“Shadows” does a full Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) showcase episode this season (much more of a Proksch-centric episode than the one last season when he got a love interest). Last time he had to share with the love interest, this time it’s all Proksch. He gets a promotion at work and discovers the best way to suck the energy out of the room is to be the boss, which has big time consequences for his three vampire roommates, Natasia Demetriou, Kayvan Novak, and Matt Berry. Especially after they get so energy drained they can’t feed anymore.
It’s a process though, as Proksch gets more and more powerful—growing a full head of hair—he becomes able to energy drain his subordinates with just a glance. Some very, very funny sequences. Jemaine Clement directs the episode and they go all out with Proksch getting his effects set pieces; they always go with the punchline for Proksch’s character development, which also makes him the most enigmatic of all the characters on the show.
Meanwhile, Demetriou gets the biggest part in the subplot, which has the vampires redecorating because they’re sick of the paintings they’ve been looking at for two hundred years. We discover Berry created “portrait bombing,” which did take seven hours hundreds of years ago, but is still funny today—great bit. But the drama starts when Demetriou discovers a painting of her village being destroyed (two hundred years before she was born) by a bunch of raiders….
Led by Novak. There’s a development about Harvey Guillén trying to mediate between the two of them—Berry stays out of it (he gets the least to do this episode). Guillén’s vampire hunter subplot also doesn’t get continued here—it gets an almost mention—but once things get going big enough for Proksch, the action goes to him. Including the other vampires’ plot lines. Paintings and medieval conquests can’t compete with an all powerful energy vampire.
Lots of great dialogue from Shana Gohd, lots of great one-liners. Novak begging people to put their necks in his mouth—when he’s at his most energy drained—is particularly hilarious.
But it’s Proksch’s episode and a great showcase of him.
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