Greetings and salutations, my favorite blood bag — er, I mean unicorns! I’m so glad you invited me across your threshold. Incredibly kind of you. Especially since I turned up after dark and am looking a bit more pale than usual (these longer nights are taking away my California tan). I’m sure you won’t come to regret welcoming me into your home.
Well then, now that we’re all comfortable, let’s talk about one of my favorite comedic series of the past few years, What We Do in the Shadows (2019-2024). I love a good mockumentary, and supernatural themes are something we haven’t seen really touched on in that genre, so that makes this show extra entertaining — and a consistently funny satire as we emerge from its fourth season running.
Now, I know a colleague of mine covered this show before, but I thought it was worth a revisit. Those who have seen and giggled at its development already know why. For those who haven’t seen it yet, please note that my review will contain SPOILERS. Also, there are brief moments of gore and violence (we are talking about bloodsucking vampires, after all) and a few other disclaimers. If this is your first time in this column (a hearty welcome to you! Hope you stick around (but no stakes, please)) you can learn all about the metric here or read our Media Entry on the full series here.
What We Do in the Shadows continues the satirical what-if quandary of its 2014 movie, about what would vampire roommates get up to if they had to pass a millennium together both out of necessity and companionship — think vampires in a dorm comedy. This time around the block, our favorite nocturnal gang is up to some new tricks and adventures. Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) decided to pursue a lifetime dream of opening a vampire club. Laszlo (Matt Berry) is very busy raising the baby that emerged from the cavity of dead energy vampire Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch). And Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak), well… that’s what we’re here to talk about today.
What I Liked:
The first three seasons of What We Do in the Shadows feature a decent number of bi characters and recurring guest stars (including Beanie Feldstein and Doug Jones’ Baron) and the fourth season continues this tradition, but adds a further element of surprise and delight: the discovery that Nandor is also bi.
In the second episode of season 4, Nandor casually mentions that in his past life as a human, he had boy wives as well as girl wives. It’s not presented as a joke, but as an extra tidbit of information about his past. And when he reanimates them all, they all get a second chance at finding love with him — though the men tend to wrestle with him as a form of courtship, while the women go on more typical dates.
But Nandor doesn’t see the men he marries as simply a source of sexual pleasure, as we discover through the story of “Freddie,” told in the season’s penultimate episode.
Nandor first remarries Marwa (Parisa Fahkri), one of his former brides, whom he brings back to life with the help of a djinn (Anoop Desai), but he soon grows bored of her. But when his familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) brings his new boyfriend, Freddie (Alastair “Al” Roberts), home, Nandor becomes so enamored with the British Freddie that he has the djinn turn Marwa into a clone of him and pursues Marwa-Freddie as a new love interest.
Is this a morally bankrupt thing to do? Absolutely. But the point is that Nandor is attracted to people of all genders. Part of Freddie’s appeal to Nando stems from his sadistic urge to snatch away someone Guillermo loves, like an envious sibling wresting a beloved toy from his brother’s grip. But Nandor isn’t a human anymore — he’s a vampire, and therefore can’t be judged by the same standards as a human character — especially in the context of a supernatural comedy.
What I Didn’t Like:
Nevertheless, I don’t like what Nandor does. It seems to play into some old tropes about bi people being jealous and murderous. But it doesn’t bug me too much since, in a comedy, everything is fair game. Also, Nandor gets both a little comeuppance and a chance to redeem himself when he ultimately sets Marwa-Freddie free. I can’t exactly give him much credit for this action: after all, he first reanimates him in order to take away his personality and enslave him. But I can’t entirely write him off, either.
The Rating:
What We Do in the Shadows is still a bloody good time — great viewing both during Spooktober or any time of year. It has fun with the joke #NotAllBisAreVampiresButAllVampiresAreBi and makes sure we’re in on it, too.
Oh my, you look like you’re positively under a spell. Have I hypnotized you with my extolling about this exquisite show? It seems I have. Yes, nod off a little bit more, that’s right… it just exposes your neck and its sweet veins all the better. Hope you don’t mind if I move over just next to you and… don’t worry, it’ll just be a nibble…
