So for the part where the angels gasp at Charlie cursing was on purpose. It was the show basically showing how the angels can do no wrong even if anyone from hell doesn’t the same thing. It’s supposed to be bullshit double standards that just show more how the angels suck in how they act
I agree with most of your thoughts on the show! As someone who likes musicals I ended up enjoying it a lot, but it definitely felt extremely rushed, and as a result the emotional beats felt unearned and didn't hit as hard as they could have with better pacing. I think if the season had been given 12 episodes rather than just 8 the pacing would have been better. I'm also not a fan of the gratuitous amount of swearing; I'm not opposed to swearing in an adult cartoon obviously, but I think swear words have more impact when they're used more sparingly; peppering them into every sentence sounds juvenile to me. Alastor swore maybe twice in the whole season, and they were memorable specifically because he swears less than all the other characters, so it means more when he does. Speaking of, the characters really carry the show through all its faults, as virtually the entire main cast is likable (except for Valentino) and Alastor in particular is definitely a standout. The entire voice cast did an amazing job, and it really shows that most of them came from Broadway.
Overall I agree with most of what you said. The fact that it was so rushed was the biggest problem the show had in my opinion but I still had a great time watching it.
Honestly, yes. I do feel that the show suffers from bad pacing. Everything went by so fast. I literally had to rewatch the entire series. 4 more times! Just so I can get a grasp of what happened throughout every episode... & after every rewatch. It's heartbreaking to see countless flaws & missed opportunities that the series failed to utilize. Which makes me, as a creator myself. Disappointed to watch. Especially the finale. The build up to it just didn't really hit me at all. (Oh & it felt off that sir pen died as a joke/gag.) I do hope season 2 does get better but ngl. I'm not crossing my fingers this time...
I think the pilot gives people less than folks think, given that while the broad strokes are consistent with the show, it is not, in its details, canon. (Per Vivzie, but you can observe this too.) As such, I think it's actually better as a little bonus if you liked the show, rather than as a thing you must watch. (I've watched quite a few of first time reactors they don't seem to have any of the issues that long time viewers fear they'll have without the pilot.) I had no issue with the pacing, but I slotted it into the "stage musical" spot in my brain, and I don't think its pacing is particularly fast compared to other things in that category -- every song is an accelerating shortcut and you're expected to read a LOT between the lines. (Criticisms that contrast with norms outside of musicals fall kinda flat -- like being grumpy that a fantasy has fantastical elements. You may dislike the genre, and that's fine, but that isn't really a criticism of the work in particular.) Hulluvaboss otoh, I strongly believe you should not watch its pilot till after you watch the show, as the pilot will give you entirely the wrong idea about what kind of show it ended up being. More broadly, the pilot is just much worse than the show proper. (A lot of the hate-watchers are, to this day, hung up on the fact that it's still not the kind of show that the pilot was.)
I followed the story just fine. You don't need to pad things out jus to "add context". As much as I miss the oold 24 epidode seasons, this is the reality now. There's not much time for anything but the plot essentials.
My thing isn't about adding context, just for things to be fleshed out and for story beats and characters arcs to be better executed and to feel less rushed
