Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for What We Do in the Shadows Season 4.The 2014 film What We Do In The Shadows, directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, introduced us to a hidden world within our own. In this mockumentary, we got to see the lives of vampires living in modern-day New Zealand exploring the zany antics that ensue from having a share house with other undead creatures. The film is very self-contained and while we see some other supernatural creatures like werewolves and zombies briefly, we really don’t get a sense of how this supernatural society lurking within our own works. But with the serialization of a What We Do In The Shadows show on FX, there’s been more time and need for this world to expand. And so with each season, we’ve gotten to see new aspects of being not just a vampire in current-day Staten Island but being any mysterious beast. The show, of course, still focuses on vampires, but it’s managed to build up a fascinating urban fantasy environment while doing so.

The What We Do In The Shadows series immediately starts building upon the foundation set by the film. Perhaps this is most noticeable when looking at the upgrade in the status of familiar characters. In the original film, Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) had a familiar who introduced us to the concept and how the familiar/vampire relationship usually works. The show takes it further, positioning the familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillen), as our point of view character as he is the only human in the house. Guillermo is a central character in this story and through him, we get to see many more facets of familiar life. From luring in prey through LARPing groups to saving the vampires he takes care of from burning to death in sunlight, we get to see the familiar role expand from a bit into a full-fledged part of the dynamic within the main cast. Through Guillermo, we see that, at least for him, being a familiar is more like being a babysitter than anything else. And as the series goes on, Guillermo only becomes more complex as they introduce the idea of vampire hunters and the Van Helsing bloodline. With the room that a serialized format provides, familiars have expanded from a gag to an essential feature of the vampire society What We Do In The Shadows constructs.

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Image via FX

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Another brilliant addition to Season 1 was the concept of energy vampires. These are vampires who can walk around during the day and live basically normal lives, but they feed on the energy of other people rather than their blood. This is the first new creature we’ve seen from What We Do In The Shadows and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), the resident energy vampire, is a standout character. Here, the show starts to move beyond established folklore and begins to adapt some of its own. Energy vampires are a product of modernity and through them, we get to see more interaction with the outside world as well as a unique take on vampires.

And after the first season of What We Do In The Shadows, the show has only continued to expand on its world-building more and more until it’s truly become its own unique universe. Plot points that begin as gags quickly turn into established parts of the world. The vampire council appears in Season 1 as a goofy scene with some fun cameos but by Season 3, our characters have become the vampire council (after Guillermo had to go vampire slayer mode to save the gang). The show is just as character-driven as the film, but the world seems to play a much bigger role in their stories because we’ve had so much time to get to know it.

The world that What We Do In The Shadows has constructed is one that is in constant flux. It preys upon both our own assumed understanding of supernatural creatures but also upsets its own world-building in interesting ways. Guillermo is introduced as an almost pitiable familiar stuck in the same cycle of being strung along on the promise of vampirism as we saw in the film. But the show won’t just leave it at that. Instead, we find out that Guillermo comes from a long line of vampire hunters and instead of staying the stuttering sweater-boy we assumed him to be, he becomes a vampire-slaying badass. By Season 4, though he’s still generally treated poorly by the vampires, he’s become a much more self-assured person who holds an integral role in the group outside of playing mother.

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Image via FX

Season 4 brought us our first Djinn character (played by Anoop Desai) who, similar to Guillermo, is not restrained by what we expect him to be. We expect Djinns to be trickster characters who fool the people making wishes, but our Djinn is more like a tired accountant who really just wants Nandor (Kayvan Novak) to get his books settled. By Season 4, it’s made clear that our understanding of how supernatural creatures work is framed by assumptions and in reality, they function more like regular people with some extra quirks. This is reflected in the wraiths who work for the vampire council who mostly exist for quick gags but eventually try to unionize, revealing an internal life that further helps to flesh out this strange world.

Each season has something new and fun to contribute to the world-building, often in unexpected ways. The doll possessed by Nadja’s ghost seemed like a gag character, but she’s stuck around since Season 2. Kristin Schaal’s "The Guide" seemed like a cameo character who was there to help introduce us to the vampire council, but she’s perfectly slipped into the principal cast as well. The Baron (Doug Jones) seemed to die a pretty permanent death but has proved to be a cameo character with longevity, showing up at least once a season. The show introduces so many elements that seem like momentary jokes, but that eventually become essential parts of the world.

What We Do in the Shadows

What We Do In The Shadows is not a show where things are easily forgotten and despite being such a screwball comedy most of the time, it seems to have a very strong sense of permanency when it comes to introducing new elements. Change is a constant force in this show, and it lends the characters within it a sense of momentum. Despite being about characters that never age, the world and (at least some) characters are constantly interacting with each other and changing. With each episode, between the laughs, it feels like we learn something crucial about the characters and the world they inhabit that helps it feel more real despite how fantastical the creatures in it are.

What We Do In The Shadows started off as a parody of other vampire media, demystifying and mocking what is in truth a very goofy concept. But, through the serialized format, it’s been able to grow its own identity outside its origins and truly come into its own. Instead of using pre-established folklore, it makes its own and in doing so, has been able to craft a unique fantastical modern setting populated with everything from vampires to gargoyles to the real Jersey Devil, all while sticking to the style and tone that made the original film so engaging. The creatures of What We Do In The Shadows will only get more hilarious and fascinating as they continue to expand their unique fantastical world.