Laszlo's Father

Nandor (Kayvan Novak) and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) spend their time spying on their new neighbors through a telescope. They are confused that the house has different residents from time to time and fear that they might be shapeshifters, unaware that the real reason is that it is an Airbnb.

Laszlo (Matt Berry) is disturbed by strange events in the house, and asks Nadja to help him summon the spirit responsible. The spirit is revealed to be none other than Lord Roderick Cravensworth (Steve Coogan), Laszlo's very own father. Roderick hopes to patch things up with Laszlo, but he is rejected by him. While the vampires are charmed by Roderick, Laszlo warns that his father cannot be trusted, as Laszlo was constantly humiliated by him when he was alive. Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) is delighted that Roderick takes an interest in his Funko collection, but Laszlo intends to get rid of his father, with his spirit catcher, a device which he claims to be of his own invention, but which suspiciously resembles a proton pack from Ghostbusters II. Eventually, Laszlo decides to give Roderick a second chance in his life, after seeing how his father forms a bond with Colin Robinson, and begins to believe he truly has changed.

Laszlo finds Roderick in his laboratory, but also discovers that he has the Book of Souls in his possession. He concludes that Roderick only returned to find a specific spell, which would allow him to possess Cravensworth's Monster as a vessel. Roderick confesses to this, admitting that he hates his time in the afterlife. Laszlo remonstrates his father for constantly humiliating him, and also for killing Laszlo's mother. Then Roderick reveals that it is not the Monster that he plans to possess after all, but rather Laszlo himself. He starts chanting the spell, which knocks Laszlo to the ground, unable to reach his spirit catcher. Just in time, the Monster releases itself from its bonds, and manages to pass the spirit catcher to Laszlo. Laszlo fires up the spirit catcher, sucking up his father's spirit and trapping it in a glowing blue trap, resembling an hourglass.

Meanwhile, Nandor sends Nadja to sneak into the Airbnb to find evidence of the shapeshifters. When the guests arrive back early, Nadja destroys a window to flee to safety. Later on, the homeowner (Taylor Ortega) turns up to confront Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), Nadja and Nandor about the destruction to her property. However, during conversation, it is revealed that their neighbor's house isn't zoned for an Airbnb, and that she is illegally operating one. To buy their silence, she allows Guillermo, Nadja and Nandor to stay rent-free for one weekend every month. As the three enjoy their stay, they fail to see that the owner actually really is a shapeshifter, as she transforms into an opossum, when she is leaving the house. When Colin Robinson arrives back home with a Funko of Roderick, Laszlo lies to him by stating that Roderick left on a "ghost mission". Furthermore he states that Roderick really liked Colin Robinson, and in fact, left Colin Robinson a gift, which is what Laszlo claims the hourglass trap is. Colin Robinson takes the glowing blue hourglass trap and locks it away with his Funko collection in his vault.

In October 2024, FX confirmed that the sixth episode of the season would be titled "Laszlo's Father", and that it would be written by supervising producers Jake Bender and Zach Dunn, and directed by executive producer Yana Gorskaya.^[1] This was Bender's seventh writing credit, Dunn's seventh writing credit, and Gorskaya's 20th directing credit.^[2]

In October 2024, Steve Coogan was confirmed to guest star as Laszlo's father, reuniting him with Matt Berry, who previously appeared in his sitcom series Saxondale.^[3]