Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Dead of Night

Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 6, “Dead of Night,” takes Max on a nostalgic journey when she and Ellis discover a dark twist on the set of a cult vampire TV show.

And if that hook isn’t enough (It really should be!), Twilight‘s Ashley Greene guest stars as the show’s — aptly titled Dead of Night — executive producer, Wendy.

Written by Robina Lord-Stafford and directed by Shawn Piller, this episode serves as the evergreen reminder that Wild Cards knows what kind of easygoing, comfort TV the landscape could use more of right now.

“Dead of Night” will lure in fans of Bones and Castle before it sinks its teeth into the Twilight and The Vampire Diaries fans.

Vanessa Morgan’s casting alone causes a nostalgic pang for the days of My Babysitter’s a Vampire, and then Riverdale‘s Pop’s (!) makes a disguised cameo as a cheery on top. The pun is absolutely intended.

Either way, this episode knows how to pull a viewer in with the genre’s familiar trappings and then puts its own spin on them. It’s why the consultant procedural persists — albeit in less frequency — on TV. The formula works and succeeds with fresh takes, like Wild Cards‘s gender-swapped one.

This show is six episodes deep into its debut season, and it’s still not old to see Max’s free-spirit attitude clash with Ellis’s by-the-book work ethic. 

Their dynamic is especially exciting when its backdrop is a vampire TV show that Ellis can’t understand the appeal of and Max and her mom bonded over.

It also makes the meta jabs at actors extra fun.

Wild Cards crafts a compelling case around the fictional show’s Core 4 with convincing red herrings with very Hollywood motives on “Dead of Night.” 

It’s a real challenge to care about the colorful cast because of their self-centeredness, but it is easy to root for the hardworking crew members who have worked on the show for nearly a decade. While Ashley Greene is an obvious standout, Naomi King is a surprising scene stealer as Piper, the make-up artist.

Piper’s delightfully down-to-earth persona contrasts the fictional world of immortal drama in which she works.

Admittedly, including Piper’s mother only for her to be the unfortunate victim of the actors’ hit and run feels shoe-horned into “Dead of Night” — until that final scene between King and Morgan.

Max is quick on her feet. She knows how to twist the truth to encourage people to let down their guards, but it’s evident that this is not one of those times.

Pulling back to the broader arc, Wild Cards has been steadily building to Max revealing more about her relationship with her mom. There has been a conscious and persistent effort to keep that character at the forefront of Max’s mind.

Max reveals to Ellis that she lost her mom when she was younger on Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 2, “Show Me the Murder,” and she protects her parents to Ellis on Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 3, “Howl to Get Away with Murder.”

Then, the consultant procedural delivers one of the best peaks into Max when she’s taken aback by the Fortune Teller saying Max has her mother’s eyes on Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 5, “The Accountant of Monte Cristo.” 

All of this brings Wild Cards to “Dead of Night,” where Max feels closest with her mom on the set of the show adapted from the books they loved. The discovery that she and her mother would dress up as vampires and camp out at bookstores on publication day is so wholesome — and heartbreaking.

As much as being on Dead of Night‘s set may help Max feel closer to her mother, it must also twist a stake in those wounds that won’t ever truly heal after losing someone so important to her. Vanessa Morgan walks that complicated line with ease, expressing genuine excitement until that heart-to-heart with Piper.

King’s performance is devastating as Piper processes the loss of her mother, but there’s something to be said about Max, who has been through that unimaginable loss, being there to guide Piper.

Max is there to give Piper the advice that likely no one could give Max.

It’s also a sign of Max’s development within this new role that she doesn’t promise Piper she will find out who killed Piper’s mother. Ellis warns Max of that on “Show Me the Murder,” and “Dead of Night” sees her head that warning. 

While Wild Cards‘s case-of-the-week format does encourage casual viewing, the details in the serialized arcs can be lost in that experience.

“Dead of Night” emphasizes how wacky and zany this show can be while reinforcing why viewers want to keep tuning in — the emotional connection audiences form with Max and Ellis while they form one with each other.

That storytelling is what makes every ending on the houseboat meaningful.

Since Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 1, “The Infinity Thief,” Max and Ellis (and Marc) have grown closer on that set. Of course, that development of trust — and maybe something more — between Max and Ellis will make any (presumably eventual) betrayal sting more, but that’s how Wild Cards will know it played its cards right.

All in all, “Dead of Night” is a fun yet wistful addition to a very strong hand. 

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Wild Cards airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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