Gina Chen 0:00
Like book club meets Letterboxd meets Greatest Hits meets happy hour, but all about TV.
Mallory Johns 0:05
Every week, three friends make and debate the case if a show is truly essential viewing.
Esra Erol 0:10
Listen for the hot takes and stay for the camaraderie. I'm Esra.
Mallory Johns 0:14
I'm Mallory.
Gina Chen 0:15
I'm Gina.
Esra Erol 0:17
And this is The Essentials.
Mallory Johns 0:19
This week we're talking about What We Do in the Shadows. The FX series, which was renewed for a third season is streaming on Hulu in the US.
Esra Erol 0:28
As always, a general warning about spoilers. We will be discussing everything. Does that really ruin a TV show? We don't think so.
Gina Chen 0:36
Now let's get into it!
Esra Erol 0:42
Based on the feature film of the same name from Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary that follows the daily—or rather, nightly—misadventures of four vampires who live together in Staten Island. Some highlight episodes: 101, Pilot; 102, City Council; 106, Baron's Night Out; 107, The Trial; and 110, Ancestry.
Esra Erol 1:08
So, I have been a Taika Waititi fan for years, long before Jojo Rabbit and Thor: Ragnarok. Listeners, if you haven't seen Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Boy, or Eagle vs. Shark, I highly recommend them. Taika Waititi is the reason why my personality is the way it is. So, thank you, Taika Waititi.
Mallory Johns 1:32
Taika!! And I've said this many times, but I was a couple feet away from Taika Waititi at a screening of Jojo Rabbit, and I was very close to going up to him and telling him how much I love him, and begging for a selfie, but I had restraint and I did not. I didn't know much about Taika until Thor: Ragnarok, and now that I know him, I'm just obsessed with everything he's done.
Mallory Johns 1:58
So, this was eye-opening to me, that there was a show based off of a movie that he did. And... I kind of went into this show not expecting much—I should have trusted in Taika. Like, I'm a person who will give up on a pilot within five to ten minutes if I'm not held, like, captivated by it. But I kept telling myself, "It's Taika, it's Taika. He knows best; Taika knows what I want. Like, he wrote this thing. He directed the first episode; like... I believe in him."
Mallory Johns 2:27
And good God, did I need this show! Oh, my gosh. It's like the funniest show that I have watched in all of 2020. I noticed—my husband was in the other room, like, having a night out with his like friends virtually. And I was laughing so hard at one point that he thought I was choking. He checked up on me, and I was like, "No, no, I'm just watching What We Do in the Shadows. It's fucking hysterical. You'll love it." So this show is… It was just so good. I watched seven episodes in one night. Thank you, Esra for recommending this show. I watched it. I'm so happy it's in my life now.
Esra Erol 3:09
I'm so happy that you love it. I have such strong feelings about it because I love the movie. It's interesting because you could watch the show, and it's still—and I mean, no disrespect; the movie is great, but—the show is much better.
Mallory Johns 3:28
And I just... I was floored by the guest stars on this show. I wrote down a couple of my favorite guest stars. I wrote in all caps in my notebook and on our show notes, VANESSA BAYER. She's the most underappreciated SNL actor ever, and I'm so happy that she was in this show, as the perfect foil to Colin. I love Colin—great character. Tilda Swinton, Evan Rachel Wood, Wesley Snipes, Nick Kroll, Kristin Schaal... like, I can't. This show is amazing with the guest stars.
Esra Erol 4:09
Can't forget Doug Jones.
Gina Chen 4:12
The Baron himself.
Mallory Johns 4:13
Yeah, yeah.
Esra Erol 4:14
The most underrated actor.
Gina Chen 4:18
You never get to see his face!
Esra Erol 4:21
Guillermo del Toro won't allow it, but... 'cause God can that man just do everything else with his body. It's fantastic.
Mallory Johns 4:35
Also, I just... I love Matt Berry so much. I love The IT Crowd. It's one of my other favorite comedies. So this is great to see him in this and to see him getting more amazing comedic roles on this side of the pond.
Esra Erol 4:51
Speaking of The IT Crowd, if Richard Ayoade does not guest star in What We Do in the Shadows, I think it would be a mishap.
Mallory Johns 5:00
Oh my gosh. Can we just get all of them to just be in an episode?
Esra Erol 5:06
I want Noel Fielding—Noel Fielding, real-life vampire, in What We Do in the Shadows! If he needs to take a break from [the] Great British Bake Off and [he should] come on the show for a little bit.
Mallory Johns 5:18
Agree. What you'd think Gina?
Gina Chen 5:20
I, like Esra, had seen the movie and really loved the movie. And so when they announced that they were going to do a TV show, I was a little anxious, but also very excited to, like, see what they do with it. And then when they announced that they were setting the show in Staten Island, part of me just like knew immediately that it would be uniquely wild.
Gina Chen 5:22
It... just based off of, like, them living in Staten Island, like... I know a few people who live in Staten Island but, like, many New Yorkers, I have this... mm... somewhat ambivalent attitude slash dismissive approach sometimes to the island. I mean, like, I like to shit on the island.
Gina Chen 6:14
And this [show] just makes it so... both like, so fun to do that, but also, you know, it makes Staten Island seem very uniquely charming. So charming that four undead vampires would choose to settle there and so, I... like it, in some ways, it's actually made me quite fond of Staten Island, just because I know in this fictional universe, they live there and so that you know, like, if they were to one day set up like, like an actual like real-life, fake vampire house or something, I would schlep out to Staten Island for it. It would be so fun.
Mallory Johns 6:55
Same.
Esra Erol 6:57
I always think about—sometimes I... I deep-dive too much into the show. And I, I wonder like, why Staten Island? Like these are... we have a lot of old movies... I don't know, wealth? Because they were pretty important people in their past lives. So I really hope they do an episode where they explain to you why Staten Island. Was Manhattan too expensive? Was Brooklyn...? It seems like they're the type of quote-unquote people who would hate Brooklyn, which is probably why I love them so much.
Mallory Johns 7:39
I've been to Staten Island, I think a total of three or four times in the 11 years I've lived in New York City. So, yeah, it was really interesting. I don't know much about the island depart from like, ferry terminals and [the] ballpark. So it was just interesting to see that Staten Island has houses, full-on neighborhoods, and its own, like, nightlife. Baron's Night Out, that—that entire episode was... I could not stop laughing from start to finish, especially when they keep breaking the fourth wall because the Baron is eating the documentary crew. Please, come on!
Mallory Johns 8:23
I also thought that this show reminded me a lot about Broad City. It was kind of like a mixture of Broad City and The Office to me, plus you've got Colin, who brings that, like, situational office comedy perspective. And then that episode, in Baron's Night Out specifically, when it's just like a roommate buddy episode. I just like going out having some fun like a Broad City episode and I think that's why this show speaks so much to me and I related so much to it this past week. Also, I just missed the outside.
Mallory Johns 8:59
New York City and being able to explore and go on the ferry and have a good time, so I was kind of living vicariously through all the characters. Like even when they went to the club in the Nick Kroll episode, which is also a standout episode. Like just living life through their eyes was everything to me this week.
Gina Chen 9:20
I love how it is a... just such a silly show. That it's not trying to say anything profound at all. There's no deeper meaning and it's very much all about like the relationship between the characters, and the random circumstances that they find each other in, the oftentimes very absurd character failures that they all have... and yet, we love them so much that it doesn't quite matter that they're murderous monsters. We want to see them have fun. We want to see them gallivanting about.
Esra Erol 10:05
I read on [The] AV Club, they did an interview with the creators of the show. And they were saying that the creators always wanted to model the show off of The Real Housewives franchise, like, taking the movie and just like, taking it into a different city with a different family. And I just, I love that. And I feel that. Now I'm watching the show, knowing that and I'm just like, yeah, there's, there's… just no rules. It's just a really silly show. And it's just a lot of fun. And I think... there aren't a lot of jokes. It's just a testament to the great acting. They're just they're all fantastic and weird. It's just great. And...
Mallory Johns 10:53
I'm sorry, go ahead.
Esra Erol 10:56
I... I love this, but I think What We Do in the Shadows does the mockumentary style a lot better. I just... the shaky camera reminds me of, like. [The] Blair Witch Project. I don't know if that's hot, or if that's just how it is, but it feels... this feels like a wonderfully bad student project. And I love that.
Mallory Johns 11:17
Like I had a couple questions about that, like, do we learn who the documentary crew is? Do we learn why they're even doing the documentary on these Staten Island vampires?
Gina Chen 11:28
No, but they are acknowledged by other characters for, like, their existence and then here and there, you do get to learn about some of the documentary crew. Every now and then, it turns out that some of the crew have succumbed to some of the perils of following around vampires in the night. Not from our four main vampires, but… but from other characters that we meet and so it's... The documentary format—it like continues on, and it hasn't yet like directly interfered with the plot of the show, but they are there. And so I think that's that is kind of fun. And so I wonder if we will ever learn how or why they began this production in the first place.
Esra Erol 12:25
Yeah. Part of me really hoped that the crew, they're all Guillermo's friends. I feel like that would be so perfect.
Mallory Johns 12:36
Yes. Oh my gosh, Guillermo! He's just so mistreated and so misunderstood and I love him. I feel so much for him. In the seven short episodes I've seen I was just, especially the scene when they're at the club with Nick Kroll. Once he gets saved, and he's like, "Ooh, you weren't going to save me?!"
Gina Chen 13:02
And then he gets sent away to the other familiar room, to hang out with the other [familiars]—
Mallory Johns 13:06
Yeah! I laughed so much.
Esra Erol 13:08
I feel so bad for him when he like, sees that. Other familiars are like, well into their 70s and 80s. And basically, on the cusp of dying, and he's like, I'm never going to be a vampire, which is why it made so much sense for them to introduce his heritage as being a descendant of Van Helsing, like...
Mallory Johns 13:30
What?! Oh my gosh, that's a spoiler for me.
Esra Erol 13:34
Oh, no. Ah, don't forget that. I said that.
Mallory Johns 13:38
Okay.
Gina Chen 13:38
She's almost there. She's only like two episodes away from getting there. So...
Mallory Johns 13:42
Yeah. I'm assuming it's in Ancestry, [Episode] 110.
Gina Chen 13:47
Yes.
Esra Erol 13:47
Oh, I thought you'd watched that. I'm so sorry. I'm evil and I'm going to hell and I accept my fate.
Mallory Johns 13:53
It's okay. It's payback for me literally spoiling all of The West Wing for you, right? But to your point about the jokes, I kind of feel like "BAT!" and Drug Blood are two jokes that I love so much about the show. Like every time they say "BAT!" I just like was busting out laughing. Also the really horrible, low-budget, special effects make the show, in my opinion.
Esra Erol 14:21
Yes.
Gina Chen 14:22
Oh, this makes me feel a little bit bad for them because they talked about—I watched some of the behind the scenes inside looks into how they make the show, and they do their best to get decent-looking effects based off of their budget. Clearly, FX is not giving them enough money to do that if you guys still think they suck though.
Mallory Johns 14:42
But it was also interesting to me because I was watching The Mandalorian [Disney] Gallery [documentary] on Disney+ and Taika... since Taika's like a director of The Mandalorian and he's part of this, like, esteemed club of directors on this roundtable and he clearly feels out of place. And he's talking about how they produced the movie, is like "Yeah, special effects. That's all we had. It was intentional. So being on [The] Mandalorian? Having million-dollar budgets? It was wild to do all this crazy shit!" And like maybe Taika's doing it intentionally, keeping that low-budget feel for the TV show, so that way it's continuous with like the franchise? Do you think that's accurate, Esra?
Esra Erol 15:25
I think, in terms of these special effects, they're not like—I don't think they're bad as in poorly done. I think they're just... they're obviously not James Cameron and Avatar. They're—
Mallory Johns 15:40
No way!
Esra Erol 15:43
—They... I think they do. The effects do what they need for the show; like, I think when they transform into bats, it's really well done. The scene in the episode with the witches from Season Two when the witches are taking Nandor to their apothecary shop, yoga place, whatever—it's like very Brooklyn-esque—he slams into a building and it clearly looks bad, but not like, "Oh, I can't watch this." It's goofy.
Gina Chen 16:16
I also think—and we haven't really talked about Jemaine Clement yet in this podcast, but I feel like, in a lot of ways, What We Do in the Shadows is more his kind of show, even—or rather like, especially with the characterization of sort of like the low budget-y feel. I feel like that's very reminiscent of what he did for Flight of the Conchords, that that sort of almost like DIY kind of style. And from what I understand, he is more of the hands-on producer, director, creative lead on What We Do in the Shadows, like, while Taika is off, you know in Star Wars-land and in Marvel-land.
Esra Erol 17:09
My favorite vampire in the movie, Jemaine Clement. The overtly sexual, has orgies in his bedroom, vampire.
Gina Chen 17:19
There's a lot more about orgies than I anticipated for, like, a show about undead folks.
Esra Erol 17:25
Yeah, the whole orgy episode, I was actually like, well, they're doing this.
Mallory Johns 17:33
I can't wait to get there! I mean, 'cause vampires, like the lore and everything is just innately sexual and the creation of vampires is about like sexual desires, and whatnot and... True Blood, another one of my favorite TV shows, and, like, the vampire lore. The genre, is just all about the sex. Like, regular humans in True Blood love to get bitten by vampires and not even fully turn, just for like, the turn on, the pleasure of it.
Esra Erol 18:02
There are so many. The Vampire is such a big phenomenon in pop culture and I really love how the show explores the rules of being a vampire. Like they... Jemaine Clement loves Dracula. And then The Lost Boys was another point of reference for the creators; like, you can see they borrowed a lot of pop culture references and added them to their show. Like with Dracula, there's obviously the "You have to avoid sunlight or you'll burn to a crisp." RIP Baron. And then, there's, like, from The Lost Boys, you have to be invited into a dwelling or a place by whoever lives there. It was really interesting to see like, what the rules were. And then I never knew vampires can't eat human food. I didn't know that because I've seen vampires and they've eaten...
Mallory Johns 18:34
Yeah, that's a very True Blood thing. So two True Blood things is around food and then also having to drink of vampires blood to officially turn into a vampire because there's a whole arc around vampire blood as a drug. Man, we just need to talk about Tue Blood as well, on a future pod because I saw so many call-backs to True Blood in this show. I mean, namely, the episode with Rachel Evan Wood [Evan Rachel Wood] playing her exact character from True Blood.
Gina Chen 19:35
No, she's playing herself because technically, they cannot reference her character from the film—er, from the TV show, otherwise, that would be a copyright violation. That's why Tilda is Tilda.
Mallory Johns 19:48
Princess!! She is royalty in True Blood, she is a princess in True Blood.
Esra Erol 19:54
That was one of the reasons why I loved that episode was because, when I saw Tilda Swinton, I was like this is really hilarious in that she could just be playing Tilda Swinton, who could just be a real-life vampire because Tilda Swinton, or she could just simply be playing her character from Jim Jarmusch's movie, Only Lovers Left Alive. Like she has the exact same coat. I kind of wish Tom Hiddleston was on the council too. But when they said "Tom" they meant Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.
Gina Chen 20:28
Yeah, Interview with the Vampire! Throwback.
Mallory Johns 20:34
Did they try to get them in that episode?
Esra Erol 20:38
Yeah.
Gina Chen 20:38
Brad's people, I think, said when you can lock down like further details, can you get back to us? And then they did not follow up.
Mallory Johns 20:48
Oh my gosh.
Gina Chen 20:52
And then I think they did also ...I don't remember if they reached out to Robert Pattinson. But I do remember them saying that they thought Robert was probably going through some things and probably wouldn't want to be in on the joke, but I feel like if they ever do get the chance to have him on the show, I feel like he would have a lot of fun with it.
Mallory Johns 21:14
I think so.
Esra Erol 21:15
Pattinson now? Yeah.
Gina Chen 21:18
Yeah. I think one of their best jokes or, like, just one of the best interactions that I love the most from this show is in that first episode where Nandor and Guillermo are preparing for a party to welcome the Baron, and Nandor asks about glitter so that he might liken himself to... to a Twilight vampire.
Mallory Johns 21:46
Yeah.
Gina Chen 21:47
Then calls crepe paper "creepy paper."
Mallory Johns 21:50
Yes.
Gina Chen 21:50
It's just perfect.
Esra Erol 21:52
So good.
Mallory Johns 21:53
Who's your favorite vampire on the show?
Esra Erol 21:58
Oh, man. That's hard.
Gina Chen 22:02
Very hard. I'm torn between Nandor and Nadja. Like, I love how, like, there's a female vampire in the house and that was something that I know the creators directly wanted to update when adapting it into a TV show to have a central female character, and I feel like she's so caustic and just sometimes like so much smarter than the boys, that it's just nice to have her there.
Gina Chen 22:35
But then I also think like, like, Nandor is such like a dumb lug sometimes, it's pretty funny, but then his like whole backstory of being this like warlord with 37 wives... it's also just ridiculous. And then finally, like, Kayvan—I think that's the way you say the name of the actor—like that's his real hair on the show! That's not a wig and, goddamn, he's really hot.
Mallory Johns 23:07
I haven't gotten to him yet; is he in Season Two?
Gina Chen 23:11
He's one of the main characters!
Mallory Johns 23:13
No, it's—oh, Nandor! He is...
Gina Chen 23:19
You're like, "Whatever!"
Mallory Johns 23:20
Like, okay, he's very attractive, I'll give you that. I think that Colin is is one of my favorite characters and—it's Nad-Nadja, I think?—I think Colin and Nadja are my favorite characters so far.
Esra Erol 23:40
For me, I... I love Colin and I love Nadja. But I also love Nandor and I also love Laszlo, but I guess could technically... no, I can't choose. I love them all especially for like... they all had different moments to shine and anytime I think I have a favorite, they have a moment where I'm like, "Oh wait, this is so great!" Like, Nadja's interaction with the... with Beanie—
Gina Chen 24:17
Feldstein.
Esra Erol 24:18
—Feldstein's character. It's just so wonderful because she's like, "Oh, you little baby girl." Like she helps her transform into a vampire, power. And then I love Laszlo's episode where he just kind of drops everything and leaves town when Mark Hamill as a vampire comes to claim the debt that he owes. And he just...
Gina Chen 24:42
Which was honestly like probably only like 40 bucks and it's like, come on, man.
Mallory Johns 24:47
Mark Hamill? Oh my gosh.
Esra Erol 24:49
Yes.
Mallory Johns 24:51
I... [these] guest stars!
Esra Erol 24:52
Oh, yeah, it's one of my favorite episodes. And Nick Kroll comes back.
Mallory Johns 24:56
Yes. I personally love Nick Kroll. So much. I also think I just love FX comedians, and like FX shows, because this show also reminded me a lot of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Just like the hijnks that they get up to and every single episode. Again, Baron's Night Out. Favorite episode so far for me.
Esra Erol 25:20
It's funny that you mentioned It's Always Sunny because, even these characters in their vampire form, are not as garbage-like as the humans on It's Always Sunny.
Mallory Johns 25:34
This is true. No one can top how garbage those characters are. But that show is so good.
Gina Chen 25:42
Yeah, I don't know. Oh, so I admit I have not watched It's Always Sunny. But isn't murder, probably like one of the worst things one can do? We're watching the murder people all the time in this show.
Mallory Johns 25:56
You would think.
Esra Erol 25:59
Not to be like, in their defense, but they... they're vampires.
Mallory Johns 26:06
They need to eat! Like, come on.
Gina Chen 26:10
I'm sure they could figure out ways, though like, like it's come up in other vampire shows, like how to be more responsible when, when feeding on blood. And like, on top of that, Guillermo, like in following Guillermo around the house, it's also clear that they're very lazy vampires. And they're very lazy murderers in that they have Guillermo go out and like fetch virgins for them. And then Guillermo's also responsible for disposing of them. And this does come up in season two, but like, he's buried a lot of them in the yard. And people decompose and that does affect a lot of things.
Mallory Johns 26:53
Good example, Gina!
Esra Erol 26:56
Debunked!
Mallory Johns 26:58
Also, Nandor's just not good at mind control. Okay?
Gina Chen 27:02
No!
Mallory Johns 27:03
They're at it, as it goes along, but he just sucks! I love that this show, like, to your point just like shows off that they're not great vampires at all. Except for Nadja; Nadja's smart. She, she's trying to like make Jeff—Jeff, JEFF— her... girl got it going on.
Mallory Johns 27:25
I also want to see more of the LARPing [Live Action Role Play] I could not stop laughing because a former colleague of mine was a LARPer. And that's what he used to do on the weekend for fun. So it was just great to see this as like a plot point in the show.
Esra Erol 27:40
It's just... it's such a delightful show. And I'm really glad that it was renewed for a third season. My dream is they'll bring John Mulaney on since Nick Kroll is on the show.
Mallory Johns 27:54
Oh my gosh, that would be amazing.
Esra Erol 27:56
I mean, if not as a vampire, as Colin's coworker. That works.
Mallory Johns 28:04
Can Evie comeback with John Mulaney and just have like a whole love triangle between, like, the three of them?
Esra Erol 28:11
I would watch that!
Mallory Johns 28:13
I think that was also one of my favorite episodes outside of Baron's Night Out, because I... I love, as I said earlier, Vanessa Bayer is so under-appreciated, and she was just stunning up against Collin.
Esra Erol 28:29
Yeah, I, I feel the same way. I always loved watching Vanessa Bayer on SNL. I thought she was...
Mallory Johns 28:39
Yeah.
Esra Erol 28:40
One of the most underrated char—cast members on the show. And it was really great to see her interact with Colin on the show. Like, the two had really great chemistry and it was really fun to watch their interactions.
Mallory Johns 28:54
I also, like, wrote down when I was watching that episode that Colin just reminds me of every horrible conversation I've had with a white male in [an] office setting. Like, "Hi, can we talk for a second?" Just like, no, go away, please. You're draining my energy, vampire. True story. It's real life.
Esra Erol 29:16
Now I'm gonna wonder when we get back to the office, who is an energy vampire?
Mallory Johns 29:22
Oh, well, and the way that the office is laid out in this show reminds me so much of like a former office that I worked in with the cubicle. And I used to sit next to an energy vampire. I sat next to him and a former boss-manager-leader of a publication was also an energy vampire. So I really related to Colin I really related to his entire storyline his entire arc.
Esra Erol 29:49
I love that the Baron borrows his clothes.
Mallory Johns 29:52
Yes. Like, look like a normal person. Colin! But I did want to seems more of the Baron just because he like kills people at first glance. I can't stop laughing, like "Nononononono, don't! don't! It's a documentary crew!" It's too late. It's over.
Gina Chen 30:14
[laughs] The end.
Mallory Johns 30:15
And drug blood. Ugh. "Drug blood! Drug blood!"
Esra Erol 30:20
I love when he—when he holds the human up and does like a keg shot. Yeah, I, like Gina, I don't really have like deep dives. I think the beauty of this show is just like, I could sit here for hours talking about why I love it.
Gina Chen 30:39
All these little things like very much add up together to create just a perfect like half-hour of time and it's just enough that you enjoy it. And if you want to keep going, it's... it's so easy to keep going and then if you want to stop and just enjoy each episode for what it is. It's also just, it's, it's like perfectly bite-sized, I think you're not sitting around for like an entire hour. And so like, I hope they continue to, just to sort of like keep it the way that it is.
Gina Chen 31:13
I also think that it's one of the few shows and like, I really can't think of any other shows that take place in like a universe where there's like magic and fantasy, but really takes a lot of joy in sort of the absurdities in the imagination, that magic opens a story up to.
Esra Erol 31:39
Yeah.
Gina Chen 31:40
I think, you know, everybody knows, like, Game of Thrones. There's also been other TV shows like The Magicians…
Mallory Johns 31:47
I was just about to say [The Magicians.]
Gina Chen 31:48
Yeah, where, you know, like magic is the thing and there are all these like other features and stuff, but they're all so serious, and they're also very much all about approaching the story in a very grounded way. And this is just the exact opposite and so it's, it's, I feel very buoyed by how, how light it is.
Mallory Johns 32:16
Yeah, even True Blood is a very heavy show and like runtime on most episodes was like 55 minutes to like an hour and fifteen. So it's, it's really rare, I think, even as we're in this Golden Age of television to find a solid half-hour show that punches every single week. And from like the seven episodes that I've seen so far, like, they punch, they hit, it's not too serious. It's over when I want it to be over; if I don't want this to like, drag on any more. And I think that's really crucial and I hope that more directors, filmmakers, producers start greenlighting shorter half-hour comedies because we're kind of missing out on all these great art forms, small bite-size comedies that are not 50 [minutes] to an hour in length.
Gina Chen 33:08
Yeah. Yeah, I always see like, every Sunday people tweeting at Issa Rae, like, "Can you make Insecure an hour?" And she's always emphatically like, "No, it's half an hour! Like, stop asking me that!" And thirty, thirty minutes is just enough.
Esra Erol 33:23
Yeah. But the broad strokes remain the same. You have a show about four vampires who live in a house with a familiar, a documentary crew. But each episode, the rules, and the relationships change. But it happens within a short frame, like a short window, and it's great.
Esra Erol 33:46
The other beautiful aspect of the show is it does a really great job catching up a viewer so you can essentially jump in at any point and watch whatever episode you want. It just... I really appreciate a show that takes a little time to do a recap. Like, I don't need a minute to two-minute recap at the beginning of the episode. I'm like "Nope, that's okay. That's fine." I like how they work it into their story.
Mallory Johns 34:15
You're gonna hate 24.
Gina Chen 34:19
But you are going to love the season two finale of What We Do in the Shadows because I think it... I just watched it and so I might be, like, very biased just coming off of the, the fumes of that episode, but it takes all of the things that we've just talked about. And you could go directly into watching that, that episode like, as your first episode, but it also rewards anybody who has like watched from season one, episode one from the beginning, all the way straight through to that point. And it's—I like that even though it—each episode is its own self-contained episode, that they do have this longer arc going primarily about the fraught relationship—or not fraught, but like somewhat tenuous—relationship between Guillermo and Nandor about whether Guillermo will ever become a real vampire. So...
Mallory Johns 35:20
I really hope he does! Like I said one of the—that's one of the things that's keeping me going with the show is that conflict and that tension, and like you said, this show could just be at like face value, four vampire roommates hanging out in Staten Island. But they add these like elements of conflict that just keep you hooked.
Like, I want to know what happens to Guillermo. I want to know what happens to Nadja and her like, long-reincarnated lover Jeff. Like, I want to know what's going to happen to actress-in-Booksmart-whose-name-is-escaping-me. Yeah, and her journey in being a... a new vampire. Like, these things kept me going and kept me binging. Episode after episode; like seven episodes in a day is a lot for a TV show.
Gina Chen 36:12
It'll probably only, what, three and a half hours?
Mallory Johns 36:16
It just kind of like flew by. And that's for me, I guess if we're going into like definitive statements on why the show is essential—that for me is why the show is essential. So I could just sit down, binge through it and there are threads that keep me interested apart from it being a half-hour comedy.
Esra Erol 36:34
I find it essential because it's—I don't know how everyone else feels, but sometimes when I watch a show and I finish it, I don't feel like I need to rewatch it but with a show like 30 Rock, I... it's my background show, but it always has my attention. I love rewatching the show over and over again because I keep catching new things and jokes that maybe didn't click when I was younger finally click.
Esra Erol 37:01
And I feel the same way about What We Do in the Shadows. Like, we gave you episodes to watch. And these are things that we've seen, but rewatching them again, I was just like, "Oh, it's, it's like a delightful Pandora's box. Like, here's some things I might have missed. Here's a joke I might have missed." And it's just, it's still fun. The second, third way through.
Mallory Johns 37:23
That makes me so happy because you know how much I love to rewatch TV shows, such as The West Wing. I'm going to watch it again, for the 21st time.
Gina Chen 37:34
I also love shows where clearly everybody's having such a great time with each other. And this is another one of those shows where everybody just seems to have such a love for each other and they just want to play and then the guest stars that they get, also clearly are just so happy to get in there to get weird, to get silly. I also forgot, but the Haley Joel Osment episode with Benedict Wong. I think that was the first episode in Season Two—
Mallory Johns 38:09
What?!
Gina Chen 38:10
It's also hilarious and you have so much fun to look forward to, like in the next 13 episodes, Mallory.
Mallory Johns 38:20
He's—I'm very happy. For all the other shows that we have watched this, this podcast season where I haven't seen the show before—Elementary—I haven't been super jazzed to keep watching, but I'm like, super jazzed to keep watching this show at my own pace because it's really good. It's funny.
Esra Erol 38:43
Just wait until you get to the Mark Hamill episode.
Mallory Johns 38:46
I can't believe that Mike Hamill is in the show, like—
Esra Erol 38:50
I, I have to admit I didn't realize it was him until the credits rolled. I was like, "Oh!" He was actually like slightly unrecognizable and he had like a Transylvanian accent that kind of hid it pretty well.
Mallory Johns 39:03
Oh my gosh. So how could Taika not get Brad Pitt? But he got Mark Hamill?
Esra Erol 39:10
Honestly, I feel like Mark Hamill did a better job than Brad Pitt would have standing there, but then again, Brad Pitt standing there and looking beautiful would have also been great.
Gina Chen 39:20
I feel like Mark Hamill is underrated for how silly and how fun he can get.
Esra Erol 39:26
Yeah.
Gina Chen 39:27
And I would also—like, it would be so funny if that character came back and he, like, just leaned into the terror that Mark Hamill can bring to a character. I think that would also be be quite amusing.
Esra Erol 39:41
We have another season to look forward to.
Gina Chen 39:44
Hopefully many more after that. If they continue to stay at this level.
Mallory Johns 39:48
I cannot wait.
Gina Chen 39:50
Jackie Daytona!!
Esra Erol 39:52
Jackie Daytona!!
Gina Chen 39:56
You'll know it when you see it, Mallory
Mallory Johns 39:58
Okay.
Esra Erol 39:59
I... I need a T-shirt that says Jackie Daytona!
Mallory Johns 40:02
I'm trusting in you both; you haven't steered me wrong and this show just proves it.
Esra Erol 40:08
Believe the hype, believe the Jackie Daytona hype!
Gina Chen 40:13
It's pretty unanimous then: this show is essential, just to have a laugh.
Mallory Johns 40:19
Yeah.
Esra Erol 40:20
And with that, we wrap up another episode of The Essentials. Thanks for listening and see you next time!
Gina Chen 40:26
If you've liked what you've heard, leave us a review or rating on the platform of your choice. Thanks!
Mallory Johns 40:34
Five stars, please!