Dad Beat Dad

"My daughter wants to see meeee! Take that, depression!"

- Lucifer Morningstar, after Charlie invites him for a visit at the hotel

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 came to the lobby where Angel Dust, Husk, and Niffty were watching Charlie frantically making plans and wonders how her redemption plan at the hotel wasn't working, even after five months of hard work trying to get more Demons into the hotel. She was up all night trying to plan out, that she was messy and is going insane. With all of their plans failing, and the deadline to the Extermination approaching, Vaggie tells Charlie the only one 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 has gotten the best idea, if she can call her father, then Lucifer can get her to have a meeting with the highest authority in Heaven, higher than Adam because, in Charlie's words, "he was an asshole." At first, Charlie went along with making the phone call, but finds herself hesitant because after he and her mother, Lilith, seperated, Lucifer has never spoken or seen her in years, which Husk indicated that she's got daddy issues. Angel insisted because he wanted to meet the King of Hell, as Niffty called him the "ultimate bad boy".

Lucifer turns out to be a insane, goofy King who copes with his isolation by crafting and hoarding tons of rubber ducks, spending years in his home with no contacts. Despite all that, he is still depressed because his wife separated from him, and makes it hard to talk to Charlie. However, Lucifer receives a call from Charlie, much to his excitement and calls back. Charlie asks Lucifer if he can get in touch with Heaven to arrange a meeting with the higher authority, but Lucifer could not do it, but Charlie offers him to the hotel, so he can see the work she's doing. Lucifer was ecstatic when Charlie invites him over and tells her he'll be there in an hour.

Charlie and the hotel occupants have gotten the place ready for his visit, as Alastor came by, noticing the fuzz in the lobby. Once everything was ready, Lucifer came to the door and hugs Charlie. Unbeknownst to anyone, Alastor was somehow ticked off when he sees Lucifer in the hotel. Charlie introduces her father to everyone, and Lucifer and Alastor meet each other for the the first time, and already, they dislike each other to the point where they start hurdling insults. Lucifer saw Alastor as a rival since he's winning Charlie's affection more, and, in the heated moment when a chandelier "accidentally" drops in front of him, he starts with a song: Hell's Greatest Dad, by proving to be a better father, but Alastor joins in, mocking him as he was always there for Charlie when she needed someone to fix the hotel. Right before Lucifer and Alastor could get at each other, Mimzy unexpectedly arrives to the hotel. Alastor offers a tour to the hotel with Charlie for Lucifer, despite he insisted on Charlie doing it herself, but since Alastor joins in because he started the hotel together.

As Charlie and Alastor tours the hotel, Mimzy gets a drink with the other occupants, and tells them the story of Alastor. Back when he was first appear in Hell, he started making a name himself by killing and devouring Overlords, powerful and small, and became a Radio Demon by broadcasting their screams. Despite that, Alastor hasn't done that over years.

Meanwhile, Husk came to talk with Alastor during the midst of the tour. Because he's been with Alastor for so long, Husk knows that whenever Mimzy comes to him, she needs something from him, and that caused a lot of trouble back before. Alastor was dismissive of that, telling Husk not to worry about a thing since he will take care of it. Husk insults Alastor, believing that even when he owns his soul, he knows Alastor is still working for someone more powerful than him. Alastor got angry, and binds Husk's soul to his chain, threatening him that if he ever cross him again, he'll burn his soul and broadcast his scream in the radio, scaring Husk to death.

Meanwhile, after the tour, and despite the good intentions, Lucifer cannot simply get Charlie to have a meeting with the higher authority because Heaven is cruelly unjust with their rules, and the Sinners are the worst kind of demons to help since they're all so violent, even when he gave them free will, they're still terrible people, and he didn't want Charlie to risk herself in a line for people like them. Just then, an horde of loan shark mafia attacks the hotel, demanding Mimzy to come and die. Mimzy revealed that she borrowed $50,000 dollars from them, and didn't pay them back before stealing their car, and crashing 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 and defense, 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 despite her good intention. Infuriated, Charlie has a argument with Lucifer, and 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 couldn't.

After Alastor devours the last mafia gangster, he returns to his original form. Mimzy was relieved that Alastor had helped her once again, but Alastor tells Mimzy to leave because she was the one who brought the mafia to the hotel, endangering the residents and the workers.

Charlie begs Lucifer to help her, but he cannot and emphasizes that Heaven never listens, and because they don't listen to him, they'll never listen to her, expressing through a song, More Than Anything, and Charlie joins in, telling her father that she is still going to save her people no matter what with her redemption plan. Convinced, Lucifer is going to arrange 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 (cameo)
 * Razzle and Dazzle (cameo)
 * Clients of the Hazbin Hotel
 * Angel Dust
 * Sir Pentious
 * Egg Boiz (pictured)
 * The Royal Family
 * Lucifer Morningstar (official debut)
 * Lilith (non-speaking cameo; flashback)
 * Mimzy (official debut)
 * Razzle and Dazzle
 * Charlie's phone contacts (names only)
 * Amon
 * Azazel
 * Barbatos
 * Belphegor
 * Cyhyraeth
 * The von Eldritch family (pictured)
 * Frederick von Eldritch
 * Seviathan von Eldritch
 * Vox (pictured)
 * Loan sharks (cameo)

Locations

 * Hell
 * Pride Ring
 * Pentagram City
 * Hazbin Hotel
 * 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.
 * 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 right shoulder blade depicting the same logo shown on the many T-shirts worn by Fizzoralli and other Imps as seen during the events of 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 Hazbin Hotel comic, The Radio Demon.
 * 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 pictures in Lucifer's mansion reveals that Charlie had an emo phase when she was younger.
 * 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.

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".
 * 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 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, Velma.
 * 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 SpongeBob SquarePants 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.

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 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