Category Archives: What We Do in the Shadows

What We Do in the Shadows Season 6

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Today I finished the final season of What We Do in the Shadows on Disney +. Season six had eleven episodes, one more than any of the other seasons. I have to say… I thought this season was the worst of the six. Not that it was bad overall, but it just did not feel like it was scattered all over the place.

These were a few of the highlights for me:

  • Laszlo’s ghost father arriving was a funny bit. His father trying to take over Laszlo’s body was a fun scene.
  • I enjoyed the Monster, created by Laszlo and Colin Robinson, but that joke ran out of steam during the season.
  • The big night for the Baron led to the vampires looking to kill the group. This felt familiar (no pun intended), but I thought it was one of the better episodes of the season.
  • I did like the concept of Nandor and Guillermo forming a crime fighting duo. I would have liked more of this during the season instead of a joke at the end.
  • The Finale. I’ll talk about that in a little while.

Low lights:

  • Jerry. Though it was funny that they forgot to awaken another vampire who used to live with them as he entered “super slumber,” the character of Jerry was hardly worth the time and turned out to be a throw away as the season progressed.
  • Guillermo working at the office. It had some funny moments, but it did not work well for me. It was lackluster.
  • They repeated a couple of beats from the series, including how Nandor was ready to go to war with the TV show filming outside.
  • Sleep hypnosis. Nandor as Richard Nixon was funny, but overall the idea was barely enough for an episode.
  • Nandor’s Army? That felt like a waste.

Let’s talk about the finale. I loved this. It was easily the best episode of season 6. It was so meta that I found it highly entertaining. The documentary filming was coming to an end and Guillermo was having trouble accepting it. They had so many fun meta lines which were referring to the documentary, but in reality were designed toward the actual show itself. My favorite was Nadja, who, when talking about how the documentary should end, mentioned how the doc should have ended last year after Guillermo was turned back to human after being a vampire. This line basically said the fifth season finale would have made a better ending to the show than anything done during season 6. She was 100% accurate.

They added some parody endings that came about when Nadja hypnotized the audience. The first one was a spoof of The Usual Suspects. The next two, which came as post credit scenes, were one like Newhart, with Nandor having a dream and telling Guillermo, who is in bed with him, about it. The third spoof was one of Rosemary’s Baby, with Nadja playing the role of Rosemary (and Colin Robinson back as a baby again). These were a lot of fun and an enjoyable way to end the series.

With the whole group (except Guillermo) singing “We’ll Meet Again” was a wonderful moment. Even better was when Laszlo exclaimed, “Now, everyone but the Guide!” because of how badly she was singing. I laughed out loud at that line, which was said off screen.

While this season would be my least favorite of the six, What We Do in the Shadows is one of my favorite comedies of all time. The stories were great. The characters were a hoot. It was very enjoyable. I do think it was time for the show to come to an end [although I would have loved more of the crime fighting Nandor (aka The Phantom…Menace) & Guillermo (aka The Cowboy Kid)].

What We Do in the Shadows Season 5

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I binged season five of What We Do in the Shadows today and it was a great season once again. This show is one of the most consistently funny shows on television.

This season had several running storylines that carried through most of the year. These included:

  • Guillermo’s slow transformation into a vampire after giving money to Derek to turn him. Little did Guillermo know how much of an insult that would be to his master.
  • A hex that had been cast over Nadja, causing terrible things to happen to her.
  • The Guide trying to fit in with the rest of the vampires.
  • Guillermo’s uncertainty over what he wanted to be.

My favorite episode of the season was “Local News”, which was an episode featuring a local news reporter covering the story of a water main break on the street of the vampires’ house. They interviewed Nandor and he believed he accidentally let slip that he had lived in the house for centuries. Believing that he had given away the truth that they were vampires, the group started going crazy. It was really funny and resolved wonderfully. It also crossed over with Guillermo going to see his mom to tell her about his life choice.

Another thing I really loved was the development of the character of Guillermo over the ten episodes. He was learning a lot about himself, to the point where he realized that he was not going to be able to become a vampire. His Van Helsing blood had been fighting off the vampirism all season, keeping him from fully turning.

I loved how, when Nandor finally discovered the truth, it led to another truth. Nandor never turned Guillermo into a vampire over the years because he knew that Guillermo did not have the stomach for the killing involved. Nandor really showed that he knew Guillermo well, but also cared for his familiar/bodyguard.

I also liked how the other vampires showed some concern for Guillermo, way more than they had ever done. I would go as far as to say that they all had accepted him as part of their lives. Laszlo, Nadja, Colin Robinson and even The Guide went out of their way to try and help Guillermo. That was way different than the first season.

Cameo of the season: Patton Oswalt. He became a major component in helping Nandor get past his hurt feelings, allowing him to save his friendship with Guillermo. And he did all this before being thrown to his death.

I am also a fan of how characters from previous episodes/seasons keep showing up. It gives the show a real flavor and world that has a lived in feel to it. The Baron, Derek, The Doll, Topher, Djinn etc.

Although I could see this change a bit, here is my current list of seasons in order of my favorites:

  1. Season 1
  2. Season 4
  3. Season 5
  4. Season 2
  5. Season 3

I could see seasons 4 & 5 flipping places after more time to reflect. Season six has 11 episodes instead of 10 and it is the final season of the show.

What We Do in the Shadows Season Four

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Season four of the FX show What We Do in the Shadows was next up. I liked season three, but it felt like a step down from the previous two seasons. What would season four be like?

I loved this season.

The end of season three sent the crew off in different directions. Nadja and Guillermo went to England so Nadja could be on the major vampire council. Nandor was off on his world trip. Laszlo stayed behind to raise baby Colin Robinson, who had come out of the torso of the dead body of Colin Robinson.

The first episode of the season wrapped these arcs up immediately, bringing them all back to the house, which is in a terrible condition.

Several great season-long storylines including:

  • Colin Robinson growing as a baby to a teen and so on.
  • The house and the damages to it.
  • The Vampire Nightclub- Nadja’s.
  • Nandor’s marriage and his Djinn (yes, he found a Djinn)
  • Guillermo’s continued involvement with the crew and his wish to be relevant.

My favorite story of the year was Colin Robinson as the baby and his growth, much like baby Groot from the Guardians movies. Laszlo took on a parent role for the baby, even though he was a terrible father. Guillermo stepped in several times to make sure that the baby did not die. Colin singing and dancing on the stage at Nadja’s club, his continued anger, his pounding holes in the basement walls with a hammer… all these things contributed to a wonderful arc for Colin. Or perhaps it was more of an arc for Laszlo, since Colin Robinson wound up exactly where he was when this whole thing started.

When Colin walked out in the finale looking exactly like he always did, it was a shocking moment. He did not remember anything from the past year. What was the most amazing things was the way this clearly affected Laszlo, who, though he remained quiet about it, was very melancholic over the loss of the boy who he had been raising (however poorly) over the last year. It was a subtle and deep moment for Laszlo that truly gave me some emotional investment.

My favorite episode was the surreal “Go Flip Yourself” episode that plays like it is a home renovation show with twins Bran and Toby Daltry. Toby is immediately eaten by Nadja, but the rest was as if the episode was on that show. It had a great payoff too as Brian Daltry, who led the whole renovation (as it was) turned out to be Simon the Devious and the entire Go Flip Yourself renovation show was set up as a scam to get his hands on Laszlo’s witch-skin hat again.

“Private School” was another awesome episode as they tried to get Young Colin into a private school. Nadja constantly hypnotizing the school headmaster to change their story was some comedic gold.

Other highlights included a face off with the Jersey Devil, Guillermo in a vampire fight club where he winds up fighting Nandor, Guillermo coming out as gay to his family in the most wild way possible, Guillermo’s boyfriend Freddie who Nandor developed a crush on and used one of his wishes from the Djinn to turn his wife, Marwa, into a duplicate of Freddie in every way. Then, having Freddie and Marwa-Freddie get together and cheat on Guillermo was horrible.

The finale feels as if season five may finally be the season of Guillermo as he took a bagful of money (that he had embezzled from the club) to Derek, the former vampire hunter club kid who was now a vampire, and asked him to turn him into a vampire. Is it finally going to happen? I do hope Guillermo gets what he wants because he has been such an MVP for the vampire house and he is always getting stomped upon.

Season five is next.

What We Do in the Shadows S3

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So I dove into the third season of What We Do in the Shadows this morning, planning another binge watch of the ten episodes. I do like this model of taking some time and binging this series. I pulled it up on Disney +.

Overall, I have to say that I think season three was not as entertaining as season two, which has been my favorite so far. However, season two was more of a bunch of individual episodes whereas season three has a running throughline of the season. Although you may not know about it at the start, it does all pay off in spades by the end.

I was finding myself liking Colin Robinson more each episode this year, so the death of this character was tough. Seeing him as a Colin-faced baby at the end of episode 10 was rough too. I did enjoy how Laszlo was bonding with Colin Robinson through the season, with the knowledge that at 100 years old, energy vampires die.

Nandor’s eternal-life crisis was another storyline that progressed through the season, and came to a head at the end. He tried to join a cult, take the Super Slumber and, eventually, choosing to take a trip across the world. It was a sad ending for him too as he expected Guillermo to accompany him on the trip and he promised the familiar/bodyguard that he would turn him into a vampire at the end. Of course. Guillermo would face yet another trouble.

Poor Guillermo had a tough season as well, as he felt rejected and afraid of winding up alone. As the vampires all were ready to make their away out of the house and on adventures, Guillermo did not know what he was to do. Of course, his skills as a vampire killer was shown off several times during the season, including a cool final battle with Nandor. I was shocked when Laszlo, who was preparing for Nadja and his trip to England, flipped Guillermo into the coffin that was meant to be for Laszlo and sent him in his place. It was all because Laszlo needed to stay behind and look after baby Colin Robinson.

Even though I may not have considered this my favorite of the seasons, it continued to be extremely funny, even if some of the situations turn out to be silly. It is consistently one of the funniest shows on TV.

What We Do in the Shadows Season Two

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I decided that, since the show What We Do in the Shadow had ten episodes each around 24 minutes, it would be a good idea to go ahead and binge these seasons instead of spreading it out. I will be finishing the X-Files soon and my goal is to run through this total series before school starts again.

So I started the season two this morning and went through it. I think the second season was tremendous, and I think I liked it even more than I did season one.

There were some awesome guest stars/cameos during the season. This included an amazing performance from Mark Hammil, plus Benedict Wong, Haley Joel Osment, Craig Robinson, Greta Lee, James Frain, and Lucy Punch.

Some of the fish out of water things that the show threw Laszlo, Nadja and Nandor into some of the oddest situations. They had to attend a “Superb Owl” party at a neighbor’s house which was actually a Super Bowl party. They had to figure out their own laundry after Guillermo left them. The email curse, which everyone knows is BS, caused them massive concern. Colin Robinson’ promotion which led to his great power.

The show brought us a zombie (Haley Joel Osment who is killed by Guillermo accidentally), witches, ghosts (in a very clever episode), Black Peter- a talking goat and, of course, other vampires. There were vampire slayers too, or at least, a group of vampire slayer-wannabees, who get crushed by a house of vampires.

The story of Guillermo being a descendent of Van Helsing is a major driving force of story this year, as is Guillermo’s desire to be appreciated by his master. We see how vital Guillermo is to this group, even if they still do not necessarily see it. Even when Guillermo saved them from the Vampire Council by killing all of them, all Nandor could think of what his laundry.

Mark Hamill’s appearance as Jim the Vampire was so great and led to a solo story for Laszlo, who ran away from Jim the Vampire and hid out in Pennsylvania as a bartender named Jackie Daytona. Laszlo is able to hide his identity by having a toothpick in his mouth. This was a hilarious episode and one of the standout episodes of the season.

This was a great way to watch this season and I will continue to pick days to binge the remainder of the seasons of this show over the next six weeks or so before school. I have seasons 3 – 6 remaining, each season (except 6) have ten episodes.

What We Do in the Shadows S1 E10

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“Ancestry”

The first season of What We Do in the Shadows wrapped up with episode 10 called “Ancestry.” Guillermo does some DNA testing on the vampires and himself to see what their ancestry would be. Guillermo discovered some interesting facts.

One, Nandor had 200,000 living descendants. This included one living descendant in Staten island. Nandor wanted to go see her and she turned out to be 94 years old. The sight of Nandor floating outside her window led directly to her death.

And two, that Guillermo was a descendant of Van Helsing, the well-know vampire killer, leading Guillermo to question everything about his life. Especially since he “accidentally” killed two vampires in the recent episodes. The idea that Guillermo, Nandor’s familiar is actually related to Van Helsing is a really funny idea.

What was also funny was how Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja, along with Colin, attended Nandor’s granddaughter’s funeral… inside a church. The vampires were in the back literally smoking and catching on fire. When Nandor sent Guillermo for water to put him out, he accidentally brought holy water, which burned him all the more.

The first season of What We Do in the Shadows was really funny and enjoyable. I do believe, moving forward with this show, I will be doing a binge day for the remaining five season, where I take the entire season and binge them in a day, doing a wrap up write-up at the end of the season.

What We Do in the Shadows S1 E7, E8, E9

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“The Trial”

“Citizenship”

“The Orgy”

I was able to watch three episodes of What We Do In the Shadows season one tonight, and they were all really funny and enjoyable.

Probably my favorite of the three was “The Trial” as Laszlo, Nandor and Nadja are put on trial by the Vampire Council for the murder of The Baron, who was burned in the sunlight last episode. Of course, it was Guillermo who killed the Baron, however accidentally it was.

This episode was chocked full of cameos that were all just fabulous. Dave Bautista, Paul Rubens, Taika Waititi, Tilda Swinton, Evan Rachel Wood, Jemaine Clement, Danny Trejo, Doug Jones, Kristen Schaal, and Westley Snipes all made cameo appearances in this episode.

Laszlo, Nandor and Nadja were found guilty and placed in a well, to await the sun to burn them to death. Luckily, they were saved by Colin Robinson and Guillermo.

“Citizenship” included Nandor trying to get his American citizenship, and his lack of knowledge of America is hilarious. This episode is also dealing with Jenna’s transformation into a vampire and Nadja’s attempt to help teach her what she needed to do to become the best vampire she could be.

“The Orgy” revealed that Laszlo had been making pornos since the beginning of cinema, and, sadly, the pornos he made were boring. With the threesome looking to throw an awesome orgy, things do not go quite as well as they had hoped.

These were three great episodes. I have to finish up season one soon.

What We Do In The Shadows S1 E5, E6

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“Animal Control”

“Baron’s Night Out”

Watched a couple of episodes of What We Do In the Shadows season one this morning. One that I think was very strong and another that was kind of weak.

Episode five was entitled “Animal Control” and it had two main stories. Laszlo had changed into a bat and was knocked unconscious by his neighbors. They called Animal Control and Laszlo is placed in a cage. The second story included Nadja and her old love Jeff, who had been resurrected multiple times.

Episode six, “Baron’s Night Out,” was about the Baron wanting to see the sights of New York. It ends with the drugged out Baron accidentally getting burned to death by the sun.

While there were some funny bits in “Animal Control” I did not find it to be much more than a fluff episode. I enjoyed “Baron’s Night Out” considerably more. I was thinking about the sun being the way the Baron died, but I did not expect it right at the end. When he was playing with the rays of sunlight cracking through the roof.

There are four more episodes in the first season.

What We Do In the Shadows S1 E4

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“Manhattan Night Club”

Nandor, Laszlo, Nadja, Colin and Guillermo head to a Manhattan night club in order to try and secure an alliance with other vampires in their continued effort to gain control of the land.

This was another very funny episode that reminded me of an episode of The Tick.

I know that is strange, but in the animated Tick show, episode “Tick vs. Tick,” the Tick goes to a superhero club and fights with another hero using the same name. What especially reminded me of that episode was the “Sidekick Lounge” which is where Arthur went. He found a group of sad sack sidekicks that had been regulated to the lounge.

In “Manhattan Night Club,” Guillermo went to the “Familiar Lounge,” in search of a bathroom, where he met a group of sad sack familiars. I could see the similarities to that Tick episode.

Things do not work out for our group though as the whole escapade was a trap in order for the head vampire, Simon the Devious (played by Nick Kroll), to get his hands on Laszlo’s hat.

Yes, his hat.

That hat was not just any hat. It was cursed. Laszlo refused to accept it, despite the overwhelming evidence supporting the cursed theory. I mean, after Simon stole the hat, he accidentally blew the club up.

Definitely cursed.

What We Do in the Shadows S1 E3

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“Werewolf Feud”

The third episode of this series took its cue from Twilight and highlighted the conflict between vampires and werewolves in the most hilarious way.

First, can we stop a second to talk about Laszlo’s bush sculpting? I nearly fell over laughing that entire time as he proudly lead the tour of his bushes trimmed into the likeness of the vulvas of his myriad of lovers. If that was not enough, he came across his mother’s bush which had been pissed upon by a werewolf.

Okay, so that was insanely funny. As was the showdown with the wolfpack and the vampires, following the agreements of the truce between the Staten Island Vampires and Werewolves. This led to a one on one match with Nandor and a remarkable large werewolf. Nandor used a squeaky toy to cause the werewolf to leap off the roof, claiming victory. So much wonderfully clever writing on this episode.

The B-plot of the episode was every bit as excellent as Colin, the energy vampire, meets up with Evie, the emotional vampire, and there did not seem as if there was enough for both of them at work. Colin and Evie decided to work together and became a couple.

Again, this was exceptionally funny as the pair played off each other in their attempt to “feed.” Even the break up scene was hilarious as Evie wanted just one more taste from Colin.

This episode was much better than the previous one. It had two stories and did not feel like too much was crammed into the episode. This had a nice flow to it and it was really funny.

What We Do in the Shadows S1 E2

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“City Council”

The second episode of the vampire show What We Do in the Shadows continues to be very funny, although I have to admit that it was not quite as funny as the pilot episode.

This was directed by Jemaine Clement instead of Taika Waititi, and you could see the subtle differences. Still very funny, but the plot had a bunch of things happen that could have been expanded upon more.

I did find the ridiculousness of the four vampires heading to a City Council meeting in an attempt of taking over Staten Island because the Baron wanted them to was out of this world. When Nandor approached the microphone and, talking way to close to it, proclaimed himself as the ruler of the land, it was remarkably funny. The fact that the council members did not even blink when he came up was a commentary about the weirdos that they must see on a regular basis.

Nadja turned the LARPing Jenna into a vampire after seeing her being mistreated by the others in her LARPing group. Charmed by her youth and attitude, Nadja bites her and shares her own blood with Jenna. Jenna reacts poorly in the last scene of the show. I have never been a big fan of vomit jokes, but this worked well for me.

Breaking the three main vampires off into their own storylines may have been too much for the shorter time of this series, because all of the tales felt a touch rushed. I would rather see more crossover from the crew. Still, this was funny and funny makes up for a lot of issues.

What We Do in the Shadows S1 E1

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“Pilot”

After adding The Leftovers to the watchlist at EYG, I came across What We Do in the Shadows on Disney +. I loved the Taika Waititi written/directed movie that this was based on, and it was another show that I have heard many praises about, so I decided to add this to The Leftovers and The X-Files rotation.

What We Do in the Shadows currently has six season and 61 episodes.

What a hoot this show was. The story is there are four vampires living together in Staten Island and there is a documentary crew filming their every day lives. The vampires are Nandor the Relentless, Lazlo and Nadja, who are married, and Colin Robinson, the energy vampire. There is also Nandor’s familiar, Guillermo, who served Nandor for ten years.

The writing of the dialogue of this pilot episode was fantastic, with such a clever spin on the idea of vampires and building upon the movie. It was a hilarious episode, where I laughed out loud multiple times. You can definitely feel the Taika Waititi flavor of the show, as he did direct the episode. The pilot was written by Jemaine Clement, who co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in the original movie with Taika Waititi.

I am curious to see if this series can maintain this level of humor and creativity over a long run of episodes. I can see this being a show where the story runs dry after awhile. It is an intriguing set up and I want to see where they take it from here.