What We Do In The Shadows recap: Weird, horny, and funny as hell

Is there a single show on TV less beholden to its own “rules” than What We Do In The Shadows?

Time and time again, it’s proven to be the series’ secret weapon: the frequent, joyful realization that an audience capable of accepting a bunch of vampires sharing a house together on Staten Island will probably accept anything, provided it’s funny enough. Vampire science experiments: Why not? A literal Freaky Friday scenario: Why not? Laszlo Cravensworth banging his wife’s body, which is simultaneously possessed by both the ghost of her past self and the spirit of his roommate/former surrogate son, while his wife’s other spirit cheers him on from within a possessed doll? Well…why the fuck not, right?

All of which is to say that “Pride Parade” might be the most chaotic, out-there episode in the entire history of WWDITS’s four-season run, a steady, relentless escalation in silliness that’s also easily the show’s funniest episode since last season’s exceptional “Private School.” Building from a few basic ideas—Neighbor Sean is holding a Pride parade; The Doll wants to get laid; Laszlo and Guillermo are investigating the latter’s botched vampire transformation—the episode is as unrelenting as Nandor himself. And, just like Nandor, it ends up shooting itself straight into the stratosphere in pursuit of these bold ambitions.

Speaking of: It’s saying something when the episode’s least impactful plotline is the one that sees a main character literally get turned into a meteor, slamming down (nude) in the midst of a child-friendly community event. Nandor ends up in space because he’s jealous that Guillermo has been hanging out with Laszlo a lot lately, ostensibly because he’s impressed by his big brain (but actually because they’re looking into the transformation, which has now “gifted” Gizmo with a small pair of grotesque bat wings, but kept him firmly at “slightly below normal human speed”). While the research team members are busy cataloguing myths—and there’s a real irony to this being the episode that finally sees this show try to pin down some vampire rules—Laszlo casually notes that vamps can’t fly above the cloud layer. That’s all it takes: Ten minutes later, we’re treated to Nandor with a GoPro strapped to his head, floating gleefully in outer space, before re-entry fries off his pants.

And that’s, in a nutshell, “Pride Parade,” which takes every breadcrumb offered up and follows it to its funniest and most deranged-logic-powered conclusion. (It’s delightfully easy to imagine the show’s writers asking each other “Could they fly into space?” and letting this particular plot beat flow from there from there.) Take Laszlo, who determines that Guillermo’s “daywalker” sweat manages to block whatever element of sunlight causes vampires to burn…and swiftly whips up a batch for personal use, decking himself out like Marlon Brando in The Island Of Dr. Moreau and having a day out drawing dicks in the sand at the beach. (Doesn’t stop him from getting a hellacious sunburn, though; Magic Blade sweat can only do so much.)

Meanwhile, Natasia Demetriou gets an incredible showcase for her physical and vocal comedic skills, after The Doll (who reveals that she’s a virgin, since Nadja had only done “hand stuff” before her first death) talks Nadja Prime into swapping bodies with her so she can get some action. The result is a noodle-limbed, horny mess, who—after a tremendously awful/hilarious stab at speed dating—eventually settles on Colin Robinson as the object of her concupiscent urges. In a less aggressively silly show, The Doll’s subsequent refusal to relinquish the new body (after Colin turns her down, despite being really into “how fucked up this is”) might be played for dramatic stakes; here, it’s just an excuse to shove Colin’s spirit into Nadja’s body, too, creating the horrifying visual of Mark Proksch’s face peeking out of the back of Demetriou’s head.

Everything comes together at the Pride parade, where even Guillermo—consigned to sitting in a wagon on the back of the vampire’s parade float, holding a sign identifying him as “GAY GUY”—manages to have a pretty good time. What We Do In The Shadows has always been a show that embraces the idea that consequences are strictly an opt-in business, but“Pride Parade” might be the closest it’s ever gotten to being a live-action cartoon. It’s no coincidence that it’s produced one of the most chaotically hilarious episodes in the series’ entire run.

Stray observations

• Sean is running for comptroller, largely so he can bring the New York Rangers back to Staten Island. His proposed slogans for bringing in the “gay demographic”: “YAS SEAN!” or “Ay, I’m Bein’ Gay Ova Here!”
• Nandor’s been very busy; a little bird named Matthew flew into his room, and he’s trying to make him his friend.
• “The corpses float also.”
• Laszlo has taken to calling Guillermo “the boy” now that he’s studying him, and it’s extremely charming; it’s really fun to see the character so fired up, as Matt Berry throws himself into Lasz’s newfound enthusiasm.
• In any other episode, Harvey Guillén chomping down on a whole bulb of garlic would stand a chance for most impressive bit of physical acting; as is, it’s simply very cute.
• “So, tonight is Friday. Otherwise known in spiritual circles as ‘Freaky Friday.’” The Guide’s mostly just around for plot-moving purposes this week, but that was a nice line.
• Vampire facts established tonight include the “have to count rice” thing, the fact that they can triple jump (“like Mario,” as Guillermo helpfully notes), and, of course, the Nandor-supplied knowledge that “they always go soft after two pumps.”
• “I used to be dead, and then I was a ghost, and then I was a doll, and now I am human once more. How about you?”
  “I’m in sales.”
  “Ooh, mud huts or livestock?”
• I can’t just write down every line Nadja-Doll says while speed-dating, despite being sorely tempted, but I will be thinking about the way Demetriou says “Boom, I’m your whhiiife” all week.
• “Strip off, cock ahoy, and get on that running machine.”
• “Sorry, Nadja. Daddy likey what Daddy likey.”
• The mid-credits scene is never leaving me, I fear. “Oh yeah, that’s fine. Juuust fine.”