Frosted Critical

Well hello there!

As of late, I have begun a HELLUVA BOSS REWATCH PROJECT in preparation for season 3!! My goal with this rewatch is to put aside all my biases (easier said than done) and analyze the character work in this show specifically.

Now, I'm a character writer, I like to think I'm pretty qualified to handle this. And I really just wanna analyze this show proper. Mostly out of morbid curiosity but also because I need to see if that "drop-off" that exists in my head is really that bad.

So today, I just wanna talk about Mission: Zero for a second and pitch my hypothesis going into this project.

Mission: Zero as a Pilot

Mission: Zero was released as a lil redo pilot for when the show was slorped up onto Amazon. It exists to correct parts of the original pilot and paint a more accurate picture as to what this show is about.

I went into it with an open mind and the verdict is........ Mission: Zero is actually pretty good as a pilot.

A pilot is supposed to get across the main vibe of your show. It sets up characters and dynamics and plants seeds of things to look forward to.

In my humble opinion, I think M:0 (I'm tired of writing it out) does a pretty good job of that.

We learn a lot about all of I.M.P. and their respective character traits and dynamics. Blitz is wacky, over-the-top, and passionate about his interests, Millie is violent but silly and ride-or-die, Moxxie is a wet-noodle who takes his job seriously, and Loona is an emo furry girl that doesn't want to be there.

Off the bat, you can see how these guys would potentially interact with each other. And we see a lot of it in the pilot itself! It's pretty solid.

A few complaints...

Moxxie and Millie are kiiindaaaaa bland... There really isn't much to their dynamic outside of each other supporting each other when needed. Granted, I'm only one episode in so who's to say! I don't need the full picture right now, that can come later.

However, it worries me.

A lot of Vivzie couples (especially the pre-established ones (Chaggie :/)) don't have a lot of depth to them.

"Why are these two characters together?" Because... they just are! Don't worry about it!

Just makes me roll my eyes a little.

But hey, who knows, maybe by the end of it, I'll have seen a whole new side to this dynamic and be fully behind them as a ship.

*the hindsight demon breathing down my neck* hey do you guys feel something chilly?

Next up, I wanna touch on the dynamics here...

This is a pilot (an 11 minute one at that) and Blitz is the main character. Throughout the runtime, we get to see how he interacts with every character.

He and Millie share a passionate, violent camaraderie. He's a dick to Moxxie, always trying to assert himself as The Boss. And he's protective and loving over Loona, violating all her boundaries.

As mentioned above we get to see some Millie/Moxxie stuff and some Loona/Moxxie stuff. (this bit at 7:45 actually cracks me up)

I won't lie, I am the target audience for the Vivzie humor. But only when its well written and that doesn't happen very often ://

(sorry for being edgy you can hit me with a truck if you'd like)

But I bring this up because there isn't much going on with Millie and Loona outside of Millie defending Moxxie.

THIS IS A PERSONAL PREFERENCE but I would've liked to see a lil something more with them. Again, pilot, planting seeds. I know there's some stuff later down the line but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I just think that the two female characters in your main cast should interact a lil more! Especially when it's removed from the context of a man!

That ties into a lot of issues with the Vivzie writing, we're all familiar with the misogyny-isms in her shows.

But think about it! They're two ladies in a struggling company in a struggling context. What if they went on a mission together? What would happen? Would they get to talking, maybe try and address why Loona is so hostile to Moxxie? What if the conversation extends to Loona's issues being raised in the pound and Millie can sympathize with her upbringing? Perhaps relating it to a struggle of her own? What if they reach a new understanding and find themselves working together as a TEAM to take down some objective?

Would that all be so bad???? Am I crazy for wanting Vivziepop to do something with her female characters???????

Maybe! Maybe.

Again, this is me getting ahead of myself. I know Loona has stuff to do in this show and so does Millie. I just don't think it's very good!

But back to the present, back to the pilot.

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

What could that be...

Oh yeah, the fucking STOLAS SHAPED ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.

Stolas Goetia. Bird prince of the stars.

Oh. my god.

This is gonna get into my hypothesis in a moment here but lemme paint a picture.

All things considered, I was really enjoying the pilot. I was enjoying the dynamics, the interactions. A couple jokes got a chuckle out of me, a couple made me roll my eyes. I was enjoying spending time with these characters.

And then.

The bird appears.

I am not exaggerating, there are only two things that come out of this motherfuckers mouth and it's classism and horn-slop. It's so fucking uncomfortable it DRAGS the pilot down like you wouldn't believe.

He totally changes the energy of the show in an extreme way that I'm not sure is intentional!

When Blitz is around Moxxie, Millie, and Loona, he's a total goof but when he's with Stolas he's anxious, fidgety and uncomfortable. It's weird. It's very very weird.

I understand that these scenes are here because they're setting up the rest of the show but... it's just... bad.

It's hard to explain, you really have to see it to understand. It's like a fart in an elevator, just fucking overtakes you and you have to hold your breath and wait for it to go away.

And I genuinely can't tell if I'm supposed to find this bad or not!

Now, since I am human being with a brain, I see that the dynamic between him and Blitz is sexual coercion (therefore ASSAULT). BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT VIVZIEPOP FINDS THIS TYPE OF STUFF HOT!!!!

So is it intentionally uncomfortable to emphasize the classism and fucked up power dynamic? Or is it uncomfortable because that's what wets their willies????

I genuinely GENUINELY cannot tell.

All I know is that Stolas is INSUFFERABLE. ITS TERRIBLE. There is actually nothing positive he contributes to this WHOLE THING. It fucking BAFFLES me that someone can enjoy his character and I'm actually dreading watching more because I know there's gonna be more of HIM.

good fucking grief. lets just cut to the chase now that we have that established.

My #Hypothesis

As I continue to watch and take notes on Helluva Boss, I have a bit of a theory. a game theory, if you will.

Now this may be the most obvious statement of the century but I gotta say it anyways.

Helluva Boss would be a pretty good show if it kept the Stolas shit to a minimum.

If we focused more on the company, on the imps, on Blitz' relationship with THEM instead of sloooowly shifting the spotlight to Stolas... I think this show would actually be pretty good.

There's an argument to be made on why that woudln't be the case... everyone has their own cups of tea.

I just think that the characters are so much more interesting and compelling when Stolas isn't a part of the equation.

When he's here, he introduces the uncomfortable classist themes and the coercion... things that the show IS allowed to have don't get me wrong. But hindsight is whispering in my ear and telling me that these topics aren't here because we want to dissect the topic and have the discussion. They're here as decoration.... shit sprinkles on a poop cake.

But since I keep getting ahead of myself, perhaps it's best if I just stop myself here and watch the rest of the show.

I'll try and make some more posts as I go, discussing my findings, but I make no promises.... besides, once Im done, Im gonna try and compile things into a nice lil video essay (maybe. I fucking hate editing).

IN CONCLUSION

I thought Mission: Zero was pretty alright. It does it's job as a pilot and introduces us to the world and characters.