The FX series about four vampires living together in a crumbling State Island house is decidedly silly — and that’s a good thing.
A series inspired by the movie of the same name by Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement, the show posits what might happen if the sleek, serious killers of other vampire stories were, in fact, narcissistic dimwits. Plots of previous episodes have included elder vampire Nandor (Kayvan Novak) being terrified when a chain e-mail threatens a “Bloody Mary” curse if it isn’t forwarded, a weekend spent among the humans at a casino, and the human ghost of Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) inhabiting a look-alike doll. For supernatural beings blessed with eternal life, these vampires clearly haven’t wasted those extra years on self-improvement.
In other words, it’s not “Dracula.” It’s not even “Twilight.” But after a worldwide pandemic, a lighter touch isn’t such a bad thing. Waititi, who also wrote “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Jojo Rabbit,” and Clement, co-creator of “Flight of the Conchords,” have made their marks with ludicrous, half-witted characters and hilarious stories, and the series (and the movie) is keeping in that surreal vein. I challenge anyone not to laugh at least once during an episode of “What We Do in the Shadows.”
The cast of Novak, Demetriou, Matt Berry as the sex-obsessed Laszlo, and Mark Proksch as emotional vampire Colin Robinson make a convincing group of self-obsessed housemates, while Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) as the long-suffering familiar (a human assistant) to Nandor adds an element of eye-rolling and frustration.
He’s sent on a range of ridiculous tasks by the housemates, and while Guillermo’s desire to be a vampire was a melancholy part of the storyline in early episodes, the revelation that he’s a descendant of vampire killer Van Helsing resulted in a more active, vampire-staking role.
Along with the silliness, there’s more fighting and flying in this series than one might expect. And, as these are vampires, there’s some killing and blood-letting, but only when it can be played for laughs. But this unserious series plays most things for laughs, and coming one year before the pandemic and lasting long after, this escapist comedy is an excellent antidote to grim news that, though slowing, isn’t gone yet. “What We Do in the Shadows” is the silly fun we all need more than we realize.
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.
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Featured Image Credit: FX.
