This review contains mild spoilers for the What We Do in the Shadows Season 2 premiere, episodes 1 and 2, “Resurrection” and “Ghosts.” WWDITS airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX and the next day on Hulu.
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What We Do in the Shadows, FX’s fangtastic supernatural comedy, returns as sharp and absurd as ever in its second season, with our hapless vampires taking on real and existential threats, including ghosts, zombies, email spam, and the social minefield of a Super Bowl party.
After their run-in with the star-studded vampire council last season, life has mostly returned to normal for Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) as Season 2 kicks off – mostly because, unbeknownst to them, Nandor’s familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) has been secretly taking out the vampire assassins sent by the council to punish them, protecting his ungrateful employers and trying to deny his heritage as a Van Helsing.
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While Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja remain reliably frozen in time, just as self-obsessed, horny, and oblivious to human progress as ever, Guillermo’s personal growth continues to serve as the throughline to the series. He’s still adorably loyal to Nandor no matter how cruel he is to his human servant, but it’s clear that some friction is building as Guillermo becomes more proficient in the art of vampire slaying. The universe certainly seems to be telling him that it’s his destiny to rid the world of these suckers, not just fetch them virgins and clean the blood off their cloaks. This focus on Guillermo is an excellent showcase for Guillen, who can play long-suffering exasperation better than just about anyone else – but it’s those quiet, subtle moments, when you can see him considering just how easy it might be to simply stake his insufferable master, that lend the season a delicious bit of tension.
While these serialized elements help the show maintain a sense of momentum that was slightly lacking in Season 1 (the first four episodes of Season 2 were sent to critics), I’d honestly be just as satisfied and entertained by What We Do in the Shadows if every episode was just a series of self-contained vignettes as Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja struggle to assimilate to human life or wrestle with modern conveniences. An upcoming episode that sees them forced to use a laptop proves to be one of the most hilarious installments to date, purely on the strength of Novak, Berry, and Demetriou’s increasingly unhinged performances. Not every joke lands, but the ones that do are usually gut-busters.
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Like last season, the show smartly deploys a number of perfectly-utilized guest stars, kicking off with a hilariously douchey turn from Haley Joel Osment as Nadja and Laszlo’s obnoxious familiar Topher in the first episode, adding another layer of ridiculousness to the proceedings.
While Topher is mostly used as a device to highlight just how underappreciated Guillermo is, he does serve as a window into the wider supernatural world when he’s resurrected as a zombie after a surreal trip to a necromancer (who is basically running a zombie sweatshop in his basement – apparently there’s no escaping capitalism, even after death). The show seems eager to deepen its paranormal mythology in Season 2, as the second episode tackles the existence of ghosts. It makes total sense for the whimsical Nadja to be the only one who believes in other, kookier aspects of the occult, and it’s nice to see the show expanding on other creatures who might inhabit the world established in the movie, especially considering the existence of Wellington Paranormal – another Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement-created series set in the same universe – which also delves into the many other creepy creatures that humans are oblivious to.
On a related note, Mark Proksch’s scene-stealing energy vampire Colin Robinson remains a delight by being as mind-numbingly boring as possible, with the trailers hinting at a bigger storyline for him as the season progresses. Since energy vampires were an invention specifically for the show, there’s plenty of runway for the writers to experiment with Colin Robinson and his abilities, and since he’s a consistent scene-stealer, that can only be a good thing.
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Source: IGN.com What We Do in the Shadows: Season 2 Premiere Review