Heartwarming / What We Do in the Shadows (2019)

All spoilers on this page are left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

General

• Across all seasons, Laszlo eagerly uses every available opportunity to extol his wife’s virtues with great sincerity.
• Any of Laszlo's pet names for Nadja, including "my darling", "my dear lady wife", and "sweet baby".

Season One

• Nadja turning Jenna and her motivation for it: she doesn't want Jenna to suffer like she did.
  • She then goes on to take full responsibility for teaching Jenna about vampiric life, knowing what it’s like to have no one to turn to during such a turbulent time. She acts as a doting (if somewhat patronising) mother and Laszlo, upon seeing his wife’s affection for the child, is quickly convinced to help.
• Guillermo's What the Hell, Hero? moment in Episode 4 — and (almost) everything that follows.
  • It's minor, but when Simon takes Laszlo's hat, Nadja comforts Laszlo, in spite of her spending a good part of the episode telling him to get rid of it.
  • A retroactive one—at the end of the episode, Nandor tells Guillermo he’s his friend, but finds it embarrassing and hypnotizes Guillermo to forget. Come season 3, it’s revealed Guillermo has been immune to vampire hypnosis for years and thus likely remembers it.
• Nadja forsaking passionate sex with Gregor in order to rescue Laszlo in Episode 5.
  • Nandor turning himself into a dog to rescue Laszlo.
  • Nadja calling Guillermo by name—and having respectful, human conversations with him.
• The vampires' reaction to seeing Colin Robinson upon returning from their night out.
  Nadja: Colin Robinson, we missed you!
• Colin's True Companions moment in Episode 7.
  • It gets better: Colin Robinson was on the Vampiric Council. He could have confirmed Guillermo's Cassandra Truth, and his testimony would have probably been quite compelling, moreso than any other witness'. Instead, he keeps quiet, allowing Guillermo to be spared.
• Nadja and Laszlo both try and help Jenna figure out what her vampire talent is.
• Colin Robinson and Nandor hugging it out in Episode 10.
• Guillermo referring to Jenna as his "friend" in a confessional segment. To an extent, the subsequent guilt he feels for inadvertently causing Jenna's roommate so much pain is also this.
• In the first episode, Guillermo initially assumes he's going to be turned into a vampire for his familiar anniversary, but instead receives a handmade picture from Nandor. Even though he's disappointed, it's still sweet that Nandor at least went out of his way to make his familiar something to celebrate him.
• Nadja urges her husband not to kill the latest reincarnation of her lover and to let him have a full life for once. Laszlo agrees, although Gregor dies in a freak accident anyway.

Season Two

• Topher is the first person to find Colin Robinson's ramblings interesting, and he willingly offers to let Colin Robinson drain some of his energy.
• Near the end of "Ghosts," Nandor finally finds out the Unfinished Business that is keeping his ghost from ascending to the afterlife: being reunited with the spirit of Jahan, his beloved horse.
• Laszlo's reasoning for not killing Sean, despite it being the protocol for somebody with brain scramblies — Laszlo considers Sean his best friend.
  • Having it turn out Nadja and Sean's mother-in-law played together when the latter was a child.
• Sean falls in love with his wife all over again, pledging to spend the rest of his life making her happy. And all it took was getting his brain fried...
• In "The Curse", the Mosquito Club manages to blunder into an actual vampire nest and discovers that their enthusiasm is not an adequate substitute for experience. Even though it would make his life much easier if they all died, Guillermo goes back for them and manages to rescue everyone except Derek. Also doubles as a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
• In "Colin's Promotion", Nandor and Nadja have a falling-out over an unearthed painting that reveals he burnt down her village (albeit two hundred years before she was born). To make Nadja feel better, Laszlo paints over the painting, turning it into an erotic portrait of the two of them, complete with himself on a white horse and Nadja on a hay bale with her breasts out. Turns into a funny moment when it's revealed that he painted Nandor inside a burning house.
• Nandor might have previously attempted to convince Guillermo to let himself get eaten by him because he was too weak to hunt, but when he realizes the full threat the superpowered Colin Robinson actually poses, he begs Guillermo to just leave him behind and run away and save himself.
• In "On the Run", after Laszlo outs himself as a vampire and has to abandon his "Jackie Daytona" persona, he takes a moment to wake up his unconscious friend Lucy (who had apparently developed a crush on him), and to tell her that, while he thought she was a very sweet person, a relationship could never have worked out between them, due to him being both married and a vampire. She faints again right after, but it's still quite sweet.
• Both Laszlo and Jim the Vampire form an affection for the local underdog volleyball team that's genuine enough for them to put their feud aside. Jim even takes over coaching the team when Laszlo returns to New York.
• When Guillermo kills Carol, a monstrous member of Simon's vampire crew, Nandor happens on the scene a moment later. He quickly pieces together what happened, and is shocked; however, his only concern is helping Guillermo cover it up to protect him.
• Nandor is tremendously annoyed by Benji's decrepitude and old man habits, like trying to show him pictures of his grandkids, yet never once is it suggested that he's tempted to kill him. Nandor really does care for his old familiar, even if he no longer wants him around, in the end he even keeps his promise and turns him into a vampire before ditching him at a gas station.
• When Guillermo finally has enough with Nandor and leaves him for Celeste, a familiar seemingly turned by her master, Nandor has a moment where he whispers for Celeste to be kind to Guillermo. And later, Nandor finds Guillermo to ask him to come home, admitting Guillermo is a great familiar. When Guillermo finally points out Nandor's poor treatment of him, Nandor promises to give him more respect, a day off and better snacks. As well as gives his absolute word to one day make Guillermo a vampire before flying them back home.
• As if it wasn't clear enough, the season 2 finale writes it in stone: facing certain death from Vladislav the Poker, the housemates (including Colin Robinson) still refuse to give up Guillermo to the Vampiric Council, with Nandor claiming to have killed him himself and no one telling otherwise. In return, even though the housemates still don't know his full name, Guillermo swings down and massacres dozens of vampires to save his friends. Before, it seemed like Guillermo's vampire hunting skills would doom the Staten Island vampires; now it seems far more likely he'll join them to defeat the Council.

Season Three

• Despite the others wanting to execute him, Nandor does not want to kill Guillermo and insists that he was protecting them and wouldn't hurt them.
• Despite knowing that the vampires want to kill him, Guillermo continues to maintain the house for them so that they don't die. He also repeatedly insists that he has no intention of harming any of them.
• It’s a small moment, but as the vampires are entering the council building for the first time, Laszlo holds the door to keep it from hitting Guillermo as it closes. It goes to show how much respect Laszlo actually has for Guillermo.
• In "The Cloak of Duplication", after Colin Robinson and Laszlo both screw up in trying to woo Meg as Nandor, Guillermo decides to try his hand at it, and actually manages to carry on a civilized conversation. Unfortunately, he also gives Meg the impression that Nandor is a closeted gay man, which does not really help Nandor win over Meg (not that it would have, as Meg turns out to be a lesbian.)
• In "Gail", Laszlo and Colin Robinson decide to hang out, as Laszlo is concerned that Colin Robinson's search for his origins is getting him down, while Colin Robinson feels that Laszlo is getting lonely with Nadja being away so often.
• In "The Casino", Nandor insists that the others be nice and respectful to Guillermo. And they all try to be...even if they're not the best at it. Guillermo appreciates it enough that when they all lose their native soil, he undertakes an arduous journey to get new soil for them, even though it means having to travel all the way to London, Antipaxos, and modern Iran.
• Not only does Sean seem to have fully recovered from the brain scramblies, but he and his wife's rekindled romance has led to them renewing their vows.
• Upon learning that his buddy Sean blew all his money in Atlantic City and is afraid that his wife will leave him, Laszlo rallies the other housemates and Guillermo to hatch a scheme to win enough cash to settle Sean's debts. Alas, Sean ends up blowing all the cash a few seconds later, but it's the thought that counts.
• In "The Chamber of Judgement", Nadja actually starts treating Guillermo more like a trusted counselor than just a slave, even allowing him to sit on the throne and pose as part of the Council.
• When Derek from the Mosquito Club turns up undead but in serious trouble with the Council, Guillermo decides to help him escape execution, even though it would have been so much easier to just let the Well of Sunlight takes its course. He also arranges for Derek to become Laszlo's apprentice, which has the side benefit of giving Laszlo a new purpose.
• In "The Escape", it's revealed that the Sire, the ancient Monster Progenitor of all vampires, is really just lonely and tired of being locked up by the Vampiric Council. At the end of the episode, the main characters have made arrangements for the Sire to live with the Baron and the hellhound in Nutley, New Jersey, and it's clear that they're all much happier together (even if the Sire and the Baron still lure innocent victims to their home by renting out their house as an Airbnb).
• Nandor tells Guillermo that vampirism is a curse and he doesn't want Guillermo to experience it which is why he refuses to turn him into a vampire.
• When Laszlo reveals that Colin Robinson is dying Nadja wordlessly goes to embrace him.
• The reason Laszlo won’t go back to his homeland? He was kicked out of his rich person club—not for sleeping around or even being a vampire, but for marrying Nadja, who was poor. His fury at their classism made him swear to never set foot on English soil again. He’s almost on the verge of tears when telling Nadja this.
• Laszlo opts to stay in Staten Island upon discovering Colin Robinson's baby reincarnation, taking it upon himself to care for him. He does leave Nadja to go to England without him (for which he guesses she will be quite upset), but even so, it's an uncharacteristically selfless move for Laszlo.
  • He writes a letter explaining his actions to Nadja, he says that he felt that it was acceptable to leave her because she is strong and independent and does not need him, while baby Colin Robinson does.

Season Four

• The premiere features Guillermo reaching his Rage Breaking Point with the trio, openly proclaiming that he wants nothing to do with any of them anymore. What convinces him to stay? Nandor asking Guillermo to be his best man and his own concern for baby Collin's safety.
• Guillermo falls through the rotten floor into the flooded basement. What does Nandor do? Immediately dive in and rescue him.
• While the vampires all show varying levels of annoyance and incompetence when it comes to trying to manage the Child Colin, they all try to help. While they screw-up often, they all try to find different ways to support and ensure Child Colin is happy and healthy.
• Nandor wishes for his new wife Marwa to like whatever he likes. A few scenes later, Marwa starts coming on...to Guillermo, telling him how much he's valued and what a good job he's done tonight. Not only does Nandor appreciate his bodyguard, he may indeed reciprocate his crush.
• In "Pine Barrens", Nandor admits that he's been hostile to Laszlo for most of their hunting trip because he misses the two of them hanging out together. Laszlo returns the sentiment.
  Nandor: I was a little upset thinking about "guy time", how we don't have it so much, you and I. We used to. Now you're always clinking beers with Sean or rehearsing songs with the Baby Colin Robinson. We never hang anymore.
  Laszlo: Bro, I'm not very comfortable with emotional flamboyance, as well you know. I'll be brief. My feelings aren't too dissimilar to your own.
  Nandor: I've missed us.
  Laszlo: All right.
  • From the same episode, Guillermo having no choice but to finally come out as gay to his family to stop them from killing Nadja, visibly choking back tears as he does so. They all immediately accept him wholeheartedly, saying they already knew.
    Cousin Miguel: Familia es familia, homie.
  • Even Nadja's non-reaction to the whole ordeal at the end of the episode is sweet, in its own strange, ignorant way.
    Nadja: I mean, who isn't gay?
    Guillermo: A lot of people.
    Nadja: Oh, okay. Woohoo. I'll get the trumpets out. Sorry.
  • This episode also sees Nadja manage to hypnotize Guillermo's family into a passive state. She originally plans to kill them, but when Guillermo pleads with her not to, she doesn't do so. While she is fairly flippant about it to his face, her confession cam sequence sees her admit the reason she agreed not to kill them was because she knows how awful it is to watch one's loved ones be killed from firsthand experience and she doesn't want to inflict that on Guillermo.
• Laszlo trying to raise Child Colin. While initially scornful of his "boring" interest in Legos and Musical Theatre, he does begin to have fatherly concern for the boy. By the season finale he's even learned to perform "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof on the piano, which makes the mournful reprise over the end credits, when the now fully-grown and back-to-his-original-personality Colin Robinson reveals he has no memory of Laszlo raising him, even more wrenching.

Season Five

• Laszlo saying that Nandor is better at hypnotizing people than him.
• Laszlo chews out Guillermo for being turned into a vampire by someone other than Nandor.
• Nadja's delight at finding Little Antipaxos.
• Laszlo made a special sunscreen from Guillermo's sweat and puts it on and goes out to the beach during the daytime. His utter delight is sheer heartwarming.
• Nandor makes an attempt to fly into outer space. When asked by the camera crew if he's doing it to impress Guillermo, he says "yes".
• Lots from 'Urgent Care'. First of all, there's Laszlo continuing to help Guillermo with his delayed vampirism and teaching him to float. Then there's Nandor AND Laszlo helping to save Colin Robinson when he's more or less on his deathbed from being unable to drain anyone. Colin even returns the favor after Nandor accidentally gives up too much life energy reviving him. Finally, there's Nadja going absolutely berserk at the staff of the familiar clinic when the doctor threatens to have Guillermo killed, even after she's found out the truth about someone else turning him. And later she even covers for Guillermo, making it clear that her claims of saving him just because "Nandor should be the one to kill him" aren't exactly true.
• From "Hybrid Creatures": instead of killing the humanoid animals Laszlo created, Guillermo takes them to a nursery home where they can keep lonely old people company.
• When the Baron finds out Guillermo was the one who accidentally almost killed him and goes into a terrifying Unstoppable Rage, Nandor and Nadja take Guillermo's side against the scariest and most dangerous vampire in the entire series and plead for his life.
• In the finale, Guillermo, having finally become a full vampire, is having second thoughts because he doesn't actually enjoy killing humans all that much. Nandor tries to cure him by summoning the djinn, but it turns out he's used up all his wishes, so instead Nandor arranges an "induction ceremony" for Guillermo that actually just a pretense to get Derek into the room, whereupon Nandor kills him, allowing Guillermo to return to being a normal, mortal familiar. Guillermo feels bad about Derek's death, so he and Laszlo take him off to see the necromancer, who brings Derek back as a zombie. Derek is surprisingly okay with all this, as he can join the necromancer's other zombies and finally feel like he's a part of something.
  • Nandor revealing that the real reason he put off turning Guillermo into a vampire for 13 years was because he suspected, correctly, he was just too soft-hearted to do the things a vampire had to do in order to survive.
  • Laszlo helping Guillermo cart Derek's body to the Necromancer.
  • Everyone finding where Guillermo was hiding, both to check on him and wish him farewell.

---