Season 1, Episode 10
Ancestry
Nandor visits one of his living descendants, and a lover from Nadja's past re-emerges.
Tropes That Appear In This Episode:
- Accidental Murder:
- Nandor accidentally killed his only Staten Island relative Madeline from shock when she sees him outside of her window.
- Discussed in the case of Guillermo, who suffers an identity crisis when he discovers that he is a descendant of Van Helsing. When Nandor asks him to douse him with water when he catches on fire in the church, he ends up dousing him with holy water. Nandor asks "are you trying to kill me", which visibly shakes Guillermo.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: One would think that Nadja would be upset when she finds out that the man she married killed her reincarnated One True Love over and over again. If anything, she thinks it's sweet.
- Always Someone Better: Thanks to having had 37 wives whom he saw it as his duty to impregnate when he was alive (and that almost 1,000 years have passed since then), Nandor has a whopping 200,000 living direct descendants. Colin Robinson, of course, has to immediately undercut this by pointing out Genghis Khan has millions of direct descendants— which Nandor reacts to by angrily muttering "Genghis Khan..." as though he's used to the Khan being his Unknown Rival.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Guillermo tries to tell himself that having ancestors with the name Van Helsing is a coincidence and that Van Helsing the vampire slayer wasn't real anyway... which doesn't last long when he remembers that he didn't think vampires were real for most of his life.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Throughout the series, Nadja and Laszlo seem mildly sick of each other, as you would expect from an old married couple. Here, though, it is revealed that Laszlo has been killing her One True Love Gregor in every one of his lives because he always makes her upset in one form or another. Nadja finds Laszlo's devotion sweet, and even appreciates his new topiary depiction of her.
- Beware the Silly Ones: While normally an ineffectual goofball, Laszlo reveals that he's been ruthlessly killing the many reincarnations of Gregor, usually via decapitation. And he's been doing this simply on the basis that Gregor's presence inevitably upsets Nadja.
- Cassandra Did It: Colin Robinson and Guillermo tell Nandor that under no circumstances should he tap on Madeline's window; he ignores them, and the shock of seeing Nandor outside of her window sends her to the hospital. He then blames Colin Robinson and Guillermo for "goading" him.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with a swarm of crows circling the house, suggesting that the Vampire Tribunal is contacting them again... presumably over them dodging their execution or over Guillermo being a Van Helsing.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Nandor confesses that he never really got to know any of his children because back in his day, men were much less involved in child rearing and left it to their wives "and in some cases, a couple of friendly wolves".
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When he's viewing his ancestry results, you can see that Guillermo's surname is de la Cruz - a whole season before it's actually revealed.
- Freudian Excuse: Nadja confesses that Gregor and his recurring deaths are why she tries not to get too attached to humans.
- Good Hurts Evil: When Nandor, Guillermo, and Colin Robinson go to meet Madeline, Colin Robinson is in pain from being supportive instead of an irritant like usual, saying that he is "literally eating [him]self."
- Holy Burns Evil: All of the nightwalkers catch fire during Madeline's funeral at the church. Nandor sustains further burns when Guillermo, trying to put out the flames, splashes holy water on him.
- Hope Spot: After Madeline's funeral, there's a heartwarming moment where Nandor thanks Guillermo for supporting him throughout the episode... and then he decides to chew Guillermo out for accidentally throwing holy water on him earlier.
- Interspecies Romance: Gregor was once reincarnated as a mouse. Laszlo saw him as a threat to Nadja's emotional wellbeing regardless.
- Irony: Guillermo, who desperately wants to be a vampire and works as a familiar, is descended from the Van Helsing family.
- Kick the Dog: Nandor tells Guillermo that he is adding another year as his familiar for accidentally throwing holy water onto him.
- Not Me This Time: When Gregor gets decapitated, Laszlo says that this time it wasn't he who did it.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Vampires cannot enter holy ground like churches, lest they bleed from the eyes and slowly burn until they burst into flames. Inversely, not only can energy vampires enter a church, but Colin Robinson claims that they are fertile feeding grounds for energy vampires.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Subverted. Nandor means nothing by it when he refers to Guillermo as being descended from "piñata farmers." Apparently, he thinks that piñatas are bred, and there's no shame in such a vital task.
- The Reveal: It turns out that Gregor's many, many deaths by decapitation were not some fluke of fate. Laszlo confesses that he was the one who kills him every time that Gregor finds his way back to Nadja.
- Tranquil Fury: After Nandor yells at him and adds another year of service as his familiar for accidentally throwing holy water on him, Guillermo has a "serious thought" and throws three wooden stakes at the wall, managing to spear portraits of Nandor, Nadja, and Laszlo where their hearts would be.
- What Is This Feeling?: Nandor asks Guillermo "this feeling [he is] feeling" after hospitalizing Madeline, and he tells him that he is feeling grief.Nandor: "Grief?" I don't care for it.
