Last Updated on July 30, 2021
Plot: Over the course of the season, the vampires will try to find their way in a world of human Super Bowl parties, internet trolls, an energy vampire who gets a promotion and becomes drunk on power and of course, all the ghosts, witches, necromancers, zombies and shadowy cloaked assassins who roam freely in the Tri-State area. Is Guillermo destined to be a vampire or a vampire hunter? Or maybe just a familiar for the rest of his life?
Review: The first season of What We Do in The Shadows was one of the best series of 2019. Very funny and wonderfully cast, the spin-off from the film of the same name from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi was a gamble. But, with both Clement and Waititi on board as producers and writers with Waititi even helming a few episodes, it easily won over a fanbase who loved the new group of vampires and their quirky misadventures. With season two debuting this coming week (and the next day on FX on Hulu), the question is whether the series can stay at the same level of quality despite not having Clement or Waititi writing or directing this season. The answer is an easy yes as the show is just as funny with some added plot elements that carry the story started last year.
At the end of the first season, Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Laszlo (Matt Berry) narrowly escaped from the Vampire Council after the accidental death of Baron Afanas (Doug Jones). Returning to life as normal for the trio, along with Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), was fairly simple. The biggest change was with Nandor's familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) who discovered he is the descendent of the Van Helsing bloodline and therefore may be destined to become a vampire hunter himself. But what worked best about this series was always the casual comedic interactions between the cast who embrace the wackiness of this story while it still delves into the mythology of the genre.
Over the four episodes made available for review, What We Do In The Shadows continues to have a bevvy of guest stars including Craig Robinson, Haley Joel Osment, Benedict Wong, and more while we get new supernatural entities added to the series including zombies, necromancers, and ghosts. These new additions are handled brilliantly as we see the household of vampires look at these other entities with disdain or mockery such as insisting ghosts are not real and that necromancy is a scheme whereas we have seen everything from werewolves to babadooks on this series so far. The humor continues to range from over the top gore to silly fish out of water scenarios involving modern technology and events like the Super Bowl.
The documentary approach to the story remains a key ingredient to the style of the series with each character getting their chance to speak directly to the camera. As much as I love Matt Berry and Natasia Demetriou playing off of one another, the highlight of these first episodes has to be Harvery Guillen. Last season, Guillermo served the audience's entry into the story of these vampires, but when he crosses paths with a group during his hunt for virgins, it changes the potential future of this series which further distinguishes it from the feature film.
The best thing about What We Do In The Shadows are the jokes and every one of these episodes is crammed with moments that had me laughing. Humor is something we all need right now and this series continues to deliver. The formula is pretty standard here so if you were not a fan of the first season (and I doubt there are many who didn't like it), you aren't going to find anything different this time around. The tone and timing of these episodes pick up perfectly from the first season and you will surely find it a pleasure to watch. At the very least, you will never look at the Super Bowl quite the same way again.
What We Do In The Shadows second season premieres April 15th on FX with episodes available on FX on Hulu the next day.
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