Hazbin Hotel: Queer characters in a sex-negative hell. The songs are good, though. With nude Adam and Lucifer

 

I thought Hazbin Hotel, the new animated series on Amazon Prime, was from the Middle East, but showrunner Vivzie Pop is American: " Hazbin" means "Has Been," that is, dead.  According to Wikipedia, there are several queer characters, so let's take a look.

The premise: Hell is a run-down inner-city neighborhood, plagued by street crime, drugs, gangs, and prostitution.  There are casinos and sex clubs everywhere -- queer characters or not, this show portrays hookups as the Heart of Darkness.  Plus every year Heaven sends down an army to exterminate the damned souls.  I didn't sign up for genocide..  Charlie, do-gooder daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, opens a hotel for damned souls who want to work on their character flaws and get a second chance at Heaven. (The place where the leaders rain down genocide?  I'll pass.)

The characters are....problem: they all look like women, very thin, with long hair ,  china-doll faces with disturbing red circles on their cheeks, four arms or wings that fill the shot , and super-feminine mannerisms.  I'll have to go by the names of the actors.

1. Charlie, F. Far left.

2. Vaggie, F, who behaves like her sister, but is actually her girlfriend (no physical affection in the episodes I reviewed).  The one with the red x over her eye.

3. Angel Dust, M, a porn actor who hangs around, flirting with everyone and bragging about how good he is in bed.  Played by Blake Roman, top photo.

4.Nifty, F, the hotel's housekeeper.

5. Sir Pentious, a cobra demon.  Played by Alex Brightman, who also voices Adam, the first human, now the head of Heaven's genocide squad.

   

6. Alastor, the radio demon and one of the Overlords of Hell who can own the damned souls.  Played by Amir Talal, but don't get excited: the middle person is his wife, not his husband.  She just has a man's haircut. 

7. Husk, far right, a cat demon who works as a bartender at the hotel. Played by Keith David.

8. Lucifer, played by Jeremy Jackson

I reviewed Episode 4, "Masquerade," because it features Angel Dust.

Angel has to duck out on team-building exercises because he has to go to work: a scene involving him getting sexually assaulted by burglar-demons.

Charlie thinks he should get more time off, so she approaches his boss, Valentino.  But Angel is actually owned by the abusive porn director, and Charlie's intervention only makes the abuse worse.  He sings:

I shoulda' guessed that this would happen

I shoulda' known it when I looked in your red-hot eyes

Spewin' all your red-hot lies

What's the worst part of this hell?

I can only blame myself

Back at the hotel, he continues to flirt with everyone.  Husk the Bartender has finally had enough, and calls him out: he's using the annoying flirtation as a shield, so he won't have to be emotionally open to anyone.  Angel rushes out to get drunk and high in a dive bar.  Husk follows, pointing out that they're both losers, but maybe they could be losers together:

We're both losers, baby

We're losers, it's okay to be a coked up, dick-suckin' hoe?

 I'm a loser, honey, a schmoozer and a dummy

But at least I know I'm not alone

They become friends.  Aww.

My Grade:  I like the songs, but for all its queerness, the show seems rather sex-negative. Plus that genocide is disturbing, and the color palette hurts my eyes. C