The vampire mockumentary sitcom What We Do in the Shadows wrapped up its fourth season at the start of September, and it did not disappoint. While the final episode had not yet aired at the time of writing, the first nine continued the show’s upward trajectory, and cemented the show among my favourite comedies.
Based on the 2014 film of the same name, What We Do in the Shadows follows the lives of four vampires and their familiar living in a mansion on modern-day Staten Island. This fourth season sees the leads dealing with a crumbling home, a vampire nightclub, and something resembling parenthood, all against the backdrop of an urban fantasy setting that is growing increasingly intricate with each season.
The mockumentary style builds upon the groundwork of sitcoms like The Office or Parks and Recreation, using that format to cleverly reveal or obscure information as needed to make storylines and jokes land more effectively. The vampires frequently break the fourth wall by addressing the documentary crew, and this is taken to an even greater extreme in the season’s eighth episode, which sees the vampires and their mansion as the subject of an HGTV-style home renovation show, complete with its own unique style.
The new season also manages to reinvigorate one of its weaker points from past seasons. While three of the vampires are your typical Dracula-type creatures (in terms of power, if not personality) the fourth is an “energy vampire” named Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) who draws his strength by boring those around him. It’s a funny concept, and Proksch has done great work with it in the first three seasons, but the joke of a boring character can wear thin, and the writers clearly realized this. At the end of season three, Colin Robinson died, and from his chest cavity burst a brand new energy vampire: a baby, with adult Proksch’s head CGI’d on top of it. Baby Colin Robinson is a great anchor to the season as he rapidly ages and develops a passion for musical theatre, Roblox, and hitting walls with hammers. His transformation radically changes the dynamic he has with vampire Laszlo (Matt Berry), who continues to be the most consistent source of laughs on the show in his new role as a pseudo-father.
What We Do in the Shadows also holds onto a dynamic that worked so well in the past, especially in season three: a classic sitcom will-they-won’t-they between familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) and the vampire he serves, Kayvan Novak’s Nandor the Relentless. The show has not shied away from queer representation in the past, but to see the slowly building interplay between Guillén’s wannabe vampire (who is also a proficient vampire hunter) and Novak’s ancient warrior turned modern softie is a real treat.
Where What We Do in the Shadows stumbles a bit is with its female characters. Natasia Demetriou’s Nadja has shone in past seasons, and while she has a fair amount of screentime with a plotline centered on her opening a vampire nightclub, she has few of the season’s standout moments. The show has increased the number of female characters, with Kristen Schaal becoming a part of nearly every episode and the addition of Nandor’s wife from when he was human (Parisa Fakhri) being brought back to life, but neither has the same level of focus as the male leads.
Still, despite that shortcoming, What We Do in the Shadows is absolutely worth your time and attention. With 40 episodes out and at least two more seasons on the way, it’s absolutely worth your while to let these vampires turn you into a fan.
Jeff was The Cascade's Editor in Chief for the latter half of 2022, having previously served as Digital Media Manager, Culture & Events Editor, and Opinion Editor. One time he held all three of those positions for a month, and he's not sure how he survived that. He started at The Cascade in 2016.
