REVIEW: ‘Haunted Hotel’ Season 2 Checks In For More Laughs

Haunted Hotel Season 2 checks back into the Undervale with more ghosts, new employees, and more supernatural chaos for the hotel’s inhabitants. Running a hotel is hard enough, but running a rundown haunted one while raising two kids as a single mom, along with your ghost brother and a demon trapped in a little boy’s body by your side, is exponentially harder.

Created by Matt Roller (Rick & Morty) and produced by Titmouse, the Netflix adult animated comedy comes back, along with the voice talents of Will Forte as Nathan, Eliza Coupe as Katherine, Skyler Gisondo as Ben, Natalie Palamides as Esther, and Jimmi Simpson as Abbadon. Natalie Morales also joins the season as a new side character, Shayna. 

In Haunted Hotel Season 2, single mother Katherine and her children, Ben and Esther, are finding their rhythm as they run their haunted hotel, the Undervale. The hotel’s ever-growing collection of ghosts, monsters, and supernatural disasters draws new dark and mysterious figures to it. 

Haunted Hotel Season 2 returns, hitting a familiar stride, but with more depth.

Haunted Hotel Season 2 returns with its special brand of adult humor, horror, and supernatural hijinks. Haunted Hotel understands the absurdity of its premise and characters, and it knows how to lean into supernatural and horror tropes. A great example of this is in Episode 3, titled “The Witch,” where Katherine, Ben, and Esther are captured by a witch who forces them to eat a soup.

Things quickly get out of hand when Ben has an allergic reaction to the soup, resulting in everyone, including the witch, spending a night in the emergency room. The episode works because Haunted Hotel takes a typical horror scenario and turns it into an increasingly preposterous adventure, with the twist that the witch gets caught up in the chaos alongside her would-be victims. 

Beyond the supernatural and horror antics, Haunted Hotel Season 2 has fun playing with familiar genre tropes and nodding to other series. Episode 6, “Dante Crowe”, is a particularly fun example. It pokes fun at and nods to series like Supernatural as the episode’s titular character, Dante Crowe, arrives at the Undervale Hotel in his black Chevy Impala to fight death and save the world. Meanwhile, Katherine, Nathan, Ben, and Esther watch things unfold as side characters in Crowe’s story.

Homages to horror staples add a dose of extra fun to Haunted Hotel Season 2.

The main cast’s bewilderment at Crowe’s actions and the increasingly dangerous, ridiculous situation add to the show’s humor. Dante Crowe‘s character makes him feel like he has wandered in from a completely different supernatural series, given his rugged, overly serious attitude and larger-than-life persona. 

Performance-wise, Haunted Hotel Season 2 does not disappoint. The returning cast continues to bring the right energy to the series and their characters. The cast does an awesome job of understanding and balancing the ridiculousness, comedy, and emotional weight of their roles, which play off one another well.

Will Forte’s performance as Nathan recurred throughout the season as the character’s story grew more emotionally complex. Forte does a flawless job of shifting between his character’s infectiously cheerful energy and more vulnerable, somber moments, which make them feel authentic to Nathan. 

While newly introduced characters lose steam, returning characters get chances for stronger storytelling.

Natalie Morales’ addition to the cast as Shayna is welcome, as she brings a new yet fitting dry wit and edgy energy to the ensemble, adding another layer to the hotel staff’s chaotic group. Unfortunately, Shayna’s presence dwindles after Episode 6, with little explanation, as the season progresses. Granted, later episodes shift their focus to the original main cast and family, so it is understandable why Shayna has a less prominent role in those storylines. 

Nonetheless, given how enjoyable Shayna’s character is, it is disappointing that she is not consistently present throughout the season. Shayna’s nonexistent presence in the later episodes ultimately makes her feel somewhat underutilized as a new member of the ensemble. It will be interesting to see whether Shayna has a more cemented, prominent role next season. 

Haunted Hotel Season 2 builds on the foundation it set with its Season 1 characters, deepening their development, especially when it comes to Nathan’s character. In Season 1, Nathan learns from his sister that he took his own life, a reveal that suggests Nathan would explore what this knowledge meant for him in his afterlife journey. Season 2 builds on this thread by showing that knowing how he died does not bring him peace. Instead, it forces him to confront the darker thoughts and struggles that haunted him while he was alive.

Nathan’s journey in Haunted Hotel Season 2 forces him on an uncomfortable path of self reflection

Throughout Haunted Hotel Season 2, Nathan’s character becomes more complex. Externally, he often provides comic relief and seemingly limitless optimism in the direst moments. However, beneath his cheerful mask are dark, depressive thoughts of unresolved pain and turmoil that have followed him into the afterlife.

Season 2 does not treat Nathan’s death or his knowing how he died as an end to his problems. Instead, now having that knowledge forces Nathan to confront some of his darker, more emotional struggles that troubled him while he was alive.

Haunted Hotel Season 2 explores how Nathan’s struggles have evolved since he became a ghost. Episodes 3, 4, and 6, specifically, provide further development and insight into Nathan’s internal struggles, showing that death did not give him a complete escape or closure from those struggles.

Haunted Hotel has the necessary discussion that dying isn’t an escape from what plagued us in life.

Instead of dying and becoming a ghost, they have been given another thing to reckon with in the afterlife. As Nathan explores these struggles, his optimistic nature feels less like a natural part of his character and more like a mask he uses to keep himself and his loved ones from confronting his inner pain. 

Nathan’s storyline is one of the most compelling parts of Haunted Hotel Season 2 and raises an interesting question for next season: Will Nathan begin to heal from the pain he has carried in life, and how might that lead to conflict if he is not ready to move on yet? Nathan has made it clear this season and last that he is not ready to move on or resolve his unfinished business because it would mean leaving his family behind.

Through Nathan, Haunted Hotel Season 2 shows that unresolved pain can not always be pushed down or ignored. Next season is set up to explore an interesting conflict for Nathan’s character. While Nathan may want to remain with the people he loves, truly moving forward might require him to confront certain parts of his life. 

After Haunted Hotel Season 2, it’s clear there is so much more still left to explore.

Haunted Hotel Season 2 is a steady continuation of Season 1, building on the foundation it established. The combination of supernatural chaotic hijinks and adult humor is at the forefront of the show’s appeal. However, Season 2 dives deeper into character exploration and development, giving the series its heart and substance.

There is plenty of room for the Haunted Hotel to continue to flourish, especially if it continues to balance the humor, horror, and vulnerable moments as well as it has this season. 

Haunted Hotel Season 2 is now streaming exclusively on Netflix.

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