‘What We Do in the Shadows’: Paul Simms & Mark Proksch on Colin’s Season 4 Transformation

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 4, Episode 10 of What We Do in the Shadows, “Sunrise, Sunset.”]

What We Do in the Shadows never ceases to surprise fans, especially when heading into a finale cliffhanger, and Season 4 is no exception.

In the shocking installment, “Sunrise, Sunset,” vampire roommates Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and human familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) were taken off guard when their longtime housemate, Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) seemingly returned following a brief period of energy vampire adolesence.

As his angsty behavior became too much for stand-in father figure Laszlo to handle, Colin’s identity as an energy-sucking vamp was unveiled, forcing the confused creature to take refuge in his basement room where he continued to smash the walls with a hammer. Ultimately, the hammer then uncovered hidden clues, which the transitioning Colin followed to find a hidden room behind the basement walls where old Colin Robinson’s wardrobe, journals, and more were housed.

(Credit: Brendon Meadows/FX)

After a quick reading session, some sped-up hair loss, and a change of clothes, it would seem that the original Colin is back in our midst, despite seemingly dying in the Season 3 penultimate episode, “A Farwell.” The return clearly throws Nadja, Nandor, Laszlo, and Guillermo for a loop when the monotone Colin returns, calmly sitting among them in the living room of their deteriorating mansion.

“It’s great to get back into Colin’s beige uniform and droning on and on,” Proksch admits, telling TV Insider, “It was great playing the baby, tween, and teen Colin as well. I think it breathes a lot of new life into the character for me, and that may inform some of my choices going forward in playing Colin Robinson. We’ll see.”

What We Do in the Shadows was renewed for Seasons 5 and 6 prior to the Season 4 premiere earlier this summer. So expect more from Proksch’s energy vamp in future episodes to come. For now, showrunner Paul Simms muses, “All of us on set were very excited about this scene when the real Colin walks into the living room with all them, cause we were like, ‘oh my God, it’s been so long since we’ve seen him.'”

(Credit: Russ Martin/FX)

The crew was so happy to see Proksch back in his usual role, that Simms reveals, “even in the editing, we let [Colin’s] story about taxes go on much longer than we would in a normal episode, cause it was just nice to hear him back droning on and putting everyone to sleep.”

The biggest question posed by Colin Robinson’s reappearance, and apparent loss of memory regarding Laszlo’s raising of him throughout the season, is, did viewers witness the life-cycle of an energy vampire in real-time? “What we wanted to do was go through a compressed version of the whole life cycle from baby to grown up. And me sort of anticipating what I’ll feel like in a few years when my kids are grown up and don’t remember all the nice things I did for them when they were little,” Simms shares of the inspiration behind Colin’s Season 4 arc.

As for Proksch, he’s excited about the steps that have been made to further define the energy vampire lore. “What’s interesting to me is that this has now cemented in stone the mythology of an energy vampire, like every a hundred years they die, crawl out of their bodies, and grow up in a matter of a TV season,” the actor remarks.

(Credit: Russ Martin/FX)

The life cycle also raises another interesting idea, could Colin Robinson be the oldest vampire among the Staten Island clan? “He might be older than all the other vampires,” Simms acknowledges. “We don’t know. He just may be regenerating into a new version of himself every 100 years.”

Of the vampires most impacted by Colin Robinson’s return to form is Laszlo who took upon himself the fatherly duty of raising baby Colin. Saddened by the idea that his roommate may not remember their times together, Simms reassures fans, “we don’t want to get too high on ourselves and start doing sad episodes.” In other words, don’t expect a depressed Laszlo to surface in the Season 5 premiere.

“But if you watch closely, there is an ambiguity after Colin says to Laszlo, that he doesn’t remember anything and walks out,” Simms says, offering some hope for Laszlo to receive some kind of recognition for his efforts. “He whistles a little tune to himself. So maybe he does [remember], it could be subconscious, it could be he’s playing a game. Who knows?” Simms teases.

(Credit: Russ Martin/FX)

One thing that’s certain after Colin’s “return,” and it’s the appreciation of his integral role within the home. “He’s always been somewhat valuable, but now he definitely has a role in the house,” Proksch assures viewers. For one, the vampires would be penniless without his knowledge of their banking information as Nadja’s nightclub was purposely set ablaze. The vampire wished to collect money for the fire, unaware you need insurance to collect anything.

As the fire tore through the space, blood sprinklers saved the majority of the business, but her office containing secretly stashed cash was demolished by the flames. Simms says of Nadja’s Season 4 story that opening a nightclub, “it seems fun at first, and then there’s substance abuse, it gets too wild, and before they know it, they’ve almost gone crazy.”

“So I think that the nightclub story is sort of over,” Simms adds of Nadja’s future, saying, “next season is about dealing with how out of control she got and trying to get herself back on the straight and narrow.”

While Nadja may be working on self-improvement in Season 5, Guillermo set up a potentially story-altering change for the next chapter when he approached friend Derek (Chris Sandiford) with a bag full of money and a request to be transformed into a vampire. Could the longtime familiar’s dream finally come true?

Related

'What We Do in the Shadows' Team on More Creatures & Different Kinds of Love in Season 4

“This whole season is about Guillermo finally looking out for himself and taking matters into his own hands, even if it involves stealing money from the nightclub,” Simms acknowledges. “It’s interesting to see Guillermo, who’s usually such a cautious character make us such a rash decision. And this season that we’re about to start shooting is all about him and everyone dealing with the fallout from that,” the executive producer teases, adding, “that’s as close as I can come to [saying anything].”

Where this leaves Guillermo and Nandor for the future will also remain to be seen. Some fans of the duo were given a few more breadcrumbs this season as to the depth of their feelings for one another. “Guillermo and Nandor obviously love each other deeply in ways that neither of them wants to admit or even understands,” Simms shares. “That’s been consistent since the first scene of the first episode. As the show developed, I think Nandor has come to realize how much he values Guillermo.”

That didn’t stop the vampire from deciding to take up reading for the next ten to fifteen years, leading Guillermo to seek out Derek for help in jumpstarting his own dream life as a vampire. What lays ahead for them all remains to be seen, but if Season 4 teases anything it hints that viewers should continue to expect more outlandish supernatural storylines in Seasons 5 and 6.

Until then, stay tuned for more news on the show’s upcoming chapters and relive every hilarious moment with the Staten Island vamps by streaming the show on Hulu.

What We Do in the Shadows, Season 5 Premiere, TBA, FX