What We Do in the Shadows Sees Major Twist and Usual Suspects Parody in Series Finale: How It Ended After 6 Seasons

This post contains spoilers from What we do in the shadows series finale.

After six seasons, FX’s vampire mockumentary came to a fitting conclusion with a reflection on how nothing has really changed for any of the main characters — Nandora (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou ), Colina (Mark Proksch) and Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) — during that time, a commentary on the perfect series finale with a nod to The usual suspects and a not-so-surprising twist that allowed a heartwarming moment to flow through a silly mix of physical gags, repetitive jokes, and one-liners.

After opening with the confessionals, we see Colin and Laszlo detailing plans to build a female companion for the newly “hot” Cravensworth monster (Andy Assaf), while Guillermo and Nandor discuss logistics for the latter’s secret crime-fighting underground lair—both they serve as set-ups for the jokes to pay off later — the finale doesn’t waste too much time getting into the plot beforehand.

It’s quickly revealed that the documentary these Staten Islanders have been filming for six years has suddenly come to an end, and the crew claims they have all the footage they need. While the four vampires (plus their Monster and Guide, played by Kristen Schaal) are mostly unfazed by the news, Guillermo starts spinning, seemingly unable to accept that this is the end of everything he’s worked so hard for (under the watchful eye of cameras).

Harvey Guillén in Season 6 of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’.

Russ Martin/FX

The only one who understands Guillermo’s emotional plight is Nadja, whose rise and fall as a Wall Street employee has taught her more about the human condition, prompting her to take action. Knowing how much Nandor means to Guillermo—unfortunately, the show’s will they/won’t they never fully speak here—Nadja convinces him to comfort his family.

Also sensing his plight as an energy vampire, Colin jumps in with various lines of comfort, starting with a favorite cup of coffee often mistakenly attributed to Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over, laugh because it happened.” He then follows up with Maya Angelou’s line, “It’s not the number of breaths we take, but the number of moments that take our breath away,” before dropping another from St. Elmo’s fire: “We laughed until we had to cry. We loved each other until the last goodbye. We were the best.”

After reading those ridiculous lines, Nandor calls a house meeting to discuss why Guillermo is so upset by the end of the documentary. This forced everyone to offer what they had, with Laszlo accusing him of being addicted to the limelight, Guide suggesting he was worried about not being able to steal food from the team’s snack table, and Colin claiming he was freaking out about having to cut his secret affair with 1) Nate, the carrier operator or 2) Greg, the A-camera operator.

Kayvan Novak in the 6th season of ‘What we do in the shadows’.

Russ Martin/FX

What we do in the shadows Cast Says Ending After 6 Seasons ‘Smart Decision’: ‘Ends on a High Note’

It’s Nadja who jumps in and suggests that Guillermo is concerned that he hasn’t grown or changed in any way over the past six years — despite even becoming a vampire (and then not again) in Season 5.

However, before they can unpack this information too much, the roommates reveal to Guillermo that this isn’t even their first time making a documentary. In fact, the first one was caught in 1958 and we see them doing pretty much the same things we do now.

Guillermo sees this as an opportunity to rewrite the past and offer a new perspective on all of them. He even insists that they need a worthy ending to their documentary, prompting a meta joke about the pressures of a perfect ending that often plague many real-life TV shows. (See lost and The Soprano family as recent examples.) The show even admits that Guillermo’s short-lived undead role the previous season was a natural conclusion, with one of them joking that they should have stopped filming then.

Mark Proksch in Season 6 of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’.

Russ Martin/FX

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All of this eventually leads the group to discuss the lessons they’ve learned — for Laszlo it’s lots of sex and laughter, for the Guide it’s a diatribe about immigration, etc. — before Nadja offers to hypnotize the entire audience into seeing her perfect ending. Then the show briefly changes format to show Colin at the center The usual suspects parody, with the series recreating the final sequence as the police piece together all the clues.

It’s not quite the end of the series, however, with the episode returning to the house as the vampires continue to wax poetic about life. Colin offers a message about chosen families, Nandor notes that the only thing missing from his life was the aforementioned den of crime, and Guillermo reflects on his decision to become a vampire and then human again as he realizes that he stuck around because he was chasing a dream that he didn’t want to. (This is all accompanied by the Monster having sex with a stuffed bear in the background.)

With the episode quickly coming to a close, the show turns edgy as Laszlo sings Guy Lombardo’s “We’ll Meet Again” as Guillermo tells Nandoro that this is his last night in the house, revealing that it’s time to move on.

How Natasia Demetriou hid her pregnancy during the sixth and final season What we do in the shadows

From left: Kayvan Novak and Mark Proksch in Season 6 of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’.

Russ Martin/FX

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After the two share a sweet moment, Guillermo closes the casket and walks out the door, while the documentary crew quickly gets to work cleaning up their scene. But the moment is interrupted by Guillermo returning and opening Nandor’s coffin to remark that they gave the documentary the ending they wanted – and the two agree that they can be friends going forward.

But before Guillermo leaves for good, Nandor offers him a place in his coffin, which is unexpectedly revealed to be a secret entrance to an underground crime-fighting lair much to the former acquaintance’s delight and surprise.

After the checkout credits begin rolling, the series fittingly ends with a clip of the roommates watching a rough cut of the documentary, all seemingly bored with what they’re watching before turning it off. Womp wop.

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Source: HIS Education