After six seasons, What We Do in the Shadows ended on Monday. By the sound of things, the mockumentary crew following the Staten Island vampires around got enough footage for their movie. The news left the gang to process their time together in front of the camera and decide what would come next.
In 2014, the narrative seed was planted with Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s movie of the same name. Who knew a show about a dysfunctional group of vamp roommates could last so long? Considering the heaps of comedy the cast and crew delivered throughout the series’ run, there was plenty of worry that the FX comedy wouldn’t stick the landing with this final episode.
The episode, aptly titled The Finale, tied up loose ends, followed each character’s story arc to fruition and gave plenty to mull over in the ways in which it ended. Instead of delivering one solid conclusion, What We Do in the Shadows went the way of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and gave the audience a multitude of endings to choose from.
That may sound negative, but I assure you it was not. Whether you wanted a happy ending, a final sad beat or something ridiculous, the finale delivered.
Before I continue, please be warned there are spoilers ahead. Please tread lightly if you have not watched the What We Do in the Shadows series finale.
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Kayvon Novak, Kristen Schaal, Mark Proksch, Harvey Guillén, Andy Assaf, Natasia Demetriou and Matt Berry in the What We Do in the Shadows series finale.
Guillermo’s got a thing with goodbyes
At the beginning of the episode, everything seemed to be going as usual, with Colin, Lazlo, Nandor, and Nadja filming their camera segments. That is until their shoots were interrupted by the announcement that the production crew that has lived with them for the past six years is finally wrapping up.
Everyone took the news without batting an eye — except Guillermo. His reaction ranged from panic to nostalgic to flat-out sad. His episodic journey has been one of the more tumultuous of everyone in the house. At the onset of the production, he wanted to become a vampire. Yet, once he was turned in season 5, he realized it wasn’t for him. Let’s not forget he is also a Van Helsing and has otherworldly fighting abilities when it comes to battling the undead.
Guillermo’s steady pursuit of value and acceptance in the house and the outside world was a common thread through all of the craziness. Now that the documentary was ending, was it all for naught? What will his purpose be moving forward? All signs point to him venturing away from this proverbial nest to start a new life with new friends somewhere else, and the notion is absolutely upsetting.
What makes matters worse is the revelation that this isn’t the first documentary crew to shoot footage of vampires. Guillermo is shown unreleased footage from 1958 of Nandor, Lazlo, Nadja, Colin and Jerry (RIP) having a house meeting. If you expected there to be any progress with these characters, you’d be incredibly disappointed.
The movie never saw the light of day because, as Colin explained, they were “just a bunch of boring people doing the same old sh** day after day. Nothing ever changes, no one grows, it’s pointless.”
Nadja’s hallucination ending
Most of the episode found the group mulling over the best way to end the show. Guillermo’s need for closure inspired Nadja to cut some vampiric corners and hallucinate the audience. Instead of having them struggle to come up with the best final beat, why not make us dream it to fruition?
Cut to: A bizarre yet wonderful, 3-minute-long send-up to the 1995 crime thriller The Usual Suspects. Now look, I get the issue here. Many of the audience may not be old enough to have even seen the movie, let alone understand the references in this portion of the episode. But that’s fine. You don’t necessarily need to be familiar with the movie to get what’s happening here, although it does help drive the comedic bit home if you are.
Playing on the Kaiser Soze reveal twist, the finale veers into fan service territory as it pans around the police investigation board. There are clips of Lazlo as Jackie Daytona, the regular human bartender from the show’s second season, Nandor announcing his disdain for Joanna Roscoe in season 5’s episode Local News, a quick shout-out to season 2’s vampire-hunting club known as the Mosquito Collectors of the Tri-State Area and, of course, a nod to Nadja’s vampire nightclub from season 4.
Nandor and Guillermo team up as crime-fighting duo the Phantom Menace and the Cowboy Kid in the What We Do in the Shadows series finale.
Nandor and Guillermo, a truly dynamic duo
The penultimate episode found the vamps on the receiving end of an onslaught of violent attacks from opposing night creatures. Thanks to Guillermo’s fight skills, Nandor was inspired and pitched an idea to Guillermo that signified a huge change in their relationship dynamic: Become a duo of crime-fighting vigilantes, Cowboy Kid and the Phantom Menace.
Selling Guillermo on the idea was not easy, and why should it be? Nandor steadily disappointed his human familiar throughout the show’s six-season run. Guillermo shot down the notion numerous times and decided it would be best to move on to greener pastures, saying a final heartfelt goodbye to Nandor before the credits rolled.
But just a few seconds in, the credits stopped, and Guillermo returned to Nandor’s coffin room, shooing away the crew members. It turns out he was performing for the cameras to give his own version of a worthy ending to the show. In a rare moment of friend bonding, Nandor invited Guillermo to sit in his coffin with him.
With the emotional moments behind them, Nandor flipped a lever in his coffin, opening a hatch leading to their secret superhero lair a thousand feet below. With a sudden whoosh, the duo zoomed underground and out of sight.
Does this mean Nandor and Guillermo will end up suiting up to battle evil-doers on the streets of Staten Island? That sounds like a worthy spin-off idea if I’ve ever heard one.
