Nandor gets hitched in front of some old favorites in tonight’s What We Do In The Shadows
The show pulls from its bench of great recurring characters to fill out "The Wedding"
TV Reviews What We Do In The Shadows
The nice (or sociopathic, whatever) thing about being a vampire is that there are very few problems that don’t go away on their own eventually. For mere mortals, the idea of marrying someone we don’t actually love just because we want to have a big party where we get to wear an extremely fancy hat would be a life-defining choice—but for Nandor, undoing his marriage to his “beloved” Marwa seems like it’ll just be a matter of, well…running out the clock.
Said nuptials are, of course, the subject of “The Wedding,” tonight’s installment of What We Do In The Shadows, which is paradoxically both a very focused—there’s just barely a B-plot here, when Nadja and the Guide break off to recruit the Baron to overcome some body shame to come officiate the ceremony—and a very loose episode of TV. Despite Nandor’s repeated assertions that there’s a conspiracy in the works to derail his wedding, it turns out there’s barely any plot involved here at all.
Which isn’t exactly a critique, since “The Wedding” is mostly an excuse for What We Do In The Shadows to assemble a wide swathe of its great roster of recurring characters and shove them all into a room together. We’ve got the Baron (now restored to his former fuckability by one of Nandor’s last Djinn wishes), the Sire (now speaking English, thanks to some handy flash cards), Guillermo’s old vampire-hunter-turned-vampire buddy Derek, plus last-minute additions Sean and Charmaine. It’s great to see them all here, especially the latter two, who’ve been hypnotized to blithely accept the existence of the undead as a matter of course in a way that lets Anthony Atamaniuk (killing it for two episodes straight) and Marissa Jaret Winokur have a lot of fun.
The focus of “The Wedding,” though, is on Guillermo and Nandor, who’ve fallen back into a familiar dynamic as Nandor’s mounting “Bridezilla” stress rolls downhill to his familiar/bodyguard/best man. As usual, it’s a recipe for both comedy and a little sweetness—especially after Nandor casually brainwashes Marwa into “liking whatever he likes,” and she subsequently begins lavishing affection onto Guillermo, expressing all the stuff Nandor can’t bring himself to ever say to his best…man.
Meanwhile, we get little sketches of love and loneliness in the immortal world—most notably with Derek (Chris Sandiford), who’s having a miserable unlife: Alone, unhappy, and working a convenience store job because he refuses to rob the people he’s been eating, he’s a picture of un-killable despair. In contrast, there’s Nadja and Laszlo, ever the perfect couple, cheering each other on as they both slip off individually to the coat room to fuck a freshly invigorated the Baron and later jamming out together with the wedding band. It’s an easy message to read: Living forever doesn’t mean much if you’re not sharing it with someone who gets you. Hence Nandor’s whole marriage quest this season—and his quiet ambivalence about turning Marwa into a vampire and making her his Forever Bride.
As it turns out, there are a lot of people who object to this particular union, actually. In the less successful of the episode’s two big montage sequences, we see pretty much every single person in attendance at Nandor and Marwa’s wedding stand up and give a reason as to why they’re a terrible match. Most of these motives are typically vampirically selfish—the Guide, for instance, has fallen madly, passionately in love with both Nandor and Marwa, and thus can’t give her blessing—but Nandor himself clearly has his doubts, too, seeming to realize that he’s created, through all his djinn-tampering, an “ideal wife” who only barely likes him, and who he doesn’t really care about at all.
Which is grim stuff for an episode that also has a classic fashion montage with a gargoyle and half the torso of a charred but charming corpse. (That one works, by the way, despite being some undeniably Silly Shit; I’m a sucker for big energy being applied to the classics.) Presumably, though, all this feelings stuff is just groundwork: What We Do In The Shadows has been laying four seasons of track on Guillermo and Nandor becoming…something…at this point, and, what with all this talk of love in the air, it feels like that train might finally be pulling into the station—or slamming disastrously into it at high speed, more likely than not.
Stray observations
- Almost no Baby Colin Robinson tonight, outside of serving as ring bearer and teaming up with Doll Nadja to draw a dick on an exhausted Guillermo’s forehead.
- Nandor’s killer wedding idea: “Six black stallions pulling a wedding cake.”
- Harvey Guillen is great in this episode; Guillermo is always at his best when the patient smile starts to crack and shatter.
- Nandor, making a very reasonable request to have a dodo to feed to the wraiths working the wedding: “What’s the problem here? They’re very slow birds, very easy to catch, they’re everywhere!”
“Not anymore!”
“Since when?”
“1681!” - We don’t get a ton of Nadja tonight, but what’s there is gold: “Rich humans are like veal: Conceptually repulsive, but so buttery on my tongue.”
- And then: “Guillermo, did you kick five holes in the wall and then fuck a chicken?”
- Doug Jones really gets to have fun as the Baron, too, both before and after being restored to health. “Once they dined on the lavish feast that was my visage. But now, I serve them only a charred and flaking peasant’s crust.”
- “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“That he’s still fuckable even though he looks like a burnt log?” This season has repeatedly tapped Natasia Demetriou and Kristen Schaal as a double act, and it’s only getting better. - All the looks from the Hall & Oates-scored fashion montage: classic Dracula, classic Vincent Adultman, sailor suit (complete with lolly), Scarlett O’Hara dress, old-timey bike duo, Nadja/Guide prom photo, Nadja/Guide cowboys, and, of course, Nadja/Guide in full Cyndi Lauper ’80s mode. Super fun!
- How do you check if a chocolate fountain also works with blood?
- “Happy now?”
“I just got everything I wanted out of this, so…yeah! Big smile.” - This might be the last we see of Anoop Desai as the djinn (although Nandor does get three bonus wishes from him as a wedding gift). He’s been a low-key delightful addition to so many scenes this season.
- There’s got to be an episode where Laszlo gets the Go Flip Yourself brothers to come fix up the house, right?
- The Sire’s speech: “Time lays waste to all. And love turns to dust. Ruin is inevitable. And all else is prelude.”
Sean, quietly: “He’s got a point.” - This is a very Laszlo-light episode, but we do get him and Nadja burning it down with a rendition of “Who’ll Come First On The Wedding Night?” Sample lyric: “If his cock feels right and her pussy’s tight!”
- I could have used another five minutes of Nandor’s dumbest wishes.
38 Comments
Marwa: [is enchanted to like everything Nandor likes, immediately starts trying to kiss Guillermo at the reception]
Me: Oh.
I thougy that’s what I saw, too.
The previous episode, where Nandor uses his wishes for plastic surgery that starts subtle and gets more and more outlandish, was frigging hilarious…
The Sire delivered the greatest wedding speech ever
The Sire is adorable.
I thought it was an old poem and looked it up. That’s why I’m here!
I teared up a little when Marwa was lavishing affection on Guillermo. But I laughed my ass off when Laszlo saw the Baron and said he was stiff as a board. I’m very happy he got his coat room sexy time.
Aside from all the many familiar colorful characters, including more than a few familiars, in attendance as cited in the review, for what amounts to almost a thowaway sight gag, the revived dodo is literally fantastic, straight out of Tenniel. And of course Nandor would unknowingly select the most particularly peculiar bird that happens to be extinct for the Djinn to resurrect given how many dead spouses he had brought back to life before settling on Marwa. Whether he can ever “settle down” for eternity is a whole other question, (un)naturally . . . .
I wonder if dodo tastes good.
Not anymore.
Its usually a given that anything hunted to extinction is usually either delicious, or easy to grind into a powder that ‘cures’ male impotance
ACKSHOOALLEY it’s thought that dodos were pretty crap for eating and that the main factor in their extinction was the destruction of their ecosystem wrought by the introduction of pigs to Mauritius
– Nice to see The Jazzmen Three at the wedding. I guess the vampires thought they weren’t so bad after all.- The makeover scene was a nice piss-take of Pretty Woman, particularly the bit where they were admiring the Sire’s tie.- The Guide got a nice dig in at Nadja with her little rant about how the people who help aren’t appreciated- Given the Sire’s speech, those were some flash cards he learned English from- The chocolate fountain that is going to be used for something other than chocolate is a nice callback to the orgy episode, where its potential usefulness was a similar concern- Baby Colin Robinson and Doll Nadja wasn’t a pairing I thought about until I saw them together tonight, and now I want more
nice
That makeover montage!
I would rate that as a close second to the hypnosis montage from last week as “best sequence of this season”. Ironically I had just been grooving to “You make my dreams come true” in my Lowe’s yesterday morning LOL.
Brilliant song choice!
Fantastic fun.
I totally didn’t catch on that Marwa coming onto Gulliermo was part of the “likes everything Nandor likes” wish.And I loved the image of the Baron in his sailor suit, complete with oversized lollypop.
Nandor: I wish for the lid of my coffin to be closed. Djinn: Are you sure? I can just go fetch Guillermo. Nandor: With Guillermo, it will be a whole thing.
Last week was so funny that this one felt like a bit of a letdown.
I’m of an opposing mind here. Last week was something of a let down for me whereas, this week knocked it out of the park.
I felt the opposite. For all the praise the previous episode received, I thought it was just meh. This one, however, felt like non stop laughs.
Opposite for me too. Last week’s were by far the worst episode of the show for me, so this was a return to form.
Jeez, that song was amazing.
Da dodo di de doo-doo!
A much better episode than last weeks.
I’m sorry but I can’t help but say that WWDItS has jumped the shark for me. It’s no longer must see tv. Not nearly as funny, spontaneous and subtly batshit crazy as before. Now it seems so scripted, so planned – nothing of the mockumentary approach that was present in the first 3 seasons. I feel like someone has taken over and glamoured it into thinking it’s great. But this season stinks like a wet dog. And that’s sad because I loved, loved, loved it.
Buddy, you are due back in the alt.tv.simpsons forums in 1994.
(seriously though, I disagree but to each his own. I suggest walking away from the current show and enjoying the memory/rewatches of the seasons you enjoyed. There’s no reason to stick around punishing yourself if you’re not having a good time with the current season.)
Twenty-five years of explaining that “jumped the shark” doesn’t mean “not good anymore”.
What’s all this about a “plot” We’re nearly through the season; you already know what the plot is.This episode is one of the best of the recents, imo. It has a central focus around which the adjacent action moves perfectly. It’s so refreshing because it’s more like the old episodes that worked so well. Familiarity can be nice. Everything worked: the reunion (kudos, Doug and The Sire), Gizmo’s chat with a Zoomer vampire (lonely and refuses to steal), Gizmo’s increasing ascendency in the Lair, and the wedding, of course. Mawga’s mom spoke up, lol. Do people really give testimonials at weddings?The episode deserves an A. Shame on you. I really enjoyed your first paragraph, though.
I really liked Guillermo’s wedding fit
An all time episode. Really captured what it felt like this season had been missing so far. Lots of laugh out loud moments. Every time the Sire is on screen I just love his stupid face.The exchange between Nandor and Guillermo about the dodo will go down as one of my favorite bits. “They’re very slow birds! Very easy to catch. They’re everywhere!”“Not anymore!”“Since when?”“1681!!!”The fact that Guillermo had the date of their extinction in his back pocket was incredible.
On the last point, I suspect it was because that was probably not the first time they’d had some version of that exchange.
I really don’t want Nandor and Guillermo to get together. I’m tired of the “best friend/co-worker/whatever this is” fall in love trope on TV.
Is it really a trope when it’s a vampire and his familiar?
The episode after next IS entitled “Go Flip Yourself”
I am not liking the direction they are taking Nadja this season. Season 1, she was clear-headed and often took a more direct route (a favorite scene of mine is in Animal Control, when after various attempts by Colin to get the code, Nadja just waves her hand for a quick hypnosis and demands, “Code. 1234? You have got to be kidding me.” Now, she is always screaming and breaking glass and acting like a shrew half of the time. I hate it when shows do this. Big Bang Theory (yeah, I know a lot of people here don’t like it – meh) introduced an Amy that was every bit as stone-faced, literal, and quirky as Sheldon. Within one season, her character becomes needy and frustrated – instead of sticking to a bold option of Amy and Sheldon just being a weird emotionless couple. Now, Nadja is starting to drift into stereotype country. I will just have to chalk it up to displaced and unacknowledged grief about Colin.