When What We Do in the Shadows Season 5 premieres tonight on FX and tomorrow on Hulu, everything will be different for Nandor (Kayvan Novak) and Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) — except Nandor won’t know it. That’s thanks to a secret deal Guillermo made in the final moments of Season 4. After giving up on Nandor ever transforming him into a vampire, Guillermo turned to old pal Derrick (Chris Sandiford) to do the deed. We not only learn if Derrick made good on the deal in the What We Do in the Shadows Season 5 premiere, but that Nandor’s noticed that his familiar has been a little “off” lately. Namely, Guillermo has been keeping his distance and his master has taken note of his servant’s absences.
“I mean, you know, Guillermo is Nandor’s familiar and he’s supposed to be devoted to Nandor and do everything Nandor says. You know, kiss Nandor’s ass and clean his underwear and fetch him this and get him that,” Kayvan Novak told Decider. “Nandor needs that so he can reject it.”
Novak explained that Nandor has been negging Guillermo for years as part of a strategy to keep him close. “You know, treat him mean, keep him keen. And now, you know, he ain’t so keen,” Novak said. “So Nandor is like, ‘Well, who am I going to treat mean?’ So, you know, it’s tough for him.”
As fans will see, Nandor will turn to a legendary holy scripture for advice on the topic: the Cosmopolitan quiz. Harvey Guillén thought this touch from the writers was brilliant.
“Like ’10 Signs to Know that He Doesn’t Care About You Anymore?'” Guillén laughed before imagining Nandor combing through the list. “‘Why is he being distant? I haven’t seen Guillermo a lot lately. He’s been keeping his distance from me.’ Because he doesn’t want the secret to show.”
That secret is that Derrick did indeed attempt to turn Guillermo into a vampire, only the ritual didn’t go as expected. Instead of being excited for his dream to come true, Guillermo was plagued first by last second doubts and then by a deluge of blood squirting out of his body.
“He’s definitely having doubts. He’s a regular, you know, Meryl Streep, like it’s been tough for him because it’s not the transition that he thought would happen organically,” Guillén said. “And just the amount of blood that just gushing out that we’ll never see probably because we just let the camera roll. There was like a good 15 minutes of blood in this giant tank that just keeps burning and so like it just kept going.”
Apparently there was so much fake blood in the sequence that walking around the room became akin to riding a “Slip N Slide.”
“Yeah, the transition was not what he expected. But it’s definitely what is hilarious about our show is that nothing ever is ever easy for everyone. We kind of find out that sometimes what you want in life is not what’s best for you.”
What many What We Do In Shadows fans want most in life is for Nandor and Guillermo to admit their love for each other already. “Nandermo” as fans have coined the ‘ship is one of the most compelling reasons to keep tuning into the hysterical FX series.
“I mean, the fans have done an amazing job of like taking this narrative and making it into what they want. It’s like a ‘will they/won’t they,’ Diane/Cheers moment,” Guillén said. “But it’s so fun to see all the creativity that comes out of it. Just the fan art itself. Like I post as much as I can. Just because it takes time to do that art, like you know and showcase it.”
Still Guillén cautioned Decider that despite appearances, he’s long been told by What We Do in the Shadows writers to walk a “tightrope” when it comes to Guillermo’s feelings for Nandor. He recalls asking Stefanie Robinson all the way back in Season 1 if Guillermo was in love with his master or what.
“It can go either way. Sometimes you spend so much time with the person that you work with, they do have these feelings of love, but is that necessarily a physical attraction? Or is it a long lasting love and friendship? We don’t know, because it’s such a thin line with them,” Guillén said before offering up an example of how Nandor’s let his feeling slip.
“[In Season 4] Nandor clones Guillermo’s first boyfriend ever, just because he wants to feel what he’s feeling instead of just maybe admitting that he wants to feel that with the person who’s been living in that household.”
Guillén also notes that Nandor’s ultimate solution to his problem with Guillermo at the start of Season 5 is evidence of the vampire’s affections for his familiar. After reading the Cosmo quiz, Nandor surmises that the household forgot Guillermo’s birthday. He gifts Guillermo a foot locker the familiar has mentioned before, unaware Guillermo intends to use it as a (comically small) coffin.
“Of course [Guillermo] wouldn’t get a coffin. Of course he’s trying to keep it a secret from Nandor. And, of course, things would never be simple for Guillermo,” Guillén said. “So of course he’s been hinting at a foot locker and out of the kindness of his dead heart, Nandor goes and gets one at the mall.”
“I think it’s hilarious. It’s also just showing that dynamic between them where it’s like [Nandor] clearly cares about him. He’s getting him what he wants because that was gonna make him happy.”
So is that proof that Nandermo is endgame? Neither Guillén or Novak would say.
“It’s been so elongated and stretched out like taffy that it’s a nice slow burn. And I’m excited to see what happens because at the core of it they do care for each other and whatever that ends up being, is what it’s meant to be,” Guillén said. “Some people might be happy about us, some people might not be, but whatever it is, it’s gonna be and sometimes that’s just life.”
The first two episodes of What We Do in the Shadows Season 5 will premiere on Thursday, July 13 at 10p ET/PT on FX, streaming tomorrow on Hulu.