‘What We Do in the Shadows’ delivers even more supernatural silliness as it expands its universe and celebrates its characters to great success.
“Death comes for us all. It comes for the bees. It comes for the trees. It comes for basically anyone from zero on up…”
Horror and genre programming have recently been embraced to such levels that topics like vampires, zombies, or werewolves are nearly considered to be played out. Accordingly, it’s exciting to see properties that approach this material with genuine love and respect and are interested in pushing the concepts to new places rather than cashing in on something that’s popular. During a time where the supernatural can unfortunately make people shrug, it’s inspiring to see a show that causes fits of laughter and gasps. What We Do in the Shadows is a lovely celebration of the horror genre and the last thing that it wants to do is blend in with the crowd. Death still casually gets thrown around as if it’s as natural as breathing in What We Do in the Shadows. Comedy and the macabre continue to sublimely mix together in this amazing television show that proves that something undead can still be so full of life.
These vampires’ egos are more inflated than ever before after their journey for power during season one. They still operate on a relatively small-scale, but they’re prepared to seize the world and make it beg for mercy. It’s enjoyable to witness how the events of the first season have caused these characters to grow in certain ways, but in spite of any developments they’re all more or less the same characters at their cores.
The entire cast of this series is still fantastic and everyone seems to be even more comfortable in their characters this year. This season also creates more situations to have the entire cast together and those chaotic scenes where everyone gets to play off of each other are often the most satisfying. There are no weak links with this show’s cast, but Guillermo and Colin may low-key be the best characters this season. They hit such fantastic grooves this year and they’re properly utilized to get the most out of their characters. It’s also probably no mistake that they’re the two characters who arguably have the least amount of power in this series. They’re consistent highlights through these episodes. Nadja also gains a fantastic companion in the form of a living doll that blossoms into a weird, wonderful relationship. It’s a bond that’s much more deep than it appears, but it also results in some gloriously surreal visuals.
Ever since Nadja and Laszlo’s exodus from the vampiric council there have been a slew of assassins who have been trying to take them out, all of which Guillermo disposes of with a certain effortlessness that speaks to his Van Helsing roots. This is highly amusing, but it also results in Guillermo needing to hide this side of himself to his vampire friends. It’s a rich storyline for the season that continues to give as Guillermo buries his latent skills and the vampires handle everything else that’s happening around them. Guillermo’s time in the spotlight this season allows for both his insecurities and his passion over his job to get tested. The direction that he gets pulled in and the new friends that he makes this season are strong additions. It’s a nice change of pace to get some regular scenes where Guillermo is valued and exists outside of his usual vampire clique.
This season embraces the mystical and supernatural side of horror a little more, with necromancers and séances being major topics. In the same sense, this season widens its scope to include zombies, ghosts, and returns to werewolves, all in a satisfying way that provides quirky takes on all of these iconic horror tropes. This is not to say that What We Do in the Shadows has run out of ideas of what to do with vampires, but it’s a nice way in which this supernatural pocket of Staten Island gets to broaden itself.
What We Do in the Shadows becomes even more confident this season and now that it’s established things it plays around with some really clever ideas. There’s a fantastic story that hinges on the idea that if vampires are dead then they should also have ghosts. There are some excellent episodes that are born out of questions that don’t get asked enough in the horror genre. This season really has fun challenging old archetypes in absurd ways. There’s a strong sense of continuity from this season that calls back to many episodes and elements from the first season. It actually expands on those ideas and they don’t just feel like manipulative excuses to bring back characters. It’s a reflection of how the structure of the show’s storytelling becomes even more layered this season.
The stories from this season explore plenty of well-known vampire traditions, like glamour/hypnosis, but it pushes them to more daring and surprising places. The show comes up with plenty of brilliant, new ideas that stem from the evolution of old horror concepts. There’s a delightful spin-off of this series that focuses on the cops from the What We Do in the Shadows feature film, that’s called Wellington Paranormal. For whatever reason, FX or Hulu hasn’t snagged up the rights to air this show, but it’s had two seasons and has expertly handled a wide range of supernatural topics, a lot of the time in a manner that’s even funnier than what’s looked at in What We Do in the Shadows. This second season of What We Do in the Shadows feels like it finally rises to the occasion and provides just as challenging and humorous of a look at the macabre as it’s spin-off. The show’s wider ranger only does it favors.
It’s very entertaining to watch these vampires acclimate to modern customs, but it’s also interesting to see how these fantastical characters have certain supernatural hang-ups and how they’re skeptical to certain creatures or superstitions, in spite of how much they’ve seen. The concept of skeptical vampires is so wonderfully anachronistic. As many supernatural topics are elegantly handled this season, there’s also still plenty of enjoyment to be had over these vampires’ attempts to indoctrinate themselves into society through mundane events like Super Bowl parties, workplace promotions, or e-mail chain letter “curses” (which is easily one of the best episodes that the show has ever done). A lot of this season finds humor in forcing these characters out of their comfort zones, even if it’s in minuscule ways.
This season of the series approaches more adventurous territory and it fits in some very pleasant surprises, much like the show’s first season. There are some very satisfying and unexpected guest stars who fit in very well in this exaggerated universe, as well as the appearance of many of the more popular characters from the first season, even when it seems like that’s impossible. It’s nice to see that What We Do in the Shadows puts just as much effort into its supporting characters and guest roles as it does its main cast.
What We Do in the Shadows continues to be one of the more consistent and hilarious comedies on television and the second season is even better than its strong debut year. In a genre that’s flooded with lazy and unearned takes on vampires, it’s comforting that programs like What We Do in the Shadows work so hard to respect horror’s roots and also take it to fun, new places. As much as this is a fantastic horror series, it’s also just a great “family sitcom” at the end of the day, too. These are characters that you just want to spend more time with, even if that means getting covered in blood in the process. Hopefully there will be many more years to spend time with this eccentric, bloodthirsty bunch.
The second season of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ premieres on FX on April 15th, and the following day on Hulu.
This review is based on the first four episodes of the show’s ten-episode second season.
