Viva, Atlantic City

After weeks of Vampiric Council business, the vampires took some much needed R&R in “The Casino”. I knew we were in for a special episode when Laszlo (Matt Berry) and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) broke into Elvis’ Viva Las Vegas, (Atlantic City Remix) and then seamlessly transitioned into Norma Tanega’s You’re Dead. The theme track playing over the Atlantic City road trip was a nice touch. Each week we’re treated with polaroids of the vampires spending the night on the town throughout history. It’s nice to finally see them actually out on the town.

Returning this week, the neighbors, Shaun (Anthony Atamanuik) and Charmaine (Marissa Jaret Winokur) who are renewing their vows in Atlantic City, and have invited their friends (and neighbors) out for the romantic weekend. Shaun seems to have made a recovery from the brain scramblies last season, but judging by his favor of Ocean’s Twelve over Ocean’s Eleven, I don’t think there was much for him to gain back to begin with. It’s odd there’s no mention of last year’s Super Bowl mishap from either side.

This is the first time we really get to see the group away from work for a long period of time. It’s also the first time we get to see everyone with their new body guard, Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) away from the council. His title change, hasn’t brought much change to how he is treated, but with credit to Nandor (Kayvan Novak), he is pushing for the other vampires to take Guillermo more seriously. This leads to the vamps digging deep into Guillermo’s sex life which leads to the greatest line from Colin Robins (Mark Proksch) – “Yeah Come on you stinky bitch, the library is open.”

Breaking away from eachother, Nadja gets wrapped into a Rat Pack tribute group that she believes to be the actual Rat Pack. In true Shadow’s fashion, Nadja is head over heels about the group. She hung with them in their hey day and believes this group to still be the actual Rat Pack.

Nandor spends his time at the slots and we discover he is a fan of The Big Bang Theory. There’s some fun back and forth here about Shelton (their tall one). It’s also nice to see Nandor get out of his feels, even if it just for a moment.

Things are going well for the group in Sin City’s cousin, until Nandor , Nadja, and Laszlo lose their powers, due to their ancestral soil being thrown out by housekeeping. This sends Guillermo on an adventure around the world to collect the dirt for each of the traditional vampires (The UK, Greece, and Iran). One paid for, unknowingly, by Shaun. I love the gaga that they spend a full few days at the hotel/casino and don’t have to worry about the sun (I always though it was fucked casinos didn’t have windows).

Another fun but is Colin Robinson teaching Nandor about what the Big Bang actually entails. The hilarity ensues when Nador reveals that he believed the world was on the back of four elephants and a giant turtle. This rocks his world, and sad Nandor eventually returns. There’s a beautifully shot scene where Nandor reflects on not having family or love, and it’s a scene that I think we’ll be seeing the ramifications of throughout the rest of the season.

Beside exploding Nandor’s mind with the Big Bang Theory, Colin Robinson doesn’t have much to do here. His EV moments of finding entertainment in the hotel’s informational channel, and taking photos of the hotel room are fine, but he kind of just feels like he is there. Maybe the direction for Colin Robinson has changed in how he is portrayed, but I haven’t seen him feed for a few episodes now. I can’t remember the last time we saw a glowy-eyed Colin.

Laszlo also has some side moments wit Shaun, where he borrows the money, and then laments at how much he spent. This happens at a very breakneck pace, but you do feel like Laszlo genuinely likes Shaun and wants to stay in his good graces. Which leads to the most fun had in the episode.

The heist! Played out just like an Ocean’s Eleven heist. It’s great to see everyone working together, even if the plan pops off a little differently than intended. The vamps have gotten dumber as the series has progressed, but it’s a nice change up to see them pull of this heist and pay Shaun back in full, and then some.

Guillermo being included as part of the family is a nice note to end on for this episode.

More highlights:

• “It’s me, Nadja” (Flashes Rat Pack)
• The fight coming to a head
• “I present you the feather of the female crow.”
• “Hey Laszlo, Nadja, you guys hitting the skins in there?”