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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.
Witches have joined the game.
What We Do in the Shadows‘s penultimate episode of its second season is titled “Witches;” it is written by William Meny, and directed by Kyle Newacheck (Workaholics, Community).
Some spoilers ahead for those of you who are not caught up with the episode or the series. If you haven’t done either, you should get to that now, then return to this article!
Newacheck has directed half this season’s episodes, including the finale coming up next week. “Witches” follows the Staten Island vampires and Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) as they are captured from their home and brought to a witches’ hideout. Lucy Punch (Ella Enchanted, Hot Fuzz, Dinner for Schmucks) guest stars as the witch leader Lilith, a rival of Nadja (Natasia Demetriou).
The episode sets aside any dramatic or philosophical dialogue and makes way for comic relief, which is much necessary especially with the current events of the past two weeks. Vampires Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry), Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) are put in restraints, where the witches are to torture them by juicing out their manhood, making this the most hilarious scene of the episode.
Berry and Novak perform well as their characters, watching the witches wrinkle down into wicked form and then calling them “MILFs.” Berry’s Laszlo begins the episode tending to his fruit tree, which has apparently become barren over time.
Guillén’s Guillermo develops as familiar to the vampires, knowing that his job cannot merely have breaks and that work has to be done. His relationship with his mythological superiors continues to flourish when he comes up with a solution upon which both vampires and witches can agree.
All in all, this episode of Shadows seems to improve where last week’s episode did not do so well. The writing for this story including its comedy is much deserved, and with such good timing. In one example, Guillermo creates a “Heavy Duty Blood Remover” that comes from a handful of Tide Pens. The show is inclusive of groups other than vampires and races other than white. The witches have a black woman in their group and Guillermo helps Nadja and Colin Robinson out of a tight spot by using his native touch Spanish to translate a word foreign to the two. The episode has some decent computer-generated effects in aspects pertaining to the witches.
8.8/10
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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