The Return

**"The Return"** is the seventh episode of the second season of *What We Do in the Shadows*. It aired on May 20, 2020.

## Synopsis

The vampires offer shelter to an old nemesis who's down on his luck.

## Plot Summary

On the streets of Staten Island, Nadja and Laszlo hear a voice from the sewers luring them to enter. They go in and find Simon the Devious, now a shell of his former self after being badly injured from his nightclub explosion. His explains that he retreated to the sewers of New York to recover and sought companionship from Carol, a mysterious vampire who never speaks, and Count Rapula, the only remaining member of the Leather Skins. Nadja feels so sorry for Simon that she offhandedly invites him to their house, leading Laszlo to storm off with her. The two argue on the way home and upon arriving, they find Simon, Carol and Rapula already receiving a house tour from Nandor. Laszlo immediately suspects that Simon is only there to gain the witch skin hat.

Carol becomes very intimidating towards Guillermo and all the vampires assume she wants to eat him. However when the two are alone, she finally speaks and accuses him of being a vampire hunter. She attacks him and Guillermo defends himself with a broken broom, impaling and killing her. Nandor comes in to investigate the sounds and finds Carol’s form now reduced to dust on the floor. Guillermo breaks down and admits he accidentally killed her, leaving Nandor shocked and suspicious, but he keeps the incident a secret to protect them both.

Simon recovers to his normal self and calls a ‘house meeting’. He assumes that Carol ran away and demands to have the hat back. Laszlo retrieves the hat and he and Simon fight over it, with both parties repeatedly stealing the hat back and getting injured due to the hat’s curse. The fight moves outside and Simon leads Laszlo into the sewers in bat form. Laszlo’s roommates follow them and become outnumbered by the Leather Skins, who have not disbanded after all, and Simon wearing the hat. Nadja demands to know why he wants the hat so badly, Simon asserts that he is envious of Laszlo and Nadja’s relationship and cannot gain satisfaction from anyone, including his own gang. Simon then realises his foot has become stuck on the sewer grating he is standing on, which starts to break, leaving him to slowly sink into the water below. The Leather Skins, offended by his lack of caring, refuse to help him and Nandor, Laszlo, Nadja and Guillermo leave.

In the subplot, Colin Robinson goes on a marathon internet trolling session to gain energy online. One internet user, ‘Norman Hule’, comes back with a response to every one of Colin’s insults and gets him banned from multiple sites, leaving Colin very annoyed. Norman texts a threat to Colin, who tracks Norman down from his internet activity to Medford, Massachusetts. Colin hires a driver to take him there to confront him. At night, Colin finally arrives at the café and finds Norman nearby, who turns out to be a real-life troll. The two begin to argue, with Norman taking offense at the word “trolling”, and the two have a boring and pointless conversation all night, with Colin keeping Norman too bored to attack him. As the sun rises, Norman starts to turn to stone, and Colin declares himself to be the ‘champion’ troll. Before he can celebrate, Norman grabs his arms and solidifies, leaving Colin trapped.

## Cast

### Starring

* Kayvan Novak as Nandor
* Matt Berry as Laszlo
* Natasia Demetriou as Nadja
* Harvey Guillén as Guillermo
* Mark Proksch as Colin Robinson

### Co-Starring

* Christine Ebadi as Carol
* Mike Dara as Count Rapula
* Shawn Klush as Vampire Elvis
* Misha Sinkovsky as Chunt
* Dan Darin-Zanco as Car Driver
* Jemaine Clement as Norman Hule (voice) (uncredited)

## Soundtrack

* ***You're Dead*** performed by Norma Tanega (opening credits)
* ***Domestic Chores*** performed by Joseph Engleman
* ***Kamikaze*** performed by Drawbacks
* ***Severny Kozachok*** performed by Bibs Ekkel
* ***Echoes of the Ukraine*** performed by Georges Behar
* ***It's Not Easy*** performed by Ofege (end credits)

## References

1. ↑ "Listings - WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS on FX" - The Futon Critic
2. ↑ "Fun fact - the troll is Jemaine." - Reddit
3. ↑ "S2 · E7 · The Return" - Tunefind