Hazbin Hotel: S2 E3 and 4 recap and review

As always, spoilers are present here so if you haven't watched the episodes, head over to Prime Video and get caught up! Trust ME!

Hazbin Hotel S2 E3: "Behind Closed Doors"

Recap

Charlie is still screaming! I don't blame her - she just found out her hotel works, and her friend didn't die for nothing. She goes and tells the rest of the Hazbin group, and can't contain her excitement. She tells them what just happened at the end of the first episode, with Emily appearing and telling her the great news. After a brief, teary-eyed moment and acceptance that redemption is not only possible but achievable, she runs off to tell everyone.

The rest of the group is stunned at first because of the word vomit that came out of Charlie's mouth. Angel Dust even questions the seriousness of her statement, with "I thought Charlie said no more drugs".

Charlie is definitely on a high, but not from drugs. She is so excited and she can't hide it! That is, until she sees the Vox Tech zeppelin calling her a dictator.

Charlie then feels she needs to set the record straight by inviting Vox to the hotel for an exclusive interview. Vaggie, being the voice of reason, tries to get Charlie to see that inviting them would be a terrible idea. Charlie sees it as the perfect opportunity to clear her name and broadcast that the hotel works! Vaggie is very hesitant and for good reason! However, Charlie can't see past this idea and sends the invite, asking Vaggie to continue taking care of the guests while she deals with the issue.

Husk, Angel, and Cherry, still in shock, have a drink and discuss Pentious making it into heaven. Cherry realizes that she never really got to know the real Pentious and seeks out those who knew him in hell to get a better idea of who he was.

Meanwhile, Vox and Velvet show up to the hotel. Alastor makes himself scarce and disappears when they arrive. The Vees take no time and ask Charlie some hard questions, clearly looking for certain answers or responses. Charlie tries to break away from the awful line of questioning to tell them about Sir Pentious. She makes the announcement, and Vox and Velvet run with it. Asking her even harder-hitting questions, putting the pressure back on her. When she is unable to provide proof, they start to leave. They don't want to spread false information and lie to their audience. Charlie starts to panic and promises that she will redeem a member of the hotel then and there to prove that redemption is possible.

We get a brief break to witness Cherry and Baxter discuss Pentious and how Baxter knew him. We see the creation of the Egg Boys (RIP) and how Baxter and Pentious were partners at one point. Their differences of opinion and experimentation led to their separation. Baxter eventually tells Cherry to leave, and Cherry has an interesting response to his rudeness.

Switch to Heaven, and we get our first song of the episode. A duet between Sir Pentious and Cherry Bomb called "Piss (A Love Song)". A song about missing each other, and beating the crap out of the other as well. That those moments meant a lot to each other, and they miss those moments dearly.

Back in Hell, we see the fruition of Charlie's plan to try and redeem Angel Dust while Vox and Velvet record the whole process. Angel is against the idea, especially if it's Vox and Velvet, since they are buddy-buddy with his boss, Valentino. Husk and Charlie persuade Angel to give it a shot, since he is the closest to being redeemed out of all the guests. Angel eventually caves and agrees. We get our second song of the episode, "Speedrun to Redemption". A short, sweet song about Charlie's plan to redeem Angel. But it doesn't go as planned. Turns out Charlie still doesn't know how to redeem the guests.

She sets up a final scene where Angel will rescue Husk from the "Diabolical Do Bad," a.k.a. Charlie dressed up as a bad guy. Husk was tied to a set of tracks, and a train is coming. Angel has to save Husk, but Charlie made sure there were safety features so no one would actually get hurt. Or so she thought. When Angel backs out, Charlie tries to stop the train. Only the train doesn't stop. Turns out Vox removed the train's brakes so that the train posed a real danger and helped redeem Angel. With Husk in imminent danger, Angel leaps in and frees Husk, but then puts himself in the way of the train as a shield for Husk. If it wasn't for Vaggie swooping in and saving Husk and Angel, we might have lost both of them.

Husk, Charlie, and Angel are all mad at each other. For putting Husk in danger, for trying to redeem Angel when he wasn't ready, for Angel throwing himself into harm's way, the list goes on. The Vees witness the whole thing, and it only gets worse. They antagonize them and make everything much worse. Charlie will no longer put up with it and asks them to leave. Though because of this incident, she has a better idea as to why Pentious was redeemed and how to possibly redeem others. We learn what Angel's sin was that brought him to hell. Though this sin may be harder to redeem than Pentious's sin.

The episode ends with Vox and Velvet portraying Charlie and the hotel and a very poor light. Did anyone else see that coming? While some guests return their keys and leave, one guest decides to stay. Cherry becomes the newest member of the hotel.

Hazbin Hotel S2 E4: It's A Deal

Recap

Charlie and Vaggie discuss what Charlie is planning to do. She thinks it's a bad idea to go on live television that is controlled by the Vees. Charlie, being a bit naive, thinks she will be able to clarify and set the record straight after what Vox and Velvet air about the Hazbin Hotel. With Nifty at her side, she runs off for her live interview with Katie Killjoy.

We finally see Alastor, and he isn't the same in control character he was in season 1. We see raw emotion, and that he is still dealing with the fallout of his fight with Adam. Then he runs into Lucifer, who sets him over the edge by adding insult to injury. Talking about how he fled when Charlie needed him most and how Vaggie is running the hotel in his stead. Alastor has had enough and quits the hotel.

Charlie is at the Vox Tech studio and is pep-talking herself with the help of Nifty. She is going to set the record straight. Or is she? Velvet appears and tells Katie Killjoy she "Knows what to do". What happens next is a total disaster for Charlie. Katie just rips into her before she can really talk about the hotel and how Vox got it wrong. In true media fashion, she starts spinning what Charlie says. Charlie is starting to regret coming on live television.

Flash over to Alastor, who is looking pretty snazy and is in cannibal town. He has a box of what looks like treats and grabs some flowers before meeting with Rosie. The two sit down for tea and treats while Alastor tells Rosie he just quit the hotel. Rosie seems shocked and upset by this. Turns out, Rosie is the one who made a deal with Alastor and has his soul! (Personally, I thought it was Lillith, but that's another article.) We see a flashback to how Alastor made his deal with Rosie. We see his life when he was a human. (Loving these flashbacks.)

Rosie sings the first song of the episode, and it's called "Don't you forget". She tells Alastor that he belongs to her and will stay that way until he does what she wants. Alastor eventually accepts that Rosie isn't going to help him. So he comes up with his own plan.

Flip back to Charlie, still trying to give her side of the story to Katie Killjoy. It's still not going well for our princess. She is still being targeted and having her words spun and twisted from the truth. In a moment of desperation, she has Nifty tell everyone how awesome the hotel is. Except Nifty doesn't do well with cameras. After being coached by Charlie that the Camera is a giant roach, she starts to sing how awesome the hotel is! Except it's Nifty, so it doesn't go as expected. The second song, "Clean it up", is a whimsical number and one that made me laugh the first time I heard it. In the middle of her song, Charlie asks her to help differently, so Nifty starts singing in Japanese. The song ends with Charlie wearing thin and barely holding it together.

Meanwhile, Alastor heads over to Vox Tower. Where he calls out Vox! Vox shows, and the two start fighting. Although, where would Vox be without the other Vees? Velvet and Valentino also join the fight. Alastor seems to be having a hard time using his powers. He is still able to hold off the Vees for a while. Back at the studio, Nifty sees that Alastor is in trouble and runs out of the studio and all the way back to the hotel. She grabs Husk and runs off with him. Flash back to the fight, Alastor is in trouble, until Nifty and Husk show up and start fighting Velvet and Valentino. After a brief fight, our trio is pinned and not in their favor. Alastor decides to make a deal with Vox. Vox lets Nifty and Husk, and Alastor will be his prisoner, and the Vox is to never lay a hand on Charlie. What is he up to?

Vox doesn't hesitate and immediately accepts. The rest of the episode is Vox gloating and bragging about how he won against Alastor. Alastor is tied up and gagged and has to endure of minute of humiliation. Why would he do this? The episode ends with Vox singing "Don't you forget (Reprise)" his own version of the song we heard earlier in the episode. Though it has a nice touch at the end with a reference to the song "Stayed Gone" from season 1.

Review of episodes 3 and 4

Overall all not bad, some of the scenes do seem to drag out a bit in both episodes. Although there are plot twists and schemes that make up for it. We are learning about the characters' past and I am here for it! Angel Dust, a murderer? Alastor, the toast of New Orleans! It's really awesome that they are filling in the blanks about our characters.

If you had asked me who I thought had Alastor's soul, I would not have said Rosie. This intrigues me a lot. What are her plans with Alastor, and what do they have to do with the hotel?

The songs were good. My favorite being "Piss" with "Clean it up" coming in second. The songs aren't as catchy as in the first season. Though they seem more intentional with an underlying message.

Overall, we are building up to something exciting! Now that Alastor is out of Vox's way, what will he do next? Will Charlie be able to help Alastor, or will she need to start focusing on the hotel? She has been neglecting it all season so far, and leaving it up to Vaggie to pick up the slack.

Definitely recommend these 2 episodes that are clearly a setup for the next step on Vox's way to becoming a God!

What were some of your favorite moments from these 2 episodes? Let us know in the comments!