Guess what? The finale of season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows has dawned, and the creature that crawled out of the chest cavity of our dead friend Colin Robinson has reached an awkward age … one that there is no turning back from. The finale serves to wrap up all of the large plot lines introduced throughout the season and once again show the ultimate lesson of vampirism — none of them can ever really change. If you’re worried you missed a detail or two from episode 10, “Sunrise, Sunset,” check out our recap below.
Sunrise
The Boy has grown up into a miserable teenager who refuses to speak most of the time, and Laszlo is having a rough time adjusting to the lack of dependency the being he raised is displaying. He tries to convince the Boy to do fun things they used to love doing together again, but to no avail. When his attempts at bonding don’t work he instead tries to learn some other parenting techniques and reach an understanding of what the Boy is going through by reading coming-of-age books such as “Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret.”
But just because the Boy is going through a hard time doesn’t mean he doesn’t love his parental figures anymore. We see him go to Laszlo in tears, sitting in his lap for comfort. We see Guillermo trying to teach him how to play baseball — but the only extracurricular activity he has an interest in is hammering holes in the wall of his old room.
I didn’t know I needed to hear Matt Berry singing “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof until I watched this episode, but now I can never live without it. I’m going to need that studio recording as soon as possible.
Big Steaming Shit
If you ask Nadja, she’ll say that her self-named vampire nightclub is a big steaming shit now that they’ve lost their biggest draw — the Boy’s musical theatre performances. Despite the fact they’ve tried to find a solution, nothing is working — not Laszlo behind the piano (which I’m personally enthralled by, I guess the vampire patrons just have bad taste), and certainly not hosting bachelorette or children’s birthday parties. They’re running out of money, and quickly.
How do you do, fellow kids?
Nandor thinks Laszlo and Guillermo just don’t know how to talk to the younger generation and insists he can do so. After all, some of his soldiers were teenagers back when he was conquering in his homeland, and he insists he knows how to get through to them. Spoiler alert: he does not. Even Nandor, a man who certainly understands rage and violence, can’t get the Boy to stop hammering holes in the basement walls or turn off the very loud metal he’s rocking out to.
Acting Out
The Boy seems to have a crush on the Guide and makes her a mixtape. He asks her to hang out sometime but only if she likes the songs, and tells her he doesn’t care if she doesn’t like them, either. The self-discovery doesn’t stop here, though. Colin steals the neigbor’s car to go on a joy ride, and while the neighbor himself — Sean — is not angry, Laszlo is, while Guillermo just tries to understand why the Boy is suddenly acting out like this.
It turns out all of this is because he’s having a bit of an identity crisis — he doesn’t know who he is, or where he comes from, or who his parents are — and despite the fact he’s asked no one will give him answers. The energy vampire in him is starting to show its blue eyes again, and it can’t be avoided any longer — Laszlo is going to have to tell him what he is.
Blood Sprinklers
Feeling the results of her failing dream, Nadja decides she has no other option but to burn the club down — sending the Wraiths and the Guide away for the night so she can do her fiery bidding. The aftermath of the fire is, as to be expected, hilarious — the damn blood sprinklers that have neglected to work once this entire season finally did their job and put out the fire, saving the majority of the club. The only area that is tarnished beyond repair is Nadja’s office, including all of the money she has been embezzling throughout the season.
Guillermo’s Undying Wish
Guillermo has been forced to learn a lot this season. With Marwa and Freddie both out of the picture, Nandor has returned to his normal, book-reading self as he holds up in the vampire residence and comes down from the amount of emotion he’s had to exude across these 10 episodes. While Nadja’s cash stash from the club was destroyed, what remains of Guillermo’s is not, and he uses the cash to finally make a move he probably should’ve made a long time ago.
Guillermo takes his cash and presents it to his old friend Derek, now a vampire, offering a bribe to fulfill his undying wish — “You’re going to make me a vampire.”
Hammer Time
It turns out all of the hammering this season from the Boy was for a reason — it’s all part of the resurrection process. When he finally hits the correct three points on the walls in his old bedroom, one of them comes toppling down, revealing a secret room that contains all of the previous Colin Robinson’s diaries. Once he begins reading through these diaries the transformation is fully underway — his hair begins falling out, he places glasses back on his face, and before we know it he has “Ship of Theseus”‘d himself back into the beige-suit wearing energy vampire we’ve all known and loved in the first three seasons.
Sunset
The thing about Colin Robinson being back to himself completely is that he now has no memories of his time being raised by Laszlo, because he didn’t keep a diary during this season. With Colin back to himself he reveals the vampires’ bank account has plenty of money in it (over $600,000), he does remember the personal identification number which is honestly the best I’ve ever heard (420 – 69 – 247), and repairs on the humble abode can begin.
The sun sets on this season of What We Do in the Shadows, with a reprisal of the same earlier song by Laszlo joined by Nadja.
What We Do in the Shadows season 4 is available to stream now on Hulu.
