By: Alex Tilton

On network television, you don’t often get embarrassing failures. A show might suck, but it usually checks all of the boxes you expect of a professional level production. Someone who knows how the human brain reacts to things was in overall charge of the show, and even if you didn’t like the end product it still reflects the fact that there was an awareness of what needed to be done.

But every so often you get a masterpiece. A show, or film, so tightly written and executed, and so well acted, that even the most cynical brain is forced to simply sit back and quietly appreciate the work. What We Do in the Shadows is one of these shows.

I usually give short shrift to the production value because you simply expect that kind of thing from a major network show with a real budget. But since the show is so comprehensively good, it needs comprehensive praise. The set design, production value, sound editing, lighting, costumes…all of it is amazing. Credit where credit is due, these people know their craft.

The writing is typically the big sticking point for me. I can forgive production value issues, and even bad acting sometimes, provided that the writing is solid. ‘Shadows’ has superlative writing. The characters never have anything less than razor sharp dialogue. The writers clearly know their characters very well, and they play to their strengths. But at the same time, it never gets stale or too predictable. You get enough reliability that you can anticipate certain things (which they leverage for laughs) and you get enough curve balls that you are often surprised (which they also leverage for laughs). The pacing, direction and video editing are likewise devoid of any flaws that I can find.

But the biggest praise I can give the show is its story structure. Paul Simms and Stephanie Robinson are the ‘showrunners’ behind this masterpiece. And as the people in overall charge of the end product, they get the credit for pulling all the threads together just right. Jokes land at just the right moment with just the right amount of sarcasm, confusion, intensity or misdirection. Serious moments are flawlessly undermined for comedic effect and it all comes together for a coherent narrative.

This show never intended to stick around for as long as possible, milking the characters until it was dry and dead. It had a story arc planned out from the beginning and it stuck to it. We know Season 6 is confirmed, and given how Season 5 plays out it might be a good time to wrap things up. That being said, I can also see them going a few more years. I no longer fear that this show will fall into ‘seasonal rot’ as it is sometimes known. It’ll keep on going until it ends on its own terms. It isn’t afraid to make major changes or do crazy things, and it knows where it wants to go. It’s the way television should be done, and we’re lucky to have been around for it.

Image Sources: Pari Dukovic / FX & Rotten Tomatoes