The writers of Helluva desperately want Stolas to be Stede Bonnet from OFMD but don’t commit to any of the consequences that Stede faces that makes him such an engaging, likable, and well written character.
Both are out-of-touch aristocratic gay men forced into an arranged marriage, who abandon their children, and start whirlwind affairs with a lower-class dangerous killer.
One character is almost universally well loved and well received. One character is incredibly divisive and controversial.
Trauma for the sake of sympathy doesn’t make a character engaging. Traumatizing characters in lieu of having them face actual consequences for their actions (good or bad) is not good writing. Refusing to let the rest of the cast hold your characters responsible for their behavior does not magically absolve those characters of fault (or worse, going out of your way to make the ONLY characters who call out your character be one-note cartoonishly evil villains).
That two characters with such similar circumstances and backgrounds ended up with such vastly different audiences receptions should tell you that it probably has something to do with the writing and execution of said characters.
This is not to pit two very different shows against one another, by the way. This is just to highlight what a lot of people miss when they get confused or even offended that some of us really do not like Stolas.
