What We Do in the Shadows: Showrunner Paul Simms on the Series Finale!
Saying Goodbye to Staten Island's Favorite (and Most Absurd) Vampires
Get ready for a bittersweet farewell, What We Do in the Shadows fans! Season 6 is bringing the curtains down on this Emmy-winning FX comedy co-created by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement; it is surprising that a show which had seemed to go on forever is coming to a close, showcasing the enormous success which had led to this current and final ending. The show maintains the style of its 2014 predecessor; a mockumentary horror-comedy about those surprisingly inept vampires attempting to live amongst the mortals. It successfully captured the spirit of the original; moving the action to New York, showcasing the four vampires alongside that long-suffering familiar. Now, they must face their future; an ending that must address so many ongoing plot threads for those hilarious characters!
Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) finally makes the monumental decision of returning to normal human life after his experiences in previous seasons and now seeks his own unique destiny far removed from his past interactions with his vampire masters; an ambitious plan involving work in an office; demonstrating some unique struggles concerning workplace interactions and human society. Those hilariously inept vampires are up to their usual hijinks: Nandor and Nadja cause trouble for Guillermo's new job, while Laszlo and Colin Robinson take on another ridiculously ambitious and scientific challenge involving reviving the dead with surprising approaches that ultimately demonstrate how creative those hilarious approaches truly were. It demonstrates a masterful blending of absurd plots with a highly specific yet memorable sense of character building!
The Final Season's Stellar Cast: Old Friends and New Faces
Season 6’s returning main cast has Harvey Guillén, Natasia Demetriou, Kayvan Novak, Mark Proksch, Matt Berry, and Kristen Schaal, along with several memorable guest appearances; these individuals provide many memorable and humorous moments throughout that very special season finale. Those guests alone completely deliver this unique blend of already successful talent and surprising additions of new actors; those fresh additions inject an already incredibly popular comedy with even more fun! These include Mike O'Brien (Saturday Night Live) as their long-forgotten roommate Jerry, Doug Jones (the iconic Baron Afanas), and Tim Heidecker (Nope) as Guillermo's new boss. We have got everything in this final season – new elements added alongside the many existing main characters to deliver that incredible storyline!
We recently sat down with Paul Simms, this show's showrunner; he spoke on everything surrounding season six: The enormous production effort; and those emotional factors surrounding that grand final conclusion; not to mention what went into this final season’s overall approach – the selection and selection process that decided which new faces would join the story in those already memorable interactions that make What We Do in the Shadows so hilarious!
Simms's Approach: Laughs, Not Tears
Here’s what Simms said when speaking on the importance of a specific approach for the series finale: "The reflection will feel greater once I'm actually finished editing the show...It was emotional, when we shot our last shot...But that was months ago...But I'm very satisfied. Because looking at the whole season, we set out to make a season that was not heavy or emotional. We definitely didn't want to do something where it was like, "Okay, you've laughed for five seasons, and here in season six, you're gonna cry because the show is over." We wanted it to be as funny as the other seasons...But I'm very satisfied." That statement alone shows how focused the creative director remains to be on maintaining quality across its episodes; specifically aiming toward a well-designed story that doesn’t try to shoehorn those deeply emotionally impactful themes just to emphasize the final nature of that episode! It also shows the immense thought that goes into creating such long and continuous series that maintain that consistent level of high quality which would be incredibly rare!
A Balanced Act: Standalone Episodes with an Overarching Story
Simms emphasizes how difficult maintaining consistency and balanced story plots would be; creating stand-alone episodes in addition to this very necessary and large, overarching storyline. Here’s how he stated it: "Every season feels the same. People always ask like, "Oh, do you have things that you saved up for the last season?" And no, every season we feel like we use up everything we have...It was the same thing this season, we just used up everything we had." This kind of dedication showcases why this particular series remains at the very top and maintains a surprisingly high and consistent level of writing across multiple seasons.
Guillermo’s growing independence is that big serialized storyline; yet maintaining the necessary focus that emphasizes other individual experiences and characters which made for some surprisingly good side plots and made certain individuals come into prominence. He's outgrowing that dependence and attempting normal human life, yet the other vampires get so hilariously wrapped up in his story. It is surprising just how good their support, for a ridiculous reason really demonstrates just how fun that cast and interactions can be; becoming an even better storyline than it seemed at first!
Guest Stars Galore: The Funniest Faces in Comedy
A huge thing to discuss was Simms' focus for casting the guests: "A lot of our seasons before, our guest stars have been people who've played vampires before, and we decided this season, let's just use all the funniest people that we've always wanted to use." The dedication toward a humorous theme remains throughout those specific additions and how well this added humor impacts those moments of absurd humor is noteworthy. This choice further solidifies just why that focus on those well-crafted plots and memorable guest casts alone made this particular season unique compared to the rest.
The Baron's Glorious Return!
We can also see a shocking return: That ever-so-glamorous and slightly burned-up Baron Afanas (Doug Jones)! Simms had this to say concerning this important character return: "He discovered the little creatures — the hybrid creatures that Laszlo made of Guillermo, that were half-Guillermo, half-frog — secrete a special cream that if he rubs on his skin, returns him to his former glamor." This showcases that bringing Doug Jones into the final episodes meant creating opportunities where his extremely funny talent and memorable on-screen presence remains as paramount as in the previous seasons. This detail adds significant comedic effect, given how much those memorable appearances added that additional unique sense of the unexpected.
Conclusion: A Hilariously Heartfelt Farewell!
What We Do in the Shadows' season finale looks great, continuing its well-crafted storylines and that trademark humor; showcasing those many absurd events that makes it famous. That commitment to laughter above tear-jerking sentiment adds further value to an ending crafted specifically towards fulfilling what was previously discussed and delivering what the writers desired and emphasized even from those very first comments from the creative director, emphasizing the incredible depth of creativity and the importance placed on making an absolutely hilarious ending! This shows it was designed for specific themes; and those comedic, creative approaches highlight this incredibly successful production. This really emphasizes how impressive Simms' and the team’s skill is.
