Emmys 2020: All 3 'WWDITS' episodes deserve the outstanding comedy writing award for absurdity and heart
‘What We Do in the Shadows’, FX’s vampire mockumentary series created by Jemaine Clement, has earned eight 2020 Primetime Emmy nominations. Of these eight, in the “Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series”, the series has earned nominations for three episodes in its second season. Episodes 2, 6, and 8 -- ‘Ghosts’, written by Paul Simms; ‘On The Run’, written by Stefani Robinson; and ‘Collaboration’, written by Sam Johnson and Chris Marcil. And all three are remarkable works of writing.
In Episode 2, we see the vampire flatmates --Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), and Nandor’s human servant Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) -- discover a ghost infestation in the house. One thing leads to another and they soon realize that even they had ghosts because vampires are technically dead. So, they conjured their own ghosts. Laszlo had to sexually gratify his ghost to finish his unfinished business on earth. Nadja and her ghost somehow got along, way too well. The highlight of the episode is Colin. When no one kept biting his “updog” joke bit, he ended up conjuring his dead grandmother’s ghost to get a laugh.
Episode 6 is perhaps the best-written one in the show’s history. In the episode, the vampires are visited by a hooded stranger who looked a lot like Sheev Palpatine from ‘Star Wars’. It was Jim the Vampire (Mark Hamill) who was there to exact revenge on Laszlo for the silliest of reasons: Laszlo had rented the vampire’s home almost a century-and-a-half ago and left without paying rent.
Instead of paying the money he owed, Laszlo runs off to Pennsylvania. There, in great mockery of the Superman-Clark Kent identity trope, Laszlo turns into a cheery, enigmatic barkeep called Jackie Daytona. By just changing his pants and sticking a toothpick in his mouth. He becomes massively popular in the community. A simple, regular, “human guy” who supports the local volleyball team. Before long, Jim arrives in town and visits Jackie Daytona’s bar. And of course, he doesn’t recognize Laszlo because of the toothpick. Laszlo decides to help fund the local volleyball team to go to the state-level tournament.
At the talent show he organizes, however, things go wrong and Jim finally recognizes Laszlo and they duel. Ultimately, upon realizing the futility of their fight when they accidentally burn the volleyball team’s money, Laszlo apologizes and repays Jim with a singing Big Mouth Billy Bass -- a kitschy animatronic singing prop that was somewhat popular in the late-‘90s.
Hamill, the highlight of the episode, becomes the coach of the local volleyball team. When Jim's fish breaks during a match, he is heartbroken at the loss of this “priceless” artifact. But when a player tells him she can get him another one and that they were really easily available, he enacts a Luke Skywalker and emits a guttural scream out of anger just like Luke does when Darth Vader tells him, “Luke, I am your father,” in ‘Star Wars'.
In episode 8, Nandor and Guillermo’s relationship is tested. Guillermo’s old friend Celeste (Greta Lee), who used to be a familiar too, has now been turned into a vampire by her master (a 12-year-old vampire girl). Celeste tells him about her plans to make a vampire group with the promise to turn them in eight months at the most. Guillermo, tempted by the idea, asks Nandor when he would turn him. When Guillermo cautiously mentions another opportunity he may have, Nandor tells him to take it.
An angry and heartbroken Guillermo packs his bags and leaves, leaving Nandor sad as well. But it's too good to be true. Celeste’s master and her other prepubescent vampire friends return home, and it becomes clear that Celeste was only pretending to be a vampire. Guillermo runs for his life and bumps into Nandor, who tells him how much he misses him and asks him what he could do to get him back.
At a time of immense uncertainty, widespread death and panic, and one that comes with a sinking feeling of doom, to lose yourself in an absurd world of mythical creatures who are as dumb and conniving and terrible as humans, who struggle to get through the day (or night -- sunlight could literally kill them), is literally a blessing.
The show's writing treads the dangerous rope of jokes being straight-up childish and being too clever by half, and successfully. Not a single moment is bereft of humor. And not a single joke fails to earn a hearty chuckle. ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ while being absurd and funny, also does not lack heart. It is littered with oddly touching moments here and there. And each of these episodes is a testament to that.
One can only hope the show wins. For all three episodes. And as a bonus hope, let’s pray Mark Hamill reprises this role sometime, more wholeheartedly.