What We Do in the Shadows: Kiwi-inspired vampiric comedy really hits its stride – صحيفة الصوت

Listen to the Stuff To Watch podcast by hitting the “play” button below, or find it on podcast apps such as Apple or Spotify.

REVIEW: Fresh from earning seven Emmy nominations last week (including Outstanding Comedy Series), What We Do in the Shadows has really hit its stride as its fourth season gets underway.

A show that has already achieved the seemingly impossible double whammy of being a successful adaptation of a popular movie and transplanting an overseas conceit to America, this Staten Island-set spin-off of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s beloved 2014 Wellington-set mockumentary about vampire flatmates just keeps getting better and better.

When we last left our disparate quintet, they had all seemingly gone their separate ways. Energy Vampire Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) had died, Ottoman Empire warrior Nandor “the Relentless” (Kayvan Novak) decided to travel, his eager familiar-cum-bodyguard Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) wound up in a shipping crate and seductress Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) headed to England to join the Supreme Worldwide Vampiric Council, a move she made without her partner Laszlo (Matt Berry), after he discovered a baby boy had emerged from Colin Robinson’s chest cavity.

READ MORE:
* Harvey Guillen finds fame with Kiwi spin-off What We Do In The Shadows
* What We Do in the Shadows makes life as a vampire all about ‘laughs and silliness’
* What We Do in the Shadows: Kiwi humour conquers the US
* What We Do in the Shadows: TV fright gave Conchords star Jemaine Clement his best idea

A year on, and while the house has seen better days, Laszlo is proud of the progress he has made with “the creature”.

“He’s his own little man,” he beams, “and not a bit the boring, energy draining man he came from. I’m teaching him culture, woodcraft and swordsmanship, so he’ll be the most interesting adult there has ever been.”

Unfortunately, an obsession with home-reno show Go Flip Yourself hasn’t converted into any interest in maintaining what he presently has, as evidenced by regular visits by gas company employees to check out complaints of a leak. For all of them, it’s their last job.

However, when the doorbell rings this time around, rather than his next cocktail, Laszlo is greeted by the surprise return of Nadja, quickly followed by Nandor, and, once unboxed, Guillermo.

Nadja admits the council wasn’t all it was cracked up to be (especially after she got stuck on a sub-committee), while Nandor regales the tale of how his “Eat Prey Love” world tour only got as far as Fresno, before he met a nice family from Wisconsin which made him homesick for his original village. Once there, he was disappointed to find he was no longer unique – all the inhabitants were vampires.

His one consolation was that he was able to return home with 850 pounds worth of ancestral treasure, which he now plans to use as a dowry in stepping up his search for a wife – with Guillermo’s help. But first, there’s the small matter of fixing up their rapidly crumbling abode.

While Nandor is convinced they should simply rob Fort Knox, or steal from Henry Ford, Nadja believes now is the opportunity to use her council influence to push through her long-held dream of creating a vampire nightclub.

With terrific economy and plenty of laughs, the opening double-punch of this 10-episode run does a terrific job of putting all the pieces in place for another round of hilarious antics.

We learn of Laszlo’s influence on the youthful Sigmund Freud, Kristen Schaal’s stern Guide’s saucy past and why that container ship really got stuck in the Suez Canal, while the insults traded between the central characters are just as delightfully acerbic and adroit as ever.

There’s also a magnificent parody of The Bachelor and a brilliant nod to Blade, as Shadows again proves why it continues to be one of America’s most consistently funny comedies, while still retaining a little of its original creators’ Kiwi sensibilities and DNA.

Season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows is now available to stream on Neon. New episodes debut on Thursday at midday.