The normal documentary camera crew for What We Do in the Shadows got to take a rest this week as the Staten Island crew become surprise guests on Go Flip Yourself! — maybe not everyone’s but certainly Laszlo’s favorite home makeover show. No episode that features a flannel and Timberland boots-clad Laszlo could possibly be bad. If you’re worried you missed a detail or two, check out our recap of the episode below!
Go Flip Yourself!
Randy and Jason Sklar have been featured as Go Flip Yourself! co-hosts Bran and Toby Dalton throughout the season, so it’s only been a matter of time until the brothers finally came to makeover the dilapidated dwellings of the Staten Island crew. Based on how literally every other interaction we’ve seen between these vampires and humans turns out, it’s not surprising that things immediately go south when the brothers make their grand surprise entrance. Nadja sinks her teeth into Toby’s neck, draining him, and suddenly our show for the night only has one host. Never to fear though, superfan Laszlo is here.
Thankfully, Nadja is becoming a regular user of hypnosis and uses it tonight on the Go Flip Yourself! cast, crew … editors, editors’ assistants, sound mixers, and a producer’s girlfriend named Wendy who gives out notes … to smooth over the death of Toby.
Embrace your space!
The vampires and Guillermo all have varying reactions to the idea of housing renovations completed by Dalton and his team — minus Laszlo who is immediately in and willing to spend all of his money on the project. Nandor is easily bribed with a space all to himself — a man cave. Nadja is also easily bribed with the promise of a golden toilet. Guillermo is displeased with the plan to bring in more natural light (for obvious, vampire-related reasons) and thinks all of the ideas for the house are pretty terrible. Guillermo has to do some leg work of his own tonight, of course, but ultimately is told his “hidey hole” room will be expanded (and sewage removed).
The creature that crawled out of the chest cavity of our dead friend Colin Robinson doesn’t get any say in any of this, and is only featured for a couple of fleeting moments in the episode.
Home is where the wine is.
Nandor has become a shining example of the phrase “Be careful what you wish for.” Now that his new bride Marwa likes everything he likes, it seems Nandor really isn’t a big fan of himself these days — despite being into those Hobby Lobby wall signs that say things like “Home is where the wine is.” The man cave that Marwa spends the bulk of the episode perfecting for Nandor completed, the woman actually ends up locking herself in there, mirroring what Nandor wishes he could do.
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Despite the grand plans outlined for the revival of the vampire mansion, we soon come to find out that the house is, arguably, in worse condition than it was before thanks to tacky wall art and horribly-placed furniture — Guillermo’s room wasn’t even expanded and the sewage honestly looks like it got worse. The only truly complete visions to come to life are the man cave and Laszlo and Nadja’s joint closet — and there’s a reason the closet is necessary.
Devious
A season of What We Do in the Shadows would be incomplete without an appearance from recurring antagonist Simon the Devious, portrayed by Nick Kroll. While in the past his plans have been far from devious, we actually see him live up to his name in this episode at last. While his past schemes to secure Laszlo’s witch-skin hat have failed with horrible results, this scheme is pretty impressive: he invented Go Flip Yourself! and filmed all 150 episodes just to have a way to get into the Staten Island crew’s residence and finally get away with the hat.
Unfortunately, his plan also included hiring a Navy flight instructor, husband, and father of three Toby to play his twin with the help of magic, and taught the man all about architecture and house flipping. As a reminder, this father of three is now dead thanks to Nadja’s thirst. But it’s fine because a girl has got to eat.
That damn hat
Tonight’s closing scene features the Staten Island crew, who upon being informed they won’t get their $1,200 appearance fee unless they record a testimonial, are forced to smile and act like they love the “new” house. And, of course, the episode wouldn’t be complete without Simon blowing himself and some other home owners up … all thanks to that damn hat.
The highlight of the episode is Matt Berry’s repeatedly iconic delivery of the simple three words, “New York City!” How anyone in the room can keep a straight face is beyond me.
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.
