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What We Do in the Shadows S05E05 "Local News" Review: Hard Goodbyes

What We Do in the Shadows S0505 "Local News" found our vamps dealing with a local news report spiraling out of control - without Guillermo.


This week's episode of FX's What We Do in the Shadows, "Local News," shines an unwanted spotlight on our Staten Island vampires and follows a very sad goodbye. This episode brought a whole new level of stress that we weren't used to – and with our vamps down one Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) for most of it, too!"Local News" pushes and blurs the boundaries between reality and their vampiric world in more ways than we have seen before. This time the damage – and the attention our vampires are getting for it – is amplified by a local news channel that has no idea it's stumbled upon. Guillermo had warned them that they were getting sloppy with their antics in public, drawing much more attention than usual. But who listens to Gizmo? This time though? He isn't around to help them figure things out.

what we do in the shadows
What We Do in the Shadows – Image: FX Networks/What We Do in the Shadows

Following an incident of a water main break on the street where the vampires live, the local news is doing its rounds interviewing people that live in the area. Of course, Nandor (Kayvan Novak) had to be the one to pop out to give his opinion of what happened earlier. What with Nandor being Nandor, he runs his mouth before making a comment about having been alive in the 1800s, to which the reporter jokes about having found the secret to eternal life. Just like when they received the scam email, the vampires make this into a bigger deal and keep making things worse as they try to remedy the situation and come up with solutions.

Laszlo (Matt Berry) continues to suggest kidnapping or killing the news reporter. Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) goes blonde and looks great, freaking out about having to leave and having go-bags already packed for all members. Colin (Mark Proksch) continues to set booby traps all around the house in case a mob comes for them. The Guide (Kristen Schaal) gets interviewed and goes brunette so as not to be recognized.

On his end, Guillermo has gone for a final goodbye to his mother and remembers it is her birthday once he arrives and sees the family is there. He watches the news and realizes the vampires have messed up. While trying to get in contact with them, he gets in trouble with his family for not being in the moment. I was getting so stressed looking for signs of them reacting to Guillermo being a vampire- even in some little way. His mom gives him a new cross pendant, which he does not turn down – but we see it is burning him. His mom also implies that he has been coming over several times to say goodbye. However, we did not get the impression from Guillermo himself that he had gone to see her before. I found it odd and possibly a red flag for later this season, and it also left me with the feeling that his family will come back pretty soon, considering how his cousin kept acting.

When he returns to the lair in Staten Island to help, he is told off by the vampires that he is not needed as they can go on without him. However, this is seriously up for debate considering how much they have messed up already and are about to do even more. They are even caught flying and carrying up their tank, which fell into a sinkhole. The reporter and cameraman quickly run to the new channel to bring in the tape – but not before being followed by the vampires, who decide to pop in and stop everything. They did manage to hypnotize the anchors and the viewers and carry on with the news segment.

I cannot stress enough just how anxious I was during this chapter, with the whole episode seeing mess upon mess continuing to pile up. I felt like I had to nap… or breathe into a paper bag. Once again, another fantastic episode to add to the list. So far, there have not been any slow or head-scratching episodes. FX's What We Do in the Shadows continues getting stronger as the season rolls along, and we further expand upon the show's universe. I love that the writing and characters are just as solid and can continuously surprise me – but I cannot shake this feeling that what went on during "Local News" is going to come back to haunt our vamp fam.

What We Do in the Shadows Season 5 Episode 5 "Local News"

what we do in the shadows
Review by Alejandra Bodden

8.5/10
This week's episode of FX's What We Do in the Shadows, "Local News," shines an unwanted spotlight on our Staten Island vampires and follows a very sad goodbye. This episode brought a whole new level of stress that we weren't used to - and with our vamps down one Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) for most of it, too!"Local News" pushes and blurs the boundaries between reality and their vampiric world in more ways than we have seen before. This time the damage - and the attention our vampires are getting for it - is amplified by a local news channel that has no idea it's stumbled upon. Guillermo had warned them that they were getting sloppy with their antics in public, drawing much more attention than usual. But who listens to Gizmo? This time though? He isn't around to help them figure things out.

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Alejandra BoddenAbout Alejandra Bodden

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