Saying Goodbye to 'What We Do in The Shadows'

The finale is finally here with What We Do in The Shadows, and while it's sad to see such a fun, creative show come to an end, I remind myself that it still saw way more seasons that in sister spin-off from New Zealand: Wellington Paranormal. If you're just coming out of the finale, then immediately jump into that. You won't regret it. But yes, it's time to say goodbye to Nandor, Lazlo, the boring one that drains your energy, Gizmo, and Nadja. After six years of a documentary crew following them around, in the middle of an interview they just announce they're done. That's it. It's an ending that comes with the similarities of hit shows like Seinfeld and the lesser-known British misery show Peep Show. I found myself remembering the ways in which these two shows resolved after years of exploration over numerous characters, how they took to ending them by ultimately giving them the poor treatment of no resolve whatsoever. There's a comedic element to treating your characters in this way, the ones that are rebellious, selfish, and downright stupid. What exactly did they learn over the past six entire years of the documentary crew following them around? It has us looking back at those episodes and remembering the greats and the worst. A creative, simplistic look at the inevitable continuation of time, the same as it ever was!

I think it's an effective ending that sees our characters well aware of their lifestyles, particularly in the sense that their idea of time has been removed over the many centuries of events given their vampiric status. Constantly watching the world around them change but never really having much of a care, they just hop between each other in cartoonish fashion without much consideration of the world around them. It's only Gizmo that appears to be harmed by this concept of closure, that there is an end. And I think it was a fitting addition to the episode whereas the rest felt totally careless. Gizmo, from the very start of the show, was threatened by the idea of mortality, he's a character that understands the fear of time and the fear of the future, and it's what drives his interest in becoming a vampire. The idea that more time may give him the foundation he needs to live a life that holds some sort of meaning to it. It's a clear case of escapism in the pursuit of eternal life where the timed uncertainty of being human is the single leading cause of his failures. Lost and confused, the episode focuses on his inability to simply let go. It was often Gizmo that had the emotion in the episodes, aside from a few that explored Nandor's decline from ancient warrior to a recluse but fragile and love-wanting vampire that feared loneliness.

The concept of closure was still felt throughout this sixth and final season, with Lazlo in his scientific pursuits of creation a not-Frankenstein's Monster that had been in development for generations. His character already had all it really needed, and that was Nadja despite their bickering throughout the series. It shows the case of two bad people finding solace in each other, and that was actually enough for them to keep going. For vampires that have been living for hundreds of years, there is that concept of what they could do to find happiness with the constant passing of time that keeps them unaffected. Throughout the series we do see how pop cultural shifts interest them, how they adapt and contribute. While done for comedic purposes it also shows that aspect of immortality, the ways they keep finding reason to continue. Their primary directive was of course to seek total domination over humanity, starting with the Staten Island of New York, though clearly that wasn't much interest to them. They're more the party-goers, the stay-at-home book readers. Sometimes finding ways to get out into the world and interact with it purely for their personal enjoyment. Returning to that concept of world domination and finding purpose. In a way, the vampires show an interest in being human, where their vampire society actually struggles to be something they can really connect with in comparison. Why destroy the thing that brings you purpose?

I'd say that this was a suitable ending for the show. It's not one that tried to go out of its way to tell a bunch of happy stories with a great finale that offers a definitive end to the story. The characters live on. They know they live on whether the documentary ends or continues. For them it's how things have always been, and it's quite on-brand for the characters to have that sudden end come abruptly in a moment of nothingness. Where they aren't in pursuit of some greatness, not trying to achieve a particular life goal or 'go off with a bang'. Those characters never were the types to really go out of their way to pursue something unless it was a temporal interest that held their attention for that brief moment in time. Nadja uses her understanding of human psychology to depict the realisation that nothing actually ends for them, that their stories continue as they always did, they just aren't being filmed. For the audience it's a bit of closure to think that those characters we've followed for so long are still running around doing their thing, it's something for us to imagine that keeps us connected to those characters and their stories even a year down the line after its end. I quite like that, it somewhat breaks the fourth wall a little, it's clear that these statements aren't being made to Gizmo, we as the audience are effectively reacting like Gizmo would. We don't want this to end! But that end was inevitable for What We Do in The Shadows.

Perhaps it's time to revisit Wellington Paranormal.