3x05 The Chamber of Judgement

[6.7/10] Kind of a weird episode. There weren’t a lot of laughs to Nandor and Nadja’s first real session in the Chamber of Judgment. The shtick about the sexual harassment video and moving the chair and all that fell flat to me. The same went for Guillermo trying to play Littlefinger with the vamps (though Harvey Guillen’s facial expression sold it a little.)

But I do like the return of Derek, Guillermo’s mosquito club friend who seemingly perished in the last episode. There’s some good drama there with Guillermo feeling guilty for leaving him behind, and I liked the humor in the idea that, without guidance, Derek is just plain bad at being a vampire. Guillmero tricking his masters into freeing Derek is a good look, and the guy’s absurd inability to play along or avoid sunlight is a laugh.

I feel similarly about the storyline with Lazlo trying to help his neighbor Sean in a dispute over a thinly-veiled spoof of My Pillow. Lazlo trying to be friendly with Sean is wholesome, and the little bit about him trying to make a pass at Sean only to mesmerize him into forgetting the attempt is a laugh. But the various interactions between the vamps and the traditional Staten Islanders weren’t as funny as usual, and Lazlo as a lawyer, which should be hilarious, turned out pretty mild and forgettable.

That said, I do like the clockwork ending of Guillermo convincing Nadja to spare Derek to allow Lazlo to win his first “case”, and Derek’s punishment being that he has to sell Sean’s pillows door to door.

Overall, this first quasi-dud of the season, which still has some good bits here and there, but isn’t as strong as the show normally is in the humor department, and isn’t as focused in the story department.