The brilliant gothic comedy, What We Do in the Shadows, isn't just spoofing vampires, it's directly referencing Bram Stoker's brand of vampires.
What We Do in the Shadowsbegan life as a brilliant, darkly comedic mockumentary by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, and it lives on as an equally fantastic television series. Most of the show's humor stems from the ways in which vampires are "just like us," whether that's bickering about chores or stressing about party planning. But Shadows introduced an important bit of history when, in its first season finale, vampire enthusiast and loyal familiar, Guillermo, made an ironic discovery about his lineage that makes a direct connection to the most well-know vampire of all: Dracula. Now that part of Dracula's mythology had become a part of the show, its upcoming third season is an opportunity for the series to fully embrace -- and subvert -- the literary tradition the uber-vampire comes from.
In Season 1, Episode 10, "Ancestry," Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak) has his DNA processed and is pleased to learn he has more than 200,000 living descendants. Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) -- basically Nandor's long-suffering personal assistant who's holding out hope of being turned into a vampire -- takes a DNA test, too. In what arguably becomes Shadow's cleverest and most promising plotline, Guillermo's results reveal that he has a small percentage of Van Helsing blood, much to his horror. Apparently, the notorious vampire-hunting family's influence is strong in him, and in Season 2 Guillermo spends a great deal of time either accidentally killing vampires, or offing them in self defense to save his housemates, all while keeping this newfound information secret from Nandor and company.
RELATED: What We Do in the Shadows' Nando Should Find His Soul-Less Mate in Guillermo
The idea of vampires has existed for at least hundreds of years. Their mythology grew in places and cultures all around the globe as an explanation for illness and the decay of deceased human bodies. Creatures of legend eventually work their way into literature, as was the case with Bram's Stoker's 1897 novelDracula.The book wasn't just critically acclaimed in its time, it practically defined an entire genre, and cemented the vampire archetype that persists to this day.
With the exception of tone, Dracula and Shadows have quite a lot in common. The former is told via found materials like letters, ship's logs and newspaper clippings; the latter is ostensibly footage shot by a documentary crew. Both are about worldly vampires who are essentially prisoners in their own castles, fending off the crude, suspicious masses. Dracula uses that conceit to examine themes about psychology, morality, sexuality andprogress -- and to scare the heck out of its turn-of-the-century readers -- while Shadowsexploits it for bawdy laughs.
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Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero