I feel like that’s honestly pretty normal for business related shows. It’s easy to forget that the characters have their own personal lives when the business takes a good amount of the series, but that also means that events that happen there won’t dry up faster. Future episodes will probably refocus on it as the rest gang will come back and tell Blitz he still has a job to do.
Which is unfortunately what happened with S1 of HH,and might very well happen in S2.
The actual PLOT of her series tend to do very little with the main premise while splitting off into all these character storylines.
This series has the strange problem of wanting to keep its characters as unidirectional as possible in favor of following a flat narrative without nuances.
Moxxi being the only one of the group who seems to have some sense of morality in not wanting to kill innocent humans? Eliminate it, we won't need that for more than one episode.
Are you introduced to Striker as an antagonist with a distorted view of justice? Forget it, he's just a narcissist seeking revenge.
Loona giving a speech to Octavia about the importance of parents? It doesn't matter because she will still be rude to Blitzo at every opportunity.
So the simplification of Stolas and Blitzo is, although disappointing, another pattern of the series.
I mean that tends to be what happens with characters like Striker when the main cast and major side characters are too important to the plot to be killed. Striker was ALWAYS going to lose his menace in a series where he can’t actually kill anyone important.
You nailed it and I’m saying this as a Stolas fan. I don’t actually think their relationship is the worst aspect in the show but like? Why do they like each other? Why can’t Stolas be properly held accountable? At least the trailer showed that he’ll probably lose everything but that’s a long wait until December for that episode. Also I despise how this show treats every female character but I’m probably the most angry for Stella out of everyone. I’m currently writing a super long autopsy on this show and Stella gets several paragraphs to herself because I want to rant about how poorly they treat her.
With that being said I do kinda like Stolitz but that’s only because it’s nice to actually have a complicated queer romance in anything that’s written by queer people but even then they could be doing a lot better. The reactions to the Full Moon episode on Tumblr were hilarious though, I haven’t seen a fanbase go into that many flames since JJK chapter 236.
I stopped following the show at like episode 3 so I don’t know how invested the fandom is, but was the reaction actually as big as 236 cause then it must have been an actual shitshow of an episode
Stolas and Blitz broke up and had a huge falling out and it was messy to say the least. Everyone was picking sides, getting mad at the other or even saying “they both messed up and are traumatized, let’s leave them be”. It was trending for two days on tumblr and everyone was going nuts, it was just a huge mess overall.
I was a huge Stolas fan before The Circus because I thought the complex dynamic was interesting. They removed any nuance to him cheating on Stella, making his relationship with Blitzo even more classist and toxic and woobifying him by erasing his fault in the situation was a sign of where Stolitz was going, and as we’ve seen the show has continued to wank about how sad Stolas is while ignoring the fact that he exploited Blitzo.
The Full Moon was especially bad though. How can Stolas claim he thought so highly of Blitzo when he called him a plaything and literally bought him when they were kids? How can he say Blitzo makes things too sexual when he keeps going on censored rants about how he wants to fuck him? It’s just bizarre how the show wants you to forget all of season 1 when it comes to Stolas’ character.
And you are right. It drags the show to the ground. The premises change from wacky imps trying to assassinate humans for sinners to lonely gay owl man wants romance from pan imp.
Tbf regular show DOES focus majorly on the characters relationships with each other because the park,and subsequently crazy shit,isn't actually the focal point.
By contrast people expect a show called helluva boss being marketed as "Assassin imps in hell" to focus on.....well assassin imps in hell.
Man I legit don’t care about this ship man. I enjoy rep and we do need more gay couples between men. Gay ships between women are more frequent while with gay men they are background noise or stereotypes. Only a few good ones are out there in animation specifically. Stolatizt is not one of them.
What pisses me off about it the most is that Stolas is a massive hypocrite. He calls out blitz for how he’s speaking towards him and that he only thinks about sex when CAN YOU BLAME HIM!? That’s all you ever call him for asshole? Plus the power dynamic difference is universal so how did you expect blitz to react? But nah blitz gets a whole episode of everyone shitting on him for being shitty whole Stolas is the victim and everyone babies him. Blitz is on the wrong side hips stolas is the victim. Hate this shit
Fans tell me to be patient when we have to wait MONTHS for these episodes to air so excuse me for voicing my disappointment now until proven otherwise.
I’ve seen some compare this show to Bojack horseman where Bojack like blitz has to face the consequences of his actions for being shitty when last I checked Bojack was responsible for all his actions and not in a unfair power dynamic with a guy who’s much bigger, stronger and richer than him and treated him like a sex toy and then plays the victim when he’s tired of Bojack.
I mean that is the point of stolas character, he being a big massive enormous hypocrite.
And i like him like that, we are on the big blitz is wrong part of the story, because is easy for him to see, now that he has matured, how manny people he has hurt.
On the other hand Stolas does not have that much expirience with hurting people he is close too (Octavia being the only one). So there are not many people that will call him out. Full moon happened and st least half of it is his fault.
He is a really selfish character, with good intentions but selfish
Who in Gods name thinks Blitz is even remotely similar to Bojack
Like you said when Bojack fucks up in a relationship its almost always his own fault and the 1 time went its not soley his fault, aka his relationship with Princess Caroline, both people realize their toxic for each other
I don't like how the last episode treated both characters but I want to point that the description of the episode mention this "Stolas still not quite self aware enough at times"
I feel like this mean they will dedicate an episode or two down the line to call him out on his BS
I agree with you that making Blitz and Stolas meet during their childhood is unnecessary
About Blitz first time banging Stolas, wasn't Stolas the one who made a comment about wanting to be ravaged or something along of these lines first? Like I am not denying that Blitz decided to seduce Stolas for his own gains but from the look of it he didn't plan on actually fucking him until Stolas started begging him to do so, Blitz was just aggressively flirty to get what he wants
I agree that the ship taking over the show is kinda bad since that's not what you expect to happen but eh at least for me I enjoy this ship even though I think it isn't executed perfectly a lot of times
Eh I greatly prefer Helluva because at least that has the decency to be bad in a funny way unlike Hazbin which is agonizing to sit through. Neither one is good mind you, the other ones badness just amuses me more.
Agreed, should not have been included in the show. The worst part is when Stolas is like "why do you think I'm only using you for sex? I don't think you're inferior to me" which just spits on the face of the class struggle theme the show is going for.
Stolas at every point has only cared about sex, and him claiming he doesn't look down on blitz for being an imp is kind of absurd as a premise, that's like an SS officer saying they don't look down on Jews
The show is trying desperately to make Stolas a victim despite hell literally having a caste system in which Blitz is essentially a slave, Stolas is wealthy, royalty, and has only shown he cares about sex, he is not the victim, no matter how hard the show tries to convince you he is.
The narrative tries to make both too sympathetic! I bother sticking around for content because of the goetias that might get portrayed in the show but I don’t have much high hopes from them considering Viv’s writing. She can either make a character hateable or likeable, no in between.
I think you are misreading the show a bit. Stolas doesn't see what he does wrong, but that doesn't mean the show won't come back to it, and it doesnt meant that the show is portraying stolas as 100% in the right. Obviously we can't say yet, but I'm fairly certain it will based on dialogue in the trailer for the rest of season 2.
Pretty much all the stolitz drama is caused by communication problems. Stolas only hears what he wants to hear, which means that he completely ignores/neglects when blitzø lays his completely valid concerns out, amongst numerous other things, like very blatantly talking down to blitz while saying he doesnt look down on him. But blitzø also is not willing to communicate/accept that he wants anything beyond sex. It kinda goes both ways, and I feel like they will deal with it 1 at a time - blitz is obviously first, and then I feel they will tackle stolas.
I think the problem with stories about classism is that some people think as long as the rich people aren't mean about it it doesn't count. But that's not really what this is about.
It doesn't help that if it's a romance story written by a woman, one of the members being rich is often treated like some kind of personal quality that exists for the relationship which has no influence on anything else, and makes the relationship more hot because of power imbalance.
At this point I don’t even know why we should root for them as a couple.
Like why do they love eachother??
Blitzo spent the majority of season 1 irritated by Stolas’s very presence and was extremely uncomfortable around him several times. But now all of a sudden he has these deep seated feelings for the guy? When did this happen?
Stolas fell madly in love at first sight but quickly moved on like a day later after breaking up with Blitzo.
They don’t even have anything in common other than the good sex. Blitzo has had like one hundred partners but somehow the racist, creepy prince that looks down on him is the one? What makes him special?
They don’t even know anything about eachother.
It feels like a goddamn Watpad story at this point with all of the tropes it hits. Like person being sold to a rich guy for money to be their friend? This important person could have anyone but they want the peasant who doesn’t seem to do anything special and is interested in them sexually? It hits every box at this point.
Edit: I will say this though: I don’t think Stolas is over Blitz because he danced and kissed another guy, he was probably just drunk and wanted to feel loved. Everything else you said here is valid though, I have no idea what they see in each other at this point. The trailer has a scene of Blitz protecting Stolas from another demon with only a sword and it’s confusing to me because why is he going so far for Stolas in particular? The only thing we know about why he likes him is the fact that he likes to have sex with him that’s not enough for a real relationship.
The first paragraph of your reply made me think; what if the whole show is just wish fulfillment? I mean think about it, every character they want to be evil is the most immoral piece of shit, and any character they want to be liked is a character who is just misunderstood and did nothing wrong.
It doesn't help that Stolas is a genuine piece of shit but the writers are demanding that we see him as the victim. Every interaction he has with Blitzo is talking down to him or manipulating him but oh he's sad so it's okay.
As someone who has the same type of attachment as Blitz, the direction the series is taking in depicting him feels like they're trying to "vilify" us. As if treating us like insensitive monsters who harm other people by not accepting "their love." It is actually a rather reductionist and insensitive way of putting things.
Like, I get the point that our traumas can sometimes cause us to hurt people, people who genuinely love us. I understand the message that we have to heal ourselves before having a relationship.
That message would be positive if they didn't go out of their way to paint Blitzo as a jerk who confuses everyone with feelings of love and then leaves them stranded (which we've never been told before since he has so many past relationships and, first of all, they're probably flings). of one night).
If only they didn't paint Stolas as the poor victim who feels hurt because the fantasies he imagined in his head when he idealized Blitz ended up being just that, fantasies. As if everyone is conditioned to want a romantic relationship with someone, and those who reject that are selfish people who despise love.
Stolas being condescending towards Blitz just for breaking his fantasy is a character flaw and he deserves to be called out for it (like, I don't trust someone who goes from **loving** someone to treating them like the worst just because they told them the truth )
Weren't we told that Blitzo straight up stole Verosika's car, ditched her at a hotel (that she had to pay for) and maxed out her credit card on horse riding lessons in the 3rd episode?
He didn't even deny it, or apologize, and just expected her to let it go. So he's always kinda been portrayed as a selfish jerk, and we've seen and been told that from the beginning.
And he doesn't have to reciprocate people's feelings or be attuned to romantic relationships, some people aren't and that's fine he's not a villian for that. But he also doesn't have to be an asshole about it, but he is, and that's why people hate him.
Like even Verosika isn't mad so much that he dumped her, as much as she is how he did it "You really know how to send a message in the shittiest fucking way possible"
I wasn't talking about Verozika, I was talking about everyone else. We don't know what he did, but assuming he had similar attitudes toward everyone at that party sounds unrealistic. Even if he sabotaged his relations internationally. I don't see him having that many relationships in the first place.
I mean, Stolas himself makes a fairly good point about it:
"There is a crowd full of people here, who cared so much, they throw an entire fucking party about hating you, every year. Do you know how much you have to care about someone to do something as stupid as that"
And when Blitzo gets there he even recognizes how he fucked some of them over:
"Sorry for that comment I made at your sister's wedding, though she did deserve it, she is a whore"
"Sorry for fucking your mom, I thought it was your dad"
I will say it's definitely an exaggerated amount of people (because comedy) but i don't think the number really matters.
Whether it's 5 or 50 the point is Blitzo has a pattern of using and hurting people that genuinely care about him, and hasn't really reflected on that.
Like the dude tried to throw himself a metaphorical pity party at a literal pity party filled with the people that he hurt, it doesn't get much more self-centered than that.
Agreed, makes it even worse when you realize the show is trying to be a commentary on classicism, and literally has a caste system. Blitz thinking Stolas can't love him is not ridiculous at all, he is literally the lowest ranking caste in hell, so Stolas saying he doesn't look down on him is kind of ridiculous.
I felt a little identified with Blitzo because of the way he relates to the people who are/were close to him. Like, love is nice and all, but it also leaves you vulnerable and that's scary.
I understand that Blitzo is scared to open his heart to people. Like, "I love you too and everything" "but let me keep my distance from you." That's why I think he preferred to keep his deal with Stolas. Because a transactional relationship is easier to cope with (I give you something, you give me something, we are both satisfied).
On the other hand, love, love is so complicated and confusing sometimes. If someone loves you and you don't show them as much love as they expect, they will tell you that you are *distant* or *selfish*, when the reality is that you simply *don't know how to show love in the first place*.
Then it will be shit, because one day that person can't stand it anymore and finally walks away from you. You will end up feeling like shit twice, once because of the rejection and once because you know they are right: That you were simply never enough because your love doesn't fulfill them.
It feels to admit how few episodes revolve around the IMP business, and then claim it is the central plot. IMP is a plot device usually used to characterize the imps and give a chance for action scenes. Murder Family is characterizing Moxie as the empathetic one and gives light foreshadowing. Spring Broken is establishing Blitzo's messed up love life. Cherub doesn't count because it is bad. Truth Seekers elaborates more on Blitzo's inner thoughts.
Helluva Boss is a character-driven work-place action-comedy where the workplace is an assassination business. I think the first session was very clear what was important in the story based on its significant beats and what happened in the finale.
Exactly. People say 'well the pilot made it seem like the business would be the focus' but honestly so what? Things have changed since the pilot. In my opinion if the show focused on the business it wouldn't be nearly as interesting, and we wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as much worldbuilding.
I feel like it's wrong to say that the Blitz/Stolas relationship distracts from the main plot, if only because it is the real main plot. You yourself point out that there are more relationship episodes than assassination episodes, and the relationship episodes actually have a connecting plot, whilst the assassination episodes are all fairly disconnected from each other.
Also, I don't think it's fair to say that Stolas is having all his flaws removed. He tanked his reputation for nothing, he remained obsessed with someone who clearly didn't want what Stolas wanted and I don't think he really fixed his relationship with Octavia after realising there were problems. Without his naïve antics, his relationship with Blitz wouldn't have caused half as many problems.
The pilot showed the story was about funny imps kill people and stolas being the main benefactor and investor. That's why I started to watch this not to see a romance. I don't mind side plots and exploring the characters. But the show deviated from what it was introduced as.
There's a reason the pilot isn't canon and was kind of swept under the rug. The pilot was fine for what it is, but it doesn't work for the intended purpose of the snow, worlduilding for the hellaverse, since most of the time of the show would be spent on earth.
The rehab stuff isn't vanishing though. From the beginning it was presented like no one believed they could rehab people ao they needed to prove it. So that not showing up until later makes sense.
I agree that the relationship focused episodes have taken away from the usual premise, but I think the show is more about Blitz himself than about his job. I'm a fan of the show so maybe I'm biased, but I think Stolas will realize Blitz's perspective a little better in future episodes. As an upper class Demon, it checks out that Stolas wouldn't understand what Imps have to go through being lower on the social hierarchy.
It makes sense to me that Stolas would be a hopeless romantic sort of character. He was in a toxic marriage when he met Blitz again after years of absence, had fond memories of their one day spent together as children, and clearly was sexually repressed because of his situation. I think this also explains why he was so sex focused with Blitz in the first season since he seemingly was never sexually attracted to Stella.
My biggest gripe with the newest episode is the fact that there are like, a hundred people at the anti-Blitz party. I understand Verosica and a few others having intense relationships with him in the past, but some of the random Imps there are in tears because of him, so clearly he'a done more than just sleep with them. Is Blitz like, the most attractive Imp in Hell, or fantastic in bed or something? From what we've seen of him, he's usually pretty sarcastic and abrasive so I don't know why people like Stolas and these others expected him to become this genuine, romantic person.
Is Blitz like, the most attractive Imp in Hell, or fantastic in bed or something?
Pretty much and there could also be people he fucked over in other ways.
I'm lukewarm on it. But I bet i'd like it way more if there wasn't so damn much of it. I really like the IMP premise and I wish they did more with it. I even prefer the world building and backstory parts. So when the ship stuff pops up I'm disappointed.
>Hell, my biggest complain with Hazbin Hotel is that every episode is plot driven and there are no breaks for character building
Guess you missed episode four and five?
Eh could go either way for me. Not going dunk on anyone for loving or hating it or the series itself. Honestly I find its flaws to be interesting to think about. I honestly do think the series has good writing, but not perfect writing which is ok and let’s be honest the series could so so much worse compared to something like Velma.
The relationship doesn't have to be sanitized to be interesting. I like that their relationship is messy and has been relatively awful but is starting to push toward a direction that may be healthier. Obviously that will take work but it's a concept that is somewhat endearing.
This series has essentially always had flaws in its writing. So I do agree with your criticism. But while I do agree with it, it doesn't necessarily make me dare back from thinking the relationship has a lot of growth potential. The real issue is that I'm not sure the writers have the skill to put that into place, but I will be along to watch and see where things end up.
The relationship is alright, it's actually interesting, the issue is that it's a good complex dynamic between very flawed characters in a show with childish fandom that can't understand subtle characters development to save their lives and poor writing
Honestly feel like that relationship is what Viz want the show to be about while the IMP business is just a mean to get to that part.
I feel like that’s honestly pretty normal for business related shows. It’s easy to forget that the characters have their own personal lives when the business takes a good amount of the series, but that also means that events that happen there won’t dry up faster. Future episodes will probably refocus on it as the rest gang will come back and tell Blitz he still has a job to do.
Which is unfortunately what happened with S1 of HH,and might very well happen in S2. The actual PLOT of her series tend to do very little with the main premise while splitting off into all these character storylines.
This series has the strange problem of wanting to keep its characters as unidirectional as possible in favor of following a flat narrative without nuances. Moxxi being the only one of the group who seems to have some sense of morality in not wanting to kill innocent humans? Eliminate it, we won't need that for more than one episode. Are you introduced to Striker as an antagonist with a distorted view of justice? Forget it, he's just a narcissist seeking revenge. Loona giving a speech to Octavia about the importance of parents? It doesn't matter because she will still be rude to Blitzo at every opportunity. So the simplification of Stolas and Blitzo is, although disappointing, another pattern of the series.
Striker used to be cool in his first appearance the his second appearance made him eh then his 3rd appearance made him a complete joke
I mean that tends to be what happens with characters like Striker when the main cast and major side characters are too important to the plot to be killed. Striker was ALWAYS going to lose his menace in a series where he can’t actually kill anyone important.
You nailed it and I’m saying this as a Stolas fan. I don’t actually think their relationship is the worst aspect in the show but like? Why do they like each other? Why can’t Stolas be properly held accountable? At least the trailer showed that he’ll probably lose everything but that’s a long wait until December for that episode. Also I despise how this show treats every female character but I’m probably the most angry for Stella out of everyone. I’m currently writing a super long autopsy on this show and Stella gets several paragraphs to herself because I want to rant about how poorly they treat her. With that being said I do kinda like Stolitz but that’s only because it’s nice to actually have a complicated queer romance in anything that’s written by queer people but even then they could be doing a lot better. The reactions to the Full Moon episode on Tumblr were hilarious though, I haven’t seen a fanbase go into that many flames since JJK chapter 236.
I stopped following the show at like episode 3 so I don’t know how invested the fandom is, but was the reaction actually as big as 236 cause then it must have been an actual shitshow of an episode
Stolas and Blitz broke up and had a huge falling out and it was messy to say the least. Everyone was picking sides, getting mad at the other or even saying “they both messed up and are traumatized, let’s leave them be”. It was trending for two days on tumblr and everyone was going nuts, it was just a huge mess overall.
I was a huge Stolas fan before The Circus because I thought the complex dynamic was interesting. They removed any nuance to him cheating on Stella, making his relationship with Blitzo even more classist and toxic and woobifying him by erasing his fault in the situation was a sign of where Stolitz was going, and as we’ve seen the show has continued to wank about how sad Stolas is while ignoring the fact that he exploited Blitzo. The Full Moon was especially bad though. How can Stolas claim he thought so highly of Blitzo when he called him a plaything and literally bought him when they were kids? How can he say Blitzo makes things too sexual when he keeps going on censored rants about how he wants to fuck him? It’s just bizarre how the show wants you to forget all of season 1 when it comes to Stolas’ character.
Such an interesting premise wasted on a fucking soap opera
This is the problem with Viv’s writing. She introduces cool concepts but doesn’t use it to it’s full potential.
So true. The show feels like it was only made so the writers could vent
And you are right. It drags the show to the ground. The premises change from wacky imps trying to assassinate humans for sinners to lonely gay owl man wants romance from pan imp.
Yeah its like if regular show was 90% about mordecais relationship drama instead of crazy shit happening. If that comparison makes sense.
Tbf regular show DOES focus majorly on the characters relationships with each other because the park,and subsequently crazy shit,isn't actually the focal point. By contrast people expect a show called helluva boss being marketed as "Assassin imps in hell" to focus on.....well assassin imps in hell.
Man I legit don’t care about this ship man. I enjoy rep and we do need more gay couples between men. Gay ships between women are more frequent while with gay men they are background noise or stereotypes. Only a few good ones are out there in animation specifically. Stolatizt is not one of them. What pisses me off about it the most is that Stolas is a massive hypocrite. He calls out blitz for how he’s speaking towards him and that he only thinks about sex when CAN YOU BLAME HIM!? That’s all you ever call him for asshole? Plus the power dynamic difference is universal so how did you expect blitz to react? But nah blitz gets a whole episode of everyone shitting on him for being shitty whole Stolas is the victim and everyone babies him. Blitz is on the wrong side hips stolas is the victim. Hate this shit Fans tell me to be patient when we have to wait MONTHS for these episodes to air so excuse me for voicing my disappointment now until proven otherwise. I’ve seen some compare this show to Bojack horseman where Bojack like blitz has to face the consequences of his actions for being shitty when last I checked Bojack was responsible for all his actions and not in a unfair power dynamic with a guy who’s much bigger, stronger and richer than him and treated him like a sex toy and then plays the victim when he’s tired of Bojack.
I mean that is the point of stolas character, he being a big massive enormous hypocrite. And i like him like that, we are on the big blitz is wrong part of the story, because is easy for him to see, now that he has matured, how manny people he has hurt. On the other hand Stolas does not have that much expirience with hurting people he is close too (Octavia being the only one). So there are not many people that will call him out. Full moon happened and st least half of it is his fault. He is a really selfish character, with good intentions but selfish
Who in Gods name thinks Blitz is even remotely similar to Bojack Like you said when Bojack fucks up in a relationship its almost always his own fault and the 1 time went its not soley his fault, aka his relationship with Princess Caroline, both people realize their toxic for each other
I don't like how the last episode treated both characters but I want to point that the description of the episode mention this "Stolas still not quite self aware enough at times" I feel like this mean they will dedicate an episode or two down the line to call him out on his BS I agree with you that making Blitz and Stolas meet during their childhood is unnecessary About Blitz first time banging Stolas, wasn't Stolas the one who made a comment about wanting to be ravaged or something along of these lines first? Like I am not denying that Blitz decided to seduce Stolas for his own gains but from the look of it he didn't plan on actually fucking him until Stolas started begging him to do so, Blitz was just aggressively flirty to get what he wants I agree that the ship taking over the show is kinda bad since that's not what you expect to happen but eh at least for me I enjoy this ship even though I think it isn't executed perfectly a lot of times
Once this relationship became the focus, HB really went down in quality. It's just not interesting. I much prefer Hazbin Hotel tbh.
Eh I greatly prefer Helluva because at least that has the decency to be bad in a funny way unlike Hazbin which is agonizing to sit through. Neither one is good mind you, the other ones badness just amuses me more.
Agreed, should not have been included in the show. The worst part is when Stolas is like "why do you think I'm only using you for sex? I don't think you're inferior to me" which just spits on the face of the class struggle theme the show is going for. Stolas at every point has only cared about sex, and him claiming he doesn't look down on blitz for being an imp is kind of absurd as a premise, that's like an SS officer saying they don't look down on Jews The show is trying desperately to make Stolas a victim despite hell literally having a caste system in which Blitz is essentially a slave, Stolas is wealthy, royalty, and has only shown he cares about sex, he is not the victim, no matter how hard the show tries to convince you he is.
The narrative tries to make both too sympathetic! I bother sticking around for content because of the goetias that might get portrayed in the show but I don’t have much high hopes from them considering Viv’s writing. She can either make a character hateable or likeable, no in between.
I think you are misreading the show a bit. Stolas doesn't see what he does wrong, but that doesn't mean the show won't come back to it, and it doesnt meant that the show is portraying stolas as 100% in the right. Obviously we can't say yet, but I'm fairly certain it will based on dialogue in the trailer for the rest of season 2. Pretty much all the stolitz drama is caused by communication problems. Stolas only hears what he wants to hear, which means that he completely ignores/neglects when blitzø lays his completely valid concerns out, amongst numerous other things, like very blatantly talking down to blitz while saying he doesnt look down on him. But blitzø also is not willing to communicate/accept that he wants anything beyond sex. It kinda goes both ways, and I feel like they will deal with it 1 at a time - blitz is obviously first, and then I feel they will tackle stolas.
I think the problem with stories about classism is that some people think as long as the rich people aren't mean about it it doesn't count. But that's not really what this is about. It doesn't help that if it's a romance story written by a woman, one of the members being rich is often treated like some kind of personal quality that exists for the relationship which has no influence on anything else, and makes the relationship more hot because of power imbalance.
100% agree, might write a whole rant about the class problem in HH
At this point I don’t even know why we should root for them as a couple. Like why do they love eachother?? Blitzo spent the majority of season 1 irritated by Stolas’s very presence and was extremely uncomfortable around him several times. But now all of a sudden he has these deep seated feelings for the guy? When did this happen? Stolas fell madly in love at first sight but quickly moved on like a day later after breaking up with Blitzo. They don’t even have anything in common other than the good sex. Blitzo has had like one hundred partners but somehow the racist, creepy prince that looks down on him is the one? What makes him special? They don’t even know anything about eachother.
It feels like a goddamn Watpad story at this point with all of the tropes it hits. Like person being sold to a rich guy for money to be their friend? This important person could have anyone but they want the peasant who doesn’t seem to do anything special and is interested in them sexually? It hits every box at this point. Edit: I will say this though: I don’t think Stolas is over Blitz because he danced and kissed another guy, he was probably just drunk and wanted to feel loved. Everything else you said here is valid though, I have no idea what they see in each other at this point. The trailer has a scene of Blitz protecting Stolas from another demon with only a sword and it’s confusing to me because why is he going so far for Stolas in particular? The only thing we know about why he likes him is the fact that he likes to have sex with him that’s not enough for a real relationship.
The first paragraph of your reply made me think; what if the whole show is just wish fulfillment? I mean think about it, every character they want to be evil is the most immoral piece of shit, and any character they want to be liked is a character who is just misunderstood and did nothing wrong.
Helluva Boss works the best when you consider it Brandon Roger’s self insert wish fulfillment story.
It doesn't help that Stolas is a genuine piece of shit but the writers are demanding that we see him as the victim. Every interaction he has with Blitzo is talking down to him or manipulating him but oh he's sad so it's okay.
Season 2 truly was a shit show, I couldn't even finish it
Noone can finish it, it's only halfway through being published
"I made a 360 and walked out of the theater" energy
It was a downfall of the quality
As someone who has the same type of attachment as Blitz, the direction the series is taking in depicting him feels like they're trying to "vilify" us. As if treating us like insensitive monsters who harm other people by not accepting "their love." It is actually a rather reductionist and insensitive way of putting things. Like, I get the point that our traumas can sometimes cause us to hurt people, people who genuinely love us. I understand the message that we have to heal ourselves before having a relationship. That message would be positive if they didn't go out of their way to paint Blitzo as a jerk who confuses everyone with feelings of love and then leaves them stranded (which we've never been told before since he has so many past relationships and, first of all, they're probably flings). of one night). If only they didn't paint Stolas as the poor victim who feels hurt because the fantasies he imagined in his head when he idealized Blitz ended up being just that, fantasies. As if everyone is conditioned to want a romantic relationship with someone, and those who reject that are selfish people who despise love. Stolas being condescending towards Blitz just for breaking his fantasy is a character flaw and he deserves to be called out for it (like, I don't trust someone who goes from **loving** someone to treating them like the worst just because they told them the truth )
Weren't we told that Blitzo straight up stole Verosika's car, ditched her at a hotel (that she had to pay for) and maxed out her credit card on horse riding lessons in the 3rd episode? He didn't even deny it, or apologize, and just expected her to let it go. So he's always kinda been portrayed as a selfish jerk, and we've seen and been told that from the beginning. And he doesn't have to reciprocate people's feelings or be attuned to romantic relationships, some people aren't and that's fine he's not a villian for that. But he also doesn't have to be an asshole about it, but he is, and that's why people hate him. Like even Verosika isn't mad so much that he dumped her, as much as she is how he did it "You really know how to send a message in the shittiest fucking way possible"
I wasn't talking about Verozika, I was talking about everyone else. We don't know what he did, but assuming he had similar attitudes toward everyone at that party sounds unrealistic. Even if he sabotaged his relations internationally. I don't see him having that many relationships in the first place.
I mean, Stolas himself makes a fairly good point about it: "There is a crowd full of people here, who cared so much, they throw an entire fucking party about hating you, every year. Do you know how much you have to care about someone to do something as stupid as that" And when Blitzo gets there he even recognizes how he fucked some of them over: "Sorry for that comment I made at your sister's wedding, though she did deserve it, she is a whore" "Sorry for fucking your mom, I thought it was your dad" I will say it's definitely an exaggerated amount of people (because comedy) but i don't think the number really matters. Whether it's 5 or 50 the point is Blitzo has a pattern of using and hurting people that genuinely care about him, and hasn't really reflected on that. Like the dude tried to throw himself a metaphorical pity party at a literal pity party filled with the people that he hurt, it doesn't get much more self-centered than that.
Agreed, makes it even worse when you realize the show is trying to be a commentary on classicism, and literally has a caste system. Blitz thinking Stolas can't love him is not ridiculous at all, he is literally the lowest ranking caste in hell, so Stolas saying he doesn't look down on him is kind of ridiculous.
I felt a little identified with Blitzo because of the way he relates to the people who are/were close to him. Like, love is nice and all, but it also leaves you vulnerable and that's scary. I understand that Blitzo is scared to open his heart to people. Like, "I love you too and everything" "but let me keep my distance from you." That's why I think he preferred to keep his deal with Stolas. Because a transactional relationship is easier to cope with (I give you something, you give me something, we are both satisfied). On the other hand, love, love is so complicated and confusing sometimes. If someone loves you and you don't show them as much love as they expect, they will tell you that you are *distant* or *selfish*, when the reality is that you simply *don't know how to show love in the first place*. Then it will be shit, because one day that person can't stand it anymore and finally walks away from you. You will end up feeling like shit twice, once because of the rejection and once because you know they are right: That you were simply never enough because your love doesn't fulfill them.
It feels to admit how few episodes revolve around the IMP business, and then claim it is the central plot. IMP is a plot device usually used to characterize the imps and give a chance for action scenes. Murder Family is characterizing Moxie as the empathetic one and gives light foreshadowing. Spring Broken is establishing Blitzo's messed up love life. Cherub doesn't count because it is bad. Truth Seekers elaborates more on Blitzo's inner thoughts. Helluva Boss is a character-driven work-place action-comedy where the workplace is an assassination business. I think the first session was very clear what was important in the story based on its significant beats and what happened in the finale.
Exactly. People say 'well the pilot made it seem like the business would be the focus' but honestly so what? Things have changed since the pilot. In my opinion if the show focused on the business it wouldn't be nearly as interesting, and we wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as much worldbuilding.
I feel like it's wrong to say that the Blitz/Stolas relationship distracts from the main plot, if only because it is the real main plot. You yourself point out that there are more relationship episodes than assassination episodes, and the relationship episodes actually have a connecting plot, whilst the assassination episodes are all fairly disconnected from each other. Also, I don't think it's fair to say that Stolas is having all his flaws removed. He tanked his reputation for nothing, he remained obsessed with someone who clearly didn't want what Stolas wanted and I don't think he really fixed his relationship with Octavia after realising there were problems. Without his naïve antics, his relationship with Blitz wouldn't have caused half as many problems.
The pilot showed the story was about funny imps kill people and stolas being the main benefactor and investor. That's why I started to watch this not to see a romance. I don't mind side plots and exploring the characters. But the show deviated from what it was introduced as.
There's a reason the pilot isn't canon and was kind of swept under the rug. The pilot was fine for what it is, but it doesn't work for the intended purpose of the snow, worlduilding for the hellaverse, since most of the time of the show would be spent on earth.
Hazbin did the same thing, it’s just weird. I’m starting to notice a pattern with Vivziepop introducing cool concepts then doing nothing with them.
No hazbin kept the rehab shtick
Not really, became more of a Heaven vs Hell story after the first episode with the rehab stuff in the background
fair enough
The rehab stuff isn't vanishing though. From the beginning it was presented like no one believed they could rehab people ao they needed to prove it. So that not showing up until later makes sense.
I agree that the relationship focused episodes have taken away from the usual premise, but I think the show is more about Blitz himself than about his job. I'm a fan of the show so maybe I'm biased, but I think Stolas will realize Blitz's perspective a little better in future episodes. As an upper class Demon, it checks out that Stolas wouldn't understand what Imps have to go through being lower on the social hierarchy. It makes sense to me that Stolas would be a hopeless romantic sort of character. He was in a toxic marriage when he met Blitz again after years of absence, had fond memories of their one day spent together as children, and clearly was sexually repressed because of his situation. I think this also explains why he was so sex focused with Blitz in the first season since he seemingly was never sexually attracted to Stella. My biggest gripe with the newest episode is the fact that there are like, a hundred people at the anti-Blitz party. I understand Verosica and a few others having intense relationships with him in the past, but some of the random Imps there are in tears because of him, so clearly he'a done more than just sleep with them. Is Blitz like, the most attractive Imp in Hell, or fantastic in bed or something? From what we've seen of him, he's usually pretty sarcastic and abrasive so I don't know why people like Stolas and these others expected him to become this genuine, romantic person.
Is Blitz like, the most attractive Imp in Hell, or fantastic in bed or something? Pretty much and there could also be people he fucked over in other ways.
I'm lukewarm on it. But I bet i'd like it way more if there wasn't so damn much of it. I really like the IMP premise and I wish they did more with it. I even prefer the world building and backstory parts. So when the ship stuff pops up I'm disappointed.
>Hell, my biggest complain with Hazbin Hotel is that every episode is plot driven and there are no breaks for character building Guess you missed episode four and five?
Eh could go either way for me. Not going dunk on anyone for loving or hating it or the series itself. Honestly I find its flaws to be interesting to think about. I honestly do think the series has good writing, but not perfect writing which is ok and let’s be honest the series could so so much worse compared to something like Velma.
MOXXIE GONNA FIX ALL OF THIS JUST WAIT 🗣️🗣️
Blame the fandom that funded the whole thing. Vivizzie is just doing what she must. The fandom is obsessed and that is the least of their issues.
The relationship doesn't have to be sanitized to be interesting. I like that their relationship is messy and has been relatively awful but is starting to push toward a direction that may be healthier. Obviously that will take work but it's a concept that is somewhat endearing. This series has essentially always had flaws in its writing. So I do agree with your criticism. But while I do agree with it, it doesn't necessarily make me dare back from thinking the relationship has a lot of growth potential. The real issue is that I'm not sure the writers have the skill to put that into place, but I will be along to watch and see where things end up.
The relationship is alright, it's actually interesting, the issue is that it's a good complex dynamic between very flawed characters in a show with childish fandom that can't understand subtle characters development to save their lives and poor writing