It appears that good television shows are few and far between in the era of streaming services, where as one decent show is created and cancelled, another 10 terrible ones are greenlit only to suffer the same fate shortly after one or two seasons. While HBO are known more for keeping a small selection that don't often fall victim to this structure, I never had much faith in a television adaptation of the mockumentary of the same name by now-famous Taika Waititi.
Now airing its third season and already approved a fourth, the television series of What We Do In The Shadows has been a pleasant experience that has heavily expanded upon its original source material rather than simply being carried from it with a tight grip. Through this, the different characters and their arcs within the show are more ambitious, providing more context to this chaotic world while allowing for many laughs as a result of the talent behind the show's writing team.
As expected of a group of highy dysfuncational vampires living in modern day -- in attempt to obide by most of modern society's rules -- it isn't easy to fit in. The traditional vampire can only go outside at night, and is composed on many traditional methods of speaking and values having lived during many periods of time in a total of several hundred years. For a television show, these limitations of the general vampiric foundations could strangle opportunities to grow, however, What We Do In The Shadows carefully avoids it via two methods: the concept of a "familiar" in which a human dedicates their time to helping the vampires throughout their nightly, and daily, lives in expectation of too being given eternal life as a reward. And my personal favourite: Colin Robinson.
This particular character, played by Mark Proksch, displays the creative writing behind the show, and brings the question: why has nobody in the comedy world thought of this before? Colin Robinson is no ordinary vampire, but one that thrives by feeding upon the energy of others. His fanged teeth being the boring, the mundane, the nasal way of speaking in a gentle tone that sends people to sleep. The brilliance behind such a character allows for us to see the world outside of the dark, where vampires still roam and their actions still have consequences. Where a vampire's familiar will be out searching for worthy sacrifices to bring home to their masters.
Using the familiar Guillermo (played by Harvey Guillen), we've seen the growth of his character specifically. As he's grown to realise the manipulation of familiars as vampires use them by giving them the expectation of eternal life, which simply just never arrives. This frustation onscreen has given a few laughs, but pushed the show into this realm of: what is he now capable of? What's coming next? It's evident it aims to be used in one way or another to tie things up, but fortunately, there's no signs of exactly how. And this arc is by no means taking over the laughs and adventures that the show started off with.
Though, at the same time, we've started to receive episodes mostly dedicated to individual characters: Colin Robinson, many on Guillermo, and one on Lazlo. I expect we'll see a few more of these to loosen up the show's current structure and provide a bit of space between what's currently expected, and to provide a more personal experience with the characters as we see them take on personal challenges and attempt to deal with them. This isn't anything new in the world of television, as character development helps pave the way for both space and future developments as a whole.
Again, treading relatively thin on the available directions for the narrative, and to avoid limitations, the show gives us insight into the ways these modern vampires attempt to survive in this society, as they venture into things such as nightclubs, or even head to Vegas for a few nights; though we're also given very slight hints of the show pushing into certain narratives that could be used to wrap things up when necessary. Personally, such precautions are wise, and even in the show's third season where it feels as if the possibilities are still endless, we see a quick shift in responsibilities within our characters. They're growing up a bit despite their usual dysfuncational activities. Which brings me to question: when and where could this end? Will it remain strong? At this pace, I believe so and look forward to seeing how it unfolds.
I can't see the show overstaying its welcome, nor can I see myself enjoying the fact that the show might quickly come to an end. Its creativity and writing, and just incredibly enjoyable characters and cast make it a show that you'll want to rewatch and simply never end. But all good things do.