WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Series Finale Recap: (S06E11) The Finale

Melody McCune

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The vampires sit in a brightly lit sitting room while watching something on a projector on What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 Episode 11, "The Finale."

What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 Episode 11, “The Finale,” closes the door on this delightfully macabre, darkly hilarious universe. While I’m still not ready to say goodbye, this outing is a cornucopia of Easter eggs as a love letter to fans. At the end of the day, it’s a great reminder that change is hard, and all good things typically come to an end. Guess what? That’s okay. It’s also okay not to be okay. It zeroes in on Guillermo’s relationship with change and his direction forward because, let’s face it, vampires live forever. Time is irrelevant to them. 

Also, there are not one but three alternate potential “endings” for the documentary, courtesy of Nadja’s top-tier hypnosis. 

RELATED: Read our recap of the previous What We Do in the Shadows episode, “The Promotion”

What We Do in the Shadows, “The Finale” 

We open with Cravensworth’s Monster (Andy Assaf) chasing Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) and Nadja Doll (also Demetriou) through the house. Why? Because he’s h-o-r-n-y. Laszlo (Matt Berry) and Colin Robinson explain this to the camera crew. CM’s increased libido came on suddenly, so Laz had to think quickly. He’s now assembling a bride for his monster with dead human parts. Cravensworth’s Monster starts furiously playing with his little monster during the segment. 

Next, Nandor (Kayvan Novak) excitedly informs the camera about his new venture with Guillermo (Harvey Guillén). He wants them to be a vigilante crime-fighting duo who rids the streets of New York of its scum. Guillermo corrects him, insisting they haven’t hammered out the details yet. 

Nandor wears a black and white dress ensemble with a bolo tie and a black eye mask while Guillermo wears a cowboy ensemble with a yellow satin cape and yellow tights on What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 Episode 11, "The Finale."
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Season 6 Episode 11, “The Finale.” Photo credit: Russ Martin/FX.

Kid Cowboy and The Phantom Menace 

Then, we see the superhero costumes Nandor made for them. Gizmo’s Kid Cowboy and Nandor’s The Phantom Menace. Guillermo tells his former master that The Phantom Menace is already taken as a moniker. After this, Nandor explains he has plans for a secret underground lair that is only accessible via his coffin. He’ll also have a supercomputer in said lair. He’s basically Batman. Guillermo looks over Nandor’s map of his prospective lair. Nandor’s inability to spell will always crack me up. It’s a fun running gag. 

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Elsewhere, Laszlo and Colin Robinson reveal that Cravensworth’s Monster has a type: The Guide (Kristen Schaal). However, Nandor (presumably) still has feelings for her. At one point, CM removes his penis and gives it to The Guide as a token of his love. How sweet. So, Laszlo hopes to remove The Guide’s head and breasts to put on the monster’s bride-to-be. 

Suddenly, one crewmember informs Laz and Colin Robinson that the documentary crew has all the footage they need. The same news is also conveyed to Nadja and Nandor, who are together. All the vampires remove their mics and thank the crew. Guillermo notices said crew packing up their equipment. He barges into the fancy room to confront the gang about it. What do you mean filming is over? 

Guillermo and Nandor stand in the fancy room in front of Colin Robinson, The Guide, Laszlo and Nadja, who sit in various chairs and couches, on What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 Episode 11, "The Finale."
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Season 6 Episode 11, “The Finale.” Photo credit: Russ Martin/FX.

It’s All Over (But Do a Jig Anyway)

Guillermo struggles to move past this. After all, filming took up six years of his life. However, the vampires claim they’ll keep doing what they’ve always done. Nandor adds that the crew might stick around to film some B-roll footage until sunrise. Maybe they can film him reading a book.

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Nadja, an expert in human psychology from her time on Wall Street, encourages Guillermo to share how he feels, perhaps through song and dance. Laszlo and the others cheer him on. (Do a jig. Dance, boy!) Laszlo also tries to decapitate The Guide while she sits on the couch, as one does. 

After Guillermo storms out (without doing a jig), Nadja pulls Nandor aside. He must reassure Guillermo that all will be well. Sure, change is hard, but all good things must come to an end. She compares him to a dog wearing a raincoat, believing he’s human.

Don’t Cry Because It’s Over

However, he’s just a sh*t little dog. Guillermo felt a sense of self-importance and like he was on equal footing with the vampires during the documentary shoot. “I will fix,” Nandor grumbles, but not before asking a crewmember if his holding a candle is anything. Nadja offers her therapeutic services (gratis) to the crew. 

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Later, Colin Robinson recites motivational quotes he’s read on mugs and probably seen on framed photos in the many offices he’s worked in. Nandor gives CR the boot to help Guillermo navigate this new transition. Nandor uses examples of change in his own life. At one point, he loved red, but now his favorite color is orange. Colin Robinson intermittently interjects with more motivational sayings and a quote from St. Elmo’s Fire

Next, Nandor calls a house meeting. First order of business: general hygiene in the cell. Please finish a whole victim before you move on to the — oh, we’ve done this already. Then, Nandor mentions Guillermo’s sadness about the documentary’s conclusion. Guillermo insists he’s fine, though.

Nandor, The Guide, Colin Robinson, Guillermo, Cravensworth's Monster, Nadja and Laslzo gather around in a brightly lit sitting room to watch something on a projector in an ancient mansion.
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Season 6 Episode 11, “The Finale.” Photo credit: Russ Martin/FX.

The (Affair) Triangle of Sadness 

The gang tries to pinpoint the real issue at the heart of his melancholy. Could it be that he’ll no longer have food to steal for himself? What about his affairs with Frank the Grip, Greg the A-Camera Operator and Nate the Boom Operator? Laszlo offers his two cents by occasionally quoting Shakespeare and attributing it to his genius. 

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Guillermo learns that this isn’t even the first documentary our crew has participated in. They watch footage on the projector from 1958 of an unaired vampire documentary from the Maysles brothers. In it, Nandor conducts a house meeting (with Jerry present), spewing the same schpiel as before. Laszlo tries a new approach to his monster creation, which fails spectacularly. Colin Robinson reads a news article in The Staten Island Chronicle about a water main break in the area. Nandor Lee, a dentist, proclaimed it was the worst flood he’d seen since the Great Flood of 1892. 

Naturally, Nadja panics, realizing Nandor has revealed vampires to the world. She grabs their go-bags while Colin Robinson insists they stand their ground (before promptly shooting an arrow into his foot). Laszlo reenters the room dressed as Jackie Daytona from Tuscon, Arizonia, fooling his good lady wife with his disguise. He also grabs his infamous witch’s skin hat, causing an explosion as the footage concludes. 

Nadja sits in a chair in front of Laszlo, who's at the piano, and Cravensworth's Monster, who's behind her, in a brightly lit sitting room in an ancient mansion.
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Season 6 Episode 11, “The Finale.” Photo credit: Russ Martin/FX.

Time Is a Flat Circle

Guillermo realizes that time is a flat circle. All this has happened before, and it will happen again. Guillermo claims that their documentary needs a good ending. None of their previous documentaries made it to air because they lacked a solid conclusion. The Guide suggests they turn Gizmo into a vampire, forgetting they did that last year. 

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Guillermo pivots, asking the group what they’ve learned. Laszlo plays a brief tune about sucking and f*cking because, let’s face it, that’s precisely why he became a vampire. The Guide delivers a speech about immigration and MAGAFV (Make America Great Again For Vampires). Guillermo motions to the crew to cut that bit. Well, that took a turn. 

Then, Nadja proposes she hypnotize everyone watching the documentary to imagine their desired ending. If anyone can do that, she can. We see her wave her fingers and chant to the camera. 

A Trippy Ending 

After this, a segment featuring The Guide and Seanaaay (Anthony Atamanuik) as detectives in the NYPD commences. It’s a nod to The Usual Suspects. The Guide questions Colin Robinson, who claims the former has no idea who she’s dealing with. One does not simply catch Nandor the Relentless (De Laurentiis). Colin Robinson leaves, declaring he’s better off on his own. He grabs his belongings from an officer played by Assaf (but without the dead human body parts). 

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Then, The Guide replays Colin Robinson’s words in her head as she examines the evidence on a board behind Sean. It’s chock full of Easter eggs from the show. Don’t worry; I have a separate piece breaking down said Easter eggs in the works. She “looks at it from a distance.” We see a brochure for a kickball tournament, a stick of “Jackson Daytona,” a Nadja nightclub mug and a business card for Joanna Roscoe.

We also hear dialogue from the show’s run, ranging from “Let’s have a clap for gay” during the pride parade episode to “Now, I’m a wizard” from the vamps taking the Baron out in Season 1. It’s a lot. It all culminates in Sean watching as a photo of Colin Robinson prints out, revealing he’s the Keyser Söze of it all. 

Outside, Colin Robinson disposes of the locket with Evie Russell’s photo, glasses, diary and newspaper. Then, Laszlo picks him up in his jalopy. The Guide barrels outside the precinct to catch Colin Robinson, but he’s gone. 

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The Best Ending 

Another hypnosis-fueled documentary ending sees Nandor in bed beside Guillermo in a scene that pays homage to Newhart, even down to the title card at the end. Nandor, in red pajamas, wakes Guillermo, who’s in blue PJs. Nandor describes his dream about living with a group of vampires on Staten Island.

However, he notes that Guillermo was his “butler.” Guillermo insists he’s not allowed to have Japanese food before bed anymore. He gives Nandor a kiss and rolls over. Nandor mutters that, as vampires, they were having constant sex. An irritated Guillermo urges his husband to go back to sleep. My Nandermo heart

Nadja’s Baby 

The final alternate “ending” is entirely inspired by Rosemary’s Baby. We see Nadja enter a room full of familiar faces, including Laszlo, Nandor, Guillermo, The Guide, Colin Robinson, Nadja Doll, Sean, Charmaine (Marissa Jaret Winokur), The Baron (Doug Jones), Derek (Chris Sandiford) and Marwa (Parisa Fakhri).

Nadja moseys on over to a crib in the center of the room, a knife in one hand. She starts crying, claiming her baby doesn’t look like her baby. Nandor declares that said infant has Laszlo’s eyes. Laszlo reassures his lady wife that he is their child. Laz shoos away The Guide, who’s rocking the baby too hard. Nadja picks him up, and it’s a demon. Laszlo holds tiny Colin Robinson as the two compare their children. The unsettling Rosemary’s Baby theme music plays us out. 

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Found Family 

After the hypnosis segment, Nadja reassures Guillermo that it worked. Well, whoever watched it now has a significantly lower IQ due to Brain Scramblies, but what can ya do? Back in the fancy room, Colin Robinson delivers a speech about found family, which sounds lovely until he reveals his chosen family died in a steamboat accident in 1906. Now, he’s gotta put up with these stinky turds. 

Nandor reveals he learned he desperately needs a secret underground lair accessible via his coffin with a supercomputer. Guillermo tells the camera about his initial desire to be a vampire and how it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. In the background, Cravensworth’s Monster f*cks the stuffed bear before giving The Guide his penis again. And they say romance is dead. 

Colin Robinson, The Guide, Cravensworth's Monster and Nandor gather around the piano as Laszlo plays and Nadja sits on the bench beside him. They're all singing a song on What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 Episode 11, "The Finale."
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Season 6 Episode 11, “The Finale.” Photo credit: Russ Martin/FX.

Laszlo decides to play another song on the piano — “We’ll Meet Again.” We’ve heard it in the credits before. Nadja, Nandor, The Guide, Colin Robinson and Cravensworth’s Monster join him. Guillermo leaves the room in tears. 

RELATED: Read our What We Do in the Shadows recaps

Sunrise, Sunset

Before sunrise, Guillermo helps Nandor get ready for bed. I love this full-circle moment. Nandor admits that he’s also sad about the documentary ending but doesn’t want to disclose this with the other vampires. After Nandor climbs into his coffin, Guillermo reveals he won’t be there when Nandor wakes up. It’s time he goes his own way. They bid farewell, and I’m not okay. Nandor urges Guillermo to call him by his name, not “Master.” “We’ll Meet Again” by Guy Lombardo plays. I’m still not okay. 

Guillermo blows out the candles and turns off the lights before the crew enters to wrap things up. Guillermo returns, asking them to leave for a spell. Then, he opens the lid to Nandor’s coffin to reassure the latter that he’s not going anywhere. He was merely crafting a definitive ending for the documentary. While Guillermo doesn’t want to be a vigilante, that doesn’t mean they can’t be friends.

Guillermo and Nandor stand in the fancy room while Nandor holds a notebook on What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 Episode 11, "The Finale."
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Season 6 Episode 11, “The Finale.” Photo credit: Russ Martin/FX.

Nandor finally accepts that they’re friends. (Although, for me, it’s Nandermo forever — let me live in denial.) He allows Guillermo to sit in his coffin with him. Suddenly, Nandor activates a lever, sending the coffin flying through a hole in the floor. We see the coffin rapidly descend until it disappears from view. Guillermo’s gonna be a superhero whether he likes it or not. 

The mid-credit scene finds the gang watching footage from the pilot episode. Nandor realizes he really does scold his housemates a lot about cell hygiene. Everyone decides they’ve seen enough before leaving the room. 

What We Do in the Shadows is now streaming on Hulu.

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Melody McCune
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