In 1x07, Carmilla and Vaggi have a very significant song/conversation in discussing the Angels and how to defeat them: Carmilla tells Vaggi she "won't stand a chance unless she's out for love" in the battle. And as some have noted, this may be why of all the heroes in the fight in 1x08, Alastor is the one who puts up the worst showing.
On the surface, Alastor is an ideological nemesis/counterpoint to Charlie and the series' main themes. Our heroine believes in the power of love and friendship, and love and friendship are continually shown to be the ways through which the characters find redemption and joy. Charlie and Vaggi save each other with their romantic love; Lu's familial love for Charlie pulls him out of his depression, Husk and Angel's love saves/improves them both, and even the Vees are saved from complete destruction by their affection for each other.
If Alastor really believes what he said to Vox - There are no friends in hell and love is a weakness - if he really is just the monster he presents himself as, then the story trajectory seems clear. Charlie, the heroine who believes in friendship/love, will prove him wrong; the narrative will prove him to be mistaken, etc. However, the story isn't simple in that way. It's not just a nihilistic monster who thinks love is a joke vs a classic Shonen/Shojo hero.
The key isn't that Alastor can't love/care and our heroes can. The difference is: the heroes will take the risk of getting hurt that comes with opening yourself up to caring, and Alastor is afraid to.
If we assume (as this video outlines) that Alastor is capable of caring in his own way, but responds to genuine feelings with fear - fear that he'll be used - then that changes the perspective here. The series does not present love as a simple, painless thing. Charlie and Vaggi love each other, but they also hurt each other a lot - Charlie is hurt in 1x06 by Vaggi lying to her, Vaggie is hurt by Charlie in s2 when she pushes her away. Charlie and Lu have hurt each other in their family bond (in the past, in 2x05 when she kicks him out). Husk and Angel hurt each others' feelings sometimes too; Cherrie and Sir Pentious are what Radiostatic would be if it was healthier; and the Vees hurt each other badly in season 2. Love isn't simple. Love can mean getting hurt.
There's a difference, obviously, between the ways love can lead to getting hurt or wounded and actual abuse, as Val and Angel demonstrate for contrast. But the show does show that, when it comes to healthy, mutually loving relationships, you need to be able to risk the pain (go through the pain, as the Buffyverse would put it) of getting hurt.
That is actualized in action from in the battle in 1x08. Alastor has opened himself up, against his will, to caring again; he's almost there, almost in a place where he can take the risk for his friends again. But when he takes a stand against Adam, he gets hurt (physically).
But he's not the only one. Charlie and Vaggi both get injured really badly fighting the angels. Sir Pentious dies after taking some damage. The rest of the crew all face pain and danger here. Vaggi gets injured as badly as Alastor fighting Lute, if not more. But, when Alastor gets injured, he immediately quits and slinks away. The others don't.
Because they have something to fight for - something they're ready to get hurt to protect. And it makes them all very brave.
It's why Alastor comes across as so pathetic and comparatively cowardly/weak in this finale. He has the potential to care for others, but as soon as he gets wounded, he runs away. The others all fight through the pain and take the risks. It brings them friendship, community, redemption (in Sir Pentious' case) and strength. The real kind of strength and courage, not the fake kind Alastor uses to prop himself up.
Metaphorically, Alastor almost takes the risk of opening himself up to others, and once again gets hurt. Just like with Vox in the past (from his point of view). He let someone become close to him, and got hurt, and responded by doubling down on never caring, because he won't take the pain of being hurt.
(Which does make Vox a lot braver than him, be cause he does take the risk. He asks Al to be partners. He's opened up again to friendships with the Vees. He also looks a murderous angel (Lute in 2x05) in the face, who's ready to kill him, and doesn't blink. He takes injuries in battle and keeps going. And he does defeat Alastor in 2x08 - in that he reduces him to crawling around on the ground with a giant fuck off dead canon in his face, and also survives and lives another day - because he has friends. He has Shock.wav to save him, his passionate feelings about Alastor to motivate him, and Vel and Val to protect him from himself.)
Alastor, for all his bravado, is too afraid to take the risk of the pain that can come with love. And that's what he's missing - the courage to take the risk of the hedgehog's dilemma. And ironically, that fear makes him incredibly weak, almost pathetically so. Real strength, as the show demonstrates, comes from both working together with others (the hotel, how the Vees are nearly unstoppable as long as they remain a team, Hear my Hope, etc.) and having someone to care for, someone to fight for.
I think that Alastor's fear of letting someone in needs to be his downfall somehow in order to support this point. Love needs to be shown to ultimately be worth taking the risk. Possibly this will be simple enough. Alastor will be defeated and stripped of his power and left with nothing, not even Nifty's friendship, because of that fear.
Because you don't stand a chance unless you're out for love.
