Ranting and Raving About a Mediocre Show

[helluva-brainrot]

God the fact that Apology Tour did All of That just for the plot to mean jack shit down the line has got to be the biggest prank this show has ever pulled. Wdym that guy Stolas made out with was never seen again. What do you mean the hesitation in Stolas about Blitz was virtually gone by the episode after that. What do you mean none of it mattered.

[greml1nb0i]

Honestly, this is such a small and minuscule fix, but if Viv really wanna show that Satan is lying about being Hell first’s ruler, maybe we could’ve had either Ozzie or Bee just off screen in the distance go like, “not true!” as a subtle gag while also explicitly pointing out that “hey, Satan is lying about being the first to rule”

Idk feel free to disagree with me

that's honestly a good idea

i feel like not enough is explained about the hierarchy or worldbuilding, aside from what Viv has to tell everyone.

[helluva-brainrot]

I think it's the framing. Instead of focusing on Bee and Ozzies reactions to it, it instead panned to Lucifers empty chair. Which, funny gag, but it did convey less that Satan was lying and more that with Lucifers absence, he was vying to take more control of hell (my personal interpretation)

The thing I got from Ozzie and Bees reactions were...maybe sadness? Or a "Oh fuck Lucifers not here so he's trying to grab at power."

I think also having Ozzie and Bee join the chorus in the scene before sends the wrong message. They think it's ridiculous he's lying but singing along with the fact that "He's the law?"

How I would do it: Cut the Lucifer gag entirely. Don't have Ozzie and Bee singing along, focus on their reactions as more people join the choir. Then "I've been ruling long before the golden angels fall," Cut to Ozzie and Bee giving surprised faces, looking at each other, then rolling their eyes and maybe turn away out of disgust.

That I think would've kept the "subtly" Viv was going for (I think what she meant was "nonverbal acting") while still keeping in tone with the whole vibe.

[fandomcritical]

so, i'm genuinely curious about the hellaverse critical community... what do y'all think of stolas as a character outside of his relationship to blitzo? i know many people, such as myself, will enjoy a character's existence and/or the way they're written despite not excusing or justifying their terrible actions because these concepts can co-exist, especially in fiction.

like, for me, an example is shadow weaver from she-ra. i hate her morals & manipulations, but i think she's such an interesting part of the story and i also love her voice actress's work in that show.

i'm asking this question as openly as possible, and any opinions are welcome. personally, mine is that he had great potential before ending up poorly written and his design is absolutely stunning, plus i actually like his song itself in apology tour despite him being in the wrong for feeling that way. i guess i like him better than the stans he has at least. you can be as loving or hateful as you like on this post btw!

[helluva-brainrot]

Completely divorced from the situation with Blitz, he seems like a sheltered individual who hasn't had many legitimate connections in his life, and as such latches onto the few relationships he has (Octavia) or the Fantasy of a relationship (his romcoms). The abuse victim angle is there too, though I don't think Stella was written to be a realistic depiction of an abuser so I count that a little less than the other parts.

The thing I don't like about his narrative is, in most other forms of media, a sheltered rich person would have an eventual arc of Growing as a person and relating to others around him. He seems to start that arc several times, but then walk it back, which is frustrating because you WANT to see growth from that kind of person, but to have it stall makes him less and less likeable as time goes on. Especially when the story seems to frame him as correct instead of challenging him.

Examples would include supposedly realizing that the book deal was bad, yet arguing with Blitz that he always tried supporting him by giving him the book, not being able to give Blitz an answer for why he likes him and instead making it about his wants vs. telling Blitz why he even likes him, and being hypocritical over the party (both condemning it as a Petty thing while actively choosing to attend for Petty reasons.)

I could go on with the inconsistencies in his character (that his personality seems to shift based on what the plot needs in that moment), but that's the basic gist of it! I think people would be less mad with how he's written if there was just a tad more acknowledgement in the show, that also had narrative consequence + didn't treat Stolas as in the right for having done so.

[helluva-brainrot]

I really, really want to have faith in the show that the hypocrisy that Stolas has exhibited multiple times now will be addressed in a narratively satisfying way but I simply cannot with what the show has shown me so far.

To me, if you were planning on this Big Confrontation, you'd build up moments throughout the earlier episodes. Show Blitzo trying to interject with different things that challenge his understanding, and him shutting Blitzo down, show Verosika questioning things about their relationship and Stolas not being able to answer. Have the other party goers ask why Stolas is there, and sort of give each other a side-eye when Stolas talks about the stuff he did (without realizing how its making him look), before going back to Shitting On Blitzo a second later. It doesn't need to take that much time up, just little things that plant the seeds for a much bigger confrontation later down the line.

As it is, even if that confrontation does happen in a way that makes sense for the episode, it, like a lot of other things in this show, isn't going to have the proper build-up for it to feel satisfying to the audience! It's going to be just as rushed as any other plotline and that's going to be a real bummer because it really needed the time to be fleshed out.

That's why the whole "It's not over yet!" Argument never really worked for me, because you can tell in other shows if that's where an arcs supposed to go, now its a different thing if its executed well, or if it matched audience expectations, but a lot of time, if a conflict is planned, but its going to be addressed later you can tell by the way the way the characters interact beforehand. It also lets the audience build it up as a Flaw they have, which they can confront and lead to character growth! The lack of that shows, to me, that they aren't planning on dealing with it properly.

Like imagine, (as a hypothetical scenario), a certain character displayed bigoted opinions to other characters, in which no other characters acknowledge as being bigoted, or push back against at all. And then you say, "Well, the show isn't over, so we can't criticize this character yet!" Okay??? But we can though?? At least discuss the characters actions?? A good writer would want you to do that? But if none of the other characters so much as bring it up, it would still be fair to go "Alright so X character seems pretty bigoted, right?" Why's it suddenly not fair to do that to Stolas' character?

Show me the outline for the eventual growth that character experiences, then I'll buy the "They're going to address that down the road," but until then I'm just going to be gesturing at him like ???? What's up with all this??

[helluva-brainrot]

Brandon writes for the first time this season, and you really get the sense of what he thinks of Blitz's character, and the context he views his actions. Yeah, he's still being a little shit, but there's character moments that shine thru.

One moment I don't really see anyone talking about, is when they're chased into the vent by that crowd of people.

You can see here that he looks back

Realizes that they're actually kinda in danger (as much as they can be from humans lol)

Makes the decision to sacrifice the ghost-sucker (god what a terrible name)

And then helps Millie up after! This moment was the cutest in the whole episode. And then he's back to having fun a second later, after having helped his friend (yeah it all goes to shit but whatever)

I really wished we got to see more of *this* Blitz throughout the series. One where he does assholeish things but when it comes down to it, he's there for people! Instead, this episode is bogged down with the break down over the not-breakup he was having with Stolas, and things like this kinda got pushed away.

I'm not saying Brandon doesn't have his own flaws as a writer, but you can really tell the difference between his understanding of the character Vs. Adam's and Viv's, and there's a nuance that we haven't really seen from the other season two episodes