What We Do In The Shadows: Why Colin Is The Strongest Vampire In Season 2
What We Do in the Shadows is easily one of the funniest shows currently on television, but the series’ second season has looked even deeper into the eclectic characters and their vampire powers; one in particular has become the strongest vampire of season 2 due to an interesting power upgrade.
There are many different monsters from the horror genre that have gone on to find mainstream appeal, but vampires seem to always have the easiest time with this. Pop culture has been dissecting vampires for nearly as long as the idea of them has been around. The bloodsucking creatures still pose a frightening and deadly danger in some adaptations, but comedy has also found a lot to do with the monster and its established tropes, some of which naturally ask to be ridiculed. There are plenty of light-hearted approaches to the vampire mythos, but one of the most celebrated versions of this is Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows.
Even though Taika Waititi’s original film is a brilliant subversion of both vampire myths and the supernatural, FX’s television follow-up has allowed the series to explore horror aspects that would have been impossible in a restrictive movie. The show’s second season has introduced more supernatural threats for these vampires, as well as a number of new powers and ailments that affect their kind. Season 2, episode 5, “Colin’s Promotion”, looks at just how much control an energy vampire can acquire under the right circumstances.
Colin Robinson has been a bit of an outlier with the Staten Island vampires due to his annoying habits as an energy vampire. Colin’s routine is literally draining for those around him. He's eager to fit in with his fellow vampires, but when they demonstrate they have no time for him, he instead turns inward to his work. This actually results in Colin receiving a promotion, which puts him in a new situation where people are forced to laugh at his jokes and be his friend due to the power that he wields. This does a lot for Colin’s ego, but it does even more for this powers as an energy vampire due to the buffet he's made of his employees.
What We Do in the Shadows has had a lot of fun showing the litany of supernatural powers that different vampires possess and how they can be powerful beyond the conventional ways that are associated with their kind. When Colin increases his limits as an energy vampire, he’s able to make things float at his whim, fly around, and even re-grow his hair so he’s no longer bald. Colin also becomes able to feed with his mind and create multiple versions of himself that can be his own best friends when no one else will. Colin’s powers get so severe that he is able to take someone out by simply pointing in their direction.
The other vampires around Colin become too weak to oppose Colin and actually age and turn physically older. This is a very important development as it charts both Colin's new energy addiction, how he becomes the most powerful vampire in Staten Island, and how this could lead to a bigger paradigm shift in the future of the series. In the end, balance is restored, and Colin learns that his vampire friends do appreciate him, which is illustrated through the funeral of Colin’s doubles, strangely enough. The end of the episode shows Colin beginning work at a new job that’s ripe with energy to be taken, so What We Do In The Shadows keeps open the idea that Colin may return to this powerful place again.