Every new episode of What We Do In The Shadows brings us deeper into the lore of the world and while we have werewolves and fairies and a black market that you can get to by taking the subway, the most recent episode of the FX series brought something terrifying to life: the Jersey Devil. And not just any Jersey Devil, but one that you have to defeat using Jersey music. The vampires take him out by luring him with Bon Jovi music and I have to assume that the Devil would not respond accordingly to Bruce Springsteen and that does hurt my soul.
The episode titled “Pine Barrens” takes us away from Staten Island as Laszlo, Nandor, and the being that crawled out of Colin Robinson leave for a boy’s trip, while Nadja and Guillermo stay back at the house (even though they both think they’re alone). And while there is plenty going on throughout the episode, the inclusion of the Jersey Devil really is something so hilariously smart that you wouldn’t even think about it.
The Pine Barrens
Sean Rinaldi (Anthony Atamanuik) invites the men from next door to go on a hunting trip to his family’s cabin in New Jersey. Nadja says in an interview that she hopes the trip helps to stop Nandor and Laszlo from their 80 year fight with each other.
And what does that is…the New Jersey Devil. The two are at odds with each other the entire episode with the two of them bickering over little things like a bowler who is famous and how they are famous or yelling about gun safety, which results in the being that crawled out of Colin Robinson running away from the house.
In their quest to find him (while they’re still fighting) the two turn and see the Jersey Devil himself, and it takes teamwork to drain him of his blood. Well, team work and the sweet tunes of “Living on a Prayer”. Much like most episodes of What We Do In the Shadows, it’s an absolutely positively outrageous look at something that is very real and relatable.
There are times when you fight with your best friend and you can feel like you’re never going to stop annoying each other, but something like fighting a Jersey Devil together is sometimes what you need to make you realize how silly you’re being. In Nandor’s case, he needed to be honest with Laszlo about his feelings over Laszlo calling Sean his “best friend” and not spending more time with Nandor.
Thankfully, the Jersey Devil gave them the moment they needed to come together and they did, hanging the head of the Jersey Devil in their home across from Guillermo’s My So-Called Life poster so that they could always remember the evil they defeated together.
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What We Do In The Shadows remains one of the funniest television shows out there right now and if we continue to see other legends come to life? All the better!
(featured image: FX)
