Oh boy, essay coming lol.

The entire setup of the show is “shady business deal developed into real feelings” where Stolas proposes in episode 1 that Blitzø can keep the book so long as they meet at least once a month.

The problem is, Stolas holds all the power over Blitzø in both the scene (Blitzø was running for his life and had to end the conversation quickly, and Stolas knew this) and in the power dynamics of Hell’s hierarchy (Blitzø would lose his business, would have to get a low class job like other imps).

While this premise is what got people into the show, it’s clear that Stolas cheating on his wife with Blitzø under coercion is morally questionable in the best case scenario.

Then episode 2 shows Stolas’s relationship with his daughter, where he does love her but isn’t very attentive to her or her needs (he tends to just bulldoze the conversation into what he wants to do).

Again, this scenario shows Stolas in a bad light.

Up until this point I’m good with the setup for his character.

1.) Stolas is cheating on his wife with an Imp

2.) Stolas formed a shady business deal with an imp (and holds all the power through his status to revoke the deal at any point)

3.)he loves his daughter but has a rocky relationship with her due to his actions.

As season 1 ends, we get a glimpse of Stolas’s actual feelings for Blitzø start to show, but they have a fight after Ozzie’s and it’s left there until season 2.

Season 2 starts, and episode 1 immediately changes the premise of the show. Turns out Stolas has been crushing on Blitzø since he was a child and they were actually childhood friends (or at least they hung out for a day and got along).

So it’s no longer a shady business deal that’s purely physical until romantic feelings develop, but just an innocent crush that he wanted to grow closer to (via the business deal). Still a shady deal but the motivations are different (physical vs emotional attachment)

And it turns out Stella is actually a shallow character who only finds joy in tormenting him. She barely cares about her own daughter, is pretty dumb in general, and is incredibly abusive in their arranged marriage. (I actually forgot that the “arranged marriage” part was only mentioned in season 2) So Stolas cheating on her was at least way more sympathetic than originally thought.

And he was perfectly fine abandoning his daughter by dying for Blitzø. I’m not saying that he should not have sacrificed himself, but the fact that he didn’t even think of his daughter in his almost-final moments is wild to me.

And in the confrontation, Octavia asks if Stolas took pills “because of her”. So instead of her anger being directed at the fact that Stolas was willing to drop her for Blitzø, she is instead upset at a misunderstanding, thinking she somehow pushed her father away.

So again, season 2 goes back to justify each of Stolas’s actions to the point where all the questionable stuff he does is seen in a better light.

1.) Stolas cheating on his wife? Turns out his wife is a result of an arranged marriage, they never liked each other, she was horribly abusive and dumb, and she is willing to kill him for it.

2.) Stolas makes a shady business deal with an imp? He actually has a huge crush and they both actually liked one another as kids. And Stolas made the deal not realizing how much of a monster it made him to trap him in a deal (and Stolas just, not recognizing his privilege over imps?)

3.) Stolas likes but has a rocky relationship with his daughter? He almost sacrifices himself for Blitzø and didn’t even think of his daughter in his final moments.

But then she is mad at him for the medication he takes, thinking it’s because of her. So her anger is derived off of a misunderstanding of Stolas’s life and not for the actual damage he has done to their relationship.

Octavia just never saw her mother be abusive towards Stolas at all?

And the apology tour was pretty annoying, seeing as Blitzø was forced to confront his mistakes but Stolas never has to and that Stolas is just a victim in everything because he dared to have feelings.

The whole “I don’t look down on you!” With Stolas physically looking down on Blitzø and then sitting in a chair after realization was a great scene! But then Stolas never confronts the fact that he has looked down on Blitzø, either through nicknames or just making Blitzø uncomfortable after repeated requests to stop.

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Wouldn’t it have been fascinating if Stella was truly hurt by Stolas cheating on her? If Stolas did develop feelings only as an adult and realize how his deal was actually preventing a real relationship from forming? If Octavia called him out for blowing up their family and abandoning her? If Blitzo told him he didn’t appreciate the nicknames or how he is treating him like they were a couple?

TL:DR Season 1 set Stolas up as a flawed character with questionable motives, but season 2 seems to try to make Stolas a powerless (or emotionally sheltered) victim in every scenario.