‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Season 3: Producer Teases Bigger Story for Familiar Character
What We Do in the Shadows Season 3 may not yet have a release date, but a few more details about the next season of FX’s vampire comedy series are trickling out. During a virtual panel at PaleyFest LA 2021, cast and producers offered a hint about what fans can expect from upcoming episodes, when they do arrive.
A familiar ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ character will have a big arc in season 3
During the pre-recorded panel, which premiered March 30, executive producer Paul Simms revealed that the show’s cast would be getting the first season 3 scripts later that day.
So what’s in store for Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Nandor (Kayvan Novak) next season? “A lot of funny stuff,” Simms promised. “I don’t want to give anything away.”
“I can tease one thing. I can’t say the name,” he did say. “A character that we’ve known before in the show will be joining us for a season-long arc. It’s going to be very fun and exciting.”
Simms didn’t get more specific than that. However, he did clarify that the character he was referencing wasn’t Manhattan vampire Simon the Devious, played by Nick Kroll.
“It’s a character we all know and love,” he added.
The vampires adopt a hellhound
Also next season, the vampire roommates will be adopting an appropriately weird pet. “The vampires get a hellhound to protect them,” Simms shared during the show’s Comic-Con@Home panel in July 2020.
Plus, every character is on some kind of journey.
“If there’s any preview we can give about season 3, it’s that they all have something that they’re searching for,” Simms said during the Comic-Con panel. “Nandor might be searching for love. Colin still doesn’t know how he became an energy vampire.”
There’s also the matter of season’s 2 dramatic ending. In the finale, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) revealed his identity as a vampire-slayer after the Vampiric Council sentenced Nadja, Laszlo, Nandor, and Colin Robinson to death. Part of season 3 will undoubtedly deal with the fallout from the bloodbath at the theater.
Will Laszlo go on the run again as Jackie Daytona?
“On the Run” was one of the standout episodes from What We Do in the Shadows Season 2. In that installment, Laszlo is forced to flee Staten Island after a past foe resurfaces. In disguise as Jackie Daytona, he hides out in Pennsylvania (because it sounds similar to Transylvania), where he works as a bar owner and volleyball coach. But eventually, Jim the Vampire (Mark Hamill) shows up to settle the score.
So, could the truck-driving, toothpick-chewing Jackie Daytona return in season 3? It doesn’t sound likely.
“I think if we tried to force that scenario again it wouldn’t feel as authentic or as funny,” writer and executive producer Stefani Robinson said during the PaleyFest panel. However, she added that “On the Run,” did open the door to telling different kinds of stories for other characters.
“I feel like there’s an opportunity to really break format with all of the characters and to push the show into different limits that we hadn’t necessarily considered before,” she added. “Different settings, different format, and a new way to explore what we’ve already established.”
Simms concurred.
“I think the way to do Jackie Daytona again isn’t Jackie Daytona’s second adventure, but rather episodes — we have ones planned — where all of the sudden the show goes in a completely different direction than it’s done before,” he said.
What We Do in the Shadows Seasons 1 and 2 are currently streaming on Hulu.
Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook!
