Created by Vivienne Medrano (creator of the viral pilot Hazbin Hotel) and Brandon Rogers (comedian and winner of several Streamy awards), Helluva Boss is a comedic animated webseries that follows a group of imps in Hell working at an assassination startup called Immediate Murder Professionals (I.M.P.). Loud-mouthed Blitzø (the “ø” is silent) runs the company, and is accompanied by imp couple Millie and Moxxie, as well as his adopted daughter Loona, a hellhound. Their job is simple: the crew is commissioned by denizens of hell who want someone in the living world assassinated. They access the living world through a special grimoire Blitzø acquired (by sleeping with a demon prince named Stolas). While staples of adult animation like raunchy jokes and blood are definitely there, the characters are what makes the show truly stand out.
Rather than focusing solely on low hanging fruit, like drugs, blood, and sex jokes like many other adult animated shows, the creators instead strive to create compelling story moments for the zany cast they’ve created. An episode that demonstrates this extremely well is the third episode of season one, “Spring Broken,” in which Blitzø runs into his succubus ex-girlfriend, Verosika Mayday, after she steals his parking spot. This prompts Blitzø to make a bet with her: if Verosika can’t seduce as many people as I.M.P. can kill during spring break, they get their parking spot back. With a premise like that, you can bet there’s plenty of sex and murder, including a song called “Vacay to Bonetown” that is criminally catchy. However, there’s also an important story beat in the episode. During an argument with Blitzø, Loona reveals that he’d adopted her just as she was about to age out of the foster care system, declaring that she never, in fact, needed him. Though Blitzø seems to recover from this painful revelation fairly quickly, the fallout will have downstream consequences.
Helluva Boss makes a habit of keeping this balance, utilizing the setting and premise for the adult humour, but adding important pieces of foreshadowing and backstory that affect the plot. We see this in other episodes such as “Loo Loo Land,” “Truth Seekers,” and “Ozzie’s,” where both Blitzø and Stolas (and their relationship) get some much-needed development that carries into season two. “Loo Loo Land” explores Stolas’ character apart from being attracted to Blitzø, and focuses on his love for his daughter. Meanwhile, a robotic version of one of Blitzø’s enemies catches fire with the rest of the park during an epic showdown, providing some foreshadowing for Blitzø’s dark past.
With each new episode, the audience learns something about each of the main characters that helps unravel why they are who they are. Though not every member of the cast is a good person (it is Hell, after all), each of them are complex, with great personal histories yet to be fully explored. And luckily, with Helluva Boss being an independent production, each story will likely be told in its entirety. Unlike streaming, there’s little fear of cancellation here.
Helluva Boss is for anyone willing to give adult animated shows a shot, or for those who want a genuinely unique plot. Horny, graphic, emotional, and deep, it’s a ray of light in the genre, featuring a well-rounded cast of zany characters who are sure to grow on you — but you don’t have to take my word for it. With the first one-and-a-half seasons free to watch on YouTube, there’s never been a better time to catch up on this dark comedy! See you in hell.
