The Night Market
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Episode 4
- William Meny
- Paul Simms
| "The Night Market" | |
|---|---|
| What We Do in the Shadows episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 4 |
| Directed by | Yana Gorskaya |
| Written by |
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| Cinematography by | DJ Stipsen |
| Editing by |
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| Production code | XWS04004 |
| Original air date | July 26, 2022 |
| Running time | 26 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
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"The Night Market" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the American mockumentary comedy horror television series What We Do in the Shadows, set in the franchise of the same name. It is the 34th overall episode of the series and was written by co-producer William Meny and executive producer Paul Simms, and directed by co-executive producer Yana Gorskaya. It was released on FX on July 26, 2022.
The series is set in Staten Island, New York City. Like the 2014 film, the series follows the lives of vampires in the city. These consist of three vampires, Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja. They live alongside Colin Robinson, an energy vampire; and Guillermo, Nandor's familiar. The series explores the absurdity and misfortunes experienced by the vampires. In the episode, the vampires visit the night market for different purposes.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.339 million household viewers and gained a 0.11 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the humor and the fight between Guillermo and Nandor, although the rest of the storylines and pacing received criticism.
With Baby Colin (Mark Proksch) performing, business at the nightclub has been going well. Nevertheless, Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) is concerned about accidental deaths caused by the wraiths, with the Guide (Kristen Schaal) feeling that they do it on purpose due to bad working conditions. The wraiths have formed a union and their leader, Xerxes, lets their demands well known but Nadja rebuffs them.
Per Nadja's suggestion, the vampires visit a night market, which can be accessed through a subway train, and is a secret marketplace used by many types of supernatural creatures. Laszlo (Matt Berry) decides to introduce Baby Colin to many of the creatures, including fairies. Nandor (Kayvan Novak) introduces Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) to the "familiar fight", in which the vampires bring their familiars to fight to death. When Guillermo is revealed as a familiar, the ringmaster asks him to step in and fight, which Nandor allows as he is getting booed for not doing it. Guillermo easily fends off other familiars and is awarded by "what humans want the most": dried-up dog food. Nevertheless, he is booed by the crowd for not fighting nor hurting the familiars.
Guillermo is then put to fight the champion vampire, Gorgo the Murderer. As Guillermo cannot fight him as it will expose his ancestry, Nandor takes Gorgo's place to fight Guillermo. Their fight extends into many corners of the stage, with some creatures dying in the process. When Guillermo has the chance to stake him, he tells Nandor that they can escape by faking his death. For this, Nandor feigns snapping Guillermo's neck, allowing them to escape the arena. Nadja returns to the nightclub, where she exposes Xerxes to water lily of the Nile, a narcotic for wraiths. She tries to get Xerxes on her side and abandon his demands, which he accepts in exchange for the narcotic. When the other wraiths find out, they kill Xerxes for his actions. Nadja reluctantly agrees to their terms, and the wraiths return to work. Back home, Baby Colin asks Laszlo to read him a "real stuff" book instead of fairytales. Laszlo then reads him In Cold Blood to sleep.
Production
Development
In June 2022, FX confirmed that the fourth episode of the season would be titled "The Night Market", and that it would be written by co-producer William Meny and executive producer Paul Simms, and directed by co-executive producer Yana Gorskaya. This was Meny's third writing credit, Simms' ninth writing credit, and Gorskaya's 11th directing credit.[1]