By Ben Wright (@Iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)
This review is spoiler-free.
The Freeling family are back at the Undervale Hotel for more supernatural chaos, with Katherine trying to keep the business running while dealing with her ghostly brother Nathan, her children and the demonic Abaddon. There’s plenty more to discover about the hotel’s residents this season, and not everything lurking in its corridors is as straightforward as it seems.
Season 2 of Haunted Hotel builds wonderfully on the first season. The characters get even more room to grow, and the pacing across the eight episodes works really well. The big bad storyline from the first season is missing this time around, but I actually liked the change in direction. Rather than building everything around one major threat, the show spends more time digging into the characters’ backstories and giving us a better understanding of what makes them tick. That approach really pays off in the finale, which was genuinely emotional and beautifully told. I wasn’t expecting this show to hit me quite as hard as it did, but the final episode had me completely invested.
Jimmi Simpson is phenomenal as Abaddon once again, our favourite demonic lord, and his dynamic with Katherine (Eliza Coupe) gets some particularly good moments this season. He’s still a highlight every time he’s on screen, but the whole returning cast continues to do a great job, with Will Forte, Skyler Gisondo and Natalie Palamides all bringing plenty to their characters. Natalie Morales is a fun addition as Shayna, although I wish we’d seen a little more of her after the opening episodes. The guest cast is great too, with Justin Long and Zooey Deschanel making welcome appearances, but Troy Baker was my favourite as Dante Crowe. He’s basically a chaotic parody of a Supernatural-era John Constantine, which was right up my street, and his scenes with Michelle Gomez’s Death were a lot of fun.
The humour and animation are as good as ever, and there’s still plenty of horror mixed in with all the ridiculousness. Some of the character stories could perhaps have used a little more time, and I can see the lack of a central villain frustrating people who preferred the first season’s approach, but I was happy to see the show take a different route. It feels like the writers know these characters inside out now, and that confidence really comes through, especially towards the end.
Haunted Hotel is another great season of dark comedy, supernatural weirdness and surprisingly emotional storytelling. Abaddon remains an absolute scene-stealer, but it’s the way the show develops its characters that makes this season work so well. After that finale, I really hope Netflix gives us a third season soon, because I’m not ready to check out of the Undervale just yet.
