[9.3/10] This one was several different shades of awesome. It had great comedy, legitimate scares, impressive action, nice character moments, and even a touch of melancholy. Definitely the best episode of the show so far.
I have to say though that for all of the well-written material and impressive visuals that go above and beyond the normal sitcom, the bit I liked best was just the vampires freaking out over a mid-2000s chain letter “curse.” The comedy of a bunch of thousand-year-olds struggling to understand the nuances of technology nd it dubious intersection with the supernatural is just a hoot.
Everything about it was a laugh: Nandor freaking out about the curse in the irst place, Lazlo constantly talking about Annie’s guts, the trio taking such glee in sending an email to a guy from Circuit City, Nadja noting that her husband doesn’t have a “curse-proof arm”, Guillermo’s unintentionally spooking message, Colin Robinson’s email address and biweekly newsletter, fears of the “mailer daemon”, and change from a tide pen sale being “unforeseen riches.” All of it was just gold. But the root of the comedy comes from the gang's outsized and freaked out reactions to something so mundane, in a way that was both charmingly adorable and utterly ridiculous.
Guillermo’s part of the story was great too. I really enjoyed him freaking out about his suspicion that the mateur vampire hunting was heading to his vamps’ house. What followed though was pretty fantastic horror! This show mostly leans on the goofier side of horror-comedy, but seeing Guillermo’s new crew race around a different vampire house was legitimately freaky! The episode’s director did the young twin scares, vampires popping out of nowhere, and creatures lurking in the dark spaces brilliantly.
Plus holy hell, Guillermo the Vampire Hunter is pretty damned badass! The way he raced back into the house despite his obvious fear was great, and his seamless, stake-handling efforts to rescue his friends made for some really cool sequences. I especially liked him shoving Shanice out the window to safety, and then following her while blazing the double bird at his sharp-fanged foes. The fact that the vamps then turned on the camera crew was a really nice touch as well.
The ending was just as good though. I love the final moment with Guillermo and Nandor. There’s some surprisingly good character work between the two of them, and I’m so curious to see where it goes. Despite his complaining and rudeness to Guillermo, you get the sense that Nandor is basically a child, and now a scared one. It’s hard to sympathize with him too much, but you at least get the sense that in his own, twisted way, Nandor cares about Guillermo, just as Guillermo is starting to realize his power and potential. On top of that, the final gag of Guillermo using the tide pen on his blood-drenched shirt was a huge laugh.
Overall, this is a big high water mark for the show, and hopefully sets a tone for the rest of the season!
I remember those email threads from when I was a kid so it was a hilarious throwback, I couldn’t stop laughing!!!
Still not bad, but the worst episode of the season by a long shot. The comedy just felt very broad and not refined.
'I'm feeling a little less fearless than I usually do.'
That was an awesome take on "email chain-curses" and "house of terror".
One of the best episodes of the show imo.
Guillermo's accidental vampire-hunting is fun (and surprisingly well-orchestrated; that twin rising and coming towards them in the background is creepy), and the Bloody Mary chain email stuff is absolute riot. "Let's see how she likes it when I send an email to bloodyfuckingmary @ aol.com!"
“The topiary isn’t even erotic, it’s just giant balls.”
Shout by LineageBlockedParent2020-04-30T19:18:48Z
It wasn't bad, but it was the weakest episode, so far. For a comedy-based show, this episode hardly had any of it, and of what they did have, just wasn't funny, IMO. If you found it to be hilarious, that's fine. Good for you. Our preferences and perspectives must be quite different. And while I rated this episode the same as every previous episode in this season, the previous three were a lot further into that rating than this one was. But even in that case, for this show, that doesn't mean much, except that I liked them a whole lot more. This episode was still pretty decent. If anything, it probably wasn't meant to be comedic, but the writers put in the situation with the obvious email spam that was misunderstood to be an actual curse as a means for just that. It just fell short. Also, while the vampire hunting part of the episode was interesting and darker, it didn't appeal that much to me. But, again, I didn't hate this episode. It just wasn't my cup of tea.