Cynthia Vinney

The results are not always perfect, but the songs are uniformly magnificent, and they smooth over some of the show's edges. In addition, everyone in the "Hazbin Hotel" voice cast is exceptional, and the animation of all these strange places and people is inventive, odd, and often endearing.

Ultimately, I think it scores more than it fails, but your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for lies and deceit.

The show isn't nearly as graphic as last season, but it still has plenty of graphic and violent content to both gross you out and make you giggle. But most of all, it has a gripping story that will make you think while it entertains you.

There's enough good stuff here, especially among the central trio (and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who guest stars once again as Detective Donna Williams) that it's worth watching. But even great shows have a tendency to move past their prime when they've been on the air long enough. I'm afraid that could be what's happening here.

If you liked "The Terminal List," you may not like the very different "Dark Wolf." But if you liked better shows like "Jack Ryan" or "Reacher," you'll enjoy this.

Ultimately, this is still an enjoyable show that has enough off-kilter humor and twisted moments that it works for what it is. But it has soured a bit with too many cooks in the kitchen.

This season is a melange of other stories.

This series tries, but its missteps are too large to ignore, and it'll probably end up as one of the year's TV flops.

It's more straightforward but also less rewarding, and the show suffers for it.

Everyone on this show has come back at the top of their games. Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio are particularly good as their characters and slip back into them as if they stopped playing them yesterday, not several years ago.