Living in the Shadows
Before I started watching What We Do in the Shadows, the most common way it was described to me was: “It’s basically The Office, but with vampires.” You would think that would have been enough to have sold me from the start, but I was skeptical that it might be too kooky for my taste, so I held off on watching it for a while. The turning point was when actress Cindy Williams (of Laverne & Shirley fame) sung the praises of this show to a friend of mind, raving that it was one of the best shows she’d seen in ages. If it’s good enough for Shirley Feeney, I figured that it’s good enough for me.
If you haven’t seen the show yet, it is a relatively quick watch (two easily-bingeable seasons out so far, as of 2021) that pulls you into its darkly hilarious immediately. It is filmed as a mockumentary (so all you Christopher Guest fans out there: this may just be right up your alley!), with its plot centering around a group of vampires living as roommates together in Staten Island, New York. The series benefits from a “fish out of water” theme in its humor (vampires from another era living in modern day society!), but it also brings to the table a true freshness in the form of snappy, quotable writing and unique characters (such as “energy vampire” Colin Robinson, who feasts not on blood, but instead on the energy of other humans, by boring them with his mundane ramblings).
Whenever I finish a new series, one of my favorite things to do is to dive into trivia, reviews, and any other tidbits I can find that give additional color and history to the show. The above infographic is essentially a conglomeration of a bunch of numerical fun facts that I put together as I dug into various types of information surrounding What We Do in the Shadows, from its Emmy history (10 nominations to date, but no wins so far) to the history behind its theme song (which is supremely addicting) to the IMDB credits of its actors (Kayvan Novak with the most!).
In putting together this infographic, I wasn’t surprised to see the episode “The Trial,” which featured an extensive collection of guest stars who were famous for playing vampires in other roles (Tilda Swinton, Evan Rachel Wood, Danny Trejo, and others) come out on top in the IMDB user rankings. The most live viewers of any episode over the show’s two seasons came from the show’s second episode (“City Council”), potentially still riding the show’s initial momentum (though I’m curious to hear any other possible theories about why that particular episode may have been tops in terms of live viewers).
The episode from the show that produced the most laugh-out-loud moments for me to date has to have been “The Curse” (which also happened to be the season 2 episode that had the most live viewers, per the infographic above). In this episode, one of the vampire characters, Nandor, decides to check his email after a ten year hiatus, only to discover a chain email stating that he has been cursed by Bloody Mary and that he must forward the email to ten others in order to break the curse. Anyone who lived through the earlier days of the internet can probably vividly remember when these types of emails were common, making the terrified reaction of Nandor (and the rest of the vampires), who wholeheartedly believe this curse to be real, all the more hilarious. This particular episode excels in what the show does best - drawing humor and plot hijinks from the juxtaposition of these centuries-old vampires with the realities of the present world. In this episode and in most others, the humor is further elevated by perfectly utilizing each character’s unique personalities for the plot at hand. For instance, in this episode, while the vampires are looking for email addresses to pass the curse along to, energy vampire Colin Robinson pushes the group to the point of extreme boredom with his monotonous stories; it’s an all-to-relatable moment for anyone watching who has every been around a profoundly dull person who can’t stop talking.
As part of the process for making this infographic and exploring fan sentiment around the show, I thought it would be fun to also conduct a poll looking at which of the five main characters is most popular. If you’ve seen the show, you know that there is not a single dud among the cast of characters - from the aforementioned Colin Robinson (who among us hasn’t met an energy-drainer like him?) to the brutally honest Nadja (who brings a brilliant feminine voice to the show) to the only human member of the clan, Guillermo (who desperately wants to be turned into a vampire himself someday).
As you can see below, the final poll results were actually quite even, with Nadja ultimately earning the top spot - but with fellow vampires Nandor and Laszlo not far behind. However, let it be known that after I shared these poll results on Twitter, the Guillermo fans showed up in full force to defend his honor.
A lot of shows will claim to not have a single weak character among their ensembles… but that honestly holds true for “What We Do in the Shadows.” Choosing between these five brilliantly-crafted characters is a near-impossible task, and there is no wrong answer in the bunch.
To me, a sign of a terrific ensemble show is when there is not a single character you could lift out of the show without feeling its impact. This absolutely holds true for What We Do in the Shadows (and I believe the above poll supports this theory), as fan sentiment seems to generally acknowledge that all five characters have been impeccably cast, and that each one contributes significantly to the show’s overall dynamic.
Making these graphs was a much-enjoyed opportunity for me to immerse myself back into the world of What We Do in the Shadows prior to season three (which is set to debut in September 2021). While I won’t give away any spoilers, season two ended on a truly game-changing note that could have huge implications for Guillermo’s character, who was already riding a terrific season two arc (don’t let the poll results fool you - Guillermo truly is one of the best characters on the show!)
If this particular world is one you have not yet acquainted yourself with… then it is time to start living in the Shadows. Staten Island and these five incredible characters await you.