Review: Paranormal Action Squad “Eddie Sucks”

Let the Right Lost Boys In Near Dark.

Spoilers Below

This show reaches its halfway mark for the season! Can they hold the small amount of momentum they got from the so far decent writing?

Eddie and Paul are alerted by Pad for an urgent matter! The recycling has to go out to the curb. The two bicker about who takes care of it, which is worded too benignly not to be some sort of hinting towards character development later. Not that it matters because they have a real job to do at “The Carousel Cantina”, and take off to fight one of my worst fears: A posh vampire voiced by Ben Diskin! Luckily, while the guys plan their first move, he is distracted by his one weakness, a slovenly drunk who is ALSO voiced by Ben Diskin! Paul identifies him as a Necrodomian vampire from the sixth century. If that’s a clever reference to some sort of vampire related fiction, I have no idea, because googling “Necrodomian” produces nothing. Or it could just be a fake word they made that has “necro” in the name because we need more reminding that vampires are undead, I guess. Paul backs away in fear while Eddie goes in with guns literally blazing (or sparking, since it’s electric), but the gun is low on charge and the one guy who can get new batteries is the frightened Paul, so Eddie is mercilessly, if not playfully, attacked.

Luckily, Eddie is saved begrudgingly by Dunham and his Destroyers, a spook hunting team like theirs but only ten times more professional, organized, and likely staffed. This almost makes up for him being a total one note douche character. Almost. Though it does makes sense that at least one group more qualified than Paul and Eddie would be out there, given how integrated and lax the supernatural seems to be in this world. We see now that our main characters may know their stuff, but they aren’t the only game in town, and with good reason.

The vamp gets away, though not before nicking his fangs on Eddie, quickly turning him into a creature of the night himself, and all thanks to Paul’s inaction and cowardice. Soon after, and I am talking the VERY NEXT SCENE, Eddie is on a buffet run throughout town, chomping on people and animals while, robbing blood banks and getting Vanoss to fetch more prey. He blames Paul for this, which is partially fair, but he definitely seemed to be at least semi-conscious of his actions while doing them, so at least a little on-screen restraint would go a long way to adding that sympathy angle back on, especially when there is a manhunt by the police out to get him. Paul is working up the courage to want to redeem himself, the course of which seeming to be a tried and tested method: kill the vampire who made YOU a vampire.

On the way to the “Cave of Wretchedness”, which turns out to be just some goddamn desert cave, they are tailed by Dunham, out for Eddie’s bounty. This leads to what is probably where the majority of the animation budget for the season went, as we get a CGI-heavy car chase across the desert and canyons, with both a Jean-Claude Van Damme truck commercial reference AND a friggin Akira motorbike turn reference. Nice! With a coordinated nut punch stunt, the guys manage to get away and make it to the cave. They hesitate going inside because of the smell, though, letting Dunham catch up and corner them. Finally, Paul manages to shine, protecting Eddie as they all head into the cave to confront Bat Diskin.

Though talking the talk worked so far, walking the walk into the dangerous cave isn’t working out for him, as everything scares him. This isn’t helped by meeting the vampire as it chows down on a victim right in from of them. He greets Eddie as a friend, but Paul as a meal ready to be devoured while also taunting him heavily for everything that’s happened. This fear gives way to rage, as Paul picks up the nearest old sword and beheads him, freeing Eddie and bringing the head out for all to see, which earns him momentary respect from Dunham…only to be thrown back in his face now that Paul has some balls. He might be afraid of things, but at least he knows now to overcome that fear when it counts.

So this was some pretty basic growth about overcoming fear, but it’s vague about what fear specifically. Is it vampires? Fighting? Being killed? And where does this fear come from? I’ve appreciated the character insight so far in previous episodes so it’s odd they didn’t decide to continue expanding on it here, maybe by seeing some sort of previous incident with a vampire to inform us of how this phobia formed or something. Plus, we already gave Paul and Eddie their own focus episodes, plus the first one which was about both of them. Give the other team members some time to develop, eh? The main addition for me this week would probably Dunham and his group, though not necessarily for the characters themselves since they’re as flat in characterization as they come. What I really like about them is that they represent a possible ghost hunting industry and craft that our main characters are only a part of, so I hope we get to see more of that as we continue. Beyond that, this plot was just sort of there. Not really horrible, but pretty room temp. Though I guess if that’s the worst they have to offer, we should be alright.