I love this vampire show that somehow gets better each season, so it’s sad to report LOCAL NEWS was a total dud for me. Combining overused jokes and a filler story, our favorite Staten Island-based vampire group just didn’t provide any laughs this one week.
It’s hard for me to choose who my favorite on this show is because it changes every day. Nadja, Nandor, Laszlo, Colin Robinson, and Guillermo have occupied the top spot in my heart for weeks or months at a time. That’s what makes this ensemble so special – all of our main characters and the actors who portray them are incredible, and the writers make sure we, the viewers, get a good amount of time with them separately and together. Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) has become a standout throughout the five seasons, which has been 99.9% great, with the exception of this episode.
I normally enjoy any episode where we’re treated to a Guillermo-sans-Nandor adventure, but in LOCAL NEWS, his interactions with his human family showed a side of him I dislike. He’s always been the moral compass in a house of chaos, but this episode showed just how separated he’s become from non-vampirical society. I couldn’t help but wonder if the show is trying to make an analogy of someone coming out as LBGTQ+ with Guillarmo’s story. I love those types of parallels normally, but this week’s did not do the character or an important moment like this any favors.
This brings us to the rest of our crew which was more directly caught up in the local news of LOCAL NEWS. So many of the jokes here fell flat for me. Every gag or stunt given to each of our vampires was the same as countless ones done before on the show. Yes, we know Nandor is an idiot, and Laszlo always has a backup plan. Also, did Colin Robinson abandon his quest to find more about himself and other energy vampires? That piece from the WWDITS archives seems to only roll back into the show when convenient, and then everyone forgets about it again. Not every episode can be a winner, but I’m thankful that at least most are—just not LOCAL NEWS.
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS airs Thursdays on FX and streams Fridays on Hulu.
