The vampires on What We Do In The Shadows have many talents. In “Collaboration,” Laszlo (Matt Berry) and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) revive their musical careers. And Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) questions Nandor’s (Kayvan Novak) promise when an old familiar returns.
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Did you know Laszlo wrote the song “Come On Eileen?” Well, not that actual song. The song he wrote, in 1852, was called “Chum on Irene,” but the tune is the same. After hearing it one night on the streets, Laszlo is upset that someone stole his song. Just like they stole “I’m a Jolly Good Fellow.”
While he’s ranting about being robbed, an older gentleman knocks at the door looking for Nandor. The man’s name is Benji Everett (Jack O’Connell) and he is Nandor’s former familiar. He’s there to become a vampire. Part of Shadows overlaying storyline is that Nandor promised to turn Guillermo into a vampire, but he hasn’t yet.
Nandor remembers Benji as his annoying familiar from the 70s. He was always talking about being a vampire, so Nandor hypnotized him to forget the vampire. He dropped him off at a rest stop in Delaware. Benji isn’t mad, in fact he says he had a good life. He started to remember Nandor after his wife got him the app Luminosity. He thinks Nandor was testing him and now he’s ready for his reward.
COLLABORATION
Laszlo and Nadja go through all of the stolen songs. Laszlo is very talented, he can play any instrument. And it turns out that Nadja is a great lyricist. They start playing around and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) hears them. He suggests they play for a live audience and offers to set up some gigs. In reality, he wants to feed on the anger and boredom of folk music.
Benji wanders around the house reminiscing about the ten years he spent with Nandor. He even slept in the same closet where Guillermo sleeps. Benji asks to tag along to the monthly Familiar mixer later that night. There are several people at the mixer, including a lot of old timers who recognize Benji. Guillermo says the monthly mixer started as a way for familiars to network and exchange work techniques, but became a lot of complaining and hook ups.
One of the familiars, Celeste (Greta Lee) arrives as a new vampire. She’s happy to see Guillermo but calls him Elmo. He used to help her get rid of bodies when she had too many. Her master is a 150 year old vampire named Houston (Lilly Bartlam). Houston was twelve when she was turned. Now Celeste is a vampire and Guillermo couldn’t be happier for her…he says as he squeezes his drink and spills it.
Celeste asks Guillermo if he’s still with Nandor. He confirms and says he’s been there for eleven years. That is a long time. Celeste mentions that she’s looking for familiars, but she won’t poach on the current familiars. If any of them want to be with her, they have to be free and clear of their current masters. And she promises to turn her familiars into vampires within, like, eight months.
A PROMISE IS A PROMISE
Benji starts to annoy Nandor, so when Guillermo says he needs to talk, Nandor sends Benji away. Nandor tries to talk about ditching Benji, but Guillermo actually needs to talk to his master about a personal matter. Awkward!
Guillermo asks if Nandor plans on turning him into a vampire. Nandor tries to avoid the topic and says they will talk about it later. Guillermo says he’s got a better offer and Nandor tells him to take it. Guillermo lingers to make sure that’s what his master wants and Nandor insists. They both agree that Guillermo will leave and he cries as he leaves the room.
Nandor sits in the study listing all the good things he does for Guillermo.We see scenes from previous Shadows episodes of the two flying together. Guillermo packs his things, complaining that he feels disrespected and unappreciated. Nandor finishes by saying Guillermo came from Panera Bread. And to Panera Bread he shall return!
Guillermo goes to Celeste’s home. She has several familiars already. She goes over a few rules. They have to listen to her and can’t call her Master. With that, they move the party outside while Guillermo goes on a food run. But he looks happy.
Nandor puts Benji to work. Benji is really old though and can barely finish shining Nandor’s shoes. They have a pointless conversation about shoes and then Benji pulls out photos of his grandson on his phone.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE
Nadja and Laszlo begin working on songs, but they also start getting sick of each other. Laszlo criticizes Nadja’s lyrics and Nadja just thinks he’s stupid. This is why they stopped collaborating. The longer they work together the more they yell at each other. Colin Robinson emerges from the shadows and suggests they use new material when they perform. He says it makes the crowd go wild. He just likes to feed on their argument.
Nandor tells the Shadows film crew that he may have been too relentless with Guillmero. Benji only wants to talk about golf and he’s not as strong or as quick as Guillermo. Nandor says he’s like a frail baby that smells like mashed potatoes. So Nandor decides to pay Guillermo a visit, thinking he’s dying to come home to him.
Guillermo has a huge bedroom. Nandor offers to give him the big blue room at the house. Guillermo says he doesn’t need more room. He likes that Celeste comes in just to talk. Nandor says he likes to talk, but can’t think of a subject. So Guillmero leaves to see what everyone else is doing. They are interpretive dancing and Guillermo joins them. So Nandor tells Celeste to be kind to Guillermo and leaves.
KOKOMO
Colin Robinson takes Nadja and Laszlo to an open mic night. They introduce themselves as Laszlo and Nadja, the human music group. They start their set and the audience just stares at them, while Colin feeds on it. Eventually someone boos the duo.
Despite the booing, Laszlo and Nadja keep playing. Someone gets on stage to stop them and Laszlo pushes him off the stage, inciting more anger in the audience. Laszlo and Nadja continued their set anyway, singing the Seafaring Song from 1792. It sounds just like “Kokomo” by the Beach Boys. The crowd starts singing with the duo. They killed. Literally, they killed some of the audience later that night.
At Celeste’s, she hates her furniture and tells the familiars to change it. One of the familiars asks when Celeste will make them vampires. She told them within the week, but it’s been a week already. She says she’s waiting on the right vibe and suggests they have an orgy first.
To calm everyone down, Celeste makes them stand in a circle to let go of the negative energy before they start. Houston returns and is upset that Celeste has people in her house. Houston never turned Celeste. She pulls out fake teeth and says she just wanted to know what it felt like. Houston and her friends start killing the familiars. Guillermo barely escapes with Celeste’s cat.
BACK TO THE SHADOWS
As Guillermo and the cat run away, Nandor catches up to him. But he doesn’t know about what just happened at Celeste’s house. He tells Guillermo that he’s been very unhappy since the human left and asks what it would take for him to come home. Guillermo says he wants to be respected more and appreciated. And he wants a day off each week and better snacks. Nandor thinks the day off is outrageous and ice is a great snack, but Guillermo disagrees. He asks the vampire if he’s been a good familiar. Nandor admits Guillermo is a great familiar.
Oh, and one more thing. Guillermo wants to become a vampire, like Nandor promised eleven years ago. Nandor questions if he really promised that and Guillermo insists that he did. Guillermo says Celeste will turn him, so Nandor agrees that he will, one day, turn Guillermo into a vampire. He gifts Guillermo a new pillow and Guillermo is so happy. The two fly off together, but Guillermo drops the pillow.
Later, Guillermo and Nandor drop off Benji at a random convenience store. Nandor says he doesn’t know where they are, but it’s Benji’s new home. He commands Guillermo to drive away. After they leave, Benji screams in delight and turns into a bat.
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News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
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