What We Do in the Shadows Season 5 Episode 7 Review: Hybrid Creatures
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, What We Do in the Shadows being covered here wouldn’t exist.
What We Do in the Shadows Season 5 Episode 7, “Hybrid Creatures,” finds Laszlo’s experimentation taking a strange turn while Nadja gives back to her community. Jeremy Levick and Rajat Suresh penned the script with directorial mainstay Kyle Newacheck at the helm.
Season 5 has certainly ebbed and flowed. While there have been incredibly strong outings like “Urgent Care” and “Pride Parade,” this season has suffered from patches of unevenness. “Hybrid Creatures” boasts solid character beats and narrative moments, but it’s Season 5’s weakest showing thus far.
NADJA [singing]: Burgers and fries, Mickey Mouse, Mount Rushmore, yee-haw!
Despite the overarching storylines, including Guillermo’s vampiric transition and Nadja’s hex, this season has felt unfocused and meandering. Nandor and Colin Robinson aren’t given much to do; however, their scenes are quite fun in “Hybrid Creatures.” On a similar note, Laszlo’s arc feels dependent on Guillermo’s, even though it’s a delight watching him in his element as an esteemed scientist.
That said, even What We Do in the Shadows‘ most tepid episodes are leagues better in quality than the majority of sitcoms today. “Hybrid Creatures” brings the consistently stellar Kerri Kenney into the fold as “Helen the Magic Johnson,” a human woman who tricks Nadja into thinking she’s a sorceress. The thread connecting them — Helen’s ban from Dunkin’ Donuts versus Nadja’s banishment from her village in Antipaxos — is a clever twist.
However, perhaps more time focused on this plotline would’ve better served the story. That’s always a gamble with half-hour comedies. You’re only granted so much time to flesh out these beats. Similarly, we could’ve used more scenes with Nadja as a teacher. Letting Natasia Demetriou run wild in that setting is comedic gold. She’s effortlessly funny.
HELEN THE MAGIC JOHNSON: I will need an eye of newt, a black cat’s whisker, and a chocolate glazed from the Dunkin’ on Forest Avenue.
Any time the vampires show their ignorance of modern human culture yields hilarious fruit. That’s partly what makes Nandor and Colin Robinson’s episodic arc so damn entertaining. We see these characters out of their depth even though they don’t realize it.
This episode boasts some of Colin Robinson’s best moments (although nothing can beat “Colin’s Promotion”). His parodying of the “white savior” teacher stereotype is pitch-perfect. Mark Proksch’s deadpan deliveries land like no other.
Of course, as is the case for most episodes, the performances are the best part of “Hybrid Creatures.” Harvey Guillén and Matt Berry get another showcase for their easygoing chemistry. Guillén imbues our Gizmo with so much heart and subtle pathos, especially given his situation as a vampire perpetually transitioning — an outlier between two worlds.
COLIN ROBINSON: You don’t have to be in love to wear the glove.
One thing What We Do in the Shadows will never lose is its penchant for bitingly witty one-liners, quirky character work, and wacky scenarios that get more bizarre as the minutes roll by. While “Hybrid Creatures” isn’t the show’s best installment, it retains part of what makes this series a bloodsucking good time.
Stray Observations:
- I love that Laszlo references Britney Spears as one of our “contemporary musical troubadours.” The original lyric: “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman.”
- Those hybrid Guillermo creatures are unadulterated nightmare fuel while simultaneously being adorable—especially little Dog-ermo.
- Colin Robinson in “Hybrid Creatures” feels like an amalgam of every white “inspiring” teacher (aka the white savior) in a movie ever. Dead Poet’s Society and Freedom Writers spring to mind.
- If only Colin Robinson had busted out a rousing rendition of “Wonderwall” while strumming on that guitar. That would’ve zapped the energy out of his “students” instantly.
- We last saw Nandor’s basketball outfit in Season 2, Episode 10, “Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires.”
- I could watch an entire episode of Nadja teaching her fellow Antipaxans. Her knowledge (or “nolej,” according to Nandor) of America is spot-on. No notes. The US really is only three sections: Hollywood, Texas, and Staten Island.
- Any time Laszlo wears his shrub-pruning garb to prune his vagina shrubs means he’s definitely feeling randy (which is all the time).
- Maybe one of these days, I can stop complaining about the lack of Kristen Schaal. She’s severely underutilized despite her promotion to series regular.
What did you think of this episode of What We Do in the Shadows? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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What We Do in the Shadows airs Thursdays at 10/9c on FX, with next-day streaming on Hulu.
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Melody McCune
Melody loves TV. Maybe too much. Besides being a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV, she's the Managing Editor for Geek Girl Authority, an Independent Contractor for Sideshow Collectibles, and a Senior Writer for Eulalie Magazine. Additionally, she has bylines in Culturess, Widget, and inkMend on Medium. To top it all off, she's a critic for Rotten Tomatoes and CherryPicks.