What We Do in the Shadows (2019) s03e05 – The Chamber of Judgement

It’s a very situational comedy type of episode, with the cast pairing off again for side adventures before coming together at the end. The main plot is Kayvan Novak and Natasia Demetriou’s first time meting out justice at the Vampiric Council. Right after they decide who gets to sit on the throne. It’s a series of good bits, starting with Kristen Schaal teasing Harvey Guillén, then the throne bickering (the show nods at “Game of Thrones” without ever bringing it up), and then the actual cases before Novak and Demetriou. One of those cases—involving a return guest star (Chris Sandiford)—ends up being the crucial one the rest of the episode tracks. Any others mentioned are just gags.

At the same time, new duo Matt Berry and Mark Proksch are going over to neighbor Anthony Atamanuik’s for a guys’ night. Atamanuik and his human friends want to watch sports; Proksch has brought an Agatha Christie role-playing game. Presumably, it’s going to be a very dull evening. Then Atamanuik reveals he’s got another reason for inviting everyone over, and the subplot charges course. A little bit down the line in the subplot, we get an absolutely hilarious but complete throwaway scene with Berry playing lawyer, just so it can all tie together for the finale.

And then it ends up being something of a bridging episode; its only point is to bring Sandiford into the show as semi-regular.

The episode’s funny. The performances are all good. The script—credited to William Meny—misses quite a few apparent tangents and details. At least two of them seem like they would’ve provided better material than what they’ve got. For example, Atamanuik gets tiresome fast, and there’d be more of a joke to the situation with more thoughtful details. It’s situational comedy without fully realized situations. There are also too many throwaway gags; they run through the jokes this episode. None of them build. It only works because of the cast and Kyle Newacheck’s direction. They’re able to make the one-note jokes funny, time and again. Especially with Sandiford, part of his character is being a one-note joke, and it gets thinner as the episode progresses. The script doesn’t even have a real punchline for it. Just a series of gags and then an epilogue gag.

Also, the episode wastes Proksch, who keeps introducing potentially lively elements, and then the episode goes somewhere else without him. It’s an inglorious use of Proksch for sure. And maybe having seven-ish regulars is too many.

But most of the laughs are good. Most of the jokes land. They’d better too; they’re such easy ones.

What We Do in the Shadows (2019) s03e03 – Gail

I’m feeling a lot better about this season. Or, more accurately, I feel like I don’t have to worry about this season. Given the significant changes—filming during Rona, Jemaine Clement leaving the writers room—I’d forgotten the standard season-to-season change. They’ve been away for a while, the momentum’s slowed, the energy’s changed. But they’re doing just fine. No small thanks to the script, credited to Marika Sawyer, which does an excellent parsing out of the cast for the episode.

The main cast will all come together eventually, but most of the episode has them split. Natasia Demetriou and Kayvan Novak have to work together on Vampiric Council business—in this case, updating the website—so Matt Berry and Mark Proksch have their own adventure together. They’re both selflessly—though verbosely—keeping the other company as the household adjusts to the new normal of Demetriou and Novak working together.

Except, of course, Novak is skirting his Council duties to hook up with his previously never mentioned regular lady friend for the last forty years, guest star Aida Turturro. Despite being the center of all the drama, Turturro actually doesn’t do much. She gets talked about a lot—all the men are convinced Demetriou doesn’t like her because women are all jealous of each other, which might not be as funny of a joke if Demetriou and Turturro weren’t great (and if it didn’t have a female writer credited)—and Harvey Guillén’s hilariously jealous of her getting Novak’s attention. She’s much more the subject of the episode than an active player.

It’s mostly Novak’s episode. While Berry and Proksch split their subplot, the rest supports lovestruck Novak, with Guillén and Demetriou fixating on him for different reasons. The resolution will bring in one of the series’s regular villains, and the episode wrings all the potential out of it well. Novak’s got to deal with some worst-case scenarios and does so in his wonderfully obtuse manner.

There are lots of terrific laughs; each actor—except Guillén, who’s very supporting this episode—gets at least five. Then some outstanding ensemble laughs. Plus, Kristen Schaal is back. She’s almost a regular, which I really hope continues. More than anyone else at this point, Schaal’s the audience’s avatar. And, despite not having a bunch to do, Turturro’s fantastic; great guest casting.

Again, lots of credit to the script for the character balancing and better incorporating the Vampiric Council arc into the episode plots. And maybe just giving Berry enough to do.

What We Do in the Shadows (2019) s03e01 – The Prisoner

I wasn’t apprehensive about this season of “What We Do in the Shadows,” but there are a couple changes to this season I couldn’t help but think about as this episode kicked off. First, show creator and original movie co-creator Jemaine Clement isn’t involved in a writing capacity this season, which may take a while to show itself to be a problem (or just never be one). Oh, and I think they filmed during Covid lockdown. Because there are barely any house exteriors in the episode, and when there are house exteriors, they’re super shot shots, and they appear to be CGI.

Or maybe director Kyle Newacheck just doesn’t like establishing shots.

The episode picks up almost a month after last season’s cliffhanger; the vampires, Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, and Mark Proksch, have discovered their familiar (well, Novak’s familiar), Harvey Guillén, is actually a vampire hunter. They’ve been trying to decide what to do with him since he saved them from execution at the end of last season; even though he saved them, killing vampires is a no-no, and Demetriou really wants to kill him. Novak doesn’t but isn’t really too forceful about it. Berry’s disinterested. Proksch’s got a related subplot, and, well, I wouldn’t want to spoil.

After the opening with Novak and Demetriou arguing, it quickly becomes a Guillén episode and a slightly absurd one. But he also reminds why he’s such a good protagonist for the show. He’s able to mug his way through some of the thinnest plot logic.

Luckily, the cliffhanger resolve is the B plot, with the Vampiric Council returning—in the form of guest star Kristen Schaal—to deal with the disobedient vampires. It involves a hilarious VHS joke and a cameo from one of the original film stars, though I guess it’s unclear if he’s playing the same character. It also doesn’t really matter; it’s just a nice cameo.

The best performances in the episode are Guillén, Novak, and Demetriou. Proksch’s recurring bit is fine and funny, but it’s just gross-out, albeit intentionally boring gross-out, so it doesn’t require much from him. Berry’s fine when he has material, but he’s seriously got so few lines you could also make me believe he’s green-screened into some of the scenes due to Rona.

But it’s a good opener, with a solid season set up—it’s kind of big story arc stuff, especially for this show—and by the end, I was ready to just trust in “Shadows,” which has always paid off before.

What We Do in the Shadows (2019) s02e10 – Théâtre des Vampires

Something about the episode having three credited writers (Sam Johnson, Stefani Robinson, Paul Simms) foretold it being a grandiose season finale. I can’t remember there being another episode with three writers. It’s got to be big.

And it’s big. It just takes a while to get there.

The episode begins with Kayvan Novak waking up to find familiar Harvey Guillén has abandoned him. This Guillén dissatisfaction subplot came back a bunch last episode—to the point I wonder if some of the interview footage is done in a different context than scenes are shot in—and it’s the season finale so it seems like an appropriate plot.

Fast forward a week and the vampire house has fallen into complete disarray. Matt Berry gets bored while feeding and sends victims away while Natasia Demetriou is just leaving corpses everywhere. No one has any clean clothes because no one knows how Guillén cleans them.

Well, except Mark Proksch who decides to use that knowledge to his advantage because eventually it gets to a crisis point when the house gets a coveted invite to the Théâtre Des Vampires. They need to get gussied up and it’s not going to be easy without any clean clothes.

Meanwhile, Guillén is adjusting to his new normal and finding out he may have left some important things behind. There’s a lot of reference to Guillén’s vampire hunting throughout the season. No other episode has ever balanced Guillén’s season two stuff so well and he’s not even active in a lot of it; though he does end up getting the big set piece.

Great direction from Kyle Newacheck. There’s a nice surprise cameo and then some absolutely inspired writing. And then the performances. So good. Guillén finally gets to let loose in scenes with his regular costars and there are some great Proksch moments (including some meta-commentary on him being underutilized last season).

It’s so good.

And the setup for Season Three (it’s already been renewed, thank goodness) is perfect.

What We Do in the Shadows (2019) s02e09 – Witches

This episode is the “What We Do in the Shadows” equivalent of a dick and fart joke episode. Literally in the former’s case—the episode’s about a coven of witches kidnapping Laszlo (Matt Berry) because they want his immortal seed. Turns out they use vampire semen to stay young. Witches, I mean. The show hasn’t gotten to what the vampires use it for.

Anyway.

It’s an all-action episode, opening with Harvey Guillén check-in; while he’s appreciating getting breaks and a day off, he’s not thrilled with his life as a familiar anymore. He’s floundering (weird how the vampire hunter stuff has been dropped). But then we get right into the witches. Berry’s out tending his topiary garden when a goat appears and then he gets zoomed up. When the rest of the house goes looking for him, they realize what’s happened—because Berry’s wife, Natasia Demetriou, is constantly on guard for witches to be causing mischief and now she’s finally validated—there are witches about causing trouble.

Once the gang’s all together—they bring along Mark Proksch because the show’s realized more Colin Robinson, less vampire hunting (not a bad conclusion)—but Kayvan Novak finds himself similarly captured just as easily as Berry. So while they’re tied to racks with the witches getting them ready for the extraction, Demetriou, Guillén, and Proksch are trying to escape their imprisonment in the witches’ den. An incense shop is a front for the witches’ den. It’s a good bit.

There’s a lot of funny jokes in the episode, right up until the end, and it covers for it being something of a blah storyline with the witches. It’s very tidy, which is fine (because it’s so funny), but it also feels a lot like the episode’s just relying on the cast to sell whatever even without much of a plot. And the cast can do it, because it’s “Shadows.”

And it’s better than the previous episode, though similarly lost.

But they had an amazing run of winners this season, so even with Witches as the penultimate season two episode… the show’s in great shape. Also, Lucy Punch as the main witch… I mean, she’s fine… but she’s not good enough they shouldn’t have stunt cast.

What We Do in the Shadows (2019) s02e03 – Brain Scramblies

This episode leaves me with grave concerns—no pun—over Harvey Guillén’s continuing vampire hunter storyline. Vampire familiar Guillén has not only learned he’s a Van Helsing, he’s also proven himself a master vampire hunter already—killing off the Nosferatu sent after his familiar and his housemates. This episode has him meeting a team of would be vampire hunters (led by Craig Robinson, who it is nice to see but it feels like assurance stunt casting) and bonding with them. Including returning Veronika Slowikowska, who was a bit player last season as Beanie Feldstein’s friend; Slowikowska saw Feldstein slowly turn into a vampire… and this season Feldstein’s way too busy to guest on “What We Do” so Slowikowska.

Given the rest of the episode is consistently laugh out loud and need to catch your breath funny, I “trust” the show not to be messing up with the vampire hunters thing… but I’m still concerned. I don’t see how they can pull it off.

The rest of the episode is Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, and Mark Proksch going over to the neighbors’ Super Bowl party. Except the vampires (not energy vampire Proksch) think it’s a Superb Owl party. They’re big fans of owls. It’s already hilarious before they get to the neighbors’ and then it just gets funnier and funnier.

While Demetriou hangs out in the kitchen with the wives, astounded how “strong, beautiful, vicious, vibrant” mortal women end up married to such “boiled potatoes.” In particular she’s talking about hosts Anthony Atamanuik and Marissa Jaret Winokur. The arc with Winokur soon includes Atamanuik’s elderly mother, Sondra James, who Demetriou played with when James was a child, and it’s absolutely hilarious, giving Demetriou a full range to play. It’s her episode.

Meanwhile, Berry and Novak manage to scramble Atamanuik’s brains with over-hypnosis and need to fix him. Their arc’s funny too, with some breath-stoppers, but nothing compared to Demetriou’s.

Plus Proksch feeding off sports bros.

It’s a fantastic episode. If the Guillén stuff weren’t eh, it’d probably be the series best.

What We Do in the Shadows (2019) s02e02 – Ghosts

Ghosts is a very well-balanced “What We Do in the Shadows,” meaning all three vampires—Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou—get their own showcases and there’s some left over for Mark Proksch’s energy vampire. Not a lot for Harvey Guillén, but he got last episode.

The episode starts with the household discovering they’ve got ghosts. Or at least Demetriou thinks they have ghosts, but Berry and Novak think ghosts are bullshit. Guillén gets a great rant about the believability of vampires versus ghosts.

Turns out Demetriou’s right, of course, and they do have ghosts. Specifically, they have the ghost of her human ex-lover, Jake McDorman, who is reincarnated over and over and decapitated (by Berry) over and over. McDorman wants Demetriou’s help with something so he can leave the mortal plane, but discovering ghosts actually exist gets Demetriou interested in calling forward some different ones.

Specifically her ghost, along with Berry and Novak’s. Their human ghosts, the souls who departed their bodies back when they became vampires. It’s kind of a really obvious question I’ve never heard raised in any other vampire content. Though I’m decidedly limited. But it’s a cool idea.

And it really pays off. They all have ghosts with unfinished business. Novak gets the cute arc, having forgotten his native language and being unable to communicate with his eighth century human self. Berry’s ghost is very much like Berry the vampire, which is a great touch—Laszlo was always Laszlo, he just wasn’t always a vampire; the two Berry scenes are fantastic because it’s not the big arc so it’s just a lot of able mugging. With a great couple punchlines.

Demetriou’s got the best ghost—revealing, again, Demetriou as the show’s secret weapon, she’s able to bring a level of humanity to the show no one else can. Her ghost is haunted by the idea Demetriou hasn’t done anything with immortality but hung out with Novak and Berry, who tell dick and fart jokes, or something to that effect. It’s hilarious and awesome. And then the ghost interested in McDorman, which only gets more promising as the doubles Demetriou plot.

Proksch’s support in Novak’s arc, but has this hilariously dumb running gag about this joke he’s trying to tell. It gets a most excellent resolution.

Paul Simms wrote the script. Very good script. Great performances from the cast. “What We Do in the Shadows” is smooth sailing two into the second season.

What We Do in the Shadows (2019) s02e01 – Resurrection

So, there’s a lot to say about “What We Do in the Shadows”’s return, like how they figured out an amazing way to keep growing Harvey Guillén’s vampire hunter arc (as he is a vampire’s familiar) and how the show uses a time jump (summer is over, so we get some exposition—unclear if the show was supposed to air in a fall or it’s just a plot device), but the big deal of the episode is Haley Joel Osment.

Osment plays Matt Berry and Natasia Demetriou’s new familiar—their last ones kept getting killed off—and he’s a terrible coworker for Guillén. Osment plays on his phone while Guillén does all the work. Guillén is up all night every night killing off the Max Schreck Nosferatu assassins who are after Berry, Demetriou, and Guillén’s master, Kayvan Novak, for some shenanigans last season. And hiding it from them because then they’ll know he’s a vampire hunter.

There’s this great bit about him eating chocolate covered espresso beans to stay up, which Novak thinks are his dried turds. It’s really funny. Excellent script from Marika Sawyer.

Anyway, the setup isn’t Osment being a crappy coworker to Guillén but Osment dying—just like all of Berry and Demetriou’s familiars, only instead of just burying him in the yard, they take him to neighborhood necromancer Benedict Wong.

Wong’s hilarious, selling tchotchkes in his shop and scatting through his incantations to bring Osment back. Now, Demetriou believes in necromancy, but Berry doesn’t, so there’s a bunch of griping Berry, which is wonderful as always.

Only Wong’s legit and Osment’s risen…

Only he’s a zombie.

And none of the vampires believe Guillén. So there are all these chase sequences throughout the house, with Osment just as funny undead as alive. He’s not a regular familiar who wants to be turned into a vampire, it’s just a cool side gig while waits for his 0.5% ownership of a microbrewer to pay-off. Like, it’s awesome stuff. Sawyer gives Osment all this great material and he nails it all.

So good.

It’s downright lovely to have the show back. Just what it needs to be. Novak, Demetriou, and Berry are all great too but it’s really Guillén and Osment’s episode.