#here briefly

Anyway, we cut from Vox ranting about the source of his greatest feelings of rejection and pain to Charlie talking to Vaggi about the source of hers:

Charlie: *sighs* Oh, I wish my mom were here to see this.

C&V both basically launch a big attack on heaven - Charlie in self-defense (though at the same time Adam's explicit targeting of the hotel is a direct result of Charlie challenging him, something the other guests were grumbling about in 1x07, and the fight with Heaven in s2 is entirely Vox's idea/fault.) C&V both defy heaven and end up having to fight it, and both of them are in part thinking about their parallel character, Alastor and Lilith, and how this fight against heaven will impress them.

Vox of course famously spends this episode getting off to watching Alastor almost die on TV. The closest we get to Charlie having that kind of petty bloodlust is her kind of smug attitude about revealing the truth and out-foxing Vox in s2e08. Actually, Charlie spends a lot of 2x08 sitting around watching the drama unfold around her, just as Vox spends 1x08 watching her fight on TV. Basically their positions are reversed here: Charlie's fight with Adam in 1x08 mirrors Vox's fight with Alastor in 2x08, while Vox's petty bitch-fest in 1x08 mirrors Charlie's position in the s2 finale.

(And just as Vox occupies the role of the "nemesis Charlie's obsessed with converting" that Alastor has in Vox's life there, so he occupies it in this parallel. I'm sure a part of Charlie, were she prone to such graphic imagery, would've been screaming about being "so hard right now" when Vox got proven wrong. )

omg its the same poses

In 1x08 we see Chaggie and Staticmoth share their first on-screen kiss, confirming the sexual/romantic nature of their relationships (if there was somehow any doubt). Chaggie share theirs before the battle in Charlie's room as they sing a duet about their plans to fight heaven:

Charlie: I'm sorry... I'm... I'm just so scared. What if we lose?

Vaggie: ♪ You've, already done so much ♪/♪ So many lives you've changed ♪ /♪ So many souls you've touched ♪ /♪ And in the end, if it's only me you've saved ♪  Charlie and Vaggie: ♪ There's something that I've been dying to say ♪ /♪ More than anything ♪ /♪ More than anything ♪ /♪ Need you to know I love you more than anything ♪ /♪ More than anything ♪ 

Staticmoth share theirs after the battle in the tower as they sing a duet about their plans to take over hell:

Vox: ♪ After the battle, masterless cattle! ♪/Vox and Valentino: ♪ Overlords hanging by a thread! ♪/Vox and Valentino: ♪ With a bit of bravado, maybe tomorrow ♪/♪ We'll be atop the heap!

Interestingly, Staticmoth's duet is way more mutual; there's a lot more singing together about "we" "You and me" and "The Vees", while Chaggie's is mostly a song of affirmation from Vaggi to Charlie, telling her how great she is and reassuring her. Also, Chaggie's song recalls Charlie's duet of parental love with Lu while Staticmoth's is at least a little bit about Alastor.

Vaggie reassures Charlie that she's done well, affirming her - which is sweet, and probably the kind of affirmation Vox was lookin for pre-battle. But - as I noticed in the post about Vox picking romantic partners who will point out the problems with his plans, Charlie being surrounded by lovers and family who tend to constantly tell her how great she is can also be a bit of a problem, as we'll see in s2.

In 1x08 and 2x08, C&V both hit a breaking point in their rage when Adam and Alastor hit them where it hurts by essentially taking away their friends. Adam by killing Pentious, Alastor by taunting Vox into alienating Vel and Val - and his support. Both of them bulk up into their scary threatening personas and call on their pets, Razzle, Dazzle and Shok-wave, to help fight their battle. C&V both get their asses kicked pretty fast by their opponents due to their overly emotional way of fighting.

I noted that Alastor comes across kind of comparatively lame in this fight because he is not willing to either work with others or push through to fight for the people he cares about. C&V both work well together with the friends they lead into battle, and their willingness to call on them for help in taking on a stronger opponent - Charlie teams up with Vaggie, Razzl and Dazzle to fight Adam and Lute, and Vox calls on the Vees and show.wave to help fight Alastor at various points - keeps them alive, while Alastor's "there are no friends in hell" philosophy leaves him wounded and angry all season 2.

Charlie is then saved from being killed by Adam by her dad's interference, just as Vox is saved from going supernova (read: Kamikaze) by Vel and Val. Lu and Charlie fight together against Adam and beat him; in 2x04 when Vox fought alongside Vel and Val against Alastor, he was able to pin him easily, and it's implied past battles have similarly been aided because Vel and Val were there to help.

Lu, Val and Vel all seem to do this spontaneously. Charlie doesn't ask Lu for help and Vox didn't call on Vel and Val. Lu, Vel and Val all show up for Charlie and Vox in their near-death experiences because of the shared familial bonds they have, something Charlie had mended earlier in the season. Charlie and Vox in s2 will both take these bonds for granted and badly damage them in the interest of trying to impress, well, you know.

just realized, he's not doing it in this shot, but both C&V hug themselves in times of extreme emotion.

Charlie's initial lyrics of despair in "Finale" also include a repetition of the idea that she must constantly do something B-TTER:

Charlie:  I know I could have done better ♪/♪ Better, instead of letting you down ♪ Vox: You'll be brighter, goin' supernova, all the eyes look up (at you, at you)

In 1x08 and 2x08 we see C&V hitting their moment of despair; Charlie feels she's failed because Pentious died, Vox feels he's failed because Alastor got out of their deal. Again in both cases it's the feeling of losing a friend that pushes them to extremes, in this case to grief.

Lu and Velvette are the ones to interfere first.

Lucifer: ♪ Come on, little lady, why the frown? ♪/♪ In the last 10,000 years ♪/♪ You're the first one to change this town! ♪/ ♪ You can do this! Now I know it! ♪/♪ For your story has just begun! ♪/♪ You can't quit now, hell, you owe it! /♪ There's still damage to be undone

Velvette kicks Vox off of the might of Lilith and tells him "It's Over"; while Ve land Val don't have a big talk about what needs to be done with Vox, there is most definitely damage to be undone from Vox's little rampage, so we may see a moment like this in s3.

Lucifer: ♪/♪ You've changed my mind, you've touched their hearts ♪/: ♪ Found the good in souls gone bad ♪/♪ The stage is wrecked, the crowd is gone ♪/♪ But by God, Charlie! ♪/♪ The show, it must go on! ♪

...Charlie: ♪ So long as I've got all of you with me! ♪

Vox and Valentino:  ♪ Nature abhors a power vacuum ♪♪ It leaves room for you and me! ♪ /Vox and Valentino: ♪ The future of Hell belongs to the Vees! ♪

Both C&V end s1 surrounded by their families singing about their plans to properly rule hell and change things with heaven. Even share a trio group hug with their arms held by their two closest associates. The groups are, the narrative posits, a lot stronger fighting together than they are as individuals. These two parallel families end s1 in a good place, but s2 is going to create some real rifts between them thanks to C&V's shared ambitions to be Better/Brighter.

Of course, all of this is good setup for the real show of all C&V's parallels, which is s2. But we've got the pieces in place and their narrative parallels that season are way more straightforward. Their parallel stories are about pushing away the people in their lives who truly care for them in order to impress the person they want to be cool for the most, who is ignoring or belittling them.

C&V are both powerful, influential figures, who are mainly good at being charismatic, determined dreamers ambitious enough to challenge heaven itself. They're also both messy and filled with a bottomless put of self-loathing, egotistical and impulsive and damaged in ways neither one of them wants to admit to. They both have Latinx moth lovers whom they share a loving but at times difficult relationship with, long to be approved of by the first person they ever really loved (Lilith/Alastor) and are taking for granted the person they have in their lives who could take the place of what they wanted from said person (a loving parent in the form of Lu, a bestie and partner in the form of Velvette). They both end s1 poised for big things, and in s2 it all comes crumbling down.