Isobel Grieve
The following contains spoilers for Reginald the Vampire S1E1: “Dead Weight” (written by Harley Peyton, based on the books by Johnny B. Truant, and directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik)
SYFY’s brand new show, Reginald the Vampire, is based on Johnny B. Truant’s six-book series, starting with the first, Fat Vampire. As much as I love the concept of a fat vampire who doesn’t fit into “vampire beauty standards”, I feel they’re straddling a line between irony/fat representation and fat-shaming stereotypes.
We follow Reginald (Jacob Batalon) as he goes to work at Slush Shack as usual. He flirts with his work crush, Sarah (Em Haine); he takes a breather outback, tells the random customer he just met his problems, and gets by compelled by the stranger to ask out Sarah. Sarah says YES!
WE LOVE TO SEE IT!! Yes, Reginald, get it!
This stranger, the Vampire Maurice (Mandela Van Peebles), decides to take Reginald under his wing and give him some pointers on getting some. Then, they are rudely interrupted, and the scene abruptly turns into a vampiric turf war. Reginald gets caught in the crossfire, and Maurice turns him into a vampire to save his booty. AND SARAH GETS STOOD UP! Justice for Sarah.
The next day, Reg wants to bite his boss Todd (Aren Buchholz) but doesn’t; if only he were ruthless like me. Sarah confronts Reginald, and he tries to break up with her before they even go on one date. Maurice later tells Reg his origin story, which features baddie Angela Hibbert (Savannah Basley), who just so happens to be his marker and his enemy and maybe even his past lover—gasp.
The show is by all accounts cheesy but in a fun way.
It addresses fat-shaming in the first 10 minutes of the show when Todd is bullying Reginald. However, later Reginald’s vampire maker, Maurice, makes a point to tell Reg just how tough his life is about to get as a vampire who doesn’t fit the beauty standards. He, of course, won’t be able to change his body because of how vampiric immortality works. Reginald cracks a “joke”, upset he won’t be able to diet.
Going off the first episode, this show frames most of its fat main character’s personality around being fat which, even for a horror-comedy series, feels extremely two-dimensional.
Aside from the show’s obsession with Reginald’s size, I felt his crush and romantic success with Sarah (Em Haine) were adorable. Batalon and Haine have good chemistry; I love how Sarah comes to Reginald at the end of the episode. It’s a storyline that saves the show from perpetrating too harshly the “Reginald is fat, therefore ugly and unlovable” narrative some scenes have tried to beat into the audience.
Hopefully, they find their footing when it comes to their core appeal.
I must also mention that I love Jacob Batalon; we can all agree he makes Peter Parker’s best friend Ned one of the most loved characters in the MCU. However, I felt some of his line reads were somewhat contrived or shallow. However, that may be at fault of the script. In particular, Batalon’s monologue to… God [?] was hard to sit through. I understand writer Harley Peyton may have been trying to lay down character work there, but it was weak, painstakingly long, and… I’m sorry to say it, but poorly performed.
There were other aspects of the show that I liked and could contribute to an evolving horror-comedy that gets better with time. To be fair, it’s rare to have a perfect pilot.
Essentially my upset is with the amount of exposition packed into their pilot. I understand things need to be set up and explained in the first episode, but it never felt natural here. Despite what everyone says about pilots, I don’t think we need to know everything upfront—I think exposition-loading can paint shows into a corner. I also know vampires are commonly understood creatures, so a lot of the exposition felt overkill.
Basically, the pilot was overwritten.
It was a 43-minute episode with the plot of a half-hour.
Despite that, I still enjoyed watching Reginald the Vampire and plan to see it through to the bloody end. Why? Well, if Batalon and Haine are this cute in the pilot, I can’t wait to see how much better that love story can get.
I love the retro vibe the costumes, lighting, and set design give. Sometimes it’s undeniable they’re filming exterior night shots entirely on a soundstage. Technically, that’s not a win; however, it reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and therefore feels nostalgic and comforting—that’s a win.
The set-up for our series’ big, bad villain is excellent; I’m rooting for Angela Hibbert (Savannah Basley) like I rooted for Spike. And the side character performances were actually comical! One of my favourite performances from the whole episode came from Marguerite Hanna, who plays an unnamed Slush Shack employee, and her deadpan monologue about BED (Binge Eating Disorder).
Shows like this cantake a moment to find their groove and get the pacing right. I think Reginald the Vampire has a lot of potential. Premiering during spooky season was a great choice. I’m genuinely excited to see what comes next.
