Nandor the Relentless lives up to his name this week in season 4, episode 6 of What We Do in the Shadows, “The Wedding,” as he tirelessly works to procure the perfect wedding for himself (and his undead wife, Marwa). If you’re worried you missed a detail or two, check out our recap of the episode below!
Bridezilla the Relentless
With his wedding approaching, Nandor is convinced there is some kind of conspiracy afoot to destroy his wedding. Guillermo insists that Nandor is simply not thinking clearly because he hasn’t slept in a week. Apparently Guillermo has also not slept in a week as he attempts to fulfill his role as Nandor’s best man and make the wedding perfect, which begs the question — who is really not thinking clearly between the two of them? Guillermo is barely holding it together and finally loses his shit by screaming at the cameras.
While Nandor and Guillermo reminisce about watching romantic comedies together, Marwa interrupts to ask that the flower arrangements to be changed from black and red to white and pink — once again proving the couple are really not compatible in any meaningful way. Marwa does get points for being one of the few beings in existence to say thank you to Guillermo. Laszlo demands that their neighbors Sean and Charmaine are invited to the wedding despite it being an all-vampire event because he doesn’t want their feelings to be hurt. This is yet another thing for Guillermo to figure out and another reason for Nandor to think his wedding is being sabotaged.
Knickers Inside of a Twist
Guillermo’s outburst on the cameras earlier on isn’t his only of the episode. Nandor’s demands are piling up and some of them are impossible — like roasted dodo bird, because Nandor apparently missed that those went extinct in 1681. The Guide tells Nadja the nightclub needs to offer cheaper drinks, which Nadja (as per usual) shoots down. Nadja only wants rich humans coming to the club because rich humans are Nadja is part of the “eat the rich” movement — she thinks rich humans are “conceptually repulsive, but so buttery on the tongue.”
The Guide and Nadja hear a commotion in the other room and enter on the room disheveled with feathers flying about, thanks to Guillermo who has exploded and thrown a tantrum because the wedding is putting his “knickers inside of a twist.” Nadja and The Guide offer their help to Guillermo with the wedding planning — The Guide has a dodo bird catching net, and they will take care of securing the Baron Afanas to officiate the wedding. Nadja normally wouldn’t help the former-familiar, but he is now the nightclub’s accountant and she needs him to not have a stroke.
Impossible Tasks
The Baron and the Sire are living together in New Jersey. The Baron is flattered that Nandor would want him to officiate his wedding, but he says he can’t attend out of the shame for his current appearance (which is horrible, to be fair — as a reminder his skin is badly burnt and he’s actually only got the upper half of his body currently). The Baron gets an attempted makeover montage set to “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall & Oates, which is something I didn’t know I needed but now I’m certain I can never live without it.
Meanwhile, Guillermo’s task is just as impossible because, as a reminder, dodo birds are extinct. He’s at a gas station buying copious amounts of Red Bull while on the phone to ensure he can put blood into a chocolate fountain when he asks the attendant for a couple of five hour energy drinks, too. The attendant turns out to be Derek, former vampire hunter turned vampire, but a vampire who prefers working a normal job. He’s lonely since his transition to being a vampire and Guillermo invites him to the wedding out of kindness.
Nandor the Reckless
Nandor should have been more careful with his wishes, because he doesn’t have very many left now (the Djinn cannot reveal exactly how many), and he could really use them because Guillermo is about to have a nervous breakdown, as The Guide points out. Nandor is unsympathetic, and to stress The Guide’s point Nadja agrees — what is the point in having a Djinn if you’re not going to use it? Nadja has to use her special woman’s voice once again to get Nandor to listen to her — if he wants to have his perfect wedding, he’s going to have to use some wishes. Nandor actually relents for once, and makes three wishes:
- “I wish for Baron Afanas to be returned to original, non-burnt-up, non-just-a-torso form.”
- “I wish for a live dodo bird that we will slaughter and roast and feed to the Wraith waitstaff.”
- “And while we’re at it, I wish that Marwa would like all the same things that I like.”
As it turns out — that was it. Those were Nandor’s last three wishes. He feels better now that he knows his wedding will be perfect, but he has finally put his arrogance aside to admit that he shouldn’t have used his wishes on such trivial things — like wishing for his coffin lid to be closed out of laziness.
Unholy Matrimony
Sean and Charmaine arrive at the wedding only to be put under immediate hypnosis by Nadja and The Guide. It’s time for Guillermo to drop a truth bomb on Nandor, who still feels someone is trying to sabotage his wedding — maybe it’s Nandor who isn’t so certain about the wedding, after all, and he’s the one trying to sabotage it. Nandor admits he is a little afraid, but Guillermo says it’s all going to be okay because he’s going to be right by the vampire’s side. There is no other way to put this — The Baron has really been restored now and everyone is back to wanting to jump his bones.
Marwa’s mother objects to the two getting married, citing that the whole situation is very unnatural. Nadja also objects, stating that she feels like the whole situation is really about Nandor just wanting a wedding rather than wanting to be married to Marwa. As it turns out — a lot of people object to this union, and it takes over an hour to get through the objections fully, ranging from The Guide, Derek, Sean, even The Sire who speaks Englsh now, and more. Laszlo’s claim really drives it home, personally — “…all marriage is a sham, apart from my own to my darling wife Nadja over there” — because they’re the only couple ever.
Former Glory
The wedding ultimately goes forward because, per Nandor’s last wish, Marwa likes what Nandor likes. Nandor realizes it was his wish that resulted in Marwa realizing she truly wants the wedding and gets confirmation from The Djinn while seemingly everyone, including Nadja and Laszlo, take turns having a quickie with the restored Baron. The Baron asks Nandor if he will make his new wife a vampire later that night, to which Nandor replies “we will see.” Nandor, despite all of the changes and effort, is still not truly sold on eternity with Marwa.
Marwa thanks Guillermo for the effort he put into making the wedding perfect and kisses his cheeks multiple times, hugging him very tightly — almost as if she likes him a lot more than she normally does now for some reason (Nandor, I know what you are). The Djinn gives Nandor a wedding gift — a new Djinn lamp only good for three wishes.
Concluding thoughts: “Who Will Come First on the Wedding Night?” is a bop and a wedding staple going forward.
Our coverage for season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows, including recaps for each episode, can be found here. Episodes air weekly on Tuesdays on FX and are available to stream on Hulu.
