What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 Episode 11 Finale Recap

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What ending did you get when Nadja hypnotized us en masse? I got a parody of the last episode of Newhart, A reference that was a little outdated when I was a kid, but not so outdated that no one talked about it anymore. (It would be the ’90s equivalent of, I don’t know, a nod to the end of Seinfeld in 2024 – something that also happens in “The Finale.”) And yes, I am Team Nandermo (Team Guillerdor?), i.e. me Was At this moment I’m content to be taken care of and see the two of them in bed together with their pajama sets like a real married couple. Thank you.

But in Vulture’s article, Roxana Hadadi references a Usual suspects Parody featuring Colin and the Guide in the same part of the episode. (Variety and Indiewire too.) And if you click around on Hulu, a new tab appears in the special features for additional hypnosis “endings” – in quotes because at this point in the episode there were still several endings pending in the series finale of What we do in the shadows. Together with that Usual suspects And Newhart Parodies mentioned above, there is also one Rosemary’s baby Riff that brings the whole gang together to celebrate demonic newcomers to the vampire family.

But beyond those three, there were plenty of other endings to choose from in the aptly named “Finale.” The episode slowed down the “documentary” early on, in the middle of several storylines – even mid-sentence, which is hilarious – and then spent the rest of the running time pondering and poking fun at the idea of ​​closure. There wasn’t much room for sentimentality, and writers Paul Simms, Sarah Naftalis and Sam Johnson – all of whom have been with the show for years – pulled the tear-soaked rug out from under the audience at every turn, including the ending .

This allowed for some bittersweet final character moments in the series’ typical light and cheeky way. I particularly liked that Colin punctuated a speech about the chosen family (barfing) by making an out-of-nowhere reference to the 1906 steamboat accident in which he died. But Nandor’s subsequent confession that he finally knows what he really wants in his eternal life, and that it is an underground crime-fighting hideout, spoke to the question of “will they or won’t they?” between him and Guillermo ( who, like so often, grimaces to the side) throughout the entire series. And that bear damn part. Oh my god, was that funny?

This refusal to get mushy sounds frustrating when described in text, but it was done with such tongue-in-cheek affection that it actually lifted everyone’s (or at least my) spirits. In my recap of season six of PI Undercover: New York, I compared the mood of the episode to a wrap party; This element was also present in The Finale, with shout-outs to Frank the Griff looking like Nandor (which he really does), and a very specific acting complaint from Kayvan Novak about always thinking his hair is on fire from the smell when the lights get too hot.

It was a smart move to have veteran writers write the finale when possible What we do in the shadows to play the hits in “The Finale”: Not just in terms of the return of Jackie Daytona (swoon), the witch fur hat (ew) and Nandor’s interview with a reporter about a hole in the ground in front of the residence (classic). ), but also in different styles of writing jokes. There were some very good classic productions and punchlines in this episode, shitty metaphors (no pun intended), silly visual gags, lots of bullying from Guillermo, and sharp meta-humor – all things that come with it Shadow has stood out at different stages of his run.

What I particularly liked about this show is its trust in the audience’s intelligence. “The Finale” has a joke that relies on our ability to recognize snippets of Shakespeare (as delivered by orator king Matt Berry, who doesn’t give a speech but plays us off with a final song) and a reference to it Give me protection And Gray gardens Filmmakers, the Maysles brothers. Also one of those art history Photoshop montages that I love.

To quote a coffee cup aphorism worthy of Colin Robinson: The basic message of “The Finale” seems to be “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Unlike Guillermo, who “is a preview of “the end of his own frail human life”, the vampires have no real sense of finality – a side effect of eternal life, I suppose. They’ve been around long enough to understand that everything always works out in the end (though in one of this week’s meta moments, Guillermo suggests we shouldn’t get our hopes up by calling another “documentary” “extremely unlikely.” designated). So why bother changing?

However, I would argue that some of them have changed: Nadja, in particular, has gone from a wild party girl to a self-proclaimed pioneer of compassion, which is remarkable considering she doesn’t even have Instagram to teach her all of these Therapy words. She also now uses Guillermo’s real name, which is huge. (Not Laszlo. He’ll never change.) The dynamic between the household members has also evolved: Laszlo and Colin have entered into a sort of queer co-parenting agreement with Cravensworth’s monster, an echo of the father-son relationship that was the case , as Laszlo devoted himself to raising baby Colin in season three.

I would call it a Platonic It was a queer co-parenting arrangement, but “The Finale” definitely reminded us of all the fucking and sucking that goes on in the dorm when the cameras aren’t around. This is also a throwback to the bawdy times of the first season, which can be seen briefly on the shabby screen in the vampires’ makeshift home theater at the end (as opposed to the parody ending or the end for the cameras) of the series. At the start What we do in the shadowsthe (predominantly British) members of the core cast were relatively unknown, at least in America. Things have changed for them – especially for Harvey Guillén, whose fame grew with his role on this show.

I will miss them and following their careers wherever they go. Personally, this is the first and only TV series I’ve recapped from start to finish – first for another site, then here at Vulture. I will miss sitting down with a notebook and writing down jokes and innuendos. I’m going to miss pausing the episode every ten seconds to try and watch them all. (I didn’t always succeed, but I tried.) There were a few minor references to this series in “The Finale” that started to repeat themselves, and I agree that it’s best not to leave them in for too long to drag it out so long that it becomes boring.

What we do in the shadows has spent the last six years keeping the goth darlings of the world fed, and has earned himself a nice, long period of super sleep in his coffin down in the basement. At its best – which includes this series finale – it represented the pinnacle of sitcom writing and performances, not to mention some killer costumes and set design. Which leaves me with one final question: Have you sold all of the residency’s props yet, or…? Because there are a few items that I would like to buy.

• Part of me wants to see the image of Cravensworth’s monster and the doll with the spirit of the late human Nadja in it getting to know each other in a biblical sense, and part of me doesn’t want to.

• This is still pay-per-view, so that probably wouldn’t work – although I’ve noticed an increase in the number of FPEs (fucks per episode) over the last few seasons. Which begs the question: Was the monster’s severed penis blurred out due to standards and practices, or just a little?

• Speaking of acronyms, I wouldn’t wear a MAGAFV hat, but only because I don’t want to be confused with a blood-sucking monster.

• A final shout out to the always excellent costume department for Batman ’66– And Sailor Moon–Esque getups for Cowboy Kid and Phantom Menace respectively.

• “It’s like putting a raincoat on a dog.”

• “You’re Irish, right?” “NO.”

• I noted Laszlo’s gentlemanly consistency above, but it’s also worth noting that Nandor hasn’t learned anything in six years either – perhaps because he’s the oldest of the vampires, or perhaps because he can barely read and write.

• “We laughed a lot, sucked a lot of blood, and fucked each other senseless.” Thanks for reading, guys. Happy trails.