What We Do in the Shadows Glides By on Vampiric Charm in Its Fourth Season: Review
The post What We Do in the Shadows Glides By on Vampiric Charm in Its Fourth Season: Review appeared first on Consequence.
The Pitch: When we last left the Staten Island mansion of What We Do in the Shadows in Season 3, the house felt a little emptier — Nandor (Kayvan Novak) had just departed for his “Eat, Prey, Love” (sic) tour of self-discovery, and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) swanned off to England in a wooden crate to join the Worldwide Vampiric Council, with Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) in unwitting tow. Laszlo (Matt Berry), for his part, chose to stay behind, not least because the dead body of Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) gave way to a new, childlike form (also Proksch, pasty round adult features grinning eerily atop a child’s body), which he had to take care of.
Cut to a year later, and all that potential energy is lost: All Nandor got from his tour was an erstwhile friendship with a nice family from Wisconsin who rode the rails with him, and Nadja found herself slumming it in boring council committees, so she bailed. Gizmo, robbed of the chance to become a vampire, has been shipped back to Staten Island.
And they all come back to a decrepit mansion, with Laszlo playing daddy to the Colin baby (which he’s summarily dubbed “Boy”), desperate to ensure he doesn’t end up as boring as his previous hundred-year-old self. They’re back at square one, stuck with each other as they keep trying to eke out some meaning for themselves in the sick game of vampire life.
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Welcome to the Vampire Club: What We Do in the Shadows has carried its considerable charm through three seasons of (un)life on the back of its droll scripting, vibrant cast, and deceptively fresh take on vampiric horror-comedy. But in its prior season, and continuing here, what’s most interesting about the show is something shared with its fellow Taika Waititi-produced hit from earlier this year, Our Flag Means Death.
Like Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard, and the crew of the Revenge, the unwitting housemates of Shadows are trying to live better lives, even if that comes centuries on for some of them. In Season 4, the dynamic between Nandor and Guillermo is almost fully reversed from their first episodes: Nandor lets himself be vulnerable, especially now that he’s on a search for a new wife to share his life with (naturally, he appoints Gizmo his best man even though he hasn’t “caught” a wife yet).
Guillermo, for his part, is “looking out for number one,” at least insofar as it doesn’t interfere with his tireless housework and other duties as a familiar. Even Nadja is working on herself, in a way, channeling whatever energy she has left after extended, riotous lovemaking sessions with Laszlo into starting her own vampire nightclub (“Just like in Blade!” she gushes). It’s shallow, to be sure, but it’s Nadja’s way of forging her own path after her vampiric ladder-climbing drowned her in bureaucracy.
But Season 4’s biggest triumph is what it does to Laszlo, and — in a more literal sense — Colin Robinson. Matt Berry’s long been one of the show’s secret weapons, with that one-of-a-kind voice, an uncanny combo of elongated syllables and theatrical English brio that sounds like an Elder God reading the script of a nature documentary. But while Laszlo himself has long been the most distanced and libertine of the series’ leads, this season he’s tasked himself with forging the destiny of baby Colin, showing a softness we haven’t seen in the character all series.
It’s still funny, of course, not the least of which because the subject of his attention is a creepy hell-child with Mark Proksch’s head pasted onto an adorable stand-in; it’s absolutely horrifying to look at, which just makes it all the more hilarious. He may not be a psychic vampire yet, but he’s still a rapidly-growing babe who yammers on about LEGOs and musical theater trivia. And yet, Laszlo’s journey to shape the boy, and maybe even accept some of his quirks, is oddly sweet, even as it ends up involving art heists and tap-dancing to 1930s show tunes.
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Djinn and Juice: Don’t get it twisted, though; What We Do in the Shadows is still here for sheer neck-draining chaos, and those beats are assured as ever. In the four episodes provided to critics, our cast of vamps find themselves in one supernatural shenanigan after another.
Nandor, desperate for love, seeks out a geniedjinn who’ll bring back his 37 dead wives, but he’s unprepared for the demanding shitstorm that’ll ensue; the opening night of Nadja’s club hits some snags when her A-lister headliner (a lovely cameo whose identity I shan’t reveal) has some second thoughts; Guillermo gets roped into a “Familiar Fight” at a secret supernatural bazaar, where his vampire-hunting agility (seriously, Guillén, keep up the great stuntwork) gets him in more trouble than he can handle.
And all the while, we get a murderer’s row of incredible throwaway jokes, from Laszlo inspiring the concept of penis envy (“or, as it’s otherwise known, The Wanting of the Wang”) to the two tiny, spangly hats that adorn Nadja’s opening-night outfit. It’s the kind of show that’ll rhyme “blood suckers” with “Fuddruckers,” and absolutely get away with it.
The Verdict: What else is there to say about What We Do in the Shadows, at this point? If anything, it’s a miracle that the show can maintain such incredible momentum, doubling down on its singular concept while still finding new angles for its creatures of the night and the jokes they’re telling (or even just inhabiting) four seasons in.
Maybe someday, Jemaine Clement and fellow EPs Paul Simms, Stefani Robinson, Sam Johnson, and Waititi will run out of new things to do. But even in a season that immediately abandons its characters’ ambitions to plop them back in the same old house, there are fresh angles to play — and in the case of Proksch, one horrifying new man-child to inhabit.
Where’s It Playing? What We Do in the Shadows throws a monster mash in its fourth season on FX starting July 12th (streaming on Hulu the following day).
Trailer:
What We Do in the Shadows Glides By on Vampiric Charm in Its Fourth Season: Review
Clint Worthington
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