TV

The cowardly fourth season of "What Happens in the Shadows" could tarnish its legacy

The transition from great to frustrating can be sharp and brutal, and that's exactly what happens to FX's acclaimed vampire comedy.

In a screenwriting decision that borders on fraud, she already dismantled in the first episode everything she had built in the previous season, thus setting herself a disappointing and recycled plot

Ilan Kaprov

09/29/2022

Thursday, September 29, 2022, 09:23 Updated: 09:29

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Trailer for the fourth season of "What Happens in the Shadows" (FX)

As in any other relationship, also in the one between viewers and TV series there are boundaries.

Acts after which it is difficult to impossible to return to the original status quo.

Such a very clear limit is our ability to trust a series that has not deceived us.

She can play with our expectations, she can play with the fate of beloved characters, she can change the attitude towards some of them.

The almost infinite range of possibilities stops at actual lies.

With the end of its fourth season (this coming Saturday Bis), "What Happens in the Shadows" will lie to its viewers far beyond the limit of the single faschela.

This is already a disappointing pattern, which overshadows one of the most refreshing and enjoyable comedies of recent years on television.

Just less than a year ago, we hailed here the departure of "What Happens in the Shadows" from its comfort zone.

A storyline that steadily built up to a great ending and created a completely new reality: Nandor set out to search for himself and his roots in order to find meaning in an empty life, Nadia was chosen to serve in the World Vampire Council - with Guillermo locked up beside her, and the surprising couple from the previous season remained in the mansion: Laszlo and baby Colin Robinson.

After three seasons of laughter and craziness, this was a huge opportunity for the characters to grow and develop on their own, and to strengthen relationships with characters with whom they had no natural connection.

But then the first episode of the fourth season came, and within a few minutes it reset the whole event and brought the whole gang back to Staten Island.

Beyond the huge disappointment of this cowardly scripting choice, it is not clear why the writers of the series invested so much in building a completely unnecessary twist.

But then you remember that this is not the first or even the second time that this has happened.

At the end of the second season, the gang escaped the clutches of the Vampire Council after Guillermo committed a mass murder at the prestigious convention - and revealed himself as a vampire slayer.

A move that, by all logic, should have turned the whole world of the series upside down.

Even in this case, she dismantled almost at once all the potential built up at the beginning of the season, and returned to her usual ways.

Even in the current season, in the seventh episode (and probably the best of the episodes of the season), Nadia is exposed to Guillermo's family, all of whom are vampire hunters without their knowledge.

Instead of leveraging this twist, the series shrugs it off and moves on.

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One is stuck, the other has redeemed the season.

"What Happens in the Shadows" Season 4 (Photo: Russ Martin/FX)

This conduct of "what happens in the shadows" has two very problematic consequences for its continuation: for starters, it fails to develop its characters, some of them (like Guillermo) have been stuck for far too long in a storyline that has exhausted itself.

The second part is a self-sentence of endless cycles, which starts to damage the comic quality of the series as well.

The definition of what is funny is of course subjective, yet the feeling is that the fourth season was significantly weaker than its predecessors.

Even creative bursts of special episodes like the legendary Jackie Daytona were absent from her.

Nadia's ambition for power leads to the establishment of the vampire night club, which apart from an amiable labor dispute did not really prove itself.

Laszlo's mentoring potential for young Colin faded when he had to share responsibilities with others, and Guillermo did present a cute new relationship - but he didn't really find himself in the current season either.

The exception is almost always Nandor, who, even within the familiar and cyclical structure of the mansion, managed to find a refreshing direction for the fantasy of finding his second part.

The Genie story is an example of how excellent "What Happens in the Shadows" is in its ability to take the familiar and chewy, and find smart insights in it.

The long discussion about the size of the penis that Lazlo requests from the wish trays, the horribly stupid waste of delusional wishes, the unexpected consequences of wishes - these are the ingredients that made the series so good in the first place.

The problem is that there are so few of them this season, simply because she decided to choose more than what she had already done before.

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Stuck in an exhausting cycle.

"What Happens in the Shadows" Season 4 (Photo: Russ Martin/FX)

The main storyline that was supposed to lead this season also turns out to be rather cowardly in the end.

The death and rebirth of Colin Robinson was supposed to allow the character to develop in a new and interesting way under Laszlo's guidance.

Instead, we got a sort of copy-paste of Groot's story from the Marvel Extended Universe (and the fact that Taika Waititi is involved in both cases makes it seem like it's no coincidence).

A character who goes through funny-distressing childhood stages, which will eventually lead her to return to the exact same place.

Kind of a metaphor for the whole series.

As if to add insult to injury, the fourth season also ends with a twist - its third in a row.

But why would we want to believe that this time the result will be different?

Why would a series that has demonstrated time and time again a demonstrable unwillingness to change or get out of its sandbox, decide to change now?

And even if it does happen, what will change?

Instead of four vampires stuck in a narrative circle in Staten Island, we get five?

It's amazing how much feelings can change over the course of a season, but these consequences are entirely the result of puzzling choices by the series itself.

With two more seasons already ordered, "What Happens in the Shadows" is entering a strange phase in its life path.

If she had decided to end her journey last season, she would probably be remembered as one of the greatest comedies of the last decade.

Now that she seems stuck in her terror of change, two more years of nonsense at the mansion could suddenly turn the picture.

From a series that became a symbol of how to leverage a well-worn genre, one that should be learned from what not to do.

We can only hope that in the fifth season she will finally find the courage she so lacks.

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