After a great season, What We Do in the Shadows finishes on a disappointing note.
The show had progressed so well this season with the addition of Nadja’s nightclub, Guillermo coming out as gay, and Laszlo parenting baby Colin Robertson. So I was really disappointed to see them lose the nightclub and have adult Colin Robertson return in the season finale.
Laszlo spends the finale attempting to communicate with sulky teenager Colin. Despite not being excited about parenting a child in the beginning of the season, he’s genuinely enjoyed it and it’s been a great character arc for him. Guillermo, as the “other parental figure in his life” is also disappointed that Colin has grown up so fast and he’s missed out on teaching him kid things like how to hit a ball. I’ll miss the parental comedy baby Colin Robertson added to the household.
Nadja laments the downturn of her nightclub since she lost her best musical act, baby Colin. I really liked the addition of the club this season, it gave us a location outside the main house and gave Nadja an outlet for her creativity. I hope they decide to return to it next season. Nadja’s facial expressions when teenage Colin gave The Guide a mix CD (it’s like a playlist, kids) were hilarious. The nightclub has also provided some great guest appearances this season (Sofia Coppola in episode 9 was a highlight) and I had to laugh at Nadja sending the wraiths off to Universal Orlando.
Nandor seems to take a backseat in the finale, despite the build-up between him and Guillermo this season. He attempts to help Laszlo communicate with teenage Colin but doesn’t contribute much else to this episode. With Marwa gone, Nandor is adamant he is happy alone, reading his books in peace. Guillermo feels a bit lost with nothing to do. So where do we go from here?
Guillermo realizes teenage Colin is once again an energy vampire – but this time around, he feeds on angry energy. Laszlo breaks the news to Colin about his energy vampire status, which is probably the last we get to see of the father/son dynamic. Colin uses a hammer to break through the walls in his room to reveal a hidden room with adult Colin’s wardrobe, records and journals of his former life – and after reading though them, his mind erases all memories of being baby/teen Colin. He’s normal, boring Colin Robertson once again. Sigh.
Nadja gives up and attempts to burn the nightclub down for the insurance money – but is foiled by her own blood sprinklers. And the fact that she did not have insurance in the first place. Unfortunately the only room that burned was Nadja’s office, which had no blood sprinklers in – but it did have her cash reserve, which is now gone. If she was going to burn the place down, why didn’t she remove the cash first? It makes no sense to me.
The vampires are lamenting the nightclubs uninsured status when original Colin shows up, dressed in his normal clothing and glasses. The bright spot is Colin knows the bank account details for the vamps, and informs them they have enough money in the accounts to fix up the house like they originally wanted. Lazslo is heartbroken that Colin remembers nothing of their father/son dynamic. As Guillermo says, nothing ever changes in this house. Fed up, he takes a bag of cash to Derek to have Derek make him into a vampire once and for all.
It feels like we’re back to the start of season 4, and all the progress the characters made this season was backtracked in the finale. Disappointing, but I hope it’ll be redeemed again in season 5.
