‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Season 3 review: The Emmy-nominated series remains a blood-thirsty spectacle of fun and outrageousness
What We Do in the Shadows, a comedy about three vampire studs and their adventures created by Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi in 2014, was a huge success. Years later, FX decided to delve into the vampiric universe, creating a television series with the same title. The mockumentary-style show, based on the feature film, became one of the best television series of recent years. After two hilarious seasons, the third one maintains a steady pace while making us laugh all over. The cast and crew deliver even more ridiculous, humor-laced situations and character development. With its new season, it remains a magnificent, bloodthirsty spectacle of laughter and absurdity.
When we think of Staten Island, we can’t help but think of Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Nandor (Kayvan Novak), who live there with an energy vampire, Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), and Nandor’s familiar and vampire enthusiast, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén). Following the shocking season 2 finale, the pack must deal with Guillermo’s brutal, albeit phenomenally coordinated vampire slaughtering who additionally turns out to be a descendant of the one and only Van Helsing. What does one do with someone who has killer instincts towards fangs in their blood?
At the same time, the vampire quarter and Guillermo are welcomed by unexpected and exciting transitions that may disrupt their routine. Our heroes also meet various otherworldly beings and additionally must deal with their personal issues; for example, Nandor struggles with the lack of a life partner and attempts to improve it, which results in many comical situations.
It quickly becomes clear that the third season of What We Do in the Shadows is still glorious, witty in its absurdity, frequently bloody, and the supreme comfort show. The secret remains in the small, various components, such as Nadja’s powerful, booming voice screaming at the group or Guillermo breaking the fourth wall, very Jim-from-The-Office-like (usually in response to yet another foolish thing the vampires do). These small, seemingly meaningless elements make the series a positively chaotic, witty tour of the force.
It’s no different in the third season. As the characters ascend the vampiric ladder to the top and must choose one to lead all, the audience gets another unusual glimpse into the characters’ nightly lives. As a result of finding themselves in a newly found position of power, Nadja becomes even fiercer and more dangerous this season—nominate her for president, for vampire’s sake! In season 3, all the characters from What We Do in the Shadows are progressing (in some way or another). Nadja and Colin, on the other hand, receive the most and well-deserved development.
Colin Robinson, in particular, receives his fifteen minutes of fame. The energy vampire teaches us the secret flirting technique of negging and truly demonstrates his power as he attempts to discover his roots and the origin of his vampire kind. He also begins cursing like a sailor, which is quite entertaining when interacting with others. Instead of continuously being in his basement or the office, the audience experiences Colin with the trio. There is one delightful scene involving Laszlo (who has especially glorious hair this season, and we must discuss it) and one significant element of automotive history.
Guillermo, as brilliantly portrayed by Guillén, remains the show’s heart and unsung hero. Already in the first episode of the third season, he demonstrates his cheekiness and sense of humor, with a raw chicken and a mysterious bucket playing a very specific role. The creators also include a first-person camera, which Guillermo uses to broadcast his interactions with the “family.” He also turns out to be a huge Twilight saga fan (surprise, surprise!), which makes its way to one of the episodes and results in one of the season’s best scenes. Kickball, am I right?
One of the many wonderful elements that What We Do in the Shadows bestows upon us is the verbal skirmishes of Nadja and Laszlo, which are sorely missed in the first few episodes of season 3 available for review. Instead, the creators prioritized the development of other characters, relegating our favorite married couple to the background. However, season 3 also brings us some comebacks and surprising appearances, which became sort of a thing that the show does very well.
What We Do in the Shadows maintains its momentum, with more entertaining adventures and engaging interactions for the audience. Season 3 unequivocally demonstrates that the series is one of those that never gets old. The characters of Berry, Demetriou, and Novak, as well as Proksch and Guillén progress and grow, taking us to places we’ve never seen them go before. You don’t want to miss it.
Grade: A-
What We Do in the Shadows season three will premiere on FX September 2nd and then FX on Hulu the next day.
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