Back from the dead for its third season, FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows” is here to bring in the spooky season.
From the mind of Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit), What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary-style, 30-minute episodic narrative about four vampires and their human familiar living in Staten Island. A fictional film crew follows the vampires around as they attempt to live their daily lives and half-attempt to take over the unloved New York City borough.
If you’re getting déjà vu, this TV series is a spin-off of Waititi’s 2014 movie of the same name starring Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Jonathan Brugh, and Ben Fransham. The movie also is a mockumentary about four vampire roommates living together in the modern world.
SPOILER WARNING: After familiar Guillermo’s (Harvey Guillén) vampire-slaying spree at the end of season 2, he is now imprisoned in the basement of the vampire mansion, expected to live off of packs of raw chicken. During the day, he casually slips out of his cell, grabs a bite to eat, and continues to take care of the vampire lair. In an attempt to protect his master from the equivalent of a vampire civil servant (played by the hilarious Kristen Schaal) Guillermo officially gets promoted to vampire bodyguard instead of vampire familiar.
Meanwhile, Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) are invited to become the heads of the Vampiric Council. The vampire quartet is forced to pick who will become the head vampire and begin their duties as such. It goes as great as you could imagine for it to go. END SPOILER WARNING.
For those who have yet to watch but are fans, the premiere is as fresh and funny as its predecessors and opened with the perfect setup to be another amazing season. The costuming is on point, the situational humor is still the shining star, and the cast itself continues to work in perfect harmony, especially with Kristen Schaal taking on a bigger role this season. (One could only hope for another Mark Hamil guest spot.)
Though there may be one too many poop jokes in the season opener for some, “What We Do in the Shadows” is still something you want on your watch list, even if you never did recover from Twilight mania.
For fans of the show, who’s your favorite of the main cast? Any dream guest stars? We want to hear your thoughts!
What We Do in the Shadows is currently airing Thursdays on FX and releases on Hulu on Fridays.
