A few weeks ago, I wrote about how “The Night Market,” Episode 4 of What We Do In The Shadows‘ current season, is my manifesto. I explained my thoroughly researched, evidence-forward hypothesis that Nandor (Kayvan Nova) shows his attraction toward men in particular by wrestling and / or fighting them; I then highlighted how he has now done this with Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) TWICE. Needless to say, that episode broke me – and whatever shred of me wasn’t destroyed after it WWDITS Season 4 Episode 6, “The Wedding,” quickly took care of.
Spoilers for “The Wedding” follow.
This week, we get the much-awaited wedding of Nandor and Marwa (Parisa Fakhri). The gang is beautifully divided once more into their own storylines as they work to give Nandor his “perfect day.” Guillermo has been losing his mind trying to keep up with the “bridezilla” that Nandor has become; neither of them has slept for over a week. But the real kicker is that Marwa – as she should – also voices her opinions about what she wants for her wedding, making Nandor freak out even more.
To help out – which she notes is totally out of character for her – Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) and The Guide (Kristen Schaal) sit down with Nandor to go over some of the things they still have to do. The two of them take up the biggest challenge: visiting Baron Afanas (Doug Jones) and convincing him to officiate the ceremony. They even take him to get a makeover, in what quickly becomes one of my favorite scenes in WWDITS Season 4 Episode 6, after Baron confides in them that he doesn’t feel attractive enough to stand up in front of the vampire community over which he used to rule.
But at the end of the day, it becomes ever clearer that for some of the things on his insane list of requests – like a dodo bird for the Wraiths to eat – Nandor is going to have to use some of his Djinn (Anoop Desai) wishes. Convinced (bullied) by Nadja, he uses his wishes to bring back Baron Afanas to his original, hot smoking body; to get a real a live dodo bird; and to make Marwa “love all the same things” he does. (Hold onto this one; it’ll come into play later.) And with that, Nandor has used up all of his wishes.
What starts off as a beautiful (and horny) ceremony quickly takes a turn for the worse, as objections to the marriage start to roll in and evolve into a hilarious roast from everyone involved. It’s sometimes completely off topic, but it’s also merciless. The roast ends with Marwa and Nandor married, but not before Marwa confesses that she came close to calling off the engagement many times. In fact, that very afternoon, some…force compelled her to go forward with the ceremony (#JusticeForMarwa, like are you fucking kidding me). The rest of the night goes by with a lot of sneaky fucking, primarily between Nadja and the Baron, and Laszlo and the Baron; there’s also a fantastic live music event from Nadja and Laszlo.
WWDITS Season 4 Episode 6 is a perfect case study in “more is more.” I found myself on more than one occasion completely sucked into the story and going back to rewatch jokes that made me burst out laughing so hysterically that I missed what came next. From Nadja and the Guide’s incredible makeover montage to Nadja and Laszlo’s incredible performance to Guillermo losing his mind and cursing out the camera crew in his interview, “The Wedding” has it all. Including drama and gut-wrenching moments that creep up on you when you least expect it.
I mean it when I tell you my brain had a delayed reaction to the Marwa and Guillermo scene. It was as though it couldn’t fully process what I was watching and needed a moment to make sure I wasn’t going crazy, but Tumblr was quick to confirm my suspicions and validate my reaction. And react I did – screaming, crying, throwing up, losing my mind, having a nervous breakdown, which only made me think about my inevitable death when the two finally confess their feelings for each other. It also took me back to every moment throughout the series when Guillermo has wanted to hug Nandor and the vampire has denied him. But the second that Marwa has the chance to get Guillermo alone, her immediate instinct is to hug him and kiss him like her life depends on it. I can only imagine the longing, the deep desire Nandor has had all these years to tear down the walls he’s built around himself and allow himself to reciprocate the feelings he’s pushed down.
Anyway, if you need me, you can find me screaming into my pillow and cursing out the What We Do In The Shadows because they’ve ruined my life (love them to pieces, though).
Finally, WWDITS Season 4 Episode 6 sets up a key piece of the story for the rest of the season. As a wedding gift, the Djinn gives Nandor a smaller Djinn lamp, this one only containing three wishes. The smaller number connects directly to Nandor’s current arc, in which he recognizes what’s most important to him and finally uses his powers to do something selfless, rather than for his own gain, amusement, or vanity. The addition of what is quite frankly a deus ex machina will not only serve to show how much Nandor has grown as a vampire but also what kind of undead he’ll choose to be going forward. I have my theories about the three wishes, but I’m very excited to see what this amazing crew of writers have in store for us now that their intentions are clearer.
Rating: 9.5/10
Bonus: Here are some memes that made me laugh through the pain:
