Out for what do you need that gun?
Halloween episodes have always been extra fun in this show, but this one took the cake. Faster paced than the previous Halloween episodes, such a roller-coaster of an episode! And Jake focusing on Amy like that, instead of the yearly competition, was utterly adorable!
[edited because of grammar and semantics and stuff]
Captain Holt is so goddamn extra and I LOVE IT. Also, imagine being as civilized and respectful as Rosa and Amy having that debate. Ugh, I love these people. Stephanie did a great job with her directorial debut. Fantastic material.
9.8/10. What an amazing episode. Everyone is perfectly in character, and there's so many little comedic bombs where the episode just lights the fuse and then waits for them to go off. The twist that as tortured as Louise was by her mom forcing a slumber party on her in an attempt to socialize her daughter, she ended up finding something of a kindred spirit is perfect storytelling, and the fact that her "dull" classmate is not only as conniving as Louise, but finds a friend who doesn't care about the bed-wetting problem she tried so hard to avoid gives the episode just enough heart.
Plus Linda, who may very well be my favorite character, is in rare form. The way she envisions life as a television show, from the idea that Louise needs a slumber party, to the idea that Tina should be the blase older sister and Gene should be the pesky brother, is true to her character. The way she got sidetracked by a pair of raccoons, for whom she's concocted an elaborate backstory and power struggle is hilarious and delightful, made all the better by the way she's indoctrinated an enthusiastic Teddy and roped Bob into the event. She's just a barrel of laughs.
And everybody else brings the laughs and the great character-based comedy we've come to expect from the show. Bob's reluctant but unexpectedly invested response to everything is great, and though Tina, Gene, and Teddy are all smaller parts of the episode, they each get some quality laugh lines. Plus the slumber party attendees, and the manner in which they're given quirks and dispatched, is perfect, especially Bob and Linda's interactions with the germaphobe. Just a laugh-a-minute episode with storytelling that builds and builds and enough of an understated emotional kick at the end to give it all a touch of heft. Truly superb stuff.
The cameos in this ep were 100
One of my favorite episodes of TV in a very long time. The cameos were superb, the absent cameo mentions great, Kristen Schaal's presence, Colin's role, etc.
Oh and baby vampire. WHO WOULD DO THAT?!
Sometimes I watch movies and shows and I'm like well I guess they're a product of their time but then I watch Star Trek and I'm like WOW they really did THAT and then it's difficult for me to excuse the shit from other shows and movies
Sometimes the best way to commentate on human society is to put it through a mirror and pretend it's an alien society instead.
I'm not sure what the show is saying with Beata's apparent happiness with her delay of Angel One's "evolution" though. To put what's happening there into a human historical context, she's effectively exiled the suffragettes of our past to minimize their impact on public opinion. Of course, the men of that period in our history would have been equally smug at managing to suppress the voices of women demanding equal rights, but I'm not sure the tone of this episode quite works. It comes across as kind of saying "this is an OK solution"—which I would expect is not what the writers intended.
Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, the drama over a mysterious virus that spreads at an alarming speed clearly arose out of the need to effectively imprison the away team and Odin survivors on the planet, so they couldn't simply beam away before Beata's execution order was, well, executed. It was meant to force Riker into giving that very Picard-esque speech, and it did. It just did so in a very transparently plot device–like way, unfortunately.
I do think the subject matter this episode tried to tackle was important. It still is. The execution (sorry, these puns just write themselves!) left me wanting, though.
I don't know if we're gonna see her again, but I'm so glad Madison was sent to another prison. One of the most annoying characters in the show.
This is the first time I've seen deportation centers spotlighted in a TV show. Well, the Fosters had one episode but it was a burst of melodrama with leftist agenda.
The nice sweet lady making Alex sell? I don't know what to say I was so stricken. But she changed her tune to phone chargers so okay, grey zone. I can deal with some grey zone.
It was satisfying seeing Badison go but unlike @janaína and those who agree with her, I will actually miss watching how entertaining, awful, and damaging/scheming she was.
Nice music at the end and yeah, those deportation scenes broke my heart
I think we know what Red needs:
"All I wanted was to eat the chicken that was smarter than other chickens and to absorb its power"
cool cool cool definitely didnt cry when molly died awesome this is fine
[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.
Mulder: What's a girl?
Nice side-off Christmas episode where we get to know a little more about Skully and her family, and a sad one too. Mulder is missing in this one though. That ending tho~!
OMG, I just cannot believe how much I've laughed during this episode! To everyone complaining that this was a comic episode, you've probably never watched The X-Files before. Go do your homework before talking non-sense over Trakt.
Episodes like these are what helped make The X-Files so unique.
The actual finale for the X-Files. I knew that My Struggle had to be fake memories. Thanks for helping us remember the truth Reggie!
The Black Files/X-Mirror
Well, It seems Chris Carter has completely run out of NEW ideas. This wasn't bad, it also wasn't good. People getting killed or not, just the same old crap!!! Not that old eps were crap.. its just the same!!!!
Another great episode in a really strong run that makes up the back half of season 2. Tony Shalhoub is great as the paranoid and troubled genius, Dr Banton, and the special effects for the deaths inflicted by his shadow still look cool over 20 years later.
Jakob’s storyline is the saddest and most heartbreaking thing ever :(
Dang! Talk about a Nora's Choice situation...... Villain finally unmasked.
Def one of the best openings. “Hats off to you for not seeing race”
pam and jim arguing and then pam crying oh gOD MY HEART HURTS
What is Iceman doing with pyro's powers? Haha
Well, that was awful. As a pure character-building exercise for Janeway it mostly fails, because the character it focuses on isn't even her. Sure, it's nice for Star Trek to sometimes do something different, but when it does it usually ties in to something important. This doesn't. This is the equivalent of a daydream with no bearing on anything.
It's like the writers wished they were making a completely different show. It could have worked if the story it told was original or interesting. The episode was meant to include Q and Guinan which would have improved it immeasurably.
There wasn't the slightest hint of chemistry between Shannon and Henry.
And again, Tom Paris' original character set up continues to be destroyed by making him an obscure history buff whose knowledge now expands to all Earth history, not just cars of the 1950s.
"Let's fly??!!!" That's "Korny" with a "K!"
It was a good ending. Not a great one, but a good one.
Is that the ticket please guy?
Well, just the stub.
TOO SOON!!!!!
I knew he’d show up but not that version!
