In 2014, the film, What We Do in the Shadows was released directed, and written by Flight of the Conchords star, Jemaine Clement and a then-relatively-unknown Taika Waititi. The two comedians star in a mockumentary of a house full of vampires and what it’s really like behind the scenes. In 2019, the series spinoff debuted with a house full of vampires who have settled on Staten Island. Both Waititi and Clement have made cameo appearances and the show has enjoyed a nice cult following of this hilarious and unexpected vampiric comedy.
The show features the vampires Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) along with their manservant, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) who is convinced if he serves them long enough, they will turn him into a vampire as well. We have spent 3 whole seasons with this glorious group of vamps, so before Season 4 begins, let’s look back at where we left them in Season 3.
The Season opens about a month after Guillermo went all Buffy Summers on the Supreme Vampiric Council. Guillermo is being held prisoner in the basement of the Staten Island house while the vampires decide what to do with him. Thanks to their less than stellar imprisoning skills, Guillermo, with ease, lets himself out every morning to still do his chores and keep the house in order. Being the loyal familiar that he is, he locks himself up each evening to make the vampires think they’re still in control. While the majority of the house wants to kill Guillermo, Nandor sticks up for him. They all agree as long as they hypnotize him to not hurt them, he will be released from his jail cell and be promoted to bodyguard. A message arrives from The Guide (Kristen Schaal). She informs them that the vampires in the house are now the Vampiric Council for the Eastern Seaboard since Guillermo killed most of the area leaders in his rampage. After much arguing about who should be in charge, Nandor and Nadja agree to be the co-leaders of the new Council.
Colin Robinson
Our favorite energy vampire, Colin Robinson, is about to turn 100. Before he does so, he spends his time teaching Nandor about life using a Big Bang Theory slot machine as a metaphor, falling in love with siren Sheila (Catherine Cohen), and bonding with Laszlo. As his birthday approaches, he feels as if Nandor’s sudden desire to fall into the Supreme Slumber is just an excuse to get out of coming to his birthday party. What Colin doesn’t know is that Laszlo has discovered that energy vampires only have a shelf-life of about 100 years. While he is enjoying all the attention Laszlo is giving him, he has no idea that Laszlo is really planning his funeral. When Colin Robinson finally does perish, we the audience are unsure if he is really dead or not, but when Nandor accidentally crushes his skull, it’s pretty clear he has left us. Or has he…
Guillermo
After being promoted to bodyguard, Guillermo admits to the camera that their hypnotism didn’t work, but he lets them think it did. His biggest adventure of the season is when the vampires take a trip to Atlantic City. Whenever they travel, they have to carry soil from their ancestral homelands to keep under their beds, so they can properly slumber during the daytime. However, in Atlantic City, the housekeeping staff thinks that’s just plain old dirt and vacuums it up. Guillermo is sent on a global trot to Greece, Iran, and England to gather some native soil to return the vampires to full power.
He also comes face to face with Derek (Chris Sandiford) someone he had left behind before he was turned in previous seasons. Derek is now running in a pack that has no idea of the rules of vampirism. As Derek appears before the council, Guillermo feels obligated to save him and summons a drunken Laszlo to help. In doing so, Guillermo has to adopt the illegal hellhound that Derek had acquired.
When the Sire is on the loose after Nandor forgets to feed him, it is Guillermo who has to use his vampire hunting skills to track him down. Even though it is eventually the Baron (Doug Jones) who is able to communicate with the Sire, Guillermo was the one who led the fight. (Side note, I am totally down for a spinoff of the Baron and the Sire as roommates in New Jersey just chilling and watching their stories). He also is the one who rescues Nandor from the Cult, so naturally, he is devastated when Nandor decides he wants to enter his Super Slumber. When Nandor informs Guillermo that he will be traveling the world without him, it is then that Guillermo finally confronts Nandor and the two have a way overdue fight. Passing his “loyalty test,” Nandor promises to turn Guillermo on the trip if he comes with him. However, Laszlo has other plans for Guillermo.
Nadja and Lazlo
Nadja is on a bit of a power trip after she is made Co-Chair of the Vampiric counsel. The problem is, she doesn’t exactly work well with others and she and Nandor’s reigning styles are quite different. Her ultimate goal is to take the leadership on herself. Thankfully, Nandor’s decision to enter the Supreme Slumber lead her to attain that goal and secure an invitation to join the Supreme Vampiric Council in London. She exerted her power in multiple ways throughout the season whether it was killing Wes Blankenship (Tyler Alvarez) to scare his loyal rebellious pack into loyalty to the Council or making peace with her creepy ghost doll when she runs away after feeling neglected. Nadja is power-hungry and will stop at nothing to get it.
With Nadja busy with her new duties, Laszlo finds himself becoming closer to Colin Robinson. Their bonding begins when Laszlo discovers his old Jalopy in the Council’s Library and the two fix it and drive it off together. Laszlo also is a champion of Sean’s (Anthony Atamanuik) gambling recovery even if it’s short-lived. He also (drunkenly) defends Guillermo’s friend Derek and manages to hypnotize Sean into a new career path. When Laszlo discovers his friend Colin is about to expire, he pulls out all the stops to make sure he has an epic 100th birthday celebration. Upon learning of Nadja’s invitation to London, he is skeptical to return to his homeland after he cast them aside when they looked down on his marriage to Nadja. However, now that Nadja is returning to England on the top of the vampiric totem pole, he decides to join her.
But at the last minute, he locks Guillermo in the coffin with her sending him to London to be her bodyguard in his stead leaving Nandor at the train station wondering why Guillermo has abandoned him. Why would he do such a thing? Well, Colin Robinson has been reborn and Laszlo, unbeknownst to everyone, has appointed himself the caretaker of the new infant energy vampire.
Nandor
Nandor was really put through the wringer in Season 3. After getting his familiar back, Nandor is discovered to have a big old crush on a girl at his gym, Meg (Lauren Collins). Nandor is not exactly smooth, so Laszlo and Colin take turns using a duplication cloak to hit on her as Nandor. Meg is having none of it because she is gay. From there Nandor moves on to an ex, Sheila (Aida Turturro) who repeatedly rejects Nandor’s proposals. Sheila is a werewolf and when Nadja accidentally kills her during a kickball game, Nandor turns her into a hybrid infuriating Nadja and Laszlo. She again, promptly, rejects his proposal. When the vampires take off for Atlantic City, Nandor has a full existential crisis leading him to carelessly forget to feed the Sire (Vaios Skretas). He falls into a deep depression and has no desire to celebrate his Accession. (His annual celebration of when he became Viceroy). He goes to a local wellness center to collect some bills on behalf of the Council and finds himself sucked into a wellness center cult run by Jan (Cree Summer). After recovering from his brainwashing, he makes the difficult decision to enter a “Super Slumber” where he will be asleep for hundreds of years. When he is awakened a month later, he decides to take a trip around the world. He finally promises Guillermo he will turn him into a vampire once they reach Nandor’s ancestral homeland.
