Moments Of Stupidity

Moments of Stupidity

What I mean is, I feel like listing all the instances I can think where a character does something stupid, whether it be their natural inclination to be or just taking a turn holding the stupid stick. By the time Oops rolled around, I wasn't at all upset by the characters' stupidity because, around the time Exes and Oohs came around, I learned that Helluva Boss is one of those universes where plots only happen because everyone is naturally an idiot. The degrees of which are varying but most, if not all, the plots happen because someone's a moron.

And like I said, I feel like doing this so why not? So whatever examples I can think of as I recall the whole series by far, I'll list here. Now for those who have this seriously favorite character of theirs - which is bound to be everyone, especially those who give some of their time to read this list - sorry if they end up on this list. But please remember that I'm in the belief that Helluva Boss is an universe full of idiots and that the only true difference is the varying degrees of it. So that means even my favorite characters aren't exempt from this list and I'll put the examples of stupidity when I come across it in my head. And what are my standards of stupidity, at least in this case? Instances of someone doing or saying something that leads to consequences that could have been avoided if they just had common sense and/or information that should have told them the more sensible thing to do or say but didn't because it's clearly shown that they weren't inclined to using a fucking braincell (And yeah, I know that Viv and her writers are in control over how stupid the characters are but I believe my point still stands. If someone doesn't want others to say shit about them, then that someone shouldn't do shit so stupid that it gets others to say it)

And I think I'll post it one episode at a time. That way, it'll be easier for me, especially when I'm posting late at night because that's usually when I do it, and because new episodes of Helluva Boss will come out and I'd have to make another post anyway. Seriously, if I'm hearing right, then another episode of Helluva Boss is already going to come out on Halloween. Finally, I think I'll either save the pilot for later or even pass on doing it since, as far as I know, pilots to shows aren't really canon. Haven't decided yet. Finally, please let me know if I missed any instances of stupidity because I'm just going off on memory and I don't love the show enough to go back and rewatch episodes

Anyways, without further ado...

Murder Family -

No one putting fire safety procedures or even just any safety procedures on the book. You'd think that if Blitz cared so much about getting screwed over in the worst way possible, then he'd make sure it's for sure safe in wherever it's kept. And yeah, I'm feeling that Blitz didn't do that when demanding if 'the fancy book is still intact'. As in, it sounds like there was a chance that the Grimoire could have been destroyed in the fire and Blitz knew it. So it was probably just lucky that Loona. Maybe it's slightly better that Blitz kept the Grimoire in the safe but, as Seeing Stars shows, it's its own moment of stupidity. (Which I'll get to in due time)

Blitz happily telling Moxxie that they're gonna ruin a family rather than killing a family. I guess this example isn't as bad as blatant examples latter down the line but it still resulted in his softer-hearted employee to intervene. All because Blitz is fully expecting Moxxie to be as cold as him. So it's still understandable given that Blitz is bound to not know the exact details of Moxxie's mother - that already giving Moxxie a reason to care so much about a family being ruined even if he was as cold-hearted as his boss - but I'm pissed off that Blitz at no point even thinks that it was his fault that they were in that mess and keeps pinning the blame entirely on Moxxie. Seriously, if Blitz didn't happily gloat about how they're going to ruin a family, then Moxxie wouldn't have interfered with the shot. What makes this a little stupider is that Blitz should have known Moxxie well enough by then since they apparently met each other in jail and broke out together. Meaning that Blitz should have known well enough that Moxxie isn't as cold as him or at least not enough to enjoy the thought of ruining a family. Because yeah, Millie was all 'if that's what the clients want' due to professionalism so it made a difference when it came to Blitz's attitude on the matter; I was able to tell that he liked the idea. (Which is seriously messed up given the episode Oops now that I think about it). Even if Blitz didn't know a single damn thing about Moxxie other than his name, Moxxie acted clearly enough that he didn't like the idea of killing a family so why would he find it better to ruin one? Yet Blitz just keeps up the anticipation over doing that like it wouldn't cause Moxxie any distress

Moxxie messing up the shot. Same thing as above example, it's understandable, especially when you get the context, but it still led to the family of Satan-worshipping cannibals to go after Moxxie, his wife, and his boss. If an action brought on by impulse and/or emotion leads to disastrous results, as stated above, then I'll be hard-pressed to call it smart. Blitz is to blame but just by half or at least partially. I can't ignore that Moxxie did mess up the shot and got them discovered by the crazy-ass family and put them all in danger

Blitz for fucking confirming to Martha when she gets the idea to just shoot him and Millie. Just because the fire didn't hurt you didn't mean you were invulnerable to fucking dying in general. Especially according to Viv who says that imps are just as vulnerable as living humans when it comes to dying and to just as many things (as much as she's being inconsistent about how she writes her characters and her show) Just because Martha would have thought of another way to kill you off when she inevitably discovers that the fire doesn't work, as well as her husband no doubt going to help brainstorm in permanent killing solutions, doesn't mean you had to confirm that shooting you will work. If Millie actually bothered calling you out, then it's a stupid move. Moxxie put you in that situation but you definitely didn't have to add more fuel to the fire, especially if your employees - with one of them right there with you and in just as much danger as you - is supposed to be so fucking important to you

Oh, and let's not forget the fucking phone. Blitz didn't put his phone on fucking vibrate. Considering that, in the human world, with his two field employees with him, there'd be no one but Loona to call or to be called by. And just because Blitz never expected to be running for his life. He's supposed to be an assassin. As in, no one's supposed to see him or notice him. As in, Blitz isn't supposed to be drawing attention to himself. So why the fuck would he not even put his phone on vibrate? That way, he'd just feel someone calling him instead of broadcasting his location to anyone and everyone who can hear it. And in the case of Murder Family, that includes a serial killing, Satan worshipping cannibal who's trying to shoot him dead. It's just that, in the dangerous situation that Murder Family provided, not putting the phone on vibrate became even stupider

Let's not forget Stolas now that I think about it. Yeah, he's incredibly selfish and self-centered for calling Blitz for transactional fucking when the imp is in the middle of trying not to get shot. He's still stupid because, if getting imp dick was so important to him, then he should have known that distracting Blitz in a survival situation like trying not to get shot could result in him DYING. Unless Stolas is gonna bring Blitz back from the dead or just outright perform necrophilia, then that horny owl won't get any transactional fucking whatsoever!

I'll probably include Mayberry, too. After all, she was completely overrun with emotion that overrode common sense when finding out that her husband was cheating. She never at any point turned off the computer, not before she left the school and especially not before shooting herself, especially if Mayberry is gonna act like her students are precious to her. Although I said I'll 'probably' include Mayberry because her actions have been inherently selfish. When she left the school, she thought about getting revenge to satisfy herself, well, she never thought of turning off the computer so that the kids wouldn't have to see it. Then Mayberry realizes what she did and she still never turned off the computer before committing suicide, which just traumatized the kids even further than what the teacher would have wanted. So maybe Mayberry genuinely loved and cared about her students but got so emotional that she lost common sense concerning the computers and her students, which would make it stupid. If not, then the concern for the students' mental well-being was just a facade and the only stupid thing she did was still not turning off the computers so that she wouldn't have witnesses and so wouldn't feel the need to kill herself to escape being convicted (okay, so I did still find a stupid moment in there)

(And yeah, I bitched on Blitz far more on Moxxie. There's probably favoritism, at least partially, but all this still seems and feels pretty damn logical. Besides, it does help my opinions on my most favorite that Moxxie took responsibility for his goof-up, complete with apologizing, while for my least favorite, it only hurts when Blitz fucking pinned the blame entirely on Moxx and threatened to rape him and Millie for another screw up. Besides, this is just the first episode of the series proper. I'm sure everyone will take a turn in being an idiot, and in large quantities)

Wanted to include a mug that my family also gifted me. Really cute!

My Thoughts on Chaz's Purpose

So I found out that Chaz, the horny-ass shark demon in Exes and Oohs, was created solely, if not mostly, to prove that the creator wasn't afraid to kill off their characters. I instantly disagreed.

I'm not sure if anyone's ever said this before - and I mean everything that I'm going to say, not just the rest of this sentence - but Viv has killed characters before. Multiple times. The whole premise of her show is that a group of imps go to the human world to kill off people for the citizens of Hell who pay for such services. Even if Viv strayed away from that to focus on a romance between two characters I don't really care for, she at least started off with that premise.

Was Chaz and his fate just to prove that Viv can kill off named characters? Well, that's rendered a moot point because, right off the bat, we have Murder Family, the very first episode of the series proper. There's Martha and Mrs. Mayberry, who died in their debut episodes and we at least feel more for Mrs. Mayberry than we can for Chaz in his own. And hey, as much as we learn little about those two ladies in their debut episode before dying and never coming back again, at least they just seem to be intended to be one time characters so they have that excuse.

Even before the Helluva Boss series starting officially, there's Eddie in the pilot, who also died in his debut episode. So Chaz really doesn't have any significance to the whole 'proving-I-can-kill-characters' thing. The only significance he really has is adding more to Moxxie's backstory. Millie's, too, if that was scrapped. Because yeah, I heard that was going to be included, Millie's backstory with Chaz, but it was taken out when the episode was made.

(Funny thing, Chaz is meant to be hated for being a hyper-sexual jerkass and I enjoyed him far more than I ever did Blitz, who is basically the same thing as Chaz but with more backstory and in a protagonist spot)

Thoughts of Millie’s Depth

You know, I see some posts about Millie’s lack of depth and development, including Viv’s responses to it and I wanna say this. I don’t want so very badly for Millie to have some tragic backstory or dark past. Really, I only want, at most, for Millie to have some sort flaw or something about her to have an episode putting her in the limelight. I mean, everyone else has it so crappy already. Stolas being wed against his will to a sheer bitch and abused and mistreated during that marriage, Blitz with his missing mom and manipulative dad - as much as he’s not present, too - sister doing rehab, and his former best friend hating him and having prothestics for all his limbs, Loona having lived almost all her underage years not being adopted and living in pretty much a kennel, and now Moxxie with a missing, beloved mother and a shitty father who threatened to kill him for disobedience and tried to marry him to a scummy ex against his will.

Honestly, it makes Millie stand out from everyone by not having it so crappy. Feels like a change of pace or a breath of fresh air or something. And really, so far, there’s a number of things I’ve noticed about Millie already that can be an episode.

The selectiveness of when to step in for Moxxie, for starters. If Moxxie’s in physical danger, then yeah, she’ll defend him. But as much as I enjoy watching Millie be a badass - the latest fight in Exes and Oohs was fantastic - Moxxie typically doesn’t handle the danger himself and he probably grew a little too dependent on her to take care of it. In fact, the only notable example I can think of when it comes to Moxxie fighting back is the first episode proper of the series, with the cannibal satan-worshipping family. Even then, that’s more like Moxxie fixing what he had fucked up. In sharp contrast, Blitz sexually and verbally harasses Moxxie and he’s left to defend himself. Loona, too, when she feels particularly active in being a bitch towards him. And there’s Millie’s family, who makes their disapproval very clear, complete with Sally not thinking twice about betting on Moxxie’s life. (And after Exes and Oohs, it hits me even harder in the gut since Moxxie’s own family life was absolute shit growing up). Basically, friends and family apparently get a free pass in Millie’s mind to pick on Moxxie, with only minimal resistance from Millie’s end, if there’s any at all.

In fact, about family getting a pass, Millie never really suspected anything about Crimson when first meeting him, even when there’s a building pile of things wrong. I mean, Moxxie’s tense and uncomfortable behavior the entire time he’s ‘home’ and around his father, the fact Millie’s been his wife for at least a year but has never ever been told about Moxxie’s family or childhood home or past life in general, and the lack of reaction from Crimson’s end when hearing that Chaz, the very same guy he wanted to welcome into the family, landed his son in the slammer. Seriously, no chastising, no threat of bodily harm, nothing. Even Blitz reacted more than that. (Although to be fair to Millie’s lack of suspicions, at least enough to act on them, Blitz was kind of like that, too. He only really investigated shit not because he thought anything was wrong with Crimson but because Blitz was wondering how the fuck someone like Chaz scored with both Millie and Moxxie)

There’s also the fact that Millie has a loving family and good childhood can be made into angst. Maybe Millie feels like she has to be one ensuring everyone gets along and that she can’t tell them about things that bother her. All because everyone else is suffering so much worse and she feels that her problems are minimal in comparison. Or not confiding in people about her problems could even be because of her parents, since they actually had the gall to chastise Millie over losing to a psychopath they hired. I mean, we already get these things in fanfics, it would be nice to see if Viv and her crew makes it happen for real (as in, in canon)

So I repeat: I want Millie to have a spotlight episode. Not a tragic backstory or dark past. Just something about Millie that would get the woman her own episode

A Thought That Came To Me

You know, I think I came up with two concepts for myself when it comes to character portrayal. The Pink Diamond Effect and the Stolas Geotia Effect. And I'll be more than happy to explain more into that. (Warning, though, if I rant here and there. Kinda of spontaneous as I write down opinions and all that) (Another warning, Stolas lovers should stay out of this one)

So I felt like watching Helluva Boss videos on youtube. I would come across Steven Universe ones, too. And I noticed something kinda peculiar about Steven's mom, especially when I compared her to Stolas. Both the gem woman and the demon owl man are exact opposites in character protrayal.

Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond was initially this big force of goodness, who couldn't do anything wrong and was thoroughly, absolutely perfect. The most to mistakes we would hear about is from Greg and, even then, it made Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond more, well, human. (And now that I think about it, did Greg ever find out that he had a child with a diamond? Like, before Steven was born or was it at the same time as everyone else?)

But then the series would go on to reveal how awful Steven's mother was, over and over again. Like I heard from Sarcastic Chorus, was there anyone Pink didn't traumatize when she met them? And really, the main series was already enough to pound in how demonized Pink Diamond is. I'm not sure if much people can keep in mind the good that she did do before being, well, gone for good.

Yeah, Pink Diamond foolishly thought that her family would be discouraged by her death and then be happy that she's gone, had left behind Spinel, and we're not touching all the shit between her and Pearl. But she was the only one to see value in organic life and fought to defend Earth. And the thing is, Earth was her first planet so she likely never saw any planets up close that would still have life on it. So I would like to believe that she's the kind of person who would instantly love whatever her planet is as it is and would fight to defend it. She did it in a way that wasn't rocking the boat too much, up until she did it in a way that ended up overturning the boat. But she at least never realized that and, compared to the other diamonds who just get a weirdly-constructed turn from evil to good, Pink Diamond had a more natural turn from evil to good.

Then there's Stolas. At the start of the series, Stolas was just a closeted gay who discovered a new source of elation and wanted it. Badly. He wanted it so badly that he chose when Blitz was currently being shot at so that Stolas could talk to him. So that Blitz couldn't exactly say 'no' the arrangement presented. Then Stolas gets the bright idea to distract his daughter from the troubles at home by inviting the most painfully physical reminder of the troubles at home as bodyguards and spend a good chunk of the day graphically flirting with Blitz right where Octavia can see and hear it. Even after they made up, Stolas kept focused on sleeping with Blitz (Just because Stolas promised to never leave Octavia for Blitz doesn't mean it can't leave a bad taste in one's mouth if Stolas continues to screw around with Blitz even after his daughter exploding with built-up frustration at Loo Loo Land). And Stolas kept up the baby talk and demeaning names to Blitz until the second to last episode decided that he loves loves the imp for some reason.

Season 2 starts and the show pretends so damn hard that Stolas was never an asshole who just wanted imp dick. Now Stolas is all of a sudden a sensitive, lonely woobie boy who was forced to marry a horrible, abusive girl against his will and has always loved Blitz since first seeing him. And now, whenever anyone tries holding him accountable for anything anymore, it's either by Stella or Striker - antagonists and/or villains who are meant to not be in the right anyways - or by Octavia or Blitz, who are made out to be tragic cases that will resolve itself in an episode's time anyways. In Blitz's case, he'll likely ignore the problem just like how Stolas does, even if it's the opposite way from how Stolas likes to ignore problems. (Although the show itself seems to be doing that. And ironically enough, I would have just been fine with the show if Blitz and Stolas just remained what they were before: mutual assholes to each other, especially if the series was supposed to be episodic)

Long story short, Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond started as an undeniably good person who was beloved by all but then got demonized more and more and more as the show went on. (And seriously, the movie and the sequel series didn't relent on that, either. At fucking ALL). But with Stolas, he started out as an asshole only for the show to eventually start pretending that he never was. And I'm certain the show will keep pounding it in that idea of Stolas being a poor woobie as it goes on

So I'm calling the whole thing, respectively, the Pink Diamond Effect and the Stolas Geotia effect but if anyone has any other ideas, go ahead and tell me. It'll be fun seeing your ideas on what to call it

So I guess I can talk about Helluva Boss overall this time, or at least the main cast plus others. I'm not sure if it's mostly negative or mostly positive this time so just go ahead and read if you want to. Also, I'm going to be mentioning that I read posts on this site kind of often, just so anyone reading knows. And most of, if not all, those posts are ones I've liked - you know, clicking on that heart - so maybe it can be found if you do some digging

So I started watching this show back in 2019 and I was started for this show. Like I said, Blitz didn't leave a good taste in my mouth at the end but it was the start and wanted to see more. To summarize, Blitz didn't get better for me and it got to the point where I was incapable of giving a shit about his feelings in Ozzie's and Queen Bee. It was only until Exes and Oohs that I started accepting him. And that falls flat on its face thanks to Unhappy Campers. Because yeah, I'm incapable of caring about that jackass, especially if the writers want to keep writing him as the jackass who keeps getting away with shit. Some posts tell me where he's coming from, like his brushing off of Stolas in Ozzie's, but there's a difference to me when it comes to having a sympathetic backstory and actually being sympathetic

Loona I found more tolerable than Blitz. She wasn't my favorite most of the time because she acted like a bitch (pun intended). But I faulted more on Blitz for that because he was supposed to be her father but he acts like he just wanted something to dote on practically all the time. That and another post explained that Loona's bound to have developed an association of close physical contact that she herself doesn't initiate and closes in on her swiftly will set off Loona's fight instincts. Which Blitz is bound to set off all the damn time because he won't learn what personal fucking boundaries are. Plus, it does help me that Loona's normally in the background so there's not a lot of moments for me to get pissed off at her.

Millie I found okay. The thing is, like so many people said at this point of time, there's not a lot to her. It's just country girl, loving wife, physically strong woman, and brutal murderer. Loona may not have a lot of screen time or characterization beyond moody goth girl but I at least learned that she's an orphan who got adopted when nearing adult age and that she's anxious about making friends. Unhappy campers tried to fix the characterization and I think it should have been about Millie discovering new things about herself that she never would have otherwise, thanks to another post explaining it. Instead, they make it that she looks at herself with low self-esteem and I guess that's why I didn't feel much for Millie at that big calling out scene the first time I watched it. Because I didn't connect Millie's character with low self-esteem. Yeah, I didn't get much from how she acted before but I still had something. And none of what I did get indicated that low self-esteem was a possibility for Millie

Moxxie is my most favorite and it's mostly because of him that I'm watching the show at this point. I get some other cool stuff, like Ozzie and Fizz or Queen Bee, but whenever an episode comes by, it's Moxxie I'm looking forward to the most. Yeah, he's got his flaws like the low self-esteem (which is made obvious or at least obvious enough) and the nitpicking attitude. Honestly, I'm at fault for likely, if not definitely, downplaying the bad traits of Moxxie if I ever write fanfiction and the only thing keeping me from feeling guilty is that I'm hardly the first one to downplay negative traits for a favored character in fanfiction. (Seriously, I know someone who writes Blitz so favorably that I feel like I'm seeing a better character with the same name and backstory). Well, that and I'm still trying to write good stories when I write fanfics. The shortest I ever spent on writing fanfics would be a chunk of hours in a day and even staying up to 3 or 4 in the morning if it means making it better than otherwise.

Stolas, I was neutral towards but I didn't care much about him as time went on. It's like, if he can keep Blitz company, especially if he really wants to, then fine. Don't care. Besides, I still remember that post saying that Stolas is a bad dad because he won't stop being horny for Blitz that he just flirts with Blitz right in front of Octavia and keeps screwing around with the imp even after the second episode of season 1. Even when reading another post explaining that Stolas is just unlearned about social stuff thanks to how his childhood and his life was like, I still find it bad because it means Stolas is so desperate for companionship that he won't control his sexual demeanor even around his daughter. It never occurs to Stolas in the fucking first place to control himself and it's not like he's never caught Octavia being disgusted by his behavior before. I do find Stolas better than Blitz because he's certainly of nicer demeanor but he's capable of being selfish. He always had been, since the start what with the transactional fucking that was entirely Stolas's idea and Stolas proposing it when Blitz was running for his life and the horny-ass owl should have realized that since he was scrying on Blitz at the time. I would have been fine with both Stolas and Blitz being assholes to each other if they didn't pretend otherwise and still formed a relationship when forming an understanding of each other. And the fact that both Stolas and the show are pretending the owl's done nothing wrong irks me

While I'm at it, I dislike that Stella is so fucking flat. I mean, I don't have a problem with her being an abusive sadist. It's just so boring for her to pick on Stolas for just kicks and giggles. Honestly, it's weird that, by sheer coincidence, that Helluva Boss has the female characters be blander in comparison to the guys. That the male characters are more dynamic than the ladies. They even wrote Chaz with more in his one debut appearance, that he's a horny too-dumb-to-live homewrecker who likely had deep feelings for Moxxie and was part of the Knolastname mob. Like I said, Millie is four things: country girl, loving wife, physically strong woman, and brutal murderer. I don't see much else and the reveal of low self-esteem is just not connecting in my mind. Loona is a moody goth orphan girl who lashes out at anyone and everyone who wrongs her and Octavia is a moody goth girl who has parents and would keep her rebellion more subdued whenever someone upsets her. Verosika is a bitter ex, although not without reason. Barbie is female Blitz with a different life and is more competent at whatever she's doing. In the meantime, we know that Blitz and Fizz grew up in the circus together, had a falling out either as friends or more because Fizz became famous while Blitz didn't, Blitz is a jerkass who wants to be loved but considers it terrifying for some damn reason so he's a clingy fucker who also keeps pushing away until it explodes. Moxxie is a nervous wreck who's desperate to be loved, too, and so becomes a pushover. He's the only son to a sociopathic mob boss of a father in the Greed Ring. He likes music and theater and is a good chef and is super nitpicky and can come off as condescending and definitely gets stuck in his own head at times. Stolas has a neglectful father, likely been raised by an imp butler his whole childhood, liked Blitz when he first saw him for whatever reason, is oblivious to other people not having fun at best and willingly ignoring it at worst, is close-minded about affairs and cheating and so deflects from taking responsibility, loves his daughter but is rather incompetent at times if Loo Loo Land and Seeing Stars is any indication, is depressed to the point of taking happy pills but keeps taking abuse or will run away if it means not directly dealing with confrontation. Even Crimson is written better since he was better at being abusive than Stella (weird thing to say, I just realized that). He's the boss of a mob so that means that he's likely had a horrid upbringing on top of being in Hell, you can come up with all kinds of shit for it. And it's not just Helluva Boss, either, because I can remember that Angel is a gay man in the 1940s and part of the mob and that Alastor is a cannibal serial killer who has a radio gimmick and Husk is an old man who lived up to his 70s in the 70s and has been raised in a casino or grew up in one and speaks multiple languages. In the meantime, I remember that Charlie is the princess of Hell, that Vaggie is Salvadoran and the most recent death in 2014, and Niffty died in the fifties. So yeah, weird coincidence that I'm getting a lot more out of the male characters than the female ones.

Bottom line, I'm glad to read as many analytical posts as I do. I get to see what so many different people think and decide for myself what to believe in or to see things I wouldn't have on my own. And my personal opinion is, I can't care about one main character or his life but I do have another I do care about and I wanna see where his life goes. So that means there's still something in this show to look forward to and that's probably the way it is for most people. There's something for everyone