YMMV / Helluva Boss S2E7 "Mammon's Magnificent Musical"

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Does Mammon genuinely believe women aren’t funny, or is that just the greedy business side of him talking knowing female performers don’t sell as well? Considering he seems to grow interested in the Glam Sisters as they manage to put up a good competition against Fizz, it could be the latter. Then again, he could still believe women aren’t funny and put aside his personal attitudes whenever it’s convenient as long as the scenario is exploitable. The same goes for his brief fat-shaming of Fizz, in which case he directly calls this a result of the public's preference for "skinny as fuck" bodies. Is this another instance of soullessly greedy business perpetuating prejudices for money, or is this a personal unpleasantness of his he's justifying as "what the people want" like so many businessmen actually do?
  • Why does Mammon let a Loony Fan like Arick stick around? Is it because, despite all the hate he spews at Fizz, he still buys the products and puts money in Mammon's pocket? Or does Mammon actively want to keep Fizz from feeling too loved, to feed into his whole "nothing without this job" complex?
  • When Blitzo's eyes twitch after finding out Ozzie and Fizz are a couple, does he do it because of them being hypocrites after the two of them mocked Moxxie and Millie's relationship? Or did he do it because he realized his unrequited feelings for Fizz would never be reciprocated?
  • Are the Glam Sisters always as nasty as they present themselves in this episode? Or was it just them being overcompetitive mixed with trying to throw Fizz off his game?
  • How aware of Mammon's true nature are the Glam Sisters? While one could simply chalk them not knowing how exploitive he is to not knowing what he's like behind closed doors, they react to Fizzaroli quitting and, by extension, handing them the win, with excitement, in spite of Fizz just doing a whole song about why Mammon was a horrible person and boss, and, going off them outright declaring in their song that they are planning to "sell [their] funny, slutty bodies to the masses", do they know but don't care because they just want to be famous?
  • After Blitzo hits Arick with his gun, some of Fizz's fans can be heard cheering. Was this because they also thought that Arick was a creep and wanted him gone or was it because they were annoyed he was insulting Fizzaroli? Or was it possibly a mix of the two?
  • Speaking of Arick, in his introduction he seemed to think he was a talented entertainer yet to be discovered. Later, he's just a guy running a blog. Did his career fail because he had no talent? Because he was impossible to work with? Or was he too lazy to even try to be an entertainer without Fizz? It was most likely all three.
• Alternative Joke Interpretation: After being impressed by the Glam Sisters, Mammon mentions that they made him reflect on his earlier views that women aren't funny. Was he specifically calling back to that statement from ten years prior or does he make the same statement about how girls should give up on their performance dreams often?
• Broken Base:
  • Mammon became rather popular among fans when he was introduced, being the first Sin to be an antagonistic Jerkass, a breath of fresh air from Asmodeus and the divisive Beezlebub, and notably being a plus-sized character (that wasn't a background character). However, others were not as enthused, finding his design questionable, likening him to a Christmas Tree, and his giant form no better, being a spider (neither of which has anything to do with how Mammon is depicted in demonology). Anonther issue was while fans were glad to have plus-sized representation finally, they weren't as enthused that the character in question was an antagonist. Lastly, some fans groaned at the prospect of Mammon being yet another recurring antagonist, noting the already long list of villains^note Stella, CHERUBS, Striker, DHORKS, Andrealphus, Crimson, especially one that has no connections to the main cast (outside of Fizz being friends with Blitzo)
  • Arick Burnz (the creepy stalker fan-turned-hater of Fizz) became a topic of debate upon his introduction. While he was written to be a personification of negative and disturbing aspects of fandoms and fans as a whole, some people felt he was a thinly-veiled Take That! towards the critics of both Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel and Vivienne herself, further supplemented when certain fans started using him to represent said critics, as well as Vivienne's infamous history for not taking criticisms well. Otherwise, others simply felt he was superfluous to the overall episode, contributing very little to the plot.
  • While fans were glad to get another episode with Fizzarolli as a focus, some felt Fizzarolli's character had begun to decline, feeling he was suffering the same 'woobification' Stolas had gone under throughout season 2, going from a confident and snarky antagonist who had no qualms airing out Blitzo and Stolas' dirty laundry alongside in "OZZIE'S" to someone suffering anxiety attacks and being intimidated by the Glam Sisters and Arick. And while people still love his and Asmodeus' relationship, some felt their relationship had went from being a more healthy yet antagonistic foil to Blitzo and Stolas to becoming overly saccharine, especially with the song "Crooked".
  • The scene involving Oliver, the deaf child, became another heated topic of debate. While many fans enjoyed it for the wholesome moment between him and Fizz and being positive representation for the deaf community, others felt the scene came off as an aritficial heart-warmer to win brownie points with fans, questioning why they're even at an event clearly not aimed at children.
  • Blitzo's inclusion in the episode. While some fans did enjoy the brief interactions the two had, especially after rekindling their friendship, others felt his presence in the episode was pointless, only being there cause he was the main protagonist. While he was hired to help Asmodeus convince Fizz to back out of the pageant, the most he contributed to the plot was killing Arick (who himself was not as relevant to the plot) and a humping Hellhound during "Two Minutes Notice", with Asmodeus being the one to convince to quit Mammon anyways.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • "Two Minutes' Notice" is a song which is both a literal and figurative middle finger to Bad Bosses the world over and a song that probably every single adult human can relate to and receive validation from in some shape or form.
  • Arick spent years obsessively trying to make Fizz miserable because he rejected him, so his abrupt Boom, Headshot! death is beautifully ironic.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Every. Word. Out of Mammon's mouth. Most of the things he says are terrible, either cruel or unbelievably crass, but you can't help but laugh at how far he goes.
  Mammon: You're a bloody legend, Fizzy! They're gonna wanna fuck you, like you're fucking my heart with joy right now!
• Designated Villain: Some fans took issue with the fact that Glitz and Glam are portrayed as antagonistic characters who deserve to be beaten by Fizzarolli and then crushed by a pillar at the end of the episode when the worst thing they do is act like Alpha Bitches to him and Blitzo (with many fans claiming that they weren't much worse than someone like Verosika), never once cheat or try to sabotage Fizz, and are most likely as/will be as big of victims of Mammon's exploitation as he is.
• Evil Is Cool: The Glam Sisters quickly earned the admiration and approval of the fanbase for their unapologetic rudeness and sex appeal, combined with their impressive Villain Song and being shown to be genuinely competent and honest performers, just unpleasant.
• He Really Can Act: Alex Brightman, who is more well known for his comedic roles where even moments where he's upset are still mixed with comedy or humor, absolutely nails Fizzarolli's anxiety and fear in this episode and really makes it clear how much he's struggling with the idea of losing Mammon's favor.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Mammon, the titular antagonist, is manipulative, greedy, and shameless in how much he says Crosses the Line Twice. Regardless, fans Love to Hate him. The antagonist that gets the most scorn from the fanbase is Arick, a creepy unkempt stalker with none of Mammon's Laughably Evil tendencies, who repeatedly attempts to make Fizz's life miserable just because he rejected him, something that hit close to home for a lot of fans. The fact that Fizz was eventually able to stand up to Mammon and tell him to Take This Job and Shove It (in musical form, no less), yet had a panic attack at the mere sight of Arick, only cements this further.
• Love to Hate: Mammon is an absolute scumbag of a person and a greedy Manipulative Bastard. But fans love hating the jerkass because of his Laughably Evil personality and how Michael Cusack is clearly having a blast in the role.
• One-Scene Wonder: Oliver, the deaf imp child who Fizz holds a sign-language conversation with. He provides a major Pet the Dog moment for Fizz and nothing bad happens to him, providing a refreshing moment of wholesomeness on a decidedly more cynical show that isn't afraid to hurt children for laughs.
• Realism-Induced Horror:
  • Arick's characterization is, to put it bluntly, uncomfortably close to how some real people act in response to rejection, as well as a good reminder that just because someone says they "love" you, doesn't mean they mean it genuinely and are only interested in objectifying their target of affection. It's also a disturbingly realistic depiction of stalkers who become obsessed with celebrities and then decide to kill them out of a deranged sense of possessiveness & jealousy, such as what happened with the 2016 murder of Christina Grimmie by an unhinged fan.
  • Mammon's exploitation of Fizz (implied to have been happening since he was a teenager) is very reminiscent of how real-life corporations will exploit and abuse young people seeking to break into the entertainment business.
• Refrain from Assuming: It can be easy to assume that "Two Minutes Notice" is titled "Fuck You" due to how often Fizz uses it, while the phrase "Two Minutes Notice" is only uttered twice in the song.
• Salvaged Story: Many fans are actually relieved that Mammon turned out to be a genuinely evil bastard, arguing that previously established Sins having overt redeeming qualities (Beelzebub and Asmodeus) makes the setting much tamer and more wholesome than it often strives to be.
• Sweetness Aversion: "Crooked", Fizz and Ozzie's acoustic love song, can probably be a little too saccharine for some due to the complete lovey-doveyness of the scene.

---