YMMV / Helluva Boss S2E4 "Western Energy"

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Was Stolas genuinely No Selling Striker's attempts at torture or was he bluffing to get Striker's goat? The fact that he covertly cries when Striker isn't looking seems to indicate that he really was getting overwhelmed, at least by the end.
  • Andrealphus and his relationship with Stella open the door for a truckload of this. His attempts to take charge of the situation — first by making proper negotiations for the divorce, then by convincing Stella to drop the hit on the off chance that Stolas may be of use to them — could be seen as him looking out for her, but his arrogant demeanor, him putting himself in this situation even when it presumably doesn't affect him and his rather creepy flirting with Stella hint at him having ulterior, self-serving motives and possibly having a not-so-pleasant relationship with his sister. The potential for him providing a Freudian Excuse for her (however inexcusable her actions may be) is also pretty interesting.
  • Stella apparently doesn't care about the prospect of Octavia inheriting everything that Stolas has, needing to be talked into waiting to kill him until after they've taken his assets by Andrealphus. Is this because she's mostly interested in getting revenge on Stolas, with her getting what he has an optional bonus she's willing to pass up? Or is it because she loves her daughter at least enough for her to not be bothered by her getting the inheritance? Or is because she never actually thought about it, since the episode reveals she has a problem with thinking things through?
  • By the same token, why didn't Andrealphus consider the option of simply killing Via, since if a hit was put on her and succeeded, then everything would most likely go to Stella? Is it Pragmatic Villainy for whatever reason, such as the risk of drawing too much attention to himself and Stella? Or, considering that he refers to her as Via throughout the episode, does he care about her on some level as well?
  • Does Moxxie find Striker attractive? While he still clearly hates him, considering that the entire reason he and Millie agreed to go after him was because they wanted payback, he also realizes Striker kidnapped Stolas because Stolas referred to Striker as "sexy" and when Striker is strangling him, he mutters "harder", although this could have simply been a last-ditch effort by Moxxie to throw Striker off his game.
• Alternative Joke Interpretation: At the end of the episode when leaving the hospital, Loona is wearing a Cone of Shame. Was this intended as a punishment for her attacking the doctor or is this an actual standard procedure for Hellhounds?
• Broken Base:
  • While many enjoyed Striker's return, there were some fans who were left disappointed with how Striker was handled. Many took issue with how Striker was suddenly revealed to be an egotisical asshole, taking issue with the fact that Striker has a statue of himself with a huge erection (some even unfavorably likening him to Chaz from 'Exes and Oohs'). This lead to them seeing his outing in this episode as a step down from his geniunely intimidating and threatening debut in 'Harvest Festival'. On the flip side, people argue that he was always like this (bringing up his 'Sweet Victory' song he made to spite Moxxie and lording his superiority over other imps), it's just become more blatant and that in spite of his more humorous traits and moments, he was still plenty threatening, nearly killing Stolas and having Moxxie and Millie (who, reminder, took down an entire mob last episode) on the ropes with only some quick thinking from Moxxie preventing the cowboy from killing him.
  • Andrealphus finally making his on-screen debut within the series had caused a bit of a stir. Formerly revealed on a tweet on Viv's account over a year earlier, Andrealphus had amassed some fans, many loving his voice and design. However, others voiced their displeasure towards him, with two particularly major gripes: one, they did not like how flirtatious he came off towards his sister and the implications that came of this. Two, many did not how Andrealphus told Stella what to do and how condescending he was to her, leading many to dread that he is going to be the Big Bad with the already established Stella being demoted to The Dragon, citing the already prevalent problem with female characters within the series, as well as those felt Stella's character took a nose-dive since "The Circus"
  • At the end of the episode, when Stolas is taken to the hospital, Moxxie and Millie tells Blitzo that Stolas got hurt, leading Blitzo to utter the line "He can get hurt?". This line had caused a bit of upset, with people quickly pointing out that Blitzo was there when Striker tried to kill Stolas back in "Harvest Moon Festival", and even said he didn't like people 'offing his ticket to Earth', the consensus being that Stolas being hurt should not come off as such a shock to him. Defenders would argue that Blitzo did know he can get hurt, but it hadn't sunk in up till that point.
• Catharsis Factor: Stella being called a "stupid cow" to her face by her brother is this given her Hate Sink and Stupid Evil qualities. Many say Andrealphus took the words out of their mouths.
• Common Knowledge: There is a misconception about this episode from an unfortunate coincidence. Although Loona has a prominent role in this episode, she has no speaking lines, and it was released just under a year after Loona's voice actress Erica Lindbeck lost her fiancé, Billy Kametz, to cancer. Due to this timing, it was believed that Loona was written with no lines to give Lindbeck time to mourn Kametz. Some tweets revealed that Loona having no speaking lines in this episode was planned since the episode's creation, and was unrelated to Kametz's death.
• Fanfic Fuel: Striker has a Motive Rant about how Hell's royalty has "taken everything from people like him", which is just ripe for juicy fanfiction material.
• No Yay: The way Andrealphus reassures Stella can be viewed as the brother flirting with her a couple times. This includes telling her she's "lucky she's attractive" after she proves herself to be kind of dumb and later calling her "my fiery vixen". Even Stella herself appears visibly uncomfortable when he strokes her face and calls her "my dear".
• Retroactive Recognition: One of the imps singing "The Ballad of Striker" is played by Blake Roman, who would go on to voice Angel Dust in the main series of Hellaverse companion show Hazbin Hotel.
• Rooting for the Empire: Striker stabbing Stolas repeatedly while delivering a scathing "Reason You Suck" Speech proved pretty satisfying to the viewers who hate the privileged elite, the viewers who hate Stolas, and the viewers who hate both.
• Salvaged Story: After so many episodes of Moxxie being rendered a Butt-Monkey or a Distressed Dude for his wife to save, this episode has him get several badass moments, such as his Curb-Stomp Battle against the cowboys or being the one to outsmart and defeat Striker at the end.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Stolas and Blitzo's post-Ozzie's confrontation, which it was generally agreed they needed, is relegated to a brief look at their text messages - and it's entirely possible for a viewer to miss that part since more screentime and focus is given to the exchange they have at the end of the episode. Worse still, Blitz is entirely absent for the confrontation with Striker, which is a waste given that Striker had actually made a We Can Rule Together speech towards Blitz the last time they met and Striker would likely notice the relationship between Blitz and Stolas has gotten much more fractured and tense since the Harvest Moon Festival, when he mostly just observed Blitz being annoyed by Stolas.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: The tiniest mariachi imp that sings the solo in Striker's theme has a male voice. However, their hair is black like a female imp's, and they have no horns sticking out of their hat like the other imps (horns and hair being a good indicator of imp gender).

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