Hazbin Hotel: Demons on the Path of Redemption

Review by Maestro Joyner. Photo courtesy of Amazon Prime.

In January 2024, Amazon Prime released Hazbin Hotel, an animated adult comedy musical about heaven and hell. The show opens up with Charlie Morningstar, one of the protagonists in the show, telling the biblical story of Lucifer, a fallen angel who fell in love with Lilith, the first woman after the creation of earth. Together, they wished to share the knowledge of free will to humans by the fruit of knowledge, which was given to Eve. But this act of free will caused evil to spread towards earth. Both Lilith and Lucifer were punished by heaven for this act and cast into the darkness that is hell. 

While Lucifer lost his will to dream, Lilith thrived with her voice, empowering demon-kind. As their numbers grew, so did hell’s power. Heaven started to notice hell’s power, and decided to send down an army of angels to exterminate sinners every year to ensure that hell could never rise against heaven. Fortunately, both Lilith and Lucifer’s dreams were passed down to the princess of hell, Charlie Morningstar. Will Charlie succeed in convincing heaven that sinners are worthy of redemption?         

That’s some spoiler-free background information about the show. Now, the main question is… did this show have enough time to completely flesh out the main cast and storyline? The show spans over 8 episodes, which are filled with a lot of information that the viewer has to process, while understanding the plots and subplots within the show, as well as the character arcs. Originally, TV shows would have twenty-four episodes with 2 or more seasons, but recently, shows have been getting shorter. Despite this, Hazbin Hotel does an overall good job of telling the story of finding out if demons can be redeemed. What I like about the show is that it is very funny, and while it may not be to everyone's taste in comedy, there is a lot of swearing, the comedic timing is great. Next, I love the character design. Vivziepop, the creator of Hazbin Hotel, has designed the main cast over the years, from when she was in high school to now. I have always loved how the characters have unique personalities and looks to them, which makes them feel like they are their own individual. 

I also love that Hazbin Hotel is an adult cartoon. The word animation has often been associated with children for the longest time, so it's comforting that there’s a series that is for an adult audience. It’s common to tell adults that they need to watch something that’s for adults, but animation is for everyone, adults included. This series is just another example of shows being made that are for adults who want to watch and enjoy animation.  

Overall, Hazbin Hotel is an amazing show and has already been greenlit for a second season. I would give this show a ten star rating. If you want an adult animated musical that dives into serious and important topics, I very much recommend this show. You can watch season one of Hazbin Hotel on Amazon Prime here.

Maestro Joyner is a junior at Friendship Collegiate Academy.