In What We Do in the Shadows, the Staten Island vampires quickly snuff out any soft emotions that rear their ugly heads. Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Nandor (Kayvan Novak), and Laszlo (Matt Berry) are centuries old and are set in their ways, especially when it comes to showing any sentimentality or mushy feelings.
Showing affection, love, being nice, or even being friendly makes them shudder and gag. Meanwhile, Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) only inspires anger, boredom, or annoyance in people. Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) is the only truly loving housemate, but his feelings are unrequited. However, some romantic tenderness slips through the cracks and bonds the characters together, even if they won’t admit it.
11 “The Lamp”
Season 4, Episode 2 (2022)
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The Guide (Kristen Schaal) isn’t exactly on board with turning the Vampiric Council’s library into a club. Internally, she’s resisting the idea. The Wraiths know her heart isn’t in it and continue sabotaging the renovations. So, Laszlo hypnotizes The Guide to rework her brain.
Inside her mind, Laszlo uncovers her hidden attraction to Guillermo. She likes the familiar, a descendant of Van Helsing because centuries ago, she slept with another descendant of the vampire killer. Laszlo suggests she sleep with Guillermo, but she realizes her attraction to him is a “manifestation of a longing of her past life when she was a naughty vampire.” She isn’t that vampire anymore, though, so construction of the club commences.
9 “Witches”
Season 2, Episode 9 (2020)
Laszlo isn’t smart enough to stay away from a talking goat and gets captured by witches who want his semen for a youth potion. Nadja knows witches took him and is hysterical trying to find him. Then, Nandor falls for the same trick, and they take him too. Nadja, Colin Robinson, and Guillermo drive to Brooklyn to save them.
Her desperation to save her husband is touching, but in true What We Do in the Shadows fashion, Laszlo ruins it. Nadja knew of his affair with Lilith (Lucy Punch), but she didn’t know the witch leader transformed herself to look like Nadja during their trysts. The couple could’ve had a blissful reunion after the witch ordeal, but Laszlo messed that up.
8 “On the Run”
Season 2, Episode 6 (2020)
An old landlord (Mark Hamill) tries to get Laszlo to pay his centuries-old debt, but the vampire flees. He goes undercover in a small Pennsylvanian town and adopts an alter ego, Jackie Daytona, a human bartender with only a toothpick to conceal his identity.
While Daytona is pouring beers and supporting the local volleyball team, his wife is absolutely worried. When he fled, Laszlo only left Ladja with a letter saying he’d be on the run forever. She’s hysterical and even cries, which is rare for her. When Laszlo returns, Nadja shows her husband how much she’s missed him.
7 “Gail”
Season 3, Episode 3 (2021)
Nandor’s housemates discover he’s been acting weird because his on-off girlfriend, Gail (Aida Turturro), is visiting. This time, the warrior wants to settle down with her. Nandor is cute in love and tries to make everything special for his hopeful fiancée.
However, Nandor’s not that lucky. Gail doesn’t want to spend forever with him. She compares her bouts with him to going in and out of the mood for certain foods. Plus, she’s a newly-turned werewolf with a werewolf side-piece. Still, Nandor is so blinded by his need for love that he’s willing to put that aside. Nandor never loved Gail, though; he’s just desperate for someone to love him.
6 “The Portrait”
Season 3, Episode 10 (2021)
“The Portrait” is all about the Staten Island vampires dodging and burying any sentimental feelings in the wake of Colin Robinson’s death. When feelings do seep through, they’re stomped on. However, some softer emotions do come through the cracks without ridicule, including love.
Nadja wants to take a job on the Worldwide Vampiric Council in England, but Laszlo won’t go back because the Sherwood Club of London, the socialite club where the males of his family have always been accepted, cast him out for loving and marrying Nadja, a girl with no social standing. This is one of those times when Laszlo is his most serious and passionate, and Nadja doesn’t gag. Plus, he sends her a really touching letter informing her he didn’t go to England.
5 “The Wedding”
Season 4, Episode 6 (2022)
Normally, weddings are romantic. Nandor and Marwa’s (Parisa Fakhri) nuptials are the closest a romantic wedding gets in What We Do in the Shadows. The ancient vampire is hyper-focused on having the perfect wedding, but his intentions aren’t exactly selfless.
Nandor sabotages the wedding himself by accusing everyone else of being against it. He’s just scared, though, which is sweet for him. However, the wedding does get ruined when the guests line up to express their views on why the couple should not wed. Nandor doesn’t care. Marwa, who now likes everything he does, is happy. It’s pretty romantic for a bloodsucking vampire to crave falling in love almost as much as he craves blood.
4 “Freddie”
Season 4, Episode 9 (2022)
Guillermo has finally found love, but having his new boyfriend Freddie (Al Roberts) come to town wasn’t the best idea. He can’t exactly keep his work and private life separate, living with the vampires. Seeing Guillermo happy and in love is nice, but as usual, it quickly sours.
Nandor falls in love with Freddie and turns Marwa into his exact clone. Despite recently tying the knot, Nandor realizes Marwa isn’t the one. Something about Freddie catches the warrior’s eye, and he doesn’t realize making a copy of Freddie will hurt Guillermo. However, he eventually realizes and lets his Freddie go, so Guillermo isn’t upset.
3 “The Orgy”
Season 1, Episode 9 (2019)
Nadja offends her husband by calling his pornos erotica for churchgoers. Laszlo hoped to show the tapes at their Bi-Annual Vampire Orgy, but Nadja thinks they’re boring. Nothing could have crushed Laszlo’s soul more. He’s so peeved by his wife’s comments he refuses to attend.
However, during the orgy, Laszlo makes a touching speech about love. He realizes his pornos don’t have the love he shares with Nadja. It’s one of the earliest romantic moments in the show, but it dampens the vibe of the orgy and ruins it and the couple’s good names. Thankfully, Nadja and Laszlo don’t become shame bats because they have each other.
2 “The Campaign”
Season 5, Episode 4 (2023)
While Colin Robinson runs for comptroller and Guillermo avoids Nandor, Laszlo tries fitting in with Nadja’s new friends and fellow Antipaxons in Little Antipaxos. They make Nadja feel human (she likes that?), but as usual, Laszlo doesn’t follow through with what he thinks is a heartfelt gesture the right way.
He believes courting family is just as important as courting the lover, so he researches the simple “island folk” and unsurprisingly offends them. Then, Laszlo offends them again by singing the battle hymn of their enemies. When he gives up, they suddenly love him. They think he’s the reincarnated “king of pigs,” a “wet-headed, wide-bodied, ignorant oaf” that brings good luck and fortune. Laszlo isn’t such spirit, but he is Ladja’s king of pigs.
1 “Reunited”
Season 4, Episode 1 (2022)
There’s nothing like a good reunion, and the Staten Island vampires have a sweet one in What We Do in the Shadows Season 4, Episode 1, which is also one of the most heartwarming episodes. Laszlo is already treading on the softer side, caring for Baby Colin Robinson, but he goes completely weak at the knees when his wife returns from England.
Surprisingly, Nadja doesn’t make herself gag when she explains to Laszlo that although working with the Worldwide Vampiric Council was fulfilling, she gave it all up because she missed him too much. However, a lovely moment never lasts long because she punches him for leaving her with Guillermo. Then, Nandor arrives, and even though they’re not sentimental, he can’t stop himself from saying he missed his housemates too.
