#the fact that Alastor near says it verbatim in the song and shows their f'd up li'l hotel family

[alexiethymia]

Hazbin Hotel Ep 5

Ok wow Ep 5 (and 6) was such a ride.

It's so fun to dissect Alastor since he's pretty much the only one who's character is hard to pin right now.

I can easily believe that Lilith is the one he has a contract with (hence the on a leash comment). I can believe that he might or might not be there because of Lilith (either he's obeying Lilith or he's getting close to Charlie because that in some way will help him get rid of his leash). I can also believe that he is intentionally pissing Lucifer off.

BUT

The thing is, even with all of this, I really thought that the Alastor we would see was the same Alastor we saw who handled Vox with so much class. Someone did a mini analysis about their face off. Alastor was completely unbothered and in control of the whole situation. He didn't bother interrupting Vox and the whole encounter with Vox losing his top and Alastor keeping his cool definitely showed that Alastor won that round.

But with Lucifer, it's different. Lucifer is pathetic and desperate. It would be so easy for Alastor to rile him up while still being calm, but there's none of that here. Where's the manipulative persona? Rather, it even seems like Lucifer brought Alastor down to his level of pettiness.

There's visceral rage right from the beginning when he sees the welcome banner, and the uncontrollable twitching of the eye when he sees Lucifer hug Charlie. The funny thing is Alastor is the first one to react to Lucifer while Lucifer is completely focused on his daughter. Twice we saw this petty eye twitching - when he was annoyed with the Egg Bois and when Carmilla could care less about where he disappeared to. So we know Alastor is capable of it. He's not as high and above everyone as he thinks he is.

Lucifer's lame comeback was enough to get him to swear?? It was such a whiplash from what was established about Alastor so far. But for him to show his annoyance at Lucifer in such an obvious way, shows that there's something about Lucifer that just pisses him off, enough to slip his usual control.

Same with his final encounter with Mimzy. They're established as good friends, but the hotel is a red line. He's not all lofty like in the past episodes when Mimzy confronts him about whether or not he actually cares about the hotel. We as the audience are supposed to be sure that he doesn't, but I was expecting at least a smirk or his usual pleasantness and I-know-something-you-don't attitude. But he was as serious as he ever has been when he gives Mimzy an ultimatum. And the thing is, it's not a show he puts on to get on Charlie's good side or to piss Lucifer off since neither of them see it.

Again, I could easily interpret the entire sequence between Lucifer and Alastor as Alastor still being on top, and willfully manipulating and using Charlie just so he can have one over Lucifer if not for those two things. His uncontrolled reactions - swearing at Lucifer and the uncontrollable eye twitching when Lucifer and Charlie hug - because what benefit even does that get him??

So maybe he is taking this step-dad thing seriously because Lilith and him are involved somehow (which, yikes in so many ways), maybe he hates Lucifer for a separate reason unrelated to Charlie and/or Lilith or his hatred of Lucifer has everything to do with Charlie (even if it started with a deal with Lilith initially) and Charlie (as well as the hotel) are starting to have more of an influence on him than he expects.

Either way, it was awesome and this was exactly the found family chaos I was hoping for and I sure am glad to get it.

#hazbin hotel #alastor #charlie morningstar #lucifer morningstar #like ep 5 and 6 were both great for found family feels #the fact that Alastor near says it verbatim in the song and shows their f'd up li'l hotel family #(except Sir Pentious) no I correct myself Sir Pentious was in the kid-friendly drawing! #but no nifty so I guess height? or because she appeared in the song already. but the drawing itself is funny though it's so pg haha #ep 6 was so great #I am so so proud of Angel Dust #how he always gets the courage to fight against Val when he's fighting for his friends #first Charlie then Nifty #like he is probably the most selfless to endure everything #as long as none of his friends are hurt #and perhaps it's saying something that he's protective over the girls #because he remembers molly #it's even in the little things like watching out for nifty's drink #or wanting to actually commit on going on the straight and narrow #husk being proud of angle dust #the grayness of morality #I'm glad we got emily #and that charlie isn't just a naive optimist #it's what makes her so admirable #AND THE FORESHADOWING WITH VAGGIE #I am late to the party #I didn't realize about the pilot outfit #BUT AGAIN duh it would make sense even in the pilot people were wondering why vaggie would be in hell #but I mean even that throwawayline in ep 4 about vaggie learning to trust through military drills which didn't make sense #from her earth background but we know now is because she was an exorcist #and even the obvious and not obvious origin of her name