I liked Vivienne Medrano's "Hazbin Hotel," enough that I sought out her other series, the independently produced "Helluva Boss," which has put out a pilot and fifteen episodes over the last five years (at the time of writing). It's a rare successful web-distributed cartoon, a gleefully vulgar, noisy piece of work that feels like it came out of the most anarchic depths of the internet.
"Helluva Boss" takes place in the same universe as "Hazbin Hotel," though a different neighborhood. The I.M.P. (Immediate Murder Professionals) consist of Blitzo (Brandon Rogers), Moxxie (Richard Horvitz), and Millie (Vivian Nixon), all Hell-dwelling imps who have set themselves up as professional killers. They take jobs from the recently deceased to assassinate their enemies on Earth, usually in the most scorched-Earth way possible. Blitzo's adopted daughter Loona (Erica Lindbeck) and boyfriend Stolas (Bryce Pinkham), also make regular appearances. Like "Hazbin," there's a song number or two in every episode, lots of cursing, and lots of characters who look like overdesigned furries (Loona's a "hellhound," and Stolas is an anthropomorphized owl demon). Unlike "Hazbin," the animation is rougher, the storylines are more chaotic, and it doesn't feel like the plot is in any hurry to get anywhere. And that's just fine.
The first eight-episode season is very crude, with inconsistent animation quality, some performances dialed up way too high, and adult content overkill. Sometimes this is funny, but not as often as I hoped. The episodes that actually follow the stated premise of I.M.P. going on missions to Earth are usually the most boring ones. "Helluva Boss" doesn't hit its stride until it shifts its attention to more character-centric stories, which have been more earnest and sincere. Medrano clearly has a penchant for LGBT+ romances, father-daughter reconciliations, and stories about overcoming abusive relationships. In the second season, "Helluva Boss" spotlights peripherally connected characters like Blitzo's childhood friend Fizzarolli (Alex Brightman) and his boyfriend Asmodeus (James Monroe Iglehart). Stolas and Blitzo have emerged as the show's most solid leads, both deeply flawed single dads with a lot of personal baggage. While I like Moxxie and Millie and their terribly sweet romance, they don't have a whole lot to do compared to the rest of the cast.
I don't mind the show constantly going off on tangents, especially as they're expanding the universe and showing how the various parts of Hell function. And I don't mind that the stories are getting more touchy-feely as we spend less time at I.M.P. and delve into everybody's backstories. However, it's clear why the "Helluva Boss" fandom is so notoriously contentious, because this definitely isn't the show that Medrano and company started out making in 2019. There's still plenty of vulgarity and some beautifully animated carnage in most episodes, but the emphasis on humor has waned considerably. Instead of fighting murderous human tots or making chumps out of annoying cherubs, episodes are now devoted to mental health struggles and toxic relationships. Some of the major characters are also feeling sidelined. Loona, for instance, was pretty well established in the first season as a surly Goth teenager who works as the I.M.P. receptionist, and bails the gang out of trouble when necessary. She disappeared for most of the second season, along with all traces of the tentative self-discovery storyline she seemed to be starting on.
On top of this, "Helluva Boss" is a true independent production, without the backing of a major studio or streamer, so the releases have always been kind of a mess. Long hiatuses are the norm, and Medrano doesn't seem to be the best at marketing or curbing expectations, so the fanbase is pretty feral. Still, I think it's a positive that Medrano and her collaborators can do things like hold back the final episode of the first season to fix production issues, and roll ahead with the release of the second season in the meantime. The production quality is getting better, and attracting some interesting collaborators and guest stars.
"Helluva Boss" feels like the most 2024 show I am currently watching - culturally, aesthetically, and experientially. I binged most of the episodes off of a Youtube playlist and wound up down a rabbit hole of analysis and reaction videos in the process. There is definitely more fan-made content than official content out there. A recent trailer promises that the rest of the second season is supposed to release in 2024, but we'll see. I think the show is worth the wait and the frustration though. There's definitely nothing else quite like it.
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