‘Hazbin Hotel’ Season 1 review: The adult animated musical is a Hell of a good time

The internet may be a hellish landscape full of edgelords and trolls, but the place many call their second home has some redeeming qualities as well. Take, for example, the success of indie animation darling Hazbin Hotel. Created in 2019 by Salvadoran-American animator, writer, and voice-over artist Vivienne Medrano, the adult animated series started as a 30-minute pilot episode on YouTube. Within a short period, the cartoon gained a cult following — and many detractors — for melding adult themes such as abuse and drug addiction with zany designs and Broadway-inspired musical numbers.

With a notable glow-up from animation production house Bento Box Entertainment (known for Bob’s Burgers) and the backing of A24, Hazbin Hotel bursts out of the gate with its exuberant take on heaven and hell. Despite some foibles, notably its excessive use of foul language, Hazbin Hotel creates a vivid world that may take other television shows several seasons to master.

Thanks to an imbalance between sinners and saints, Hell is going through an overpopulation problem. To combat that issue, the army of Heaven arrives every year in Hell to exterminate souls permanently. Saddened by this turn of events, Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen), the bright-eyed daughter of Lucifer (Jeremy Jordan,) devises a hair-brained scheme to save her people from eternal damnation. With Hazbin Hotel, a rehabilitation center for wayward souls, Charlie can help her guests find redemption. Unfortunately, the populace of Hell finds the royal’s passion project a joke. To make matters worse, Charlie has six months to make her case as Heaven pushes the next purge sooner rather than later.

Thankfully for Charlie, she has an eclectic team of dastardly demons to make her dreams come true. Along with Charlie’s girlfriend and demon warrior Vaggie (Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Stephanie Beatriz) and mysterious demon overlord Alastor (Amir Talai), the princess turns Hazbin Hotel into a worthy recovery center. Slowly yet steadily, potential redeemers arrive at the hotel of their own free will, including notable adult film star and drug addict Angel Dust (Blake Roman) and a snake demon with a penchant for building weapons straight out of a steampunk novel named Sir Pentious (Alex Brightman).

Typically, it takes a television series a couple of episodes or even seasons to flesh out its world, but Hazbin Hotel establishes its lore within the first episode. Medrano creates her vibrant world by chopping up several Christian and Jewish elements the same way Disney utilizes the Brothers Grimm tales in their animated works. Instead of a straightforward interpretation of the religions, Medrano adapts some aspects of the faiths for modern audiences. In Hazbin Hotel, demonic overlords control Hell’s sinners, contractual agreements with demons can lead to dire consequences, and Lucifer is less an all-powerful being and more a remorseful deadbeat dad. Not only do these elements add extra seasoning to Hazbin Hotel, but they also show the audience how the underworld functions as a society.

Hazbin Hotel’s biggest strength may be its worldbuilding, but its weakness lies in its over reliance on foul language. There is no need for the adult animated series to censor itself against prudes. After all, the show takes place in Hell. Yet, the number of F-bombs and other colorful language the characters throw at one another cheapens the script. Adding expletives can add texture to a story or even emphasize a character’s personality; however, its implementation must be tactful. Consider BoJack Horseman’s one “f*ck” per-season rule. The show employs this clever restriction, which they occasionally break, to add more impact or importance to a scene. Unfortunately for Hazbin Hotel, the cursing takes away some of its stronger moments, like when Husk (the great Keith David) bonds with Angel over their tragic ordeal in Episode 4’s “Masquerade.”

Thankfully, Hazbin Hotel redeems itself with its spirited animation and designs. Noted animated production house Bento Box, along with SpindleHorse Toons, not only translate the tone of the original YouTube pilot nicely, but they also elevate the show’s visuals for a mainstream audience.

Though there are some subtle changes in the character designs, some elements that remain the same from the pilot are the darkly unified color palette, energized action sequences, and lively facial experiences. The show’s visual callback to the Golden Age of Hollywood and the Art Deco movement within the architecture and clothing is also an ingenious choice. As a critic who champions well-made adult animated shows, it is nice to watch a series that takes the animation genre seriously.  

Over the course of the first season, Hazbin Hotel finds its footing as it relies less on being an “edgy for Hot Topic” cartoon and more on a thought-provoking tale about redemption and second chances. The adult animated series may turn some off with its explicit language and staid humor, but many will take pleasure in the catchy musical numbers and sleek visuals. Considering this is A24’s first foray into producing animation, they do a fantastic job backing Medrano’s wickedly dark vision.

Hazbin Hotel premieres on January 19 on Prime Video.

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Images courtesy of Prime Video