It’s over. Honestly, it feels weird even typing that because the vampires of Staten Island always felt like they’d just keep failing upward forever. But What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 is the official end of the road for Nandor, Nadja, Laszlo, Colin Robinson, and the increasingly exhausted Guillermo de la Cruz. After six years of high-stakes tax evasion, accidental murders, and enough "bat!" transformations to keep a cape maker in business for life, FX finally closed the coffin.
Most shows fizzle out. They lose the "it" factor around year four. Somehow, this mockumentary about four roommates who haven’t updated their wardrobe since the Ottoman Empire stayed sharp. But Season 6 isn't just a victory lap. It’s a strange, frequently gross, and surprisingly sentimental look at what happens when immortal idiots realize they might actually have to face the music.
The Big Reset: Life After Being a Vampire (Sorta)
We have to talk about Guillermo. If you watched the Season 5 finale, you know the massive status quo shift. Guillermo finally got his wish. He became a vampire. Then he realized he hated it because he's fundamentally too "good" of a person to murder people for snacks. So, he went back to being human.
What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 starts with Guillermo in a crisis. He’s living in the shed. He’s trying to figure out if he even wants to be an assistant anymore. For years, the engine of the show was "Will he or won't he?" Now that we know he won't, the dynamic has shifted into something much more awkward. He’s essentially the ex-boyfriend who still lives in the guest house. He knows too much, he’s seen too many headless bodies, and the vampires still haven't learned how to use a microwave without his help.
The writers, led by showrunner Paul Simms, didn't play it safe here. They could have just made him a vampire forever and called it a day. Instead, they leaned into the tragedy of being a mid-30s guy who wasted a decade of his life waiting for a promotion that turned out to be a nightmare. It’s relatable. Well, minus the wooden stakes and the blood-drinking.
The Forgotten Roommate and Jerry the Vampire
One of the biggest swings this season takes is the introduction—or rather, the re-introduction—of Jerry.
Who is Jerry? Exactly.
The premise is brilliant: there was a fifth roommate this whole time. Jerry (played by Mike O’Brien) went into a "super slumber" in the mid-90s, and the others simply forgot to wake him up. For nearly thirty years, Jerry has been rotting in a room upstairs while the others went to Atlantic City and started a vampire nightclub.
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When Jerry wakes up in What We Do in the Shadows Season 6, he is the ultimate "straight man." He looks at the others and asks the questions we’ve all been thinking:
- Why haven't you conquered the New World yet?
- Why is there a camera crew following you?
- Why is Nandor wearing a T-shirt from a 5k run he didn't participate in?
Jerry is a mirror. He reflects how much the core group has softened. They aren't cold-blooded killers anymore; they’re a weird, codependent family that mostly cares about what’s on TV. It’s a classic sitcom trope—the "long-lost relative"—but twisted through the lens of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s original vision. It forces the vampires to justify their existence.
Laszlo’s Mad Scientist Phase
Laszlo Cravensworth has always been the heart of the show’s pure absurdity. Matt Berry’s delivery remains the gold standard for television comedy. In this final season, he leans heavily into his "gentleman scientist" persona.
Watching him try to "reanimate" things or conduct experiments with Colin Robinson is gold. It’s basically Frankenstein if Victor Frankenstein had a thick British accent and zero actual medical knowledge. The chemistry between Matt Berry and Mark Proksch (Colin) has become the secret weapon of the series. While Nandor pines for meaning and Nadja screams at the heavens, these two are just vibing in the basement, potentially causing an apocalypse because they’re bored.
Why the Comedy Still Hits in 2026
The comedy landscape is tough right now. Everything is a "dramedy" or a "prestige limited series." Shadows stayed a hard comedy until the very end.
The humor in What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 relies on the gap between the vampires' massive egos and their total incompetence. They think they are gods. In reality, they are people who get confused by a Ring doorbell. There’s a specific episode involving a corporate office job that perfectly captures this. Seeing a 700-year-old warrior-king deal with a jammed printer or "reply all" emails is a joke that shouldn't work for twenty minutes, but it does because Kayvan Novak plays Nandor with such earnest, puppy-dog confusion.
The Problem With Ending a Cult Classic
Let’s be real: ending a show like this is a nightmare. If you go too dark, the fans hate it. If you go too happy, it feels fake.
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The "vampire" genre is usually about gloom or sexiness. Shadows is about the mundane. The ending of the series has to honor that. You can't have them go out in a blaze of glory fighting Van Helsing’s descendants because that's not who they are. They are the people who stay at the party way too late because they don't have anywhere else to go.
Season 6 spends a lot of time acknowledging the passage of time. For immortals, time shouldn't matter. But for the viewers, we’ve watched these actors age. We’ve seen Guillermo grow from a timid kid into a man who can hold his own. The show acknowledges that even if you can live forever, you can’t stay in the same place forever.
The Technical Mastery Behind the Goofiness
We don't talk enough about the practical effects. Even in its final season, the show uses an incredible mix of wirework, prosthetics, and "bad" CGI that is intentionally styled to look like old horror movies.
When a vampire turns into a bat, it’s not a $20 million Marvel transformation. It’s a puff of smoke and a weirdly stiff bat model. This lo-fi aesthetic is a choice. It keeps the show grounded in its mockumentary roots. If the effects looked too good, the jokes wouldn't land. The absurdity needs that layer of "this looks a bit cheap" to maintain the charm.
Then there’s the costume design. Nadja’s outfits in What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 are arguably the best in the series. They are opulent, heavy, and completely impractical for Staten Island. It highlights the stubbornness of the characters. They refuse to adapt, even when the world around them is moving at 5G speeds.
What People Get Wrong About the Final Season
A lot of critics thought the show should have ended after the "Colin Robinson as a baby" arc. They thought the well was dry.
They were wrong.
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The genius of What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 is that it stops trying to top itself with bigger plot twists. Instead, it goes smaller. It focuses on the internal politics of the house. It addresses the fact that Nandor and Guillermo’s relationship is the most toxic, loving, and complicated thing on television.
It’s not a "shipping" thing. It’s a study of power. Nandor needs someone to look up to him because, without an audience, he’s just a guy in a dusty cape. Guillermo needs to be needed because he’s spent his whole life being overlooked. Season 6 forces them to look at each other without the distraction of "becoming a vampire."
The Guest Stars
The show has always been a magnet for cameos—remember the Vampire Council with Tilda Swinton and Wesley Snipes? Season 6 keeps that tradition alive but in a more subdued way. It’s less about "look who it is!" and more about filling the world with weirdos who feel like they belong in this universe.
The writers have a knack for finding actors who can play "deadpan weird" perfectly. Whether it's a disgruntled neighbor or a supernatural entity working at the DMV, the world feels lived-in.
How to Approach the Finale
If you haven't started the final season yet, go in expecting a slow burn. It’s not all action. It’s a lot of sitting around the kitchen table. It’s a lot of bickering.
But pay attention to the background. The show has always been great at "blink and you'll miss it" visual gags. From the portraits on the walls that change expressions to the sheer amount of junk the vampires have collected over the centuries, the production design tells the story of people who can't let go of the past.
What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 is a lesson in how to leave a party while people still want you to stay. It doesn't overstay its welcome. It doesn't try to set up a dozen spin-offs (though we’d all watch a Wellington Paranormal crossover). It just finishes the story of these specific, lovable idiots.
Practical Steps for Fans and Newcomers:
- Watch the spin-offs: If you’re feeling the void after the finale, hunt down Wellington Paranormal. It’s set in the same universe and carries that same dry, New Zealand wit.
- Revisit the 2014 Film: If you only know the show, go back to the original movie. It’s fascinating to see where the DNA of the series started and how much it evolved.
- Check out the "Shadows" Art Books: The creature designs and set builds are genuinely world-class. Seeing the sketches for the Sire or the Baron’s various forms gives you a new appreciation for the craft.
- Follow the Cast: Most of the core cast are heading into massive projects. Matt Berry has voice work and solo music that is essential for any fan of his specific brand of chaos.
The sun is finally coming up on the Staten Island coven. It’s a bummer, but honestly? It’s better to burn out (or turn into a pile of ash) than to fade away into a boring, repetitive sitcom. They did it. They stuck the landing. They remained the funniest monsters on the block until the very last frame.