Despite having a song count that equaled or surpassed our main characters plus being the INSTIGATING FORCE behind the six-month Extermination, the show failing to commit Carmilla to Main Character Status™ cost Hazbin Hotel big.
I thought it (sort of) made sense for Carmilla to hang back, especially if she trusted herself more than she trusted the hotel. It very well could be that she underestimated the hotel, that she thought they would fail, and being on the front lines would be bad for her daughters. If she wasn't there to protect them, who would be? What if the angels targeted her/her daughters because they somehow found out that it was her that did it? And if the Hotel lost, she doesn't want to go down with it. She could very well hide/escape with her daughters if things went to shit at the Hotel, but if she was on the front lines, her daughters would be without her protection. It also seems like Carmilla has a rather strict 'code'. That she wouldn't go to the front lines at the hotel, because it isn't her battle to fight. It isn't the thing she loves and wants to protect, so she wouldn't be able to fight at her best, either. And even if the angels would target the rest of Hell next, I actually feel her reason for helping the hotel was partially selfish: If the hotel could take out even half of the angels, that's less that she has to deal with if/when it falls to the onslaught. I feel like she was being rather smart, weighing her options and the potential outcomes, and not putting her full faith in the Hotel. Maybe we'll see a change of heart in Season 2.
There are a lot of ways they could have gone with her! But I would have still liked to see the thought she put in behind it! Basically more Carmilla, happy me. ^^ But part of your reasons are exactly the development I think she could have had to make her an interesting, dynamic character who has to focus on someone beyond her daughters, or perhaps see about preserving the world her daughters live in, being willing to break her code for the big picture!
But the shitty thing is they only got 8 episodes. She's a tertiary character right now so you don't develop that character with an 8 episode season. The focus was where it needed to be, Charlie,Vaggie, Alister and Angel. We know season two is getting more episodes, hoping that 12-15, range, this is when you can flesh out characters like her, the V's, and even Nifty and Husk more.
@@mikemiller8430 Yeah, it's suck they only got 8 episodes. But if they intended to make her NOT a main character, then they shouldn't have made her the very reason that the Extermination was moved up on top of giving her as many songs as our main characters---as many as Alastor and Angel and only because those two both participate in the finale song. It's a musical---the number of songs you get helps establish how important you are as a character. If they didn't want to commit, they shouldn't have made her an instigating force with 3 songs. It's like they couldn't decide if she should be a main or not, so they gave her all the potential to be a main character and then flopped the ending. And it's not like Alastor got all this development either. We learned stuff about him, sure, but the only thing he actually accomplished was the deal with Charlie and introducing her to Rosie. Otherwise, what we got was learning his backstory about being the Radio Demon and his own deal. And since Carmilla didn't take part in the final fight, there's literally no reason for her to even be a part of season 2. She's no longer the main reason Heaven is taking action. We'll get the Vees, yes, I'm sure, because they were set up in the finale to be mains next season, but all we saw of Carmilla was a slight smile as she sat in her office, not even a voice line. That does not scream of development next season but is at least a slight nod to the person who was responsible for starting the whole mess. The Vees and Alastor are pretty much certain to get WAY more focus. Anyway, my main point was that she shouldn't have been a tertiary character, for all the reasons I talked about in this video, and therefore should have been developed, even in a short season. Like I said (in the video, again) if they managed it with Lucifer, they could have done it with Carmilla. It would have meant rearranging some things, yes, but to think it couldn't be done even with the time constraints is an insult to the writers. We KNOW they can do awesome things with characters even with limited screen time. Saying that Carmilla wasn't a main character and therefore shouldn't have been developed is like...my point. You're disagreeing with me while agreeing with my exact point. Don't give main character treatment to someone who's not a main character, or actually commit to making them a main. I still love the show, but Carmilla was not handled well.
@@kyratries but we remember her job as the arms dealer goes back to the pilot. She is peppered early on and seems to be the liaison between the overlords. The exorcisms haven't ended permanently and we don't know the heaven retaliation plot that we all know will be coming. She's developed to the point of knowing that she should and will be a player moving forward. She made her splash, and show of importance, without taking over. Again the episode count is the issue, but she's always been the arms dealer so your going to come to her eventually. 1 episode in season 2 can completely change this. An episode that didn't fit the narrative of the short season they had.
@@mikemiller8430 the show should not rely on audiences knowing the pilot if the team wants to reach a larger audience, which is the whole point of getting on Prime rather than going the Helluva Boss route. so no, she’s not been peppered throughout. again, I feel like I covered everything you just said in the video. I’m sick of people trying to make points that I’ve already counteracted. Carmilla did not work. If they utilize her better in season 2, then in the show overall, she might be alright. But as it stands in s1, she has no momentum going forward as she’s just out for her and her own and the Vees have been set up to be the major antagonists, which combined with the promise of a more active Alastor and the Lilith plot line now, there’s no time to get into Overlord politics or Carmilla. Maybe s2 will miraculously pull something off, but because you cannot possibly expect everyone who wants to watch the show to go watch the pilot just so they can get a glimpse of Carmilla, she needed to be pulled off successfully within the 8 episodes. Maybe if they’d cut ‘Out for Love’ and replaced it with a song that actually progressed Carmilla forward, they could have had their development within the 8 episodes. Or reordered things, like I suggested. In the video. They had options. Carmilla’s characters was a victim of the options they chose. Other characters won big! She didn’t.
We only know her in one or two episodes I definitely agree with you on this because we know her potential but we don’t know her I will rate this video an S tier because SOMEONE FINALLY AGREES WITH ME 😭🙏
This video is amazing!! Finaly good criticism! Most reviews I found are just "I don't like this" or "the pace is too fast" but never explain why or what could be changed to fix it. Also, yesterday saw someone saying that Carmilla is badly written and I was wondering why they think that but they never explained it, so this video had great timing, haha. You explain everything so well, I would love to hear your analysis on the rest of the show too.
This was such a nice comment to find, thank you ;;; Unfortunately if I analyzed the whole show it would take until season 2 but I have a few more videos up my sleeve!
We all onow the shows major shortcoming was speed. They compressed so much into 8 episodes cuz they didnt know if they were going to get a seasons 2,3 or more. Sadly not Vivziepops fault. You tell a story with a beginning and an end with a fish hook attached just in case you get picked up. Carmilla i liked cuz she is still mysterious and with that smile at the end she has more faith and perhaps she can place her daughters in Charlie's care and possibly get them out of hell 0:01
This is the biggest issue with shows nowadays and it’s not the writer/creator’s fault like you said. Back in the day a season could get anywhere from 25 to even 60 episodes even without being told whether or not they’re getting another season.
With the Vees they only knew an exorcist was killed, and Velvette suspected it was Carmilla who did it, but otherwise had no real knowledge. So that plan the Vees were cooking up really wasn't meant to be used in the extermination, but something that could be brought front and center in Season 2. Particularly since Vox was spying on the hotel during the battle and was able to see that Angelic weapons could be used to hurt and even kill exorcists. So taking the battle to Heaven itself could be the ploy they are looking for in the current power vacuum.
I love the synopsis, very good perspective through and through ! :) I didnt rlly like Carmilla in season 1, i hope the show can change my perspective in season 2.
I would have made her a self defense arms dealer as in she only sells weapons to help people defend not offend and I would have gave her a shield theme instead of a blade theme to represent that concept also I would’ve put posters of her in the background to help organically introduce her without using exposition
I see there mostly plot reasons 🤔 It would have been logical if the Overlords and the Vees stepped, because, yes, if this bunch fails, hell is fucked. They should have been there. But I guess it was for the character switch of Alastor and Lucifer. Alastor had to fall. He redeemed, he warmed up with the kids and he had to fail to be like "Wait, what am I doing here? I am changing, I have a job to do here, stop this!" At the same time, Lucifer needed a reason to come out of his hole, I suspect him to stay in the hotel and to be much more present in the next season. And if the united forces of hell came together, the fight would have been to easy and the timeline we have now unrelated to the angels would rightout be screwed up. And about Carmillas special case, it kinda fits that she didn't want to stand with this kids on the field and possibly draw the attention towards her family. But from the logical standpoint, you are right, she has a lot of the spotlight, but she doesn't anything and she can fight, she could have helped and I hope she does in the future, also in regards to questions. It's never said out loud, but she must be pretty old and wise, she can provide a lot of direction. What again could mean that she stays passive for another season, because she is overpowered or has rather the potential to be.
I don't know about you but episode 7 completely ruined Carmilla for me. It doesn't feel like she's an overlord of hell, she's too good a person. They should have added a greedy or scheming trait to her or something. A good person would not have ended up where she ended up. Not to mention how the song "Out for Love" came out of nowhere and was just cringe
She was perfectly fine five what they had to work with. I think a lot of video making people forget or ignore this. Would it have been nice to have more time with characters sure. But they didn’t even know if they would have a second season so she had to tell the story she wanted to with the time given. So while your video was good I have to disagree 100% with you.
