Dad Beat Dad

"How come he can support me while my own father can’t?!"

- Charlie Morningstar, to Lucifer

Dad Beat Dad is the fifth episode of the first season of Hazbin Hotel, and the fifth episode overall. It premiered on January 26, 2024, on Prime Video.

Synopsis

 * Charlie struggles with asking her father, Lucifer, for help. Meanwhile, an unexpected new arrival shakes things up at the Hotel.

Plot
The episode begins with Vaggie waking up in a morning. When she wakes up, Vaggie notices that Charlie isn't with her in bed. She comes to the lobby where Angel Dust, Husk, and Niffty are watching Charlie frantically making plans and wondering how her redemption plan at the hotel isn’t working, even after five months of hard work trying to get more Demons into the hotel. She has been up all night making a plan, looking sleep-deprived. With all of their plans failing, and the deadline to the Extermination approaching, Vaggie tells Charlie the only thing she can do: call her father, Lucifer Morningstar. Charlie refuses, because he was the one who let the Extermination happen to the Sinners and not the Hellborn demons. Then, Charlie realizes that Lucifer can arrange a meeting with the highest authority in Heaven, higher than Adam because, in Charlie's words, "he was an asshole." At first, Charlie seems enthused about the phone call, but finds herself hesitant because after he and her mother, Lilith, separated, the two had been estranged, with Husk indicating that she has daddy issues. Angel insists, saying he wanted to meet the King of Hell, as Niffty calls him the "ultimate bad boy".

Lucifer turns out to be an awkward, goofy man who copes with his isolation by crafting and hoarding tons of rubber ducks, spending years in his home with minimal contact. Because of this, he is depressed, further separating him from Charlie. However, Lucifer receives a call from Charlie, much to his excitement and answers enthusiastically. Charlie asks Lucifer if he can get in touch with Heaven to arrange a meeting with the higher authority, but Lucifer refuses to do it. However, once Charlie invites him to the hotel, so he can see the work she's doing, Lucifer becomes ecstatic tells her he'll be there in an hour.

Charlie and the hotel occupants work on getting the place ready for his visit. Alastor arrives later, noticing the decor in the lobby. Once everything is ready, Lucifer arrives, hugging Charlie. Alastor becomes annoyed upon seeing Lucifer and Charlie interact. Charlie introduces her father to everyone, with Alastor immediately insulting Lucifer. Lucifer begins throwing jabs as well, leading to Alastor cursing at him. In the heated moment, as a chandelier drops in front of Lucifer, he starts with a song: Hell's Greatest Dad, by attempting to display that he is a better father figure, but Alastor joins in, mocking him by claiming that he was always there for Charlie when she needed someone to fix the hotel and that he views her as a daughter. Right before the fight escalated further, Mimzy unexpectedly arrives at the hotel. Lucifer asks Charlie to show him around, with Alastor joining in because he and Charlie started the hotel together.

As Charlie, Lucifer, and Alastor tour the hotel, Mimzy gets a drink with the other occupants, and tells them the story of Alastor. Back when he first appeared in Hell, he started making a name for himself by killing and devouring powerful Overlords, and became know as the Radio Demon by broadcasting their screams. She claims that despite this, he’s a sweetheart and that Alastor hasn't done that for years.

Meanwhile, Husk calls Alastor aside. Because he's been with Alastor for so long, Husk is aware that whenever Mimzy comes to him, she needs something from him, and that usually causes trouble. Alastor dismisses this, telling Husk not to worry about a thing since he will take care of it. Husk argues with him briefly, mentioning that Alastor is also ‘on a leash’. This greatly angers Alastor, who resorts to threatening Husk, claiming that if he ever mentions the leash again, he'll tear his soul apart and broadcast his screams on the radio, terrifying Husk.

After the tour, Lucifer is still unwilling to arrange a meeting with Heaven, believing that Charlie will be let down just like he was. Just then, an horde of loan shark mafia attacks the hotel, demanding Mimzy. Mimzy revealed that she borrowed $50,000 dollars from them, and didn't pay them back, then stole their car, and crashed it into the loan sharks' girlfriend. The loan shark mafia attacks them with a catapult, firing a barrage of fireballs at the hotel. As the guests and workers scrambles in panic, Alastor appears, and takes on the mafia himself by transforming into his gigantic demon form before emerging out of the hotel to attack and devour every single one of them. While Alastor takes care of the mafia, Lucifer points out that sinners are not worth saving because they always bring violence and chaos. Infuriated, Charlie argues with her father, claiming that despite Alastor's sadistic and monstrous nature, he is still defending the hotel since he has faith in her plans, and questions why her father doesn’t.

After Alastor devours the last mafia gangster, he returns to his original form. Mimzy thanks Alastor for helping her once again, but Alastor tells Mimzy to leave because she endangered the hotel and expected him to clean up her mess.

Charlie begs Lucifer to help her, but he refuses and emphasizes that Heaven never listens, and because they don't listen to him, they'll never listen to her, expressing his feelings through a song, More Than Anything. Charlie joins in, telling her father that she is still going to try to save her people no matter what happens with her redemption plan. Convinced, Lucifer arranges a meeting with Heaven before disappearing. Charlie tells that Vaggie that they're going to Heaven together, much to Vaggie's dismay.

Characters

 * Employees of the Hazbin Hotel
 * Charlie Morningstar
 * Vaggie
 * Alastor
 * Husk
 * Niffty
 * KeeKee
 * Razzle and Dazzle
 * Clients of the Hazbin Hotel
 * Angel Dust
 * Sir Pentious
 * Egg Boiz (cameo)
 * The Royal Family
 * Lucifer Morningstar (official debut)
 * Lilith (non-speaking cameo; flashback)
 * Mimzy (official debut)
 * Charlie's phone contacts (names only)
 * Amon
 * Azazel
 * Barbatos
 * Belphegor
 * Cyhyraeth
 * Overlords (pictured)
 * Frederick von Eldritch
 * Vox
 * Seviathan von Eldritch (pictured)
 * Loan sharks (cameo)
 * God (indirectly mentioned)
 * Travis (silhouette only)

Locations

 * Hell
 * Pride Ring
 * Pentagram City
 * Hazbin Hotel
 * Charlie's room (cameo)
 * Lucifer's mansion

Objects

 * Lucifer's rubber duck collection
 * Charlie's hellphone
 * Lucifer's hellphone
 * Beelzejuice (name only)

Songs

 * "Hell's Greatest Dad"
 * "More Than Anything"

Trivia

 * It is revealed that Sir Pentious can bake.
 * It is revealed that Mimzy and Alastor knew each other back when they were human.
 * It is also revealed that Mimzy only visits Alastor to ask him to get her out of trouble.
 * This is the first episode to show Charlie's bedroom.
 * Husk mentions Alastor being "also on a leash", implying he is in a deal with or works for someone else.
 * It is revealed that Lucifer has developed depression after his wife left him, alongside the fact that his daughter barely contacts him.
 * Despite this, he is still shown to have his wedding ring on his finger.
 * It is revealed that Lucifer tried to convince Heaven to stop the genocide against the sinners before Charlie.
 * As of this episode, Lucifer has decided to support Charlie's dream of making the hotel a success.
 * During the Hell's Greatest Dad sequence, the scene of Lucifer on his throne is a reference to his character redesign reveal on the official Hazbin Hotel Twitter.
 * Mimzy is shown to have a tattoo on her back of Mammon's initial, the same logo can be seen throughout the merchandise the audience wears during the Helluva Boss episode, "MAMMON'S MAGNIFICENT MUSICAL MID-SEASON SPECIAL (ft Fizzarolli)".
 * This is the first time in the main series wherein Alastor swears, where he says "Fuck you" to Lucifer. The only other instance of this happening is in The Radio Demon comic.
 * In the official Portuguese Brazilian dub, a voice filter was added to Lucifer when he threatened Razzle and Dazzle to make him sound more demonic. This was not applied in any of the other dubs.
 * One of the portraits in Lucifer's mansion reveals that Charlie had an emo phase when she was younger. This was confirmed to be during junior high school.
 * Additionally, two of the family photos Lucifer has framed on his mansion wall are drawn by storyboard artist @LudoDoodle on Twitter.
 * During the Hell's Greatest Dad sequence, it is revealed that Lucifer still has his wings from when he was an angel, and at one point, it is shown on his mouth that he still retains the same yellowish gold blood that angels have.
 * In an interview with Vivziepop, it is revealed that Alastor does not actually see Charlie as a daughter figure and only insisted to get under Lucifer's skin and bother him.
 * In a tweet, Vivziepop mentioned that one of her favorite exchanges to write was the one between Alastor and Lucifer that ended with Alastor saying "Fuck you".
 * The alphabet blocks in the background of Lucifer's room contain the initials of the Princess Bento's background team.

Cultural references

 * The three books Charlie is carrying in "Hell's Greatest Dad" have the colors of the bisexual pride flag.
 * Additionally, in the same music sequence, the nun outfit Alastor puts on has the Sulfur Cross in alchemy, often called a "Leviathan Cross" or "Satan's Cross".
 * Lucifer stating how he can get Charlie "Michelin-tasting" food is a reference to the real-life Michelin Stars given as positive ratings for restaurants.
 * Lucifer telling Charlie to check his reviews on Yelp is a reference to the real-life American company of the same name that lets people give their ratings on various kinds of businesses or services.
 * Lucifer playing a gold fiddle may be a reference to the country song "", in which the Devil, looking for a soul to steal, makes a bet against a man named Johnny, saying that if he could play the fiddle better than him, he could have the golden fiddle, otherwise, the Devil would get his soul.
 * The episode title is a reference to the phrase, "".
 * Charlie with the conspiracy board is a reference to the Pepe Silvia meme and scene from the live action sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, wherein Charlie Kelly (played by Charlie Day) conspires about how Pepe Silvia does not exist.
 * Husk is seen holding an orange mug which reads "Fuck Mondays", a reference to Garfield.
 * Lucifer's ringtone is "Entry of the Gladiators", a song often heard in and associated with circus performances.
 * The following beings in Charlie's contacts, according to real-life mythologies (excluding Belphegor's), are as follows:
 * Amon is a grand marquis and the seventh spirit of the Ars Goetia.
 * Azazel is a fallen angel responsible for introducing humans to forbidden knowledge, as described in the Book of Enoch.
 * Barbatos is the eighth spirit named among the list of seventy-two demons in The Lesser Key of Solomon.
 * Cyhyraeth is a ghostly spirit in Welsh mythology, often depicted as a disembodied moaning voice that sounds before a person's death.
 * Lucifer's obsession with rubber ducks may be a reference to the real-life biblical tale of "The Duck and the Devil".
 * The cabinet full of rubber ducks might also be a nod to the  episode "King George and the Ducky".
 * The one scene with the Hell roaches having sex may be a reference to the opening scene in the locker rooms of the HBO Max series, .
 * The "It's A Boy!" banner used to decorate the hotel for Lucifer's arrival may be a reference to a similar banner used to celebrate Pearl's birthday in the  episode "Whale of a Birthday".

Continuity

 * Charlie reveals in her phone call with her dad that five months has passed since the events of "Overture".
 * Vaggie also stating how they already tried having a meeting with Heaven is a callback to the first episode.
 * Charlie recalling having done trust falls among other group exercises with the gang is a callback to "Radio Killed the Video Star" and "Scrambled Eggs", respectively.
 * A revised rendition of Charlie's hellschool prom photo with Seviathan von Eldritch from the pilot can be seen briefly on a wall of Lucifer's mansion.
 * Alastor telling Lucifer he renamed the hotel is a callback to the pilot, where the former uses his magic to change the "Happy Hotel" into the "Hazbin Hotel".

Errors

 * Charlie states that the extermination is in a "couple months" but later in the episode notes that it's been five months since she met with Adam, meaning the extermination is actually in one month. The latter is confirmed in the following episode.
 * When Lucifer notices the bar, his rosy cheeks disappear.
 * During Hell's Greatest Dad, Dazzle's teeth are white instead of yellow.
 * During the scene where Charlie asks her dad what he thought of the Hotel, Vaggie's arms are resting on thin air rather than on the railings.

Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.

Gallery

 * Dad Beat Dad/Gallery