In Episode 4 of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ season 4, Nadja has to deal with a labour issue involving the wraiths at her club while Nandor and Guillermo put on a fight for the ages.
Recap
Business is booming at Nadja’s club as the young Colin Robinson performs his musical numbers every night but Nadja is facing a problem thanks to the wraiths working for her.
They have been causing accidents and killing patrons at the club. The Guide says that it’s because they believe they deserve to be treated fairly but Nadja doesn’t really care about the wraiths.
Laszlo has been running Colin into the ground with rehearsals but Colin would rather relax and read his book of fairytales. Laszlo says that those fairytales are a load of junk and Colin should concern himself with more real-life events and stories.
The wraith leader, Xerxes, brings a list of demands before Nadja but she isn’t in the mood to negotiate so she storms off. She finds some interesting information and tells the others that they’ll be visiting the Night Market.
The Night Market is a safe space for creatures of the night, away from the prying eyes of humans. It runs endlessly and functions predominantly on the barter system.
Nadja considers herself an expert haggler and begins bartering items within the market to find exactly what she needs. She meets Valkyries and Imps before visiting the darker parts of the market.
Laszlo tries to teach Colin the truth behind many of the fairytales that he’s been reading and how they’re all a lot more depressing in real life. Colin gets to see disgusting fairies, a Pinnochio who just has a medical condition affecting his nose and garden gnomes who freeze with fear when someone stares at them.
As Nandor and Guillermo are making their way through the market, they come across the familiar fights, where vampires pit their familiars against each other in fights that sometimes lead to death.
Nandor remarks that Guillermo could take all of the other familiars even though Guillermo doesn’t want to get involved. One of the other vampires hears Nandor’s proclamation and Guillermo is forced to take part.
Because of his experience as a vampire hunter, Guillermo vanquishes the other familiars with ease and becomes the champion. When he’s forced to face the vampire champion, Nandor convinces the people to let him and Guillermo fight instead.
While they initially plan to pretend until Nandor “defeats” Guillermo, their fight turns very real and they land some serious blows with heavy collateral damage. Guillermo eventually gets the upper hand but lets Nandor win by pretending to snap his neck.
Once they get back home, Colin is more interested in listening to what Laszlo has to share about real history and is no longer concerned with silly fairy tales.
The item that Nadja had procured was a narcotic called Water Lily of the Nile which is known to be a favourite of the wraiths. She uses it to bribe Xerxes so that he will convince the other wraiths to comply.
Her plan backfires and the other wraiths kill Xerxes, leaving Nadja with no other choice than to agree to their demands for better working conditions.
Review
- This was a particularly uneventful episode that felt more of a filler than anything else without major plot developments.
- The depiction of the wraiths as a functioning labour union or the different portrayals of commonly known fantasy creatures within the Night Market was definitely a hilarious touch.
- The direction of Colin Robinson is moving at a confusing pace as he’s growing fast in some episodes while maintaining his age in others. There needs to be a little more clarity in his situation.
Rating: 2.5/5
Also Read: How does Nandor use his wishes in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’?