This is the article about the episode. For the character, see Beelzebub. |
Queen Bee is the eighth episode of the first season of Helluva Boss, the eighth episode overall, and a special that is the second part of the first season's finale. It premiered on June 24, 2023, on Vivziepop's YouTube channel, after being delayed for over a year.[1]
Plot[]
Loona is sitting in a cab when she gets a call from Blitzo. She ignores it and nervously steps out in front of a honeycomb-like mansion with the party already in swing. Loona texts Vortex that she's arrived and fixes herself in time for him to greet her and let her in.
Inside, Vortex introduces Loona to the other patrons and leaves to get her a drink. Loona tries to join a conversation with a group of hellbeasts but their leader, Vikki, recognizes her as "Lunatic Loona" and mocks her for actually showing up at a party after throwing up at the last one. She then comments on Loona's aggressive vibe. Loona calls her a "massive bitch" at the top of her lungs, earning shocked expressions from everyone nearby; she is then told that she can't really say that word. Vortex returns with Loona's drink and notices something is wrong, but Loona brushes it off as nothing. Then, the party-goers are introduced to the hostess, Beelzebub, Sin of Gluttony, who livens up the party by singing Cotton Candy.
After the song, Beelzebub greets Vortex and gushes at how "cute" Loona is, excusing her laughter from taking in all of the positive energy from the party and apologizing that it wasn't bigger for her since Belphegor refused to let her use any more of her drugs and locking them up so she couldn't steal any. Vortex then introduces Bee to Loona as his girlfriend.
Loona blurts out that she thinks Beelzebub is "really hot", the demon is impressed with how honest she is, calling Loona her new favorite person. After rambling about when she saw Satan remove his shirt, Beelzebub tells Loona to enjoy the party, and leaves to check on the other guests. Embarrassed, Loona immediately decides to leave despite Vortex asking her to stay for a drink; she steps outside and texts Blitzo, who is now home after his night out, to pick her up.
Blitzo arrives in his van when another imp recognizes him, thinking he is here for the party. Blitzo clarifies that he's only here to take his daughter home. Loona, who notices that Blitzo is fondly recognized and after another hellhound calls her a "hottie", reconsiders her decision and convinces Blitzo to let her try the party again. Blitzo agrees to stay for "one" drink.
A full kegger later, Blitzo asks for a more significant challenge. Beelzebub obliges and challenges him to a keg-drinking contest with her strongest stash of Beelzebub juice. With encouragement from Loona, Blitzo downs the keg in record time and is graciously crowned the winner by the demon, who has just been bested in this kind of combat. After Blitzo is carried away, Beelzebub senses that something is off.
Later, Loona is chatting with some guests when Vortex and Beelzebub walk over, suggesting that she check on her dad to ensure he is alright. Beelzebub says she feels he is intentionally trying to cause trouble and may be hurting. Loona insists that Blitzo is OK, as this is normal for him. However, Beelzebub insists that something may be wrong, explaining that her demonic powers of empathy allow her to sense the vibes of all her party guests - vibes that enable her to tell the difference between enjoying the party and self-destructive behavior. Upon hearing this, Loona gets defensive, sarcastically claiming that everyone likes her, and angers the demon. Loona prepares to challenge Beelzebub when hostilities escalate but agrees to check on Blitzo when she notices how uncomfortable Vortex is. Beelzebub apologizes to Vortex about her behavior and then brings him to the dancefloor.
Loona searches for Blitzo and finds him making out with another imp. Blitzo is only concerned that Loona saw him until he remembers the imp's name. He then shoves "Dennis" away and asks for Monica or Alejandro to make out with. Loona punches out an imp who obliges the offer and then carries Blitzo out of the party, waving goodbye to her new friends and driving back home. Loona asks if Blitzo needs to vomit, but he just says no.
Back home, Loona carries Blitzo to the couch and gets him a glass of water and a blanket. He admits that he had a shitty day and says, "Fizz was right about [him] dying alone," asking Loona to be with him when the time comes and drunkenly falls asleep. Loona tucks Blitzo in and swears that she'll be there if such a time does come. She goes to her room, closing the door behind her after giving her dad one last look. Immediately after, Blitzo vomits out the Beelzejuice, realizing that he really did need to throw up.
Features[]
Characters[]
- Employees of I.M.P
- Stolas (mentioned)
- Barbie Wire (pictured)
- Vortex
- Seven Deadly Sins
- Fizzarolli (mentioned)
- Dennis (debut; cameo)
- Vikki (debut; cameo)
- Loo Loo (pictured)
Locations[]
- Hell
- Pride Ring (cameo)
- Gluttony Ring (debut)
Objects[]
- I.M.P. company van
- Loona's phone
- Beelzejuice
Music[]
Songs[]
- "Cotton Candy"
- "Monster's Ball" (end credits)
Instrumentals[]
- "Stolas Speaks"
- "My World Is Burning Down Around Me" (in Blitzo's car radio)
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode that does not feature a synopsis in the video's description, in its place is a message of gratitude from Vivienne Medrano.
- This episode has one scene shown at the beginning from the 2022 trailer, to which this shot was completed and improved.
- This episode features the guest voice of American singer, Kesha Sebert, as the voice of Beelzebub. Sebert also co-wrote the episodes' song "Cotton Candy" with Drew Pearson, while Beelzebub's singing voice was provided by Rochelle Diamante.
- Beelzebub's design may be inspired by the Zoophobia character JayJay, who is known for appearing in Medrano's well-known animated music video adaptation of Ke$ha's song, "Die Young". The brief lighting shot, where Beelzebub's fur temporarily changed to blue, also indicates the homage.
- Prior to this episode, Vivziepop has stated multiple times that she would want Ke$ha, her favorite singer, to star one day in an episode of any shows she created.[citation needed]
- When Loona first walks into the party, the song that plays is, "Soul Train" by the Glimmers.
- Like the previous episode, "Ozzie's", this episode's title card features a demonic sigil of a Deadly Sin, being the sigil of Beelzebub, however unlike "Ozzie's", the title card also features a small silhouette of Beelzebub herself.
- The two episodes that have done this, so far, both have their plots centering around one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
- This is the first, and so far the only episode to not feature the warning screen at the beginning.
- Two of the valley girl hellhounds have a striking resemblance to Vaggie and Velvette from Hazbin Hotel, with the former even having the same hairstyle.
- The voice of the off-screen character that shouted "You can't say that" was provided by animation director Skye Henwood, albeit uncredited.[2]
- According to Vivziepop, "Queen Bee" was the most challenging/longest episode to make.[3]
- This episode also took the longest to be released, being meant to release after the first season's seventh episode, "Ozzie's", and before season two began, but due to copyright reasons it was postponed. The episode released one year, seven months, and twenty-three days total after its previous episode, resulting in its release being after the second season's fourth episode, "Western Energy".
- In a reply to a question about how the continuity may have changed without the episode releasing when it was supposed to, Vivienne states the episode just exists on its own and will fit in after "Ozzie's".[4]
- This episode also took the longest to be released, being meant to release after the first season's seventh episode, "Ozzie's", and before season two began, but due to copyright reasons it was postponed. The episode released one year, seven months, and twenty-three days total after its previous episode, resulting in its release being after the second season's fourth episode, "Western Energy".
- In a tweet update about the series, it was stated that the seventh episode was the "real story finale of the season" and further explaining that episode eight was created as a bonus episode anyway.[5]
- According to Vivziepop, episode eight is "very much a spectacle", with a simple story as a direct follow up to another episode.[6]
- This is the first time wherein Loona calls Blitzo her dad without hesitation.
- As opposed to the Belphegor in real-life demonology, the Hellaverse's Belphegor is also a girl, like Beelzebub herself.
- Vivienne Medrano wrote the line "Christ on a stick, you WOULD be a Dennis", which Brandon Rogers called her and told her it was a joke he would have written, which at the time Vivienne was still early into writing with him.[7]
- According to Sam Miller, the scene where Loona asks Blitzo if he needed to throw up and says he doesn't, then proceeds to do so is based on the real-life event with Vivienne Medrano after the two left a bar.[8] Vivienne confirms this in a quote retweet and adds that it happened after the Hazbin Hotel pilot screening party, and that it was her first ever hangover.[9]
- Also according to Sam Miller, Bombproof was designed with the fire mane and lava belly as a test to see if Beelzebub's hair and lava belly were possible to do.[10]
- Additionally, as revealed in the rough drafts from the official artist Twitter posts, Beelzebub's lava lamp-like body is green screened onto her character.[11]
- Despite the episode being dubbed in Indonesian, the songs are not dubbed unlike the rest of the songs in season 1, however, the lyrics are still localized for the subtitles.
Cultural References[]
- The valley girl hellhounds use the remark "So not fetch!" is a reference to both the film and the musical, Mean Girls. Coincidentally, Barrett Wilbert Weed, voice of Octavia, played Janis Ian in the Broadway musical and Erika Henningsen, who plays Cady Heron in the musical, is also contributing voices in Hazbin Hotel.
- The line that brought about that remark, "I'm not gonna go get it, unless you fucking throw it this time", may be referring to the common game played between a human and a dog in which the human throws an object for the pet to retrieve called Fetch.
- An imp is wearing a shirt saying Voxflix and Chill, a reference to "Netflix and Chill" as well as the character Vox himself.
- Coincidentally, the "Voxflix" brand frequently appeared in the non-canon Voxtagram stories.
- The scene where Beelzebub materializes a mini rainbow when she says she might have gotten a rainbow in her vagina might be a reference to the SpongeBob SquarePants "Imagination" scene where he makes a similar rainbow from his hands in the episode "Idiot Box".
- After she surfaces from the honey, Beelzebub does the iconic hair shake of Ariel from the classic Disney film The Little Mermaid.
- When Loona finds Blitzo again during the party, one of the Hellhounds in attendance closely resembles the title character of the film, Rover Dangerfield, both in appearance and the t-shirt he's wearing with the words "no respect" printed on the front.
- The episode title shares the same name as one of Rochelle Diamante's, who is the singing voice of Beelzebub, music videos from 2012.
- During the "Cotton Candy" performance, the scene where Bee dives and swims into her pool of honey may be a reference to the Bee Movie, wherein Barry does something similar in order to avoid listening to his parents.
- According to Carolina Páez, the bottle of Smear-noff her houndsona was holding was based on a Smirnoff bottle.[12]
Continuity[]
- The first half of the episode takes place roughly during the events of "Ozzie's", as Loona rejects Blitzo's call early in the episode, meaning the remainder of the events of the previous episode play out during Beelzebub's song. The second half of the episode is set some time after the events of "Ozzie's", as Blitzo receives a call from Loona while on his couch from after dropping Stolas off at his mansion.
- Cécilia Goncalves thinks the party may take place a few months after "The Harvest Moon Festival".[13]
- One of the imp partygoers is the impsona of Cécilia Goncalves whom Striker kicked away in "The Harvest Moon Festival", who is seen wearing an arm sling due to the injury of being mauled shortly after.
- When Loona was filling up a glass of water, a magnet of Loo Loo Land can be seen on the fridge.
- The alcohol Bee and Blitzo drinks (which the latter later throws up), is Beelzejuice, the same alcohol Verosika drinks.
Errors[]
- Loona pronounces Beelzejuice as "Beezlejuice" (bee-zel-juice).
- In the previous episode, Blitzo has a red shirt under his jacket and cries himself to sleep at the end. When he receives Loona's phone call, he has a white shirt that says "Wild Whores" and he is sitting up snoring.
- During the scene where Beelzebub says "Get fucked tonight!", the wine glass she shoves does not align with the pug-like demon's mouth.
- When Beelzebub comments on Loona being hilarious, Vortex's gray fur is colored black.
- When Beelzebub goes full demon and tells Loona not to fuck with her, her eyes are a bright raspberry pink, but when Loona sees an embarrassed Vortex and leaves, her eyes become dark burgundy.
- At 5:08, there is an audio mixing error where the song Cotton Candy seems to duplicate with a different voice, likely a remnant from the original Kesha version.
Transcript[]
View the episode's transcript here.
Gallery[]
Video[]
References[]
v • e Episodes | ||
---|---|---|
Hazbin Hotel | Helluva Boss | |
Series Guide | ||
Pilot | That's Entertainment | Helluva Boss pilot |
Season 1 (HH • HB) |
Overture • Radio Killed the Video Star • Scrambled Eggs • Masquerade • Dad Beat Dad • Welcome to Heaven • Hello Rosie! • The Show Must Go On | Murder Family • Loo Loo Land • Spring Broken • C.H.E.R.U.B • The Harvest Moon Festival • Truth Seekers • Ozzie's • Queen Bee |
Season 2 (HH • HB) |
TBA | The Circus • Seeing Stars • Exes and Oohs • Western Energy • Unhappy Campers • Oops • MAMMON'S MAGNIFICENT MUSICAL MID-SEASON SPECIAL (ft Fizzarolli) • The Full Moon • Apology Tour • Ghostf**kers • Mastermind |
Season 3 (HH • HB) |
TBA | TBA |
Season 4 (HH • HB) |
TBA | TBA |
Shorts (HB) |
N/A | Hell's Belles • Mission: Antarctica • Mission: Weeaboo-boo • Mission: Chupacabras |