‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Somehow Keeps Getting Funnier in Season 5
Thanks to eternal life, vampires never fundamentally change, and yet What We Do in the Shadows’ immortals nonetheless seem to be in a constant state of transformation—a fact most hilariously proven by last season’s running storyline about energy vampire Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) being resurrected as a weirdo CGI-enhanced child. In the series’ new season, it’s not Colin but human Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) who’s the one mutating into something new—or, at least, striving to. The trouble it causes confirms, once again, that FX’s hit comedy hinges on the push-pull between its protagonists’ desire to evolve and their wholesale inability to be anything other than their clownish selves.
(Warning: Some spoilers ahead.)
At the conclusion of Season 4, Guillermo—the flesh-and-blood “familiar” (i.e., servant) of ancient Iranian creature of the night Nandor (Kayvan Novak)—had finally become fed up with his master’s refusal to make him a vampire, and enlisted his convenience store clerk buddy Derek (Chris Sandiford) to perform the neck-chomping deed.
In What We Do in the Shadows’ July 13 premiere, the documentary crew tasked with filming these Staten Island monsters repeatedly presses an anxious Guillermo about what took place on that fateful evening, all as the show intermittently flashes back to reveal the truth about whether Guillermo is still one of the living, or a kindred batman to his fellow mansion-mates. The answer: he was bitten, albeit not with the results he was anticipating.
Much to his consternation, Guillermo is trapped somewhere between two worlds, his transfiguration halted mid-process for reasons he can’t comprehend. For a character who’s always exasperated, epitomized by his trademark Jim Halpert-esque reaction shots to the camera, this failure breeds in Guillermo considerable angst. It’s then made worse when he broaches the subject via a hypothetical scenario to Nandor, Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Colin, and learns that there is no greater humiliation for a vampire than having his familiar be turned by another. His crisis, consequently, must remain secret, and if that weren’t stressful enough, Laszlo suspects that something is going on with Guillermo, and endeavors to get to the bottom of it—because, as he says, “I’m the king of bottoms—yeah!”
Such is the absurdist humor of What We Do in the Shadows, which, in its inventive fifth go-round remains the funniest half-hour on television. Showrunners Paul Simms and Stefani Robinson recognize that the key to keeping their core quintet amusing is generating friction between their intractable ancient personalities and their interest in alteration, which often manifests itself via their interactions with, and efforts to become a part of, the 21st-century.
Kayvan Novak.
That plays out time and again in this latest batch of episodes, as when Nandor, convinced that Guillermo is acting weirdly because they forgot his birthday, organizes a celebratory dinner at a restaurant. That establishment’s newest employee happens to be Colin, who’s decided that the service industry provides a bounty of opportunities to bore people to energy-draining death. Jalapeno popper inanity follows, as does a trip to the mall, where Laszlo predictably misinterprets the name of every store.
Guillén continues to be the lynchpin of What We Do in the Shadows, his Guillermo at once the audience’s proxy—rolling his eyes at, and expressing frustration with, his supernatural compatriots—and a pathetic buffoon who, no matter his Van Helsing lineage, can’t stand up for himself. Nonetheless, the show is a true ensemble, and Season 5 affords plentiful chances for all of its stars to shine.
(L-R) Kayvan Novak and Harvey Guillén.
Nadja is dealing with both a magic picture, which suggests she’s been hexed by an unknown adversary, as well as the fact that she crushed the legs of her doll (which is infused with the spirit of her pre-vampire self)—and the doll is not too happy about it. Nandor and Laszlo, meanwhile, are at jealous odds over the latter’s wit and charm (which is a far more effective means of tricking humans than Nandor’s preferred hypnotize-everyone method), and also his growing closeness with Guillermo—a relationship predicated on Guillermo’s mysteriously paused condition.
There’s much more insanity to be found in the first four episodes of What We Do in the Shadows (which were all that were given to press), including body-swapping hijinks courtesy of The Guide (Kristen Schaal), who’s now a full-time member of the show, even if she can’t seem to ingratiate herself into the clan, and neighbor/Laszlo buddy Sean Rinaldi (Anthony Atamanuik), who’s running for Staten Island comptroller. Idiot Sean’s big idea for his campaign is to organize a Pride parade (replete with t-shirts that read “Ay, I’m Being Gay Over Here!”). That turns out to be one of many ways in which these characters try to define (or redefine) themselves by connecting with different groups, be it Jews, the government, or Nadja’s Greek ancestors, whom she discovers in the nearby hamlet of Little Antipaxos. Old and new worlds are forever clashing, creating uproarious havoc for all involved.
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What We Do in the Shadows’ writing continues to be as sharp and loopy as ever, from Laszlo admitting that a Sex in the City magazine quiz revealed that he’s Kim Cattrall, to Nandor describing his sound machine’s “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” ditty as “Abandoned Orphanage,” to Nandor and Laszlo’s enjoying a cop-pranking night on the town with Sean and his wine-sipping buddies. Watching the duo get out of that revelry’s trouble by convincing police officers that they’re Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and Tom Selleck from Blue Bloods, respectively, is just the right sort of lunacy. It’s matched by Demetriou’s Nadja, once she swaps corporeal vessels with her doll, who attends a speed-dating event at a local bar and tries to woo men by asking things like, “How do you feel about taking the virginity of a dead ghost?”
(L-R) Kayvan Novak, Harvey Guillén, Natasia Demetriou, and Matt Berry.
Better still, the series refuses to rest on its laurels, repeatedly expanding its crazy vampire mythology and universe in unexpected ways. Whether it’s Nandor and Laszlo investigating vampire clichés, Nandor testing the limits of his powers of flight, or Colin hooking up with an emotional vampire and standing trial before the Council of Energy Vampires, What We Do in the Shadows proves that the more these bloodsucking buffoons (try to) change, the more they riotously stay the same.
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