EXPLAINING TRAUMA 101! | HAZBIN HOTEL Episode 4 Reaction 

Poison broke me so Loser Baby could heal me

Whoever wrote the line “if I end up broken, then I won’t be his favorite toy anymore” either needs a raise or therapy (quite possibly both). That line destroyed me.

You notice in every porn scenario, Angel is always depicted as the victim of a power dynamic. The interrogation, the burglary. It's one thing to be a power bottom, it's another thing to being exploited so brazenly. Valentino is thoroughly abusing Angel, both directly and indirectly.

Honestly, the thing that gets me in this episode is how scared Angel was the INSTANT he saw Charlie. He didn't want her exposed to that world or to see what he deals with. She is the princess of hell and all he cared about was protecting her. Angel is a brother and as far as we know, very protective to his sister. We see so much in him in these few seconds and it's amazing.

Somehow, despite all of the dark shit in this episode, it's probably Angel's meltdown that's the scariest to watch.

Notice how Angel Dust said, "just don't hurt *her."* He's more worried about what Val will do Charlie, even while he's getting beat up. Seriously, Angel deserves so much better than this. The way Valentino treats him and what Angel said about trying to get broken enough that Val will let him go, it's really painful to watch. I'm glad he and Husk have found common ground and can support eachother. And I love the message in "Loser, Baby." It's not your usual, "cheer up, things will get better" song. It's more realistic. Yeah, Angel's life is screwed up, but he's not alone. He now has someone who understands that he can look to for support. That's as good a start as any.

Charlie is literally the Number 3 in Hells stomping list, only her mother and father being above her, and she is so pure and doesn't like to assert her (legal) dominance, she really does display both Angel sides of her Parents.

This entire episode is pain and trauma personified. Both Charlie and Angel Dust are trying to protect the other and it just destroyed me that Angel would rather Valentino hurt him to keep Charlie safe.

i really love how this episode managed to transform husk, who so far really has been more of a background presence, both in this show and the pilot, into honestly one of my favourite characters. i really love the "old guy who's seen it all" stick he has going on, yet that doesn't mean that he magically has all the answer all the times and sometimes all you can do is accept that you have a problem and take solace in the knowledge that there are others who know what you are going through and are there for you.

Keith David pulled out his Spawn voice when dealing with that one Shark Mobster in the bar

The fact that Husk used to be an Overlord adds a lot of interesting perspective to this interaction. To fall that far must have felt like a uniquely humiliating and terrible experience at first. Sure there were plenty of others who lost the soul to an overlord, but how many of them were once overlords themselves. Maybe he tried to put up an act like Angel did at first. Pretend he was still a bigshot as a coping mechanism. But over time Husk must've realized that he wasn't really all that different from any other demon who traded away their soul. And I guess that thought gave him comfort.

When they are bound with ropes 27:57 , Angel's rope is chaotic and Husk's is neatly wrapped. Maybe pointing to the nature of their respective "owners". Valentino being an emotional in-the-moment type & Alastor being neat/calculating.

This was a distressingly honest portrayal of what abuse can look like. Poison is a bop but its the mask that people put up to deal with abusive situations, and Loser Baby is a bop and is the healing vibe we ALL need sometimes, but especially people who have been through some shit. Edit: WAIT I just figured out why this episode is so good even given the distressing dark parts. It's because it didn't stop there. It gave us a very honest portrayal of abuse but it also gave us an honest portrayal of what actually helps. People accepting you for who you really are and helping you learn to accept yourself too.

Episode 4 really hits the feels and there is a detail I really loved from rewatch. Besides all the obvious differences between Valentino and Husk, during Poison Valentino dancing is very forceful and Angel keeps pulling away just to be dragged back while Husk he actually guides Angel into dancing and they up dancing in sync with each other.

The whole scene with "Loser Baby" reminds me of that one story where someone in a psych ward was on the verge of breaking down with one of the nurses asking if he was "like, legit sad" which flabbergastered him so much that he legit stopped having a breakdown.

Now this is how you develop a character. I liked Husk for his attitude but this episode gave him such depth that I felt bad for thinking he wasn't THAT interesting of a character (like Fizz in Helluva Boss).

As soon as you said "do you know how much he wants to be saved" it hit me like a truck and I sobbed. I'm not happy until Angel's free though - cause the abuse isn't over ..

A good friend of mine, a guy, got roofied by couple of girls, who then tried to get him to go with them. Lucky our friends got him out of there, but that was a waking up moment that these things go both ways.

Loser Baby has unironically been helping me so much in a time of my life where I needed it most. I love this song so much

If you missed it husk said he used to be an overlord but then alastor came and he gambled all the souls he owned and his own to alastor

I loved that moment where Charlie started going at Val and her other form popped up. There's gotta be an episode sometime where Charlie just totally loses it and snaps and we get to see her full power. I love _snapped_ episodes. I hope she tears Val a new one. A new few. Can't wait for all the character developments!

10:32 was the worst part for me when watching. The entire studio is on fire, Charlie is messing up a lot, everything is chaos and Angel is terrified, not of any of that, but completely and utterly terrified of only Valentino. And not just for his own sake because of the repercussions, but he’s terrified that he’ll harm Charlie. That he’s so fucking traumatised by how dangerous Val is that he’s selflessly and desperately horrified that Val will be the impulsive person he is and attack Charlie. That he’ll stomach anything because he’s at Val’s mercy but doesn’t want the same for her. Yeah, lot of bad stuff in this episode. But that one hurt for me. Hurt more later when he literally begged Valentino to not hurt her. This is hell ffs, they don’t have to be empathetic but it’s obvious how much Charlie means to him and…. I’m definitely rambling on. Yeah I think you get the idea 😅. I will say though. I’ve been critical of Charlie’s character in a few moments. But I definitely appreciate and am impressed with all her behaviour after they came out Angel’s dressing room, not only cause she tries to step up for angel (also I swear to god, we’re never gonna see this girl fight 🤣, at this point it’s all Bark no bite) but also that she recognises that angel wasn’t being rude to her, but that she’d majorly fucked up in causing him worse harm off Valentino and she for the rest of the episode was nothing but sorry, holding no Ill intent and understanding why he did what he did.

When I first saw this episode I thought that it's going to hit Alicia like a boat. Not a small boat either, like the love child of the titanic and the costa concordia while lingering eye contact was made with the Valdeeze.

I love how Alicia is so very new to the fandom (reacted to the pilot only a month ago) and she's just as protective and cares about the characters like she's been dowsed in the lore and backstory for years. Having a real perspective of social behavior and therapy on these situations and characters is such a refreshing take. I dont know if it was noticed but Angel Dust doesn't just freak because Charlie came to the porn studio. He's terrified about Val noticing and being around her. Then when the fire happens (I'm still cringing so hard at that) Angel's eyes are completely on Val and how he reacts. He knows all the troubles Charlie is unintentionally causing is gonna come back double on him. There has to be a way to void that soul contract. It's the only way Angel can be free. I dont think it can be as simple as Charlie snapping her fingers. Honestly, my theory is its gonna be like a Faustian Bargin kinda schtick.

I WAS WAITING FOR THIS…I WAS RUINED WHEN I WATCHED THIS as a victim this shit hit hard

Whenever you depict trauma and/or SA in media you have a duty of care. It's the same reason why you cannot just casually portray "game end" in media: you have to make sure the audience can feel it to make it authentic but you also need to soothe the emotional bruise that you just gave them. This episode did a great job of that! Showing both the trauma, the fallout, grasping with it and a set into the right direction with a feel good song to recover from the emotional beating we took. It's a tough topic but it deserves to not be shied away from, so I respect Vivzie and the entire team for going there!

I feel like this helped Charlie get a better grasp on the realities of Hell. She grew up sheltered and protected, which has made her very naive. She thinks that the angel exterminations are the worst things that could happen to her people, but now she's seen just how miserable their lives really are. Many of them, like Angel, don't have a choice but to sin because they are enslaved to Overlords.

Poison screams, "you didn't listen to the lyrics, did you?" energy. Yeah, all of Angel's songs are a bop, but it's all that solumn mix of accepting abuse while wanting desperately to escape from it (usually through the used of other vices).

I've been waiting for her reaction. What a heartbreaking episode.

“Watch this Chat, you can actually pinpoint the second Her heart rips in half….aaaaand Now!” 12:25 (unpause 3 times in a row) Easily the most (intentionally) frustrating thing about Charlie is she is canonically the 2nd most powerful being in ALL of hell only being below her father Lucifer. If she ever goes all out her power dwarfs that of alastor and even stolas. But because of her morals and personality she holds back to the point where a common sinner like Katie killjoy can give her trouble which honestly is necessary cause I mean she has the power to end all conflicts if she decides to throw hands with her powers and it would go against everything she stands for seeing violence as the absolute last resort she’d begrudgingly use if it’s all that’s left.

The healing power of Loser Baby 🥺💙 so beautiful

Actually I just realized this is poison is like describing angel cause the lyrics are what's he feeling but the actual delivery of it is fun poppy little sexy showing his masked self of who he truly is so that's really cool song writing/making

25:57 Honestly it’s been a long while since I’ve hear Keith sing, that being his performance as Dr. Facilier

Husk having been an Overlord and ending up gambling, losing his power to Alastor implies a lot. (It also makes sense for Husk to be void of his power, because, you know husk). Questions rise about just how powerful Alastor could be if power could be gained via bets. Maybe the contract Angel Dust made with Valentino has some relevance, and this episode shows the personal Hell Angel Dust goes through.

I swear charlie was gonna tear valentino apart, and we got robbed of that. but Loser Baby made up for it and more

24:04 once again, I relate to this. Because I’m heavily autistic, I find myself hiding, who I truly am for other people because I think a lot of people think I’m weird otherwise. It’s been a lot for me honestly. My true personality whiles fun, has produced a massive amount of bullying, and even threats in my life. I feel like if I act like my true self, I’ll never be loved. It’s still something I have to deal with.

This is where Charlie being nice is a major downside. I love that about her...but she appears like a harmless doormat not ONLY to the denizens of hell...but even to her friends where Angel wouldnt even think to ask her for help. Where Valentino has him thinking that SHE'S the one who needs to be protected.

I hate how a few times now when something like this happened in something you were watching you say "story time." Not because you tell the stories, but because you CAN tell them because they happened at all. That's horrible.

Charlie's more of an angel than the actual Angels.

Let's go trauma time

See I knew it was bad between our spider boi and Valentino... But it feels like I got stabbed in the gut and the same knife severed my heartstrings.

I just gotta say, I love watching Alicia's reactions to dark things sometimes, cause she just gives such good insight on things I never would have noticed and she gives amazing advice as well.

Can I just say that I always anticipate your reactions to Hazbin Hotel? Whenever the show tackles serious topics (i.e. Trauma, Abuse), you explain it so perfectly. ^__^

18:00 Alicia breaking down Angel’s outburst and his issues was actually spot-on and deep. Super impressive. I hope to Christ she’s not speaking from experience.

Alicia accidentally describing the feeling of autistic masking. ( might also fit other conditions but I only know the feeling of that specific one) I had this job that was so bad for me, I was forced to work at a social workplace and it sucked the life out of me I was in survival mode all day. And when the mask broke I felt like a monster.

OH BOY 6 P.M. IT'S TIME FOR TRUAMA

Charlie burning down TV sets is becoming a recurring theme.

I think this episode also tells us about Charlie's main flaw, a combination of naive optimism and impulsivity. She set up the hotel without doing any research about what she'd need to run either a hotel or a treatment facility. She went to the meeting with the angels without taking the time to learn anything about their motivations or the details of Hell's politics. And she went to Valentino without knowing anything about him, or the relationship between Valentino and Angel. She will not succeed unless she learns to look before she leaps.

I will say, I believe part of the reason Angel is so flirty is because he's trying to take back control. In the studio, he is helpless, forced into intimacy, but outside - at least when he's in positive company like Husk and the other Hotel patrons - he flirts freely because that's *his* choice; it's not forced, it's not coerced, but it's his decision to flirt with everyone he can, because then at least it's him choosing. It's a very common coping mechanism for people in Angel's shoes.

I like the different tone when Angel sounds serious and it's not the flamboyant dude he's always been but the original male voice

I am holding my breath for the day Charlie just pops ALLLLLL the way off and flexes crazy power

This episode was such a roller coaster...

One frightening thing this episode made me consider is that I now wonder if Val forced Angel to be with the director/John right at the time of the extermination was to prevent Angel from getting himself offed; to protect his asset.

Really excited for Alicia's reaction, her takes on stuff in this show is always fascinating.

It’s fitting that this is the best rated and loved episode out of the released four. With the best fan loved song in loser baby. Getting a 9.1/10. What a great way to end the series of episodes leading up to the next release this week

"Loser, Baby" flew straight into my top 10 songs and has been playing on repeat since the episodes aired. So glad the tunes are available in various places. 😂

This episode CATAPULTED Husker into the number 3 spot of my fav Hazbin Hotel Chars

I love this episode, I mean, it hurts, but it's so well done.

I knew this episode was going to hit Alicia like a truck, because it hit me like one too. Thank god for that last song because I was about to cry my eyes out

Did anyone else notice that when Angel was distressed, he's voice change into Anthony's...his real voice.

The main issue with abuse is that the abuser thinks there is no chance of being out of that relationship, that they can't get help, that the help will make it worse, or the help will get just as hurt or worse. So they just endure, and that can be the worst-case scenario if nothing is done. If you ever feel like this, if you are like this: get help. Someone will help you, and you can get out of it.

I just gotta say Alicia, I found you during Helluva Boss Reactions, and I quickly fell in love with your reactions, and i just want to thank you for having such a safe place for mental health issues. You have become one of my favorite RU-vidrs just because of how you respond to so many things. Hearing about how happy you are doing this and that you aren’t experiencing burn out (which I am currently) is so good to hear, I always worry about streamers. But I’m so glad you’ve found a happy space in life! And thank you for having such a fun space to hang out on the interwebs! ❤

I can't believe Anderson went to Hell after the Elusive Man killed him.

I just noticed that the WolfSinner hasthe same gold tooth like Angel and Valentino. Maybe that's how we can tell who soul is owned by Val?

As much as this ep highlights how much of a complete wretched being Val is for doing what he does to Angel, it was also nice to see Charlie get mad for once even though she was stopped before she could most likely kill Val. (She legit has the power to do it.) That and this ep also highlights from Husk's view that Alastor IS a problem, the way he does things is eventually going to come to a head with Charlie due to the fact that he enslaves and exploits people, she's going to want him to release Husk at some point or Angel, due to now being friends with Husk may start to really push for it only for them to realize once again that Alastor ONLY cares about himself.

"I'm a Loser, baby" is the best song in this franchise and I cannot believe I'm saying that. (After "Look my way" no less) There's so many great things about it; "coked up dick suckin' ho?" "Baby that's fine with me" - Husk has been saying how he hates how fake he is the entire episode, and here Angel lets down his guard and husk just replies with "This is fine by me". "Lose your self-loathing, Excuse yourself, Let hope in" - I mean, I don't even need to speak, just bring attention to it, if you need to hear this; just pretend Husk is telling it to you. And the fact that Husk was one of the OVERLORDS OF HELL, THE most powerful sinners in hell, honestly, I'm kinda sad Angel didn't react at how BIG of a deal that is. And further just reminds you how powerful Alistor is.

You know, I feel like if Angel hadn’t stepped between Val and Charlie Hell was about to lose an overlord. She seems cute and cuddly but Lucifer’s daughter just HAS to be a cosmic horror. Mark my words, Charlie CHOOSES not to crush Val under her foot and in one of these episodes we’re going to find out how one-sides that fight would have been.

12:50 Probably unrelated to what's happening in the episode but I think it's already kinda obvious that everyone underestimates Charlie, but I can definitely see why. She's literally the Princess of Hell so of course she's most likely really powerful, but with that kind of personality it'll be easy for everyone to y'know? (I hope I'm using the right words rn TwT). She's definitely capable of squishing Valentino like the bug that he is, but again she's not really like that unless you somehow make her snap where she would probably not care about someone stopping her (like what Angel just did). But what do you guys think?

I saw someone mention this on another video, but in every scene before this Husk has thin, cat like pupils. After Loser, Baby when he’s around Angel his pupils dilate cause he’s around a friend and that’s such subtle visual storytelling but it adds so much without you even noticing at first

this episode STAB!!! my heart and HEALED at the same time.

The thing I love about this episode is how in all the episodes after this one Angel stops bragging about his work because he finally feels safe enough with everyone at the hotel to be honest about how miserable working for Val makes him.

You're description of Angel's situation, with him believing all he is worth is what others can use and then the part where you were talking about having to be a consistent way or else he felt he wouldn't be an asset, was exactly how I have felt my entire life until this year. Right when HH released I had started dating this amazing man, I'm not going into details, but for the 1st time ever someone was valuing me for being me, it made me seriously nervous because he didn't value all the things I thought I had to give. When we were watching this episode I just broke down and when I tried to apologize for getting all emotional and "being an annoyance", he just held my hand and cuddled me and told me that nothing I could do would be an annoyance and then we talked about my past and all my fears that I wouldn't be able to make him happy. It was the beginning of something that has only gotten better. And even if I don't spend forever with him, I learned so much thanks to having someone accept me just like Husk did for Angel

I really hope we get to see Charlie go full demon mode on someone at some point in this series

I hope Val’s nature will bite him in the ass in the future. He is too used to deal with people weaker than him. Underestimating someone on the same powerlevel than himself is coming for him. Vox will not be there always to hold him back. Especially if he gets tunnel-visioned on Alastor. And Velvette doesn’t seems to want to deal with Val’s outbursts, because she is too busy as well. So I am hoping that one of his tantrums will make him go too far and pay the price.

I deeply hope Angel and Husk never get made into a romantic item. A wholesome platonic bromance is what they need to get better.

Something I really like but haven't seen mentioned in the comments is how Angel's voice changes in this ep (I.e. It's normally high, but gets lower when he's being abused by Val & arguing w/Husk).

Nice that they gave husk some background time in this episode

I've been looking forward to this in such a bittersweet way! This episode was amazing to me, but so, SO hard to watch without looking away 💘

God dammit, Alicia... Alright so I'm at 23:52 right now during your conversation about being yourself as a vtuber and not burning out. So all my life I've felt like nobody. Like no matter what I do no one will ever *really* care about what I accomplish. They like me as a person, or so I'm told sometimes, but despite putting so much effort into creative pursuits for over 20 years now I've gotten... minimal validation at best. My latest creative pursuit was to become a vtuber in June (2023) and I put on a persona. Thankfully I'm savvy, so the persona is soft spoken and low energy, there's low upkeep there. I expected to get roughly the same amount of validation as I get from *everything else I do* but that wasn't the case. For some reason my vtuber is constantly bombarded by love and affection. This is nice, I don't want the story twisted, I genuinely appreciate all the affection and support I've been receiving, but as I passed 500 followers less than 7 months before starting from nothing with no debut and no social media account at the start, I can already feel the beginnings of resentment start to form. I'm starting to feel like people don't like *me*, they just like the person I portray. So you so decisively calling attention to that made me realize why I've been so dissatisfied with making youtube videos recently despite that being something I've done and enjoyed doing since 2015. I feel seen in like the most ironic way and it hurts, XD

was waitin for this, its my fav ep of the series

"My heart is happy, my heart is full" just sounded SO MUCH like Charlie's "It's not stupid, It's A GAME"

Has the best song in the show for me hands down! Went so so hard!

On a sad note, that bottle the shark was going to drug Angel with is actually present in Angel's room at the studio.

Valentino is WAY more what I expected the leader of the lust ring to be like

I love how you can tell by the emotes who in the chat had already seen the episode

Remember Charlie set Tom trench on fire in the pilot

Okay, story time. Just need to get this off my chest real quick. When I was 28, I dated a somewhat childhood friend of mine who said he loved me on the first date and...had very...lets just say grabby hands. I didnt know how to feel about it, just that...I felt sick being....lets just say "intimately grabbed". Like bile rising up in your throat sick. But I tried to tell him that it was making me sick, but either he didnt understand or I was ignored. And I wanted things to go good for us. Thats when the pressure for..."intimacy" began. "When are we going to do it?" "Are you ready now?". Questions like that. And I just kept saying "I dont know if Im ready.". Like a loser. It got to the point where I would come home crying because I couldnt be what he wanted and I was trying so hard to keep him happy while feeling just numb inside when we went out on our dates. He asked me to marry him, many many times. And I would say "Its too soon for that. ". The touching would continue, and I would swallow the bile in my throat if it made him happy. For his sake and maybe my breaking point had been reached...we decided to open the relationship and thats when it fell apart. I found out that he had been flirting with a married woman who kept on Rejecting his flirting, saying she was happily married and to Stop. He told her " It should have been you I was dating.". I was hurt and angry and broke up with him in person and over text. He...couldnt accept it and started showing up at my job begging for a second chance. I told him no, multiple times. Just feeling shame and guilt over letting things get to that point. Was it my fault? Yes. I take blame for what happened. I took up writing as a hobby. Something to do if I start thinking about him again. To be honest I dont know if yhe relationship "counts" as abusive or not. Bad, probably. Can someone tell me please? Thanks. Its been 4..5 years now, and Im seeing someone new that makes me happy and respects my desire for non intimacy.

19:04 I lovingly refer to this scene as Charlie learns about harm reduction

Keith David....just said power bottom. I am here for it.

I liked the show up to this point. But it was just good. For something I have waited YEARS for it didn't blow me away like I expected it to. It might continue to be that for me, who can say? But this...this episode...is perfect. Two insanely good songs in an episode that absolutely breaks you just so it can heal you back up again. Beautiful message, perfect episode, I have nothing but good to say about this. I hope episodes of this quality become the norm going forward.

This episode is so good, and loser baby is such a good song, its my favorite in the series

I went into Hazbin with few expectations (because of the long development time, didn't wanna get too hyped and get let down), and the first three episodes were fine, but not my cup of tea. This episode alone - and Keith's performance as Husk in particular - scratched that itch and now I'm stoked as hell for the rest of the season.

To me best episode so far, such an emotional rollercoaster

The thing is Angel could have said a lot worse to Charlie but he didn’t because he knows she means well Angel Dust is the name he gave himself after the drug that killed him

So...if Husker is voiced by Keith David who does Spawn in the HBO series, does that make Valventino the Violator (Not a joke, its the actual characters name. Demon from hell who disguises himself as a portly clown)?

Charlie seemed pretty scared of that fire & it wasn't green like special fire shown in episodes of Helluva Boss. I wonder if she's vulnerable to normal fire because she's half-human or whatever.

Her entire chat is just mindless emojis lol

Ok, i really want to discuss this one thing: Did anyone get the "platonic" mixed wih "lovey-dovey" kinda vibe about Huskerdust? i mean, before this ep realeased, i fully wanted them to be canon, ngl. However, afer watching this, i..... have some kinda mixed feelings though. The way they act around each other at the nearly end or the way they respond to each other in this whole ep makes me think of a couple of old friends just hang out for fun and help each other overcome difficulties. Sooooo, what im trying to say is, if they sill aim for the ship being canon, i will still fully support that (i really love Huskerdust tbh). But if they dont, then im fine with them just being platonic and hanging out like buddies

Poison is SO awesome and this episode is phenomenal and I have a feeling Alicia is going to pause a lot so please everyone be patient and be nice to her

Just realized that Husk is voiced by Keith David who also played Dr. Facilier/The Shadow Man in Princess & The Frog. Husk does have that Riverboat/ New Orleans gambler feel to him. I mean obviously he’s a gambler but I could see him playing in New Orleans which is where Dr. Facilier is from. In fact Alastor IS from New Orleans and also uses shadow demons to do his biding at times.