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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
The vampire roommates of Staten Island and their familiar get into unusual twisted predicaments one night. What We Do in the Shadows‘s third episode of its second season is titled “Brain Scramblies;” it is directed by Kyle Newacheck (Workaholics, Community, “The Worst Guys”), and written by Jake Bender and Zach Dunn.
Some spoilers ahead for those who have not yet watched the episode or seen the show. If you haven’t done either, you should get to that now, then return to this article!
Jemaine Clement’s series is taking a new direction as the protagonist vampires are unwittingly hiding from the Staten Island vampire council and its hired assassins, while familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) tries to come to terms with his Van Helsing bloodline.
In this episode, the show’s vampires Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) are invited to their neighbor Sean (Anthony Atamanuik)’s small Super Bowl party, which the former three confuse for a nightly ritual they believe is referred to as “Superb Owl.” Meanwhile, Guillermo searches for “virgins in my area” and stumbles upon a group of peculiar people from the Tri-State Area, whose prime mission is to collect “mosquitos.”
“Brain Scramblies” gets its episode title from Nandor and Lazlo messing with Sean’s head when he eventually discovers they are vampires. Of course, everything that happens in this show is so mind-boggling and bonkers that we don’t know whether this is the best episode of the season thus far, or if it’s the best episode of the season to invoke a ton of laughs from the utter ridiculousness and hilarity in its remarkable writing.
The whole main cast performed equally well this week, from Guillermo’s search for new humans to bring to his masters, to Nadja critiquing the feminism of modern-day human women and messing with Sean’s mother. The episode’s script pokes fun at “sweaty and slippery” joggers, “bitter” incels, vampire hunters, and humans in general (the latter of which the series tends to do almost always). It also features the return of Shanice (Veronika Slowikowska) — the college roommate of Jenna (Beanie Feldstein), a girl whom Nadja turned into a vampire last season — and the introduction of Derek, played in a special guest appearance by comedian/ actor Craig Robinson. The inclusion of Jenna and Derek in this week’s episode suggests this won’t be the last we hear from them.
This week’s episode of What We Do in the Shadows further exhibits the relations between mythological beings and mortal beings, that everyone is clueless and the best of us are trying to get along with each other. The series seems to examine the subjectivity and subjectivation of the typical human being (in this case, the American) through means of television viewership and alcoholism here and there.
What do you think? Have you seen this series? If not, do you plan to binge it sometime in the near future? Let us know! For more What We Do in the Shadows, FX, horror, and comedy-related news and reviews follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_).
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
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