What We Do in the Shadows: Colin's Promotion

May 8, 2020 2:37 PM - Season 2, Episode 5

Colin Robinson gets promoted at work and his new power threatens the balance of power in the vampire house.

Colin goes mad with very boring power on a businesslike What We Do In The Shadows (Katie Rife for TV/AV Club; rating: B)

Mark Proksch has been doing some great work boring the shit out of his roommates and neighbors alike as a supporting player this season, so it was about time for him to have a showcase episode like “Colin’s Promotion.” In terms of Colin-at-work storylines, last season’s pairing of Mark Proksch with emotional vampire Vanessa Bayer in “Werewolf Feud” (season 1 episode 3) may have had a bit more comedic pizzaz, simply because Mark Proksch and Bayer played off of each other so well. But in terms of writing, this episode was overflowing with little passive-aggressive gestures, like Colin’s conference-call terrorism and aggressive throat-clearing, that really capture what a unique hell office work can be. Shana Gohd, the story editor who graduates to writing on this episode (congrats Shana!) has definitely worked in an office.

Episode soundtrack from Tunefind.

posted by filthy light thief (9 comments total)

Can you imagine Colin teaching an entry level... Macroeconomics course to a 500 seat lecture hall?
Or delivering a sermon (or a weekly bulletin or whatever) in a mega church?
(Maybe he can enter churches, we don't know what his deal is)

The power! He needs to switch careers. It should be him in paintings with burning cities behind him.

I really want a flashback subplot about how he was somehow able to modify the Voyager recordings, just because why not? Then whenever the show is cancelled the last episode can fire that Chekhov's gun.
posted by Acari at 7:47 AM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]

I think Colin Robinson worked at at least two companies where I used to work.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 10:17 AM on May 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

Maybe Colin Robinson worked at one of them, and C-Man worked at the other one.
posted by ckape at 7:23 PM on May 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

Don’t... say C-Man
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:42 PM on May 9, 2020

Can you imagine Colin teaching an entry level... Macroeconomics course to a 500 seat lecture hall?

Yeeaaahh...now that you mention it I definitely went to a 7:30am Econ class with a Colin. (I dropped immediately, because I'm not the girl who gets eaten by ghosts.)
posted by grandiloquiet at 2:41 PM on May 10, 2020

I've been going around saying "that's me on the horse, galloping towards my dear wife so I can make sweet love to her" in Laszlo's accent and I can't stop
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:33 AM on May 17, 2020 [4 favorites]

This is my favorite episode so far. C-MAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
posted by grumpybear69 at 1:26 PM on May 22, 2020

It's great the all the characters are getting a lot of loving this season and get to be badasses.

I wasn't sure about the 'he grows luxuriant hair as a side effect of his new power level' until the scene where he had the galaxy head and was shaving himself.

Where no shaving seems to ever get accomplished.

The B-plot, Nandor having sacked Nadja's village is gold!

"They spared only the softest brains and the stupidest bodies in the village, and their offspring were all... wrong."
posted by porpoise at 8:17 PM on June 7, 2020

(Maybe he can enter churches, we don't know what his deal is)

He can enter churches, we saw that in the last episode of season 1.
posted by Pendragon at 10:13 AM on June 23, 2020