1x10 Ancestry

[7.8/10] A very nice way to end the season. The concept of ancestry and past lives is a nice thread to connect all the stories here, and the show gets a lot of mileage out of it.

My favorite bit in the episode is Guillermo learning that he’s related to Van Helsing (and not just because it all but confirms my vampire hunter theory!). It’s a neat twist for Guillermo to have to deal with, and the way it builds to him accidentally (subconsciously?) tossing holy water onto Nandor, or reflexively tossing garden stakes and hitting the portraits of his vampire masters is great.

I particularly like the psychological angle of it, where you see Lazlo calling Guillermo a half-wit, Nandor bitching about the holy water incident and declaring it adds one more year of service as a familiar, and Guillermo himself waxing rhapsodic about his time at Panera Bread. The show puts in the time to make you feel bad for Guillermo and his poor treatment at the hands of the vamps, setting his character arc in motion.

Nandor’s story is good too. I love the fact that he’s so thrilled to meet his ninety-year-old, great (x30) granddaughter, only for him to literally scare her to death when he taps on her window. There’s a lot of good supernatural lore comedy to the bit, from the brood literally burning up inside of the church for her funeral, to the running gags about witches trying to steal one’s seed. Hell, even a tossed off line like Nandor talking about his thirty-seven wives and lamenting their leaving him since he “was in love with thirty-five of them” was great.

The story with Nadja, Gregor, and Lazlo was a winner as well. I didn’t love Jeff/Gregor’s grand prison escape, but I love the payoff that Lazlo is the one who’s been killing him throughout history. The kicker, with Nadja being touched that he cares, wanting him to spare “Jesk” just this once, and Jeff accidentally getting decapitated by Lazlo’s topiary support tether anyway is a good laugh.

Last but not least, as always, Colin Robinson is just a hoot. His ancestry report just saying “white,” his retort to Nandor about “goading him” to tap on the window, and even him being glad to feed on people at the funeral were all funny bits to include.

Overall, this was a quality way to end the season, which picked up speed and consistency as it went! On to season 2!