Rock Candy Reviews

Spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2 of Hazbin Hotel.

After countless people claiming that season two of Hazbin Hotel ruined its main character, something didn’t sit right with me. Many viewers claimed that Charlie Morningstar was too perfect in season one, and too flawed in season two. This sudden hatred for Charlie, and how she functions as a character, is hypocritical in more than one way. Not to mention that it shows how people are more critical of something they see as undeservingly popular.

Instance 1

Many viewers like to criticize Charlie for suddenly not caring about her friends or their feelings. However, Charlie showed this kind of behavior in season one on multiple occasions. One occasion being the episode where Charlie and Vaggi go to Heaven, in order to speak with the highest of angels.

Charlie means well, but never asks Vaggi about her apprehensions, or uncomfortable attitude towards Heaven. She dismisses Vaggi’s clear reluctance, and doesn’t even ask if she’s okay. This is because Charlie has always been the type of character to put all her focus on her goals and dreams, for better or for worse. Once she gets an idea, she won’t stop pursuing it until it blows up in for face.

Sometimes, Charlie can be oblivious to others’ signals of discomfort, because she too busy trying to solve a problem in her own way. For example, Charlie is so focused on the task of talking to Heaven, that she assumes that Vaggi will want to go with her. She never confirms this, though. She says that she needs her girlfriend there with her, which is her way of showing that she loves Vaggi, but sees the opportunity to get one step closer to her dream as something Vaggi is already onboard for.

Instance 2

Charlie also has always had a problem with not thinking things through. The prime example being her spur of the moment deal with Alastor. Charlie may be desperate, but she puts little to no thought into agreeing to Alastor’s vague deal. Alastor could have easily done something that was immediate and sadistic. Luck for Charlie, the radio demon was playing the long game. Yes, Charlie was feeling alone due to her heartbreak about Vaggi’s secret and the extermination. But she still made the decision without consulting anyone or ensuring their safety.

Instance 3

Finally, before Charlie’s infamous moments in season 2, she already put Angel Dust in danger and ignored his feelings. As if making him feel like he didn’t matter as a guest when Sir Pentious arrived wasn’t enough, she also gets him in trouble at his job. Charlie barges in and doesn’t leave when Angel begs her to. This ends up with Valentino physically abusing and mentally manipulating him.

Even though Angel forgives her in the end, it doesn’t erase the fact that she made a bad decision that led to her ignoring people’s advice and boundaries. Just like she ends up doing in season two on a grander scale.

Every time Charlie gets too focused on getting her way, she ends up getting the people around her hurt. She doesn’t pay attention until the emotions of the scene become explosive. The reason this becomes even more prevalent in season two, is because she is officially one step closer to her goal. Since she has made some progress, she gets obsessed with showing it off and continuing that upward trend.

The fandom reaction

Not many people were outraged by Charlie’s behaviors in season one, but for some reason, season two somehow “ruined her character”. Even though, in season two, she displays a lot of the same types of naive behaviors. She doesn’t mean to make problems worse, and doesn’t enjoy causing harm. However, the fans and haters of the series seem to ignore these things. Charlie gets called out on her mistakes and the show directly acknowledges the consequences of her actions through dialogue and the other character’s increasing distance from her. The main reason they come to her aide in the season two finale is for the greater good of preventing a war between Heaven and Hell.

They also found the Hazbin Hotel as part of their friends and family, but this is not because of Charlie. It’s because of their own character developments with each other.

Baxter stays because he likes the hotel’s attention to details and his requests. Husker and Cherri Bomb stay because they want to save Angel. Vaggi stays because she loves Charlie. Emily helps because she wants to save Heaven and Hell from war. These characters have their own reasons that are separate from Charlie and her successes and failures.

Charlie’s flaws are brought to the forefront, which should have made people more interested in her character. Especially because people criticized her for being boring or too perfect in the first season. Even then, the fans and haters of the show chose to only come down on her harder, because they didn’t actually know what they wanted from her. If her intentions seemingly don’t matter, and people choose to ignore her clear flaws in season one, no one will ever be happy with her character moving forward. Hopefully, people will realize that characters having flaws is not always pretty or easy to digest.