YMMV / Helluva Boss S1E5 "The Harvest Moon Festival"

• Accidental Aesop:
  • Don't leave your stuff open. If you want to be stealthy, avoid shiny weapons or cover them thoroughly if you can't help it. Striker's assassination attempt failed because he left his gun case open, in which the glow of his weapon got Moxxie's attention, effectively starting the chain of events that led to his failure.
  • Don't stand on the path of a door unless you want to get hit by it. Moxxie getting hit by the door let Striker get away.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • When Striker was making his offer to Blitzo, was the latter seriously interested in what he had to say, or was he just manipulating him into letting his guard down? Or was he manipulating Striker, but genuinely turned on?
  • Was Striker bullying and showing up Moxxie purely because he thought he was weak and couldn't fight back, or, judging by a couple comments and looks he makes, was he trying to pull some power moves in hopes of winning over Millie?
  • Rather than taking a more immediately lethal approach towards Moxxie after he realizes what he's up to, Striker decides to strangle him. Was this out of sadism, as his expression seems to imply, or did he want to leave Moxxie alive? If the latter, was he hoping to use Moxxie as leverage (which is his stated reason for locking him and Millie in a storm cellar), or was he planning to frame him for killing Stolas?
  • Stella apparently only hired Striker to kill Stolas, not Blitzo, despite the latter being who the former cheated on her with. Is this because she considers Blitzo beneath her notice? Or is it because she thinks letting him live with the consequences of getting Stolas killed would be worse than death?
• Alternative Joke Interpretation: Stolas and Octavia's lack of reaction to Stella's phone call. Either they were so obliviously engrossed in what they were doing that they genuinely didn't hear her, or they brushed it off because this kind of bloodlust coming from Stella is really nothing new. Or are they so used to their broken home that they don't take Stella's murder streak seriously?
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Millie being not allowed to take part in the Pain Games was because there were fifteen separate funerals the last time she entered? Savage. Her defense was that she only caused nine? Hilarious. Sallie May dragging a corpse in the background, saying it doesn't count if they don't find the bodies? Black Comedy gold.
  • Moxxie getting savaged on by a shark every time he falls into a puddle during the Pain Games? Funny. Moxxie being dog-piled by several manlier men at the end of his Trauma Conga Line? Depressing. The shark popping up out of nowhere to give an elbow drop while Moxxie is down? Side-splitting!
  • Striker kicking a fangirl from the crowd in the face? Shocking. Her having a star-struck "He touched me!" look on her face, followed by her being beat up by jealous other fangirls? Hilarious!
  • The Reveal that Stella called the hit on Stolas? Dramatic! Her being revealed to give a Motive Rant across the dinner table from her husband, while on the phone with the attempted assassin, while neither her husband nor her daughter notice? Bloody hilarious!
• Draco in Leather Pants: Sallie Mae's first scene strongly implies that she's a Serial Killer and she spends the rest of it belittling Moxxie, but a combination of decent LGBT representation and her attractiveness turned her into an Ensemble Dark Horse practically overnight.
• Fanfic Fuel: How would Stella react if she found out that the same Imp who slept with her husband is also the one who foiled her plan to kill said husband?
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Seeing Millie's very sweet relationship with her parents becomes all the sweeter when we learn in season two that pretty much all the other main characters grew up with abusive, missing or dead parents, meaning at least someone had a happy childhood.
• Ho Yay: Blitzo's interactions with Striker have copious amounts of tension between the two, which some fans have immediately taken note of. Blitzo responding to Striker's offer to join forces to kill Hell's royal classes — starting with the one who, as Striker puts it, treats him like a plaything — with "Ooh, that's kinda hot," in a slightly infatuated tone adds to this even more.
  • Nonconsensual version in the shot where Striker looms over Moxxie, strangling him, while the camera shows only their jerking hips and legs.
• Informed Wrongness: Moxxie is given some flak for forgetting that he had a gun on him during the first confrontation with Striker. The problem is that Striker attacked Moxxie by surprise and didn't leave him enough time to draw his gun even if he had remembered he had it. While Moxxie did have a small window of opportunity, he understandably uses it to try to flee. This is made even more jarring by the fact that Millie calls out Moxxie for forgetting to use his gun, even though she just stumbled upon Striker trying to strangle Moxxie from behind. She shouldn't even know whether or not Moxxie could have drawn his gun since she shouldn't have any idea on how the confrontation went before she intervened.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: While the episode was well-received, some fans were disappointed that it didn't center on Millie since it took place on her home ranch and even introduced her family, but instead centered around Moxxie and continued Millie's tendency to be a Satellite Character. To further demonstrate this issue, supporting and intentionally minor characters have much more of a memorable presence, like Stolas, Octavia, and even Wally Wackford.

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