WWDITS: Season One Talk

[For Cereals]

9 hours ago, Blakeston said:

The movie was definitely helped by the likability of Viago. The series could sorely use a character with that kind of an endearing presence.

Also, the werewolves in the film had a sweet camaraderie to them, whereas the werewolves we saw here didn't even seem to like each other very much.

They weren’t swear wolves...

[iMonrey]

I haven't seen the movie yet. Was there an energy vampire in the movie? I'd like to see what kind of powers Colin has. Up until last week I assumed he was really just a regular guy who bores people to death but it turned out he can levitate so he does have some supernatural abilities. 

The whole thing with the cursed hat really cracked me up. Especially the way Nadja said she kept trying to throw it away, just like any wife who tries to get rid of her husband's crummy clothes. 

[SoSueMe]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I haven't seen the movie yet. Was there an energy vampire in the movie? I'd like to see what kind of powers Colin has. Up until last week I assumed he was really just a regular guy who bores people to death but it turned out he can levitate so he does have some supernatural abilities. 

The whole thing with the cursed hat really cracked me up. Especially the way Nadja said she kept trying to throw it away, just like any wife who tries to get rid of her husband's crummy clothes. 

Nope, no energy vampire. There was a newbie vampire that taxed the patience of the older ones though. The movie is 'must see'😊

[Thalia]

Who played the familiar who has to pretend he's the father of his vamps?  He looked "familiar," so to speak. 

[iMonrey]

Just saw the movie. I liked it but I really think the whole concept is something that wears thin after about ten or fifteen minutes. I found myself really laughing a lot at the very beginning but it's kind of like a Saturday Night Live skit that's stretched out to an hour and a half. In some ways the TV show works better.

I do agree the TV show should have included a Viago-type characters though. Nandor doesn't really cut it.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 4/18/2019 at 10:21 AM, ChrissyX said:

I know the vulva garden was a big hit, but I found it more creepy than funny. A man remembering women for their sexual organs felt like an outdated 80s joke to me. We're more than holes.

But we generally don't even know what the various lady bits are called, so I'm with @HouseofBeck in appreciating the accuracy of the terminology, and personally think it was worth it just for that. 

.

On 4/19/2019 at 11:44 AM, Blakeston said:

The movie was definitely helped by the likability of Viago. The series could sorely use a character with that kind of an endearing presence.

Excellent point.  I definitely like the movie more than the series, and think that might be a big part of it.  

.

Quote

Also, the werewolves in the film had a sweet camaraderie to them, whereas the werewolves we saw here didn't even seem to like each other very much.

The leader of the werewolves in the movie was played by the guy who played Murray in Flight of the Conchords, and he comes off as very sweet to me.  In the TV show, the leader was played by the "Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor" guy from Flight of the Conchords, and while I was happy to have him show up, he doesn't read as "sweet" to me.

[Amethyst]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Just saw the movie. I liked it but I really think the whole concept is something that wears thin after about ten or fifteen minutes. I found myself really laughing a lot at the very beginning but it's kind of like a Saturday Night Live skit that's stretched out to an hour and a half. In some ways the TV show works better.

I do agree the TV show should have included a Viago-type characters though. Nandor doesn't really cut it.

I felt the same way, sort of.  I thought the movie was fine and ended right before it became silly, but a weekly TV series doesn't work for me.  And while it looks like Nandor is supposed to be the Viago, he seems like the odd man out and they focus more on Nadia and Laszlow. 

Besides the lone female wolf and Nadia sniping at each other, I wasn't impressed with the werewolves.  The film versions had more camaraderie, and did a better job of showing why there was a hierarchy.  These wolves just seemed scattered.

Criticisms aside, I don't think it's a bad show, just not one of my favorites.

[LittleIggy]

I love Nandor! He is so fussy for a supposedly ferocious Ottoman warrior. I loved the bit about not killing the neighbors because “what if I had to borrow something.”

[CletusMusashi]

The female werewolf endeared herself to me by calling Nadja "Downtown Abby." That's like maybe one millimeter below my own knowledge of Downton Abbey, but I always play dumb and call it exactly what she does when people try to convince me that I have to watch it.

[teddysmom]

On 4/18/2019 at 11:21 AM, ChrissyX said:

A man remembering women for their sexual organs felt like an outdated 80s joke to me. We're more than holes.

He's a 300 year old vampire, they aren't politically correct, they kill and f***.    The whole point is how ridiculous he is.  

Also, Nadja is obviously the smarter of the three. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

The leader of the werewolves in the movie was played by the guy who played Murray in Flight of the Conchords, and he comes off as very sweet to me.

Rhys Darby. I know him as Steve on "Wrecked." He's kind of a psychopath on that show, so . . . frame of references can be significant. 

[CletusMusashi]

Okay, so now that we've had time to guess who, back in the pilot ep, left all those, as Nandor put it, "half drunk" humans in the cellar, only to spout a fauxcited load of crap about labeling all the victims in the future... who do you think it was? My money's on Nadja. She's the only one who honestly seems to fool the others with any regularity. Probably because she understands them so well. "A big turkey trying to rule the farm" actually sums up Nandor pretty well, once you get to know him.

[libgirl2]

On 4/20/2019 at 11:02 AM, iMonrey said:

I haven't seen the movie yet. Was there an energy vampire in the movie? I'd like to see what kind of powers Colin has. Up until last week I assumed he was really just a regular guy who bores people to death but it turned out he can levitate so he does have some supernatural abilities. 

The whole thing with the cursed hat really cracked me up. Especially the way Nadja said she kept trying to throw it away, just like any wife who tries to get rid of her husband's crummy clothes. 

The hat was my favorite bit of the night..... oh that and wearing capes. 

[Matt K]

The cursed hat is one of my favorite gags, along with the final city counsel meeting and Colin and Evie's date.  

[teddysmom]

The AV Club says they can't emphasize enough that tonight's episode is must see tv. 

This only includes the premise and the trailer for tonight's episode, in case you don't want to be spoiled. 

https://tv.avclub.com/now-that-what-we-do-in-the-shadows-is-a-hell-of-a-pre-1834239495 

[CletusMusashi]

I hate to be a continuity buzzkill on a show this silly, but they make such a big deal about the importance of being invited in: I have to wonder how Laszlo was able to just fly right in through Phil's window without an invitation. Do you only need one when you're in human form?

[Bruinsfan]

Maybe Phil opening the window when he knocked at it constituted an implied invitation?

Man, when Phil's girlfriend went after Laslo with the broom I was flashing back to "Come back, black chicken!" from Love at First Bite!

Other highlights for me were Jeff shining his flashlight to reveal Nadja had turned into a pile of rats, and Laslo running from Animal Control with all those cats clinging to him.

[LittleIggy]

The pile of rats reminded me of Coppola’s Dracula. The cats clinging to Lazlo reminded me of Let the Right One In. 

Hilarious episode as usual. Gregor remembering his past lives cracked me up.

[teddysmom]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

The pile of rats reminded me of Coppola’s Dracula. The cats clinging to Lazlo reminded me of Let the Right One In. 

Hilarious episode as usual. Gregor remembering his past lives cracked me up.

Nadja remains my favorite.  12345 is the password?   I lost count how many times she rolled her eyes at the idiot men around her. Jez? Jash? Jex? Jang?   

Nandor turning himself into a dog and then getting locked in a cage. 

[Phishbulb]

On 4/18/2019 at 12:49 AM, saoirse said:

I love this show so much - and it's nice to see that they're getting name guest stars - Vanessa Bayer last week, Nick Kroll this week! I think that bodes well for the future of the series.

Nick Kroll's character ordering "blood-le service" in the club was a funny bit of synchronicity with his Bobby Bottleservice character on his own show.

[formerlyfreedom]

9 hours ago, CletusMusashi said:

I hate to be a continuity buzzkill on a show this silly, but they make such a big deal about the importance of being invited in: I have to wonder how Laszlo was able to just fly right in through Phil's window without an invitation. Do you only need one when you're in human form?

9 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

Maybe Phil opening the window when he knocked at it constituted an implied invitation?

I fanwanked it as though Laszlo had been invited into the house before.

This episode did not disappoint me - great to see the return of Gregor/Jeff, Jake McDorman really got to shine with this role. Nandor's earnestness in trying to free Laszlo, Colin Robinson being the energy suck he is, Nadja in her search for 'Jesk', Guillermo sitting in the waiting room with the look of exhaustion/utter defeat on his face...this show is so great!

[CletusMusashi]

It didn't click in until last night that Nadja saying Nandor was like a big turkey wasn't just her strange, random way of saying he's like a big dumb rooster. It was her racist way of saying he's like  a big dumb rooster. It finally clicked in when she was telling Jext he should pretend the archery targets were a bunch of Turks. I'm not endorsing anything here. Just saying: yeah, they're old, and their old prejudices do come up when they're bitching about something.

The characters are growing on me as I get a deeper feel for them. They seem to be a parody of the Freudian power trio trope. Nadja is totally the id. She's easily distracted by emotions such as lust and anger, and has no interest in justifying it to the others. Nandor is the superego. He's one of those people that'll spend twenty minutes debating the most logical way to do a five second task. This why despite allegedly having by far the largest body count of any of them, he is the least intimidating or confrontational. And Laszlo is a dysfunctional ego, who's almost as driven by his urges as Nadja is but, instead of admitting it, wants to convince everybody in the room including himself that he's being logical.

I'm not sure where Colin fits in there, but he is growing on me. When he isn't being deliberately boring, he has a nice usually subtle sense of humor. I've noticed the last few weeks that he makes a pretty good straight man to Nandor. Since N/L are too goofy and Guillermo isn't really allowed to speak up. Even Nandor's description of them as a duo was great. "I'm too foreign and he's too boring." Nandor was also entertaining the hell out of me just neighborhood-watching with Guillermo. I hope that becomes a recurring schtick.

And the way they chop up and spread out the longer arcs intermingled with self-contained stories suits these characters well. They don't really seem good at quickly bringing closure to anything bigger than "What should we have for dinner?"

Edited April 26, 2019 by CletusMusashi

[libgirl2]

2 hours ago, teddysmom said:

Nadja remains my favorite.  12345 is the password?   I lost count how many times she rolled her eyes at the idiot men around her. Jez? Jash? Jex? Jang?   

Nandor turning himself into a dog and then getting locked in a cage. 

She is my favorite too. Her expressions are hysterical. 

[teddysmom]

1 hour ago, CletusMusashi said:

. Nadja is totally the id. She's easily distracted by emotions such as lust and anger, and has no interest in justifying it to the others.

 So far we haven't seen her get herself into a jam, like the other two.  She knows when to get out. 

Don't wear the hat with the witch's curse, Lazlo.   Yes, I'll come get you idiots out of Animal Control.  Apparently she CAN hypnotize people, unlike Nandor.  Fuming at the Baron for showing up and demanding they do something as unattainable as taking over all of America.  Think it thru, boys, think it thru. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

5 hours ago, saoirse said:

14 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

Maybe Phil opening the window when he knocked at it constituted an implied invitation?

I fanwanked it as though Laszlo had been invited into the house before.

Laszlo should learn from Nandor.  If you drink all the neighbors, you'll have no neighbors left when you need to borrow something.  (It will also look suspicious if too many people in their immediate neighborhood are exsanguinated.)

Edited April 25, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[tennisgurl]

"Jeff is like a witches come! Maaaaa...Jeff." 

Nandor, Colin, and Guillermo were a pretty solid triple act, Colin makes a weirdly good straight man to Nador. ""I'm too foreign and he's too boring." 

Jeff becoming a horse again was a hilarious visual gag. As was Lazlo as a bat getting beaten up by Phil's girlfriend, AND Lazlo running away with all the cats attached to him. Just great stuff all around.

[CletusMusashi]

The reason Nandor has so much difficulty being friendly toward Guillermo, even when it seems like he wants to, is that he is obsessed with following the rules consistently. Vampires matter, and humans are inferior, therefore it is perfectly okay for vampires to prey on and enslave humans because that is the way things are supposed to be. Laszlo pretty much agrees, but doesn't overthink it as much as Nandor. If it's useful, he'll turn on the charm without feeling that he's a sellout, but as soon as that's inconvenient he'll murder you without a second thought. The reason Nadja is the most willing to dive into emotional interactions with humans (not just Jebstif, but LARPER girl as well,) is because she gives absolutely no fucks about philosophical consistency. She loves who she wants, kills who she wants, and really only sneaks around behind the others' backs to avoid criticism and relationship drama.

In short, when Nandor is friendly to a human without some ulterior motive, he tends to be embarrassed by it. Nadja is sneaky out of convenience, not out of shame, because it makes it easier to do whatever she wants. Nandor does what he thinks he's supposed to do. Laszlo does what he thinks he's convinced others he's supposed to do. And Colin seems to be more about subtly trolling everyone, human and vampire alike, to really care much.

Edited April 26, 2019 by CletusMusashi

[iMonrey]

Quote

Maybe Phil opening the window when he knocked at it constituted an implied invitation?

If you look again, you will see Lazlo (as a bat) somehow hypnotizing Phil into opening the window and inviting him in. We just can't hear dialogue/sound effects from the street level.

This was, for my money, the best episode yet. And it seemed as though it should have been episode number 2, since they introduced Jeff in episode 1 and haven't mentioned him since. I was sort of disappointed with the previous few episodes because I didn't think they were as funny as the pilot but this one was hysterical.

I adore Jake McDorman anyway but his turn as Jeff was the highlight, both as the hapless parking garage attendant and all the various incarnations of his past life. I'd like to know if any of those voices were dubbed (the first one sounded as if it might have been) or if he did them all himself. "He did a lot of mongering."

The whole bit with Lazlo getting captured by animal control was priceless too, and as others have noted already, Nadja's reaction to the combination being 1-2-3-4-5 was hilarious. "Humans, I . . . {shakes head}"

[meep.meep]

The bat swirls one of his wings around, just like Lazlo uses his hand when he hypnotizes the neighbor.

Odd that it's Nandor who is so concerned about the neighbors.  And why can't he hypnotize people?

One little funny bit was the guy at the animal shelter who was exhausted from dealing with Colin, just muttering "Please come in ma'am" to Nadja at the door.  It's teamwork!

And I love the theme song - "You're dead, stay dead!"

Edited April 26, 2019 by meep.meep
I forgot!

[crystalball]

I adore this ridiculous show so very much!  I love it when it’s clear that everyone involved is having fun with their job, especially the prop and costume depts. 

[kieyra]

This sort of comedy isn’t my usual thing, but I’m mostly digging it. Nadja rules. That actress is a real comedic find, and looking at her Wikipedia, this seems to be a breakout role for her. She steals every scene she’s in. 

Where is Jenelf?

[Lantern7]

The bit where Nandor grabs the wrong bat was expected. Him turning into a dog to spring Laszlo, only to be in the same predicament? That was funny. So was him running as the cats tried to kill him.

I've never had a bat encounter while living on Staten Island . . . but since it's the borough with the most rural area for wildlife to roam (including deer and turkeys), bats flying around isn't that big of a stretch.

“I want you to bring me the strange bat with the erect penis." Nice.

Who can take these vampires seriously? I have never heard of the time Dracula got his ass beat down with a common broom. 😛🦇

[CletusMusashi]

6 hours ago, meep.meep said:

Odd that it's Nandor who is so concerned about the neighbors.  And why can't he hypnotize people?

Nandor can only hypnotize you to do something you're willing to do. He can make you forget angsty issues, including ones that are his own fault, or he can make an angry city councilman into such an angry city councilman that the definitions of "mad" become blurry enough to add instructions to. 

Laszlo will actually put on the charm when he's trying to hypnotize you. He does it with humans, he does it with raccoons, he does it with cats, and, in the grand scheme of things, he's not all that great at it either. 

Nadja focuses her hypnosis on those who seem to be receptive anyway. She's good at finding them, and she's good at making use of them. Think of her as the world champion of the "shooting fish in a barrel" contest.

Except that there is no fish in this barrel. And... not shooting. And it is, how you say? Staten Island.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Odd that it's Nandor who is so concerned about the neighbors.  And why can't he hypnotize people?

I'm assuming it's a throwback to Viago not being a very good hypnotist in the movie. 

Quote

Nandor can only hypnotize you to do something you're willing to do. 

Colin: "If you can only hypnotize people to do something they're willing to do, it's not really hypnosis."

[30 Helens]

I just wanted to jump in and say how much I love this show. It makes me laugh like nothing else on TV. Gotta say, though, I’m a bit disheartened to see only 3 pages of comments for the entire season. I hope the (relatively) small presence here does not reflect the size of the viewing audience at large.  Because I need this show to stick around!!

[CletusMusashi]

Hopefully it'll get a ratings boost when "Archer" comes back and reminds people that FX exists. One good thing is that new viewers can jump into any episode they want without really being out of the loop. Those little talking head moments are just as effective as if the whole show opened with a "Previously, on What We Do in the Shadows..."

[CletusMusashi]

Damn it! Just when I was starting to really enjoy The Barren!

[peridot]

This was my most favorite episode so far, I never stopped laughing!

[LittleIggy]

“Devils suck!”

”We’re vampires!” 😆 I hope everyone noticed the cap the Baron was wearing.

Another hilarious episode. The projectile vomiting from eating the “pizza pie” and poor Guillermo opening the door and toasting the Baron...😆🤣😂

I love this series.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

3 hours ago, CletusMusashi said:

Damn it! Just when I was starting to really enjoy The Barren!

If the Baron had had genitalia, could he have sired children? Or was he speaking of before he became a vampire?

[GaT]

This was definitely the best episode so far, vampires high on drug blood is hysterical.

[teddysmom]

10 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

The projectile vomiting from eating the “pizza pie”

I was dying!  

I knew the Baron wouldn't be around too long, that was the joke in the movie with Pyoter. 

When Lazslo had the stake and was going to kill him in the alley, and Nandor tells the Baron not to hurt the neighbor. "No he brings in our garbage cans when we forget". 

Nandor can't scare Guillermo. Just get out! 

Edited May 2, 2019 by teddysmom

[Phishbulb]

On 4/25/2019 at 1:56 PM, iMonrey said:

This was, for my money, the best episode yet. And it seemed as though it should have been episode number 2, since they introduced Jeff in episode 1 and haven't mentioned him since. I was sort of disappointed with the previous few episodes because I didn't think they were as funny as the pilot but this one was hysterical.

The animal control episode was actually the eighth episode produced. They've played around a little bit with the order that they've shown the episodes. The production order of the episodes was:

1- Pilot

2- City Council

3- Manhattan Night Club

4- Werewolf Feud

5- Baron's Night Out

Then two episodes that haven't aired yet ("The Trial" and "Citizenship") are 6 and 7 and "Animal Control" is 8.

So yes, they waited quite a while to bring back Jeff from the pilot.

[teddysmom]

Have we heard if it's been renewed? 

[libgirl2]

That was a hysterical episode! I loved seeing everyone drunk or on drugs. Out on the town with The Baron! I was laughing the entire time. And just when you start liking the Baron...... zap he is burnt to a crisp! 

Edited May 2, 2019 by libgirl2

[LittleIggy]

The Baron was played by Doug Jones who must be a busy guy so I didn’t expect him to be on there a lot.

[meep.meep]

2 hours ago, Phishbulb said:

The animal control episode was actually the eighth episode produced. They've played around a little bit with the order that they've shown the episodes. The production order of the episodes was:

1- Pilot

2- City Council

3- Manhattan Night Club

4- Werewolf Feud

5- Baron's Night Out

Then two episodes that haven't aired yet ("The Trial" and "Citizenship") are 6 and 7 and "Animal Control" is 8.

So yes, they waited quite a while to bring back Jeff from the pilot.

So clearly we won't see any more of Jeff/Gregor this season.

I liked the Baron out on the town with the rest of the vampires.  I liked how he didn't like Colin feeding off his "dark energy!"  Could have done without the projectile vomiting, it was the weakest part of the previous episode as well.

Bats!

[teddysmom]

23 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

So clearly we won't see any more of Jeff/Gregor this season.

Actually we will. I read an interview with the actor who plays Jesh, and he will be back. He meets Lazslo. 

On 4/25/2019 at 11:14 PM, Lantern7 said:

Dracula got his ass beat down with a common broom. 😛🦇

He got beat by a teenage girl once IIRC and then they started dating. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by teddysmom

[Matt K]

I am not a fan of projectile vomiting as comedy but that was really funny.  I loved near the end when I was pretty sure the Barren was going to die and they really played around with it.  I would have liked to see more of him but I think this was probably the perfect amount of Barren as his shtick would get old pretty quickly.  

Also, apparently the actress who plays Jenna has a movie coming out soon (it took me a while to figure out why she looked so familiar) which has been getting decent reviews.  Also apparently she the younger sister of Jonah Hill which I did not know (it came up because her movie is being compared favorably to Super Bad).  

Edited May 2, 2019 by Matt K

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I want to know how Colin Robinson wound up meeting and living with the others, and what would have happened if the Baron had decided to eat him instead of the sound guy. Also, does energy vampirism run in families?  If not, were his parents and any siblings perpetually exhausted and depressed around him?