on Alastor and Vodou: Olay, I don’t really know how to fit this into a review, so I’m just going to briefly address it here. I watched Lily Orchard’s video on Hazbin Hotel whilst writing these reviews (you can go and check that video out here: Hazbin Hotel Was Pretty Neat) and at the end of the video she draws attention to certain symbols that surround Alastor being “borrowed” from the religion of Haitian Vodou. She argues that it serves as an example of appropriation on Medrano’s part, and uses that to make a wider point about how non-Christian, more culture-bound, smaller religions tend to get drawn on in Western culture without much knowledge of them. It’s a small part of his character and aesthetic, but it’s still an interesting point I feel was argued with even tones by Orchard and others who make the same point. I’m glad my attention was drawn to it, because it’s always nice to have less dominant perspectives on cultural symbols be explored. Of course, I also found examples of fans being pissy and dismissive of the claims, because some people can’t just accept that maybe they need to learn something, instead of covering their ears and not even engaging with the conversation because THEY didn’t happen to be affected by it or notice it. Some people need to get their heads out their arses and not get so defensive when they’re asked to consider culturally sensitive issues. Okay, rant over. To the review!
“Dad Beat Dad” is the Hazbin Hotel episode that has grown on me the most since I initially watched it. Of course, I liked it the first time: it has two of the greatest songs of the entire show. But the rest of the episode didn’t really click with me until after I’d thought about it for a little bit. After sitting down to rewatch it for this review, I think I’m able to safely say I do love this episode, even if it does have its flaws.
The plot goeth thusly: the clock is counting down to the next extermination, and Charlie (Erika Henningsen) is starting to freak out. She reluctantly takes Vaggie’s (Stephanie Beatriz) advice to call up her estranged father, the King of Hell himself, Lucifer (Jeremy Jordan), who it turns out isn’t a terrifying lord of darkness, but a goofy depressed recluse. Lucifer eagerly accepts his daughter’s invitation, but is wary of her plan to redeem sinners due to his own bad experience with giving people free will and being cast from Heaven. Meanwhile, Mimzy (Sarah Stiles), a friend of Alastor’s (Alar Tamai), arrives at the Hotel, and brings some unwelcome trouble to their doorstep…
To start with the flaws, I feel like this episode’s opening few scenes are a little bumpy and clunky. Some of the dialogue feels awkward and rushed, and whilst I do really enjoy the phone call between Lucifer and Charlie, it does again feel like the show’s usually top-notch comedic writing hasn’t fully kicked in yet. The show’s penchant for small details, on the other hand, is kicking from the get-go: a portrait of Lucifer, Lilith and Charlie being all cute the first thing we see in Lucifer’s house, immediately establishing that there’s love there, and we see Angel Dust (Blake Roman) looking really touched when Charlie says the Hotel means a lot to her. The opening, whilst not quite as smooth as prior episodes, does set the scene nicely.
Then we get the introduction of Lucifer himself, voiced magnificently by Jeremy Jordan. Charlie’s father is the complete opposite of how you think he’s going to be, and not just because he’s the Devil, a figure that Western culture has placed endless negative emphasis on. We also think he’s going to be a cold-hearted, jaded soul who doesn’t care about anything, based on the hints that have been dropped so far. Instead, he’s a depressed goofball who builds rubber ducks as a way to overcome boredom, and who’s ecstatic his daughter is calling him. Lucifer is a delight, a well-meaning but tired man who has lost faith in his people after giving them free will led to them committing evil. Jeremy Jordan is perfectly cast, bringing all the awkward, well-meaning cynicism to life effortlessly. His voicing of Lucifer is so distinct, a mixture of high-flying energy and grounded dignity that makes him both effective for comedic and emotional moments.
Case in point: his interactions, and musical duets, with Alastor (Amir Talai) and Charlie respectively. When Lucifer first meets Alastor, the King of Hell insults him, leading to Alastor deciding to mess with Lucifer by trying to position himself as Charlie’s father figure purely to piss his new rival off. This leads to the riotously funny “Hell’s Greatest Dad” that combines jaw-dropping visuals with a hilarious central conceit, and tops it off Mimzy dramatically interrupting the dad-off by announcing her presence. “Hell’s Greatest Dad” is another contender for best song of the season, thanks both to its gorgeous animation and zany energy, showing both Lucifer’s insecurities, Charlie’s awkwardness around Lucifer’s attempt to parent versus her more relaxed demeanour around Alastor, as well as Alastor’s relentless mind games. Or could it potentially be something more…? Either way, “Hell’s Greatest Dad” allows Jeremy Jordan to showcase his comedic chops in song, to add onto his character’s already numerous funny moments.
A lot of those funny moments come from his interaction with his daughter Charlie who he’s desperate to reconnect with but is wary of her plan to redeem sinners. This leads to funny situations where Lucifer tries to dance around addressing the issue and also when adorably but overbearingly showers his daughter with affection. His reluctance to engage with her proposal, however, leads to friction, and Charlie feeling like Lucifer doesn’t have faith in her. This is the first episode to be Charlie-centric since “Radio Killed The Video Star”, and it’s nice to see the Princess of Hell in the spotlight again. Erika Hennengsen continues to bring her A-game to this role, and her chemistry with Jordan is immediately believable, as all the unresolved drama of their relationship bubbles to the surface.
This culminates in the episode’s second song, “More Than Anything”, which also might be another contender for best song of the season. In this beautiful duet, Lucifer explains to Charlie that he can’t bear to see her hopes and dreams crushed by Heaven the way his were, but Charlie counters by saying that it was his dreams and his enthusiasm that she saw when she was young that drove her to pursue her dreams. This opening of hearts leads to a tearful reconciliation coupled with more utterly gorgeous visuals. This episode’s emotional arc is extremely powerful, and grants Charlie more depth, in my opinion, framing her determination and character in a new way, and giving her some of the series’ best emotional moments.
On the other end of the spectrum, Mimzy gives us some of the funniest moments this season, from the moment she bursts in and interrupts Lucifer and Alastor. She gets to sass all over the place (her calling Husk (Keith David) “pussycat”, and his “fuck you” in return kills me every time), her attempts to escape the loansharks, and her reasons for doing so, leads to some really funny moments (“I may have stolen a car… and crashed it… into the loan shark’s girlfriend, but that bitch had it coming”) and Sarah Stiles’ voice delivery just kills me.
But it’s also how she informs Alastor’s character, given she knew him when they were both alive, that makes her notable story-wise. Her description of Alastor’s arrival in Hell and subsequent rampage mirrors what we learnt about him in the pilot, but adds the gruesome detail that his Overlord victims’ screams could be heard in his radio broadcast. The fact that Mimzy knowingly brought trouble to the Hotel irritates Alastor to the point he tells her to leave, suggesting a deeper connection to the Hotel than he lets on. And of course, Husk’s conversation with Alastor about Mimzy results in Husk letting slip that Alastor is “also on a leash”, a comment that results in Alastor taking on a demonic form threatening to rip Husk’s soul apart. This is a brand new piece of information that places a cap on the seemingly omnipotent Alastor, and it makes other details in the prior episodes start to make sense. For example, in “Scrambled Eggs”, Alastor’s response to Zestial asking where he’s been for the last 7 years is to claim he went on “sabbatical” whilst his eyes shift around a little bit nervously. Also, did anyone else notice a certain wife and mother to two of our characters respectively has also been absent for seven years? I wonder where Lillith’s got to…
To conclude, “Dad Beat Dad” is a wonderful mix of emotion and comedy, with some of the best songs and visual sequences so far in the series that balance out some of the underwhelming writing. Next stop: Heaven.
