| "Ancestry" | |
|---|---|
| Series What We Do in the Shadows Season 1, Episode 10 | |
| |
| Air date | May 29th, 2019 |
| Writers | Jemaine Clement; Tom Scharpling; Paul Simms; Stefani Robinson |
| Director | Taika Waititi |
| Producers | Jemaine Clement; Taika Waititi; Garrett Basch; Eli Bush; Ingrid Lageder; Megan Murphy; Adam Rodner; Scott Rudin; Paul Simms; Joanne Toll |
| Starring | Kayvan Novak; Matt Berry; Natasia Demetriou; Harvey Guillén; Mark Proksch |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "The Orgy" |
Next "Resurrection" |
"Ancestry" is the tenth episode of season one of the horror/comedy series What We Do in the Shadows. It was directed by Taika Waititi with a script written by Jemaine Clement, Paul Simms, Stefani Robinson and Tom Scharpling. It first aired on the FX Network on Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 at 10:00 pm.
Synopsis[]
Guillermo learns something disturbing.
Guillermo cleans up around the vampire residence, taking out garbage, dusting the stuffed bear and dismembering body parts that had been left behind. He then brings Nandor his mail and is excited to tell him that he did a genealogy test on everyone in the house, and the results have just come in. Nandor learns that he has 200,000 living blood relatives in the world, one of whom lives right in Staten Island.
Guillermo and Nandor go to the library to tell the others. Nadja and Laszlo vehemently refuse to learn anything about their potential blood relatives. Colin Robinson is agreeable to see his results and learns that he is 100% white. Guillermo retires to his room to look at his own results. He discovers that not only is he 3.12% Dutch, but that he is also a descendant of the legendary Van Helsing family line. Guillermo reflects upon his recent activity and wonders if it is his destiny to kill vampires.
Laszlo goes out into the garden to work on his vulva topiary sculptures. He is crafting a new sculpture for Nadja. Guillermo returns with some garden stakes to hold up a suspension line. Laszlo is enraged at him, because they are basically wooden stakes. He asks Guillermo where he got them, and he says "Amazon". Laszlo instructs him to return them to the Amazon.
Nandor learns that his closest relative is his 30x great granddaughter, Madelaine Darbish, who is 94-years-old. He wants to go see her and buys a teddy bear as a gift. Guillermo and Colin Robinson accompany him to Madelaine's apartment complex. Nandor begins floating up to her window and Colin warns him to not tap on the glass. Nandor ignores this obviously and he awakens Madelaine. When she comes to the window and sees the fanged man floating in front of her, she dies of fright. Nandor blames Colin Robinson for goading him into tapping on the glass even though Colin told him not to do so.
Maybe the vampire should not be hanging out in a church, eh?
Meanwhile, Nadja is inside the house going through one of her drawers. She finds some old sketches of her former lover, Gregor, who has been reincarnated in the form of Jeff Suckler. Gregor is always fated to be reborn in a new body, only to die by decapitation. Nadja begins singing a song about Gregor.
At the Poughkeepsie Psychiatric Facility, Jeff/Gregor hears Nadja's song, beckoning him. He breaks free of his restraints and murders an orderly by breaking his neck. He then goes to the PPF loading bay and steals a vehicle and drives off.
The following night, Nandor convinces everyone to attend Madelaine's funeral. Nadja and Laszlo hate the idea because it involves going into a church, which they should not do. Guillermo and Colin however, have no problem entering a church. Despite this, Nandor convinces them to attend the funeral service. As the priest conducts a mass, Nandor, Nadja and Laszlo begin sizzling. Nadja and Laszlo ultimately leave before they can burst into flame, but Nandor sticks it out. Within moments however, he too begins to burn. Guillermo tries to put out the flames by dumping water on him, but as it is Holy water, it actually causes him more harm then good. Despite this, Nandor is able to get out of the church and heal.
Elsewhere, the love-stricken Jeff continues to make his way to Nadja. He crashes the car he was driving, then steals a motorcycle to take him the rest of the way. He finds Nadja and addresses her on the front doorstep of the vampire residence. Nadja is pleased to see Jeff (even though she still calls him "Jesk"), but is worried that Laszlo might arrive. Laszlo does indeed appear and knows exactly who Jeff/Gregor is. He further reveals that he has always been the one to decapitate him every time he has resurrected. Laszlo rattles off a list of past instances wherein he has beheaded Gregor. Nadja pleads with Laszlo to let Jeff live a full life this time. Laszlo agrees and Jeff takes off on the motorcycle. However, Jeff had no counted on the metal wire holding up Laszlo's topiary gift and beheads himself. Laszlo then uncovers the topiary sculpture and presents his gift to Nadja.
As the evening draws to a close, Guillermo nervously attends to Nandor as he settles down in his coffin. He asks Guillermo about his own DNA results, and Guillermo tells him that he is just a stereotypical Mexican. He says nothing about his Van Helsing heritage. Nandor is still sore at Guillermo for burning him with Holy water and tells him the he is giving him one demerit and adding another year of service as his familiar.
Guillermo closes the lid to Nandor's coffin and snuffs out all of the nearby candles. He then picks up a handful of the garden stakes that had been left behind and suddenly freaks out. As he casts them aside, one of the stakes strikes a portrait of Nandor on the wall. A look of pure terror stretches across Guillermo's face.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Kayvan Novak as Nandor the Relentless
- Matt Berry as Laszlo Cravensworth
- Natasia Demetriou as Nadja
- Harvey Guillén as Guillermo de la Cruz
- Mark Proksch as Colin Robinson
Guest Starring[]
- Jake McDorman as Jeff Suckler
- Doug Jones as Baron Afanas
Co-Starring[]
- Jean Edwards as Madelaine Darbish
- Oliver Dennis as Priest
- Karim Butt as Teen #1
- Max Calinescu as Teen #2
Notes & Trivia[]
- What We Do in the Shadows was created by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. It is based on the 2014 film of the same name from New Zealand. Like the TV series, the movie was filmed documentary style and revolved around a trio of bumbling vampires who all share a residence and are trying to make it in the modern world despite their antiquated practices and attitudes.
- This series is rated TV-MA. It contains strong language and violence. Viewer discretion is advised.
- This is the finale episode for season one.
- Colin Robinson's genealogy results literally state that he is 100% white.
- Guillermo de la Cruz learns that he is 3.12% Dutch in this episode, but that he is also a descendant of the legendary Van Helsing. This will become a major plot thread in season two of the series.
- Nandor's closest soon-to-be-not-living relative is Madelaine Darbish. She is 94-years-old at the time of her death.
- Laszlo Cravensworth recounting of the numerous times he beheaded Gregor is revealed through a series of aged sketches.
- The beheading painting shown when Nadja is talking about Gregor, is a painting by Italian artist Caravaggio, titled "Judith Beheading Holofernes". Painted in 1598.
Allusions[]
- Guillermo de la Cruz makes reference to once working for Panera Bread prior to becoming Nandor's familiar. Panera Bread is an actual chain of bakery-café restaurants. Guillermo will briefly return to Panera Bread as an employee in between seasons five and six.
- Reference is made to Armand the Vampire, who is a character from Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. This episode features a still shot of Antonio Banderas from the 1994 film Interview With the Vampire. Antonio Banderas is what inspired Guillermo to want to become a vampire.
- Reference is made to the character of R.M. Renfield, who was featured in the 1891 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. The visual representation used in this episode is actually the character of Knock, played by Alexander Granach from the 1922 silent film classic Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens.
- Repeated references are made to Van Helsing, which is the surname of the character Abraham Van Helsing from the novel Dracula, who is a scholar of vampires and sometimes portrayed as a vampire hunter. Some forms of fiction establish that the entire family line of Van Helsings are monster hunters.
Quotes[]
- Nandor: I won't have my semen stolen again!
....
- Laszlo Cravensworth: I suggest you fuck off... and never darken our doorstep again.
....
- Nandor: What was the results of your ancestry test?
- Guillermo de la Cruz: Just... stereotypical Mexican.
- Nandor: Piñata farmers?
- Guillermo de la Cruz: Piñata farmers.
- Nandor: There's nothing to be ashamed of. People love piñatas. Someone's got to breed those colorful donkeys.