2x10 Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires

[7.8/10] What I want for Guillermo de la Cruz as a person conflicts with what I want for him as a character. That’s a silly conflict to tangle with because, of course, Guillermo is just a character, not a real person. But part of what makes him so compelling on What We Do in the Shadows is how relatable and real his predicament is, despite the obviously fictional and fantastical circumstances surrounding it.

None of us know what it’s like to be the put-upon familiar for a house full of self-involved vampires. But almost all of us know what it’s like to feel that your hard work is unappreciated, that your contributions are taken for granted, and that you have greater potential that could be realized elsewhere.

That’s the cinch of this series and its blend of the spooky and the mundane -- the situation is ridiculous and the emotions are heightened, but they’re also based on something real. The comedy and the drama work from that amusing but occasionally affecting inflection point.

So for Guillermo the person, I want him to make good on his simple “sorry” note and move out of the Vampire Residence. I want him to become the manager of a Panera Bread or develop his own Shark Tank-friendly business, or just become the vampire slayer-for-hire his Van Helsing roots and preternatural abilities seem to portend. And I kind of want him to make good on his ominous sword-sharpening posture and punish the vamps who’ve strung him along for so many years (not to mention prevent them from, you know, killing more people).

But of course, if he did that there wouldn’t be a show. So for Guillermo the character, I want him to keep orbiting the universe of Nandor, Nadja, Lazlo, and Colin Robinson for as long as the show can get comic mileage out of this collection of knuckleheads. That’s not good for Guillermo, but it's good for fans of the show, and maybe we get to take precedence by virtue of being...well...actual flesh and blood human beings.

Still, however temporary Guillermo’s sabbatical is destined to be given the demands of episodic television, it’s nice to see him making a stand and the utter helplessness of the vamps without him. The state of disarray and uselessness around the Vampire Residence tickled me to no end, and gags about the vamps tripping over various strewn corpses, arguing with one another over who should do the chores, and making faux sacred bargains over picking up dry cleaning had me in stitches.

It’s also nice to see the show picking up on various story threads it’s been saving for a rainy day. The return of the Vampiric Council (and Jermaine Clement’s Vladislav) to make the Staten Island vampires pay for their trespasses is a welcome development after the would-be assassins from the season premiere. The fact that they get blamed for Guillermo’s latent and preternatural vampire-slaying abilities despite viewing him as an incompetent toadie is great bit of irony and escalation. And each incident being recreated for the stage with comical exaggeration and set pieces is a hoot.

But it’s also a good crucible for Guillermo, both to prove his demon-hunting mettle and in his conflicted feelings about his former master. While not quite up to the standards of his supreme slayage in “The Curse”, it’s still cool as hell to see the budding badass swing into the theater, unleash a fury of crosses, stakes, and holy water, and save his vampire buddies’ behinds. That type of absence punctuated by fang-threatening heroics could be a means for the Staten Island blood-suckers to realize Guillermo’s value, even if they can’t remember his last name. (Both “Guillermo Buillermo” and “Mickey Guillermo” as guesses cracked me up.)

Therein lies the alternative to either tossing away the status quo or slavishly maintaining it on What We Do in the Shadows. There is, however frayed and comically exaggerated, genuine affection between Guillermo and his master. Guillermo may be ready to move out, but he can’t bear the thought of his erstwhile taskmasters being killed, especially on account of his actions. Nandor is domineering and oblivious to his familiar, but also plainly misses Guillermo while he’s gone, even if he can’t admit it.

The answer to what to want for Guillermo, then, may be the same one that less-serialized but still character-developing sitcoms found back in the day -- detente. I can want Guillermo to assert himself and achieve some measure of independence, while also gaining enough respect and appreciation from Nandor to stick around and continue fueling stories for however long Jermaine Clement and others want to tell them, giving us both growth and preservation.

That too can be a stumbling block though. Other mockumentary shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation began to feel sanded down in later seasons, when a combination of audience affection and the inevitable entropy of T.V. camaraderie softened the shows’ initial character conflicts and made almost everybody into good friends. There’s grand humor and pathos in Guillermo’s dynamic with his dismissive vampiric overlords, and you’d hate to lose that entirely, even if it’s more of a concern cerca episode one-hundred than episode twenty.

Still, in its second season, What We Do in the Shadows raised the bar both in terms of its humor and its character work, proving that Clement and his team can adapt and roll with the punches. We saw Nadja amusingly conversing with an old woman she used to haunt when she was a little girl. We saw Colin Robinson gain a promotion that literally went to his head. And we saw Lazlo steal the show with his turn as a regular human bartender serving human alcohol beer.

But we also saw Nandor offer an earnest plea to Guillermo to come home, make concessions in order for that to happen and even make a show of good faith by finally turning his former familiar into a vampire. It’s the sort of brief bit of sincerity that makes this deeply silly show a little more than just a weekly gag-fest. And it shows that maybe there’s a way forward for Guillermo -- one that can make both him and us happy.