Recap / Helluva Boss S2E4 "Western Energy"

Striker: You don't get to talk over me! I don't have to listen to your bullshit! All you royals ever do is try to talk over us!

When Stolas tries to negotiate the terms of his divorce from Stella with her brother, things sure do happen - namely, Striker kidnaps Stolas in order to kill him under Stella's orders, leaving Moxxie and Millie with the task of rescuing him while Blitzo takes Loona to get her hellbies shot.

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Tropes for this episode include:

• Accidental Misnaming: The doctor refers to Blitzo and Loona as Bingo and Tuna.
• Affectionate Nickname: Noticeably, despite generally being a scheming asshole, Andrealphus also refers to his niece Octavia as "Via", the same way as people who like her. The exact significance of this is not exactly clear yet, but it's notable.
• Afraid of Needles: Loona is very shaken up at having to get her hellbies shot, going completely silent for the entire episode.
• All There in the Manual: Tweets leading up to this episode confirm that the hospital is located in the Sloth Ring.
• All There in the Script: The demon nurse who can't spell or read is named Muffy by Viv in a tweet.
• Ambiguous Situation: When Striker tortures Stolas, Stolas constantly remarks how Blitzo has done worse to him in bed. It's never made clear if he was serious or if he did that to make Striker not feel as powerful. Downplayed in that he does tear up over where Blitzo was and when he was going to save him.
• And You Thought It Was a Game: Downplayed. To begin with, Blitzo clearly thinks Stolas calling him about being abducted is just yet another stunt he does to try to get his attention, but when he realizes that Striker is involved, he realizes that the situation is at least serious enough to warrant arranging some back-up for Stolas. That said, he still managed to underestimate the full gravity of the situation (though admittedly, mostly because he didn't know the detail that Striker had come prepared and equipped to take on a higher ranking demon), and the fact that Stolas ended up getting seriously hurt to a degree where he needed medical attention comes as to a major shock to him.
• Badass in Distress: Stolas ends up being taken hostage by Striker in the opening of the episode. While normally he'd be able to escape Striker no problem, Striker came prepared with Blessed Rope, a heavenly object that acts as Anti-Magic to Stolas.
• Bait-and-Switch: When Striker is all set to continue torturing Stolas before handing him off to Stella, he's stopped when he hears a car horn and directs his attention to the tracks he used himself to get in, thinking someone will come from there. Moxxie and Millie instead drive the I.M.P. van through the cave ceiling, having bypassed the entire set of tracks in favor of just crashing in from the outside.
• Baphomet: Both the hospital receptionist and doctor giving Loona her shot are goat demons, and they both possess candles on their heads like the original Baphomet. The receptionist's candle is rather faint, perhaps alluding to her seemingly drugged-up state.
• Big Damn Heroes: Right as Striker is about to cut out Stolas' eyes, Moxxie and Millie arrive to rescue him.
• Bittersweet Ending: Stolas is rescued by Millie and Moxxie, and is brought to a hospital to recover. Blitzo even texts him a "get well soon" message. But Striker has gotten away again, Stolas now knows his wife hired an assassin to kill him, and he's alone in his hospital room.
• Blade Brake: Millie uses an axe to steady herself on the ground after Strike uses his lasso to launch a large piece of rock at her.
• Blatant Lies: "I can't spell. I can't read either."
• Brainless Beauty: Stella is shown to be rather stupid compared to her brother Andrealphus, prioritizing her hatred for Stolas over the logistics behind what killing him would mean for her, something Andrealphus has to spell out to her point-blank when attempts at leading her to the conclusion on her own fail. Andrealphus himself invokes this by saying Stella is "lucky she is attractive".
• Breaking Old Trends: In prior episodes, whenever Moxxie and Millie spent time doing their own subplot, it was treated as the less important b-plot narratively compared to whatever plot Blitzo is involved in. Here, Moxxie and Millie end up having to save Stolas from Striker, with Blitzo taking Loona to get her "hellbies shot" being treated as the less important b-plot.
• The Bus Came Back: Striker returns to make another attempt on Stolas' life, after laying low for a period following his first appearance.
• Call-Back:
  • Stolas is briefly seen in the demonic form he used in "Truth Seekers" and "Seeing Stars" when he dodges Striker's initial salvo.
  • Stolas tries his eye petrifaction spell on an imp, like he did in "Loo Loo Land", but it doesn't work because he's disabled by the blessed rope.
  • The background image of Stolas's phone is the same picture of him and young Octavia we briefly saw in portrait form in "The Circus".
  • A Freeze-Frame Bonus on Stolas' phone shows a text message chain between him and Blitzo after what happened during the events of "OZZIE'S".
  • Blitzo almost calls the hospital receptionist the "R-word" ^note "retard", only to do a Last-Second Word Swap due to it not being socially acceptable anymore, calling back to the Pilot where he actually says it to Moxxie.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Invoked by Andrealphus regarding Stolas. As he points out to Stella, were he to be killed now, then everything he has would just go to Octavia by virtue of her being the heiress to the Goetia family. Were they to play the long game however, biding their time until they can rob Stolas blind, then Stella would get everything, then could get her revenge by killing him. To this end, Stella orders Striker to cease his attempts at killing him, something he begrudgingly agrees to, but still plans on torturing him a bit before giving him back.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Subverted. After Stolas is kidnapped, he very casually calls up Blitzo and tells him that he's been kidnapped. However, Striker can hear this conversation, and takes the phone to directly threaten Blitzo over the phone. It's then that Stolas realizes that he might actually be in danger.
• Censorship by Spelling:
  • Blitzo tries this by saying that Loona is going in for her hellbies S-H-O-T rather than outright say it. Unfortunately, Loona can spell and the receptionist can't.
  • He also inverts it while talking to the receptionist, spelling out "B-U-L-L-shit" and "M-O-T-H-E-R-fuckers".
• Chained to a Railway: Subverted. Stolas is tied to train tracks in Striker's hideout, but this section of railway isn't functional and Striker soon cuts the part of the rope binding Stolas to the tracks. Also lampshaded:
  Stolas: So... train tracks... really? Seems a bit cliché doesn't it?
  Striker: It's a classic.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Striker reveals he wasn't just hired by Stella to kill Stolas, but torture him mercilessly, Striker noting that Stella must really hate him if she wants worse for him than just a heaven bullet to the skull. Even when Stella temporarily calls off the hit, Striker intends to indulge in a little more for pleasure before returning him.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • Once Andrealphus pieces together that Stella hired Striker to kill Stolas, he tries leading her to why killing him now would be a bad idea, but she's too caught up in her short-term pleasures to catch on.
  Andrealphus: If your husband dies, it won't turn out well for you.
  Stella: He'll be dead! Why wouldn't it?
  Andrealphus: Because, my dear sister, you've already produced an heir. When he dies, his duties, his possessions, his legions--it will all pass to Via.
  (Stella continues sipping tea, clearly not understanding.)
  Andrealphus: So, if you kill him, you would, hm...?
  Stella: Laugh?
  Andrealphus: NO, YOU STUPID COW! You'll get nothing!
  • When Blitzo explains to the receptionnist that his name is spelled with a silent "o", she thinks that Blitzo's last name is "O".
• Cone of Shame: Loona is wearing an Elizabethan collar while leaving the hospital, and carrying a lollipop. It's unclear if it's because of the giant needle, injuries sustained during the fight, a punishment from Blitzo, or some combination of the above.
• Contrived Coincidence: The day Loona gets her shots happens to the same day Striker makes his move, removing Blitzo and Loona from the equation for the rescue. Blitzo even lampshades how out of all days for Stolas to land in hot water it had to be on the one day he couldn't come to help out.
• Country Matters: Three times. Blitzo calls the mother who gets on his nerves this word and Striker calls Stella this after she says she wants Stolas alive and at the start of the episode when Stolas and Stella trade insults. All three cases are bleeped out and the closed captions say "C.U. next tuesday".
• Creator Cameo: In the cafe, the tiny imp waiter along with the blonde haired demon and the purse imp that she carries are the demonsonas of three of the show's crew as revealed in a tweet.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Moxxie against the three cowboys that harassed him. They should have brought more cowboys.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Implied for Striker. When he's first torturing Stolas, he goes into a Motive Rant about how much he hates Demon Royalty like the Goetia, specifically saying how "some of us" have everything they care about taken from them by "fuckers" like Stolas, and his torturing Stolas is just as much getting some catharsis out of the whole situation as it is a job for him.
• Defiant Captive: Rather than cower in fear like Striker wants, Stolas spends his time in captivity mouthing off to him, pointing out the hypocrisy in his hatred of Demon Royalty despite working for Stella, and belittling his attempts at torturing him by claiming Blitzo does better when they're having sex. The only thing that gets to Stolas is when Striker brings up Octavia.
• Didn't Think This Through: As Andrealphus points out to Stella, her hiring Striker to assassinate Stolas would do Stella far more harm than good in the long run since they already have an heir in Octavia, meaning that even if Striker fulfills the contract in killing Stolas and Stella finally gets what she wants in seeing her husband dead, everything Stolas owns would go to Octavia, and since she's someone who very much prefers her father over her mother, that would just render all her revenge against Stolas pointless.
• Disproportionate Retribution: A gang of burly demons jump Moxxie just because he was wearing the same hat as one of them.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Blitzo taking Loona to get her "hellbies shot" is treated as a mix of taking a nervous teenager to get a booster shot, and taking a dog in to get a rabies shot, Loona even whimpering and having to wear a cone around her head so she doesn't bite at where she got it, yet being given a lollipop for her troubles.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • When Blitzo gets fed up with the hospital receptionist's stupidity, he's about to call her the r-word, but is forced to transition the first two letters to "-eeeeeeally can't say that word anymore." In this case, he likely couldn't say it because YouTube no longer allows the use of the word on it's website anymore.
  • It's subtle, but Stella looks rather uncomfortable when her brother starts really displaying a clear lack of personal space.
• Evil Is Petty: Stella wants Stolas not only dead, but tortured horribly before he's killed. Andrealphus has to spell it out for her that she gets nothing in the divorce if he dies, so it's better to keep him alive for now.
• Exact Words: Once Stella tells him to leave Stolas alive, Striker notes that she never said what condition he had to be returned in and decides to gouge out Stolas' eyes before he turns him over to Stella and Andrealphus.
• Excuse Me While I Multitask: While Moxxie uses a gas hose to strangle one of the cowboys harassing him, he decides to fill up the van while he's at it. He also gets out his phone and starts scrolling on it.
• Extraordinary World, Ordinary Problems: The B-plot is about Blitzo having to take his daughter to get an important booster shot (mixed with having to get a dog a rabies shot).
• Eye Scream: Narrowly averted. After Stella calls off the hit on Stolas, Striker decides to remove his eyes so he can't identify him later. Fortunately, Moxxie and Millie arrive before he has the chance.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • While at the hospital a child calls Blitzo a "fire toad" with his stunned reaction making it pretty clear it's a very offensive slur. When he later gets yelled at by the mother of the child, she calls him a "filthy Wrathian", Blitzo having to clarify he's not from the Wrath ring before proceeding to threaten her and her kid with a gun.
  • Striker's disdain for Goetia royalty is again implied to stem from this, both towards them, and from the treatment Imps have received courtesy of them, hence the immense pleasure he takes in trying to break Stolas via torture.
• Fantastic Slur: Blitzo gets called a "fire toad" by a young child. His reaction makes it clear that this is a bad anti-imp slur.
• Foe Romance Subtext: Despite his rivalry and grudge against Striker, Moxxie is the one to figure out he's Stolas' kidnapper just by Stolas describing him as "sexy". Moxxie also was the one to come on to Striker by saying "harder" in a rather aroused voice as the other imp was strangling him; regardless if he did it in order to mess with his head or no, it makes sense for Moxxie due to his kink for violence (as he's married to Millie), and his bisexuality becoming more prominent in recent episodes.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Stella and Andrealphus respectively, whereas Stella wants to have Stolas dead immediately and without thinking of the ramifications it might mean for her afterwards, whereas Andrealphus desperately tries to make his sister see reason at the fact if Stolas would die; all of his possessions and status would instead fall to his and Stellas' daughter Octavia and leave Stella with nothing at all.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Stolas is in the hospital, he scrolls through the text messages between him and Blitzo on his smartphone. The text messages are a long string of back-and-forth talk about what happened during "OZZIE'S" and the bad night they had, followed by a text exchange of him thanking Blitzo for helping him find Octavia and how much he enjoyed his performance in "Seeing Stars". A closer look at Stolas and Blitzo's message style also reveals a lot about them. Stolas writes long, verbose messages with painfully correct grammar, while Biltzo's messages are terse, chat-like and frequently misspelled. Stolas' also messages have a somewhat desperate undertone to them, frequently either apologizing to Biltzo or inviting him to come visit him, while Blitzo is obviously trying to come off as cool and aloof.
• Funny Background Event: Millie getting directions from the mariachi band is accompanied by Moxxie fighting off a group of biker thugs in the background.
• Furry Reminder: Loona has to get a "hellbies" shot, and she spends the whole episode reacting exactly how you'd expect.
• Gag Penis: Striker's statue of himself in his lair has a huge erection that he uses as a hat rack.
• Giant Medical Syringe: The syringe for Loona's "Hellbies" shot is wider than a rocket launcher.
• Gratuitous Mariachi Band: A mariachi band follows Striker as he takes Stolas to his lair, singing about him until he tells them to buzz off. Later they give Millie directions.
• Greater Need Than Mine: After beating Striker, Moxxie and Millie rush Stolas into hospital, putting their own needs for medical attention aside.
• Hat Damage: One of Striker's bullets hits Stolas' hat early in the episode.
• Holy Burns Evil: Much as in his previous appearance, Striker uses holy weapons, which can cause actual harm to demons that they can't just come back from. Stolas gets messed up by a holy knife, and Striker also binds him in holy ropes so that he can't use any of his magic.
• Hypocritical Humor: Twice in one instance. Blitzo calls the rude mother in the waiting room the c-word. She then calls him out for saying something like that in front of her son, but calls him a "filthy Wrathian". Then Blitzo says his daughter is present and she wouldn't "appreciate you calling her father... things."
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: The receptionist at the hospital claims that she can't spell or read, but only moments later is searching the appointment list for Blitzo's name, finding it after he gives his usual clarification of its spelling.
• Implied Death Threat: Striker tells Stolas he plans to target Octavia after he'd done with him. This elicits a visceral reaction from Stolas.
• Incest Subtext: Hints of it pop up during Andrealphus' interactions with Stella, such as calling her a "sexy vixen".
• Innocently Insensitive: The receptionist pronounces the "o" in Blitzo's name, unaware that it's offensive to him for personal reasons.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Striker tells Stolas that no one is coming to save him, which is immediately followed by Stella phoning in to call off the hit, and then Moxxie and Millie driving in to save him.
• Irony: The one time in his life Blitzo wasn't making a sexual innuendo, telling Loona a shot would only feel like a small prick, he gets called a disgusting pervert much to his confusion.
• It's Personal: The reason that Moxxie and Millie are ready to take Striker on themselves is because both of them have a score to settle with him from the last time they met.
• Knight of Cerebus: Downplayed. Striker continues to be a serious threat narrative-wise, coming very close to both maiming Stolas and killing Moxxie and Millie, still managing to escape by the end of it all. He's given a couple more comedic moments however, such as his frustration with the mariachi band playing his Villain Song, having a statue of himself with a prominent Gag Penis, and being regularly frustrated by dirty talk from his would be victims. None of it truly diminishes the threat he poses overall though, especially with the knowledge that, had it not been for Andrealphus convincing Stella to call off the hit, Striker would have killed Stolas before Moxxie and Millie could even get to him, as Stella called Striker right as he was ready to give the Coup de Grâce.
• Knows the Ropes: In addition to dual-wielding revolvers, using throwing knives, and proving capable in sword play, Striker fights off Moxxie and Millie using a lasso, demonstrating expert use with it in terms of maneuverability and control, and regularly using it to break off stalactites and stalagmites to use as flails. Once he breaks it out, it's made abundantly clear how well he controls the terrain and the flow of the fight, and leaves Moxxie and Millie at his mercy.
• Last-Second Word Swap: Blitzo starts to call the receptionist the R-word before quickly stopping himself and noting he can't use that word anymore.
  Blitzo: THE HELLBIES SHOT, YOU FUCKING RE...eeeeeeeally can't say that word anymore.
• Made of Plasticine: The red hat succubus is easily beheaded by a fuel pump squeezing his neck until his head pops off of his body.
• Mood Whiplash: The serious-toned fight between Striker and Moxxie & Millie is juxtaposed with the more comedic subplot of Blitzo trying to restrain Loona so she'll get her hellbies shot, the two regularly smash cutting to each other and leading to tonal whiplash, culminating in both Blitzo and Moxxie being shown battered and brushed, the former from having to restrain Loona and finally getting to relax, the latter from being brutally beaten by Striker as he prepares to finish the job by strangling Moxxie.
• Mugging the Monster: A group of outlaw bikers picks a fight with Moxxie not realizing he's a dangerous assassin. The results are predictable.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Blitzo going with Loona to get her Hellbies Shot should be like a normal trip to the doctor's, but combined with Loona being afraid of needles, a vicious fighter and having wolf-like instincts, upon seeing the needle she immediately starts rampaging, resulting in a fight between her and Blitzo and the doctor, juxtaposed against Striker fighting Moxxie and Mille.
• Never Found the Body: After crushing Striker with his own statue, Moxxie goes to confirm his death, only to discover him missing, only a piece of his scarf left pinned by a piece of rock. Moxxie and Millie don't have time to contemplate how he escaped nor where he went though, due to needing to rush Stolas to the hospital.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Stella's sadism to have Stolas' death dragged out ironically saved his life. His torture gave Stella time to be talked into some Pragmatic Villainy by her brother Andrealphus, and she calls off the hit just before Striker could deliver the Coup de Grâce to Stolas.
• Number of the Beast: A cameraman's camera has "666" written on it.
• Obviously Evil: Stella doesn't even bother trying to hide the fact Striker works for her, instead just giving Stolas a smug grin as he dodges Striker's bullets.
• Obviously Not Fine: Stolas stubbornly keeps refusing to be intimidated by Striker's torture or threats thereof, claiming that he isn't affected in the least by the pain. However, in a moment wear Striker briefly turns his back on him, Stolas' mask of defiance overtly starts to slip, with him looking extremely exhausted and fighting to hold back his tears.
• Off with His Head!:
  • One of the bikers Moxxie fights ends up like this after Moxxie ties a fuel pump around his neck, fuels the tank in the I.M.P. van, and then drives off with the fuel pump still in the tank. The constriction around the bikers neck reaches the point it crushes his neck and his head is torn off.
  • Narrowly averted for Millie. When Moxxie and Millie are fighting Striker, he manages to disarm Millie of her battle axe and sends her flying into a rock, shortly before grabbing the axe with his tail and sending it flying at Millie, aimed right for her neck. It just barely misses, the blades instead pinning her to the rock by surrounding her neck, with Striker visibly disappointed he failed to decapitate her.
• Papa Wolf: Stolas handles Striker's torture of him impressively well, not even giving the imp the reactions he wants. But the second Striker even mentions Octavia, he gets pissed.
  Striker: Well, this has been fun, but every good thing has to come to an end. Shame you won't see your kid again.
  Stolas: Don't you dare breathe a word about my daughter.
  Striker: Ooh… finally hit a nerve, huh?
  Stolas: I swear… if you go near her, I will destroy you.
• Parallel Conflict Sequence: Moxxie and Millie's fight against Striker is juxtaposed with Blitzo and the doctor's struggle to give Loona her shot.
• Pet the Dog: Stella doesn't seem to care that Octavia would inherit all of Stolas' wealth and power if he dies. When Andrealphus brings it up she doesn't react at all and is confused on how it's a problem when he tries to explain it to her. While this does highlight just how petty and personal her hatred for Stolas is it also shows that at least when it comes to her daughter there is no hatred, nor is it at any point brought up they could just kill Via too.
• Pinned to the Wall: Striker pins Millie with her axe to her neck against a rock to incapacitate her.
• Plague Doctor: Two of the doctors at the hospital rushing to treat Stolas are dressed up in this attire.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: At one point, Moxxie gets harassed by a brute who calls him "queer boy".
• Post-Treatment Lollipop: When Blitzo and Loona leave the hospital, Loona is holding a lollipop.
• Power Nullifier: Blessed rope can apparently nullify the powers of demon royalty.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Andrealphus acts as one to his sister, pointing out that since they already have an heir, all of Stolas's assets will go to Octavia, and it would be better to keep him alive to figure out what to do.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Moxxie and Mille managed to rescue Stolas, but the royal demon was already tortured so badly, he had to be hospitalized after their fight against Striker. Any second longer and Stolas would have been maimed further and, if Stella hadn't called off the hit then and there, Striker would have finished him off before they even arrived.
• Series Continuity Error: Blitzo sounds legitimately shocked when it turns out Stolas got hurt, with him even asking "He can get hurt?" with a tone of disbelief. However, "The Harvest Moon Festival" has Blitzo briefly confront Striker before he can shoot at Stolas, with him even claiming he could die from it, which implies he's aware that not only can he get hurt, but that he can outright perish like any other demon.
• Shrine to Self: Striker's lair has a massive statue of himself with a massive erection he uses as a hat rack.
• Shout-Out:
  • The symbol on the receptionist's hat, shirt, and notebook is Nurse Redheart's cutie mark.
  • When Blitzo drops the woman on the ground, she's in the memetic Family Guy dead pose.
• Sound-Effect Bleep: All three times the c-word pops up, it's censored this way. The captions also read "C U Next Tuesday" instead of the actual word.
• Skewed Priorities: Blitzo hesitantly tells Stolas that he can't rescue him from Striker because he has to take Loona to a hospital for a "hellbies shot". Somewhat justified as he claims that it takes years just to schedule an appointment, and it took him five just for this one. Stolas understands, at least. Moxxie and Millie offer to save Stolas since they have a score to settle with Striker.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: The first part of the battle between Moxxie, Millie, and Striker is scored to an appropriate country song thanks to a stereo Striker has in his lair. When debris hits the stereo, it switches over to a bubblegum pop song for the rest of the fight.
• Source Music:
  • The mariachi band's song that plays while Striker transports Stolas to his hideout. It ends when Striker gets fed up and yells at them to stop.
  • There's a stereo both in Striker's hideout and the doctor's office, which plays music during the fight scenes. The one in the hideout actually changes songs when hit by debris.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When the I.M.P. van busts into Striker's lair through the ceiling, we get a glimpse of some train tracks set up in a ramp-like fashion. Rather than riding down and sailing over the ramp, the van punches through the curve and keeps driving—old wood and metal aren't strong enough to hold several hundred pounds of metal barreling down at terminal velocity.
• Take That!: The Sloth ring, the sin associated with laziness and indifference, is Hell's medical department.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: Blitzo has this reaction after Millie tells him what happened and he comes to the realization that Stolas, one of the most powerful demons he's ever known, can actually get hurt.
• Too Kinky to Torture: Two instances, but in both cases, it's ambiguous if it was sincere or simply to discourage or distract Striker:
  • Striker repeatedly stabs Stolas with his holy knife, but Stolas mostly shrugs it off. In fact, Stolas taunts Striker that Blitzo has done far nastier things to him in bed, which causes Striker to get angry. Stolas noticeably loses his bluster when Striker's back is turned, confirming it to be a bluff, as the episode's end displays that he really is being seriously hurt.
  • As Striker attempts to choke out Moxxie with his bare hands, Moxxie whispers "Harder" with a smile on his face. This weirds out Striker so much that he backs off, giving him an opening.
• Took a Level in Badass: Previous episodes established that Moxxie's strength lies in his weapons, not close-quarters combat. This episode, however, demonstrates he's improved in this regard, taking on a couple of much larger demons almost casually and winning.
• Toon Physics: Averted. When the I.M.P. van busts into Striker's lair through the ceiling, we get a glimpse of some train tracks set up in a ramp-like fashion. Rather than riding down and sailing over the ramp, the van punches straight through the curve and falls onto the cliff, tumbling over several times before coming to a stop.
• Underestimating Badassery: When Stolas is first kidnapped by Striker, he doesn't actually think much of the situation, sure that Blitzo will come to save him or that, if need be, he can break free himself regardless of the blessed rope used on him, leading him to be a Playalong Prisoner content with snarking at Striker. It's only after his Deadly Gaze fails to work does it fully dawn on Stolas that Striker is a genuine threat, and while he's defiant by consistently taunting and undermining Striker's torture, it's clear Stolas is all bluster as he regularly cringes in pain when Striker isn't looking, and needs to be hospitalized by time Moxxie and Millie finally save him.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Though defeated, Striker once again escapes and leaves Stolas in bad shape.
• Villainous Incest: Andrealphus calls his sister Stella pet names, is openly flirtatious with her (especially when they're alone), and frequently touches her in a sensual manner. The fact that Stella doesn't really try to resist implies that this affection may be mutual. That being said, Stella doesn't necessarily smile, either, suggesting she could just as easily be subtly uncomfortable with her brother's lack of personal space.
• Villain Song: Parodied. Striker has a bunch of mariachis who live near his home and sing in praise of his antics. But this is against his will, with Striker angrily telling the mariachi band to buzz off when they interrupt him preparing the death trap for Stolas.
• "Wanted!" Poster: Throughout the episode we can see "Wanted" posters for Striker with "Preferably dead please" written below Striker's picture.
• Wham Shot: Even though it wasn't the first time Striker gunned for the royal Stolas, the fact that when Blitzo was trampled the second time, he caught a glimpse of Stolas’s tail feathers on the stretcher as he was carried to the hospital in the end has Blitzo utter this:
  Blitzo: Stolas got what? How? He can get hurt?
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Stolas actually asks why Striker didn't just kill him once he was bound in the magic rope, to which Striker responds by saying he wasn't just paid to kill Stolas, but to make sure he suffered.
• Witch with a Capital "B": At the start of the episode, Stolas calls Stella a "witch".
• Worf Had the Flu: As Blitzo points out, Stolas is incredibly powerful. However, he's at Striker's mercy due to blessed rope negating his powers.

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