How What We Do In The Shadows Dodged Comedy's Most Tired Romance Trope
Romantic relationships can be tough. Romantic relationships that last for centuries are potentially much, much tougher. But on the FX vampire comedy series "What We Do in the Shadows," love is easy for two of its eternal paramours. Vampires Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) and Laszlo (Matt Berry) have ups and downs like any couple, but they're always fighting for the same team: their partnership. Whether they're working together to put on a vampire orgy, fighting against witches, or raising a baby Colin Robinson together, they do it with love and patience for one another. Many couples on TV are constantly at odds, creating comedic or dramatic tension, but Nadja and Laszlo are truly a terrific pair. They support one another, trust one another, and most of all, they treat each other as equals.
At the end of season 3, Laszlo sent Nadja off to Europe to meet with the Vampiric Council on her own because he believed in her and knew she could do it on her own, with Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) there to help keep her safe. He respects her in a very real way, and she shows him the same respect in turn. Their marriage may be extremely unconventional, but it's something to appreciate.
A drama-free romance
In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes TV, Demetriou and Berry explained that their characters' relationship was really refreshing because of the lack of deep conflict between them. Demetriou compared them to other comedies, where bickering becomes fodder for jokes:
"[Nadja and Lazslo's relationship] is so fun to play because, Matt was saying earlier, you know, in comedies and sitcoms it's quite often that it's like, the two main couple are sort of arguing a lot and getting on each other's nerves. But it's so fun to play two people that no matter what they've done they're just like, "Oh!," you know, so horny for each other the whole time."
Both vampires have had their extramarital indiscretions, though at this point it's probably safe to say they're in a polyamorous/open marriage, and who could blame them? Eternity is a very long time to only bone down with one other person, after all. Despite their dalliances, however, the two always have one another's backs, and often put their partner's happiness as the priority. In season 1, Nadja learned that the reason her cursed boyfriend of many centuries, Gregor, kept dying was because Laszlo kept killing every reincarnation. He didn't kill these human lovers out of jealousy, however, like another character in a lesser series might. Instead, he was killing them because every time Gregor showed up, he made Nadja cry, and Laszlo couldn't bear to see her sad.
Eternally into each other
Berry mirrored Demetriou's thoughts, saying:
"It's the same as what [Natasia] has said, I mean it's very, very rare in comedy to see a couple not be annoyed by one another, you know, and be on the edge of kind of breaking up. That seems to be what we're kind of used to with comedy couples. So it's a real kind of breath of fresh air when you have two characters that it doesn't – you know like Tasia's said – doesn't matter where they've been or what they've just done, who they've done it to, they can't wait to get back in the sack. And I just think that's kind of cool, and it's different, and it's almost something really new, you know?"
He's not wrong — many comedies rely on conflict between romantic partners in order to write jokes about their dysfunction. The entire point of the AMC dramedy series "Kevin Can F**k Himself" is pointing out just how toxic sitcom marriages tend to be. Nadja and Laszlo truly have something special: a romance based on a lot of love, a whole lotta lust, and deep mutual respect. That is, as the kids say, #relationshipgoals.
Season 4 of "What We Do in the Shadows" premieres on July 12, 2022 on FX and the next day streaming on FX on Hulu.