What We Do in the Shadows season 4 recap: What do you need to know to understand season 5?

What We Do In the Shadows returns to FXX this week for its funny fifth season. But some viewers may still need to remember just what Season 4 was about. So a quick recap for the last season to prepare for the new one.

Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for What We Do In the Shadows season 4

Season 4 began with the vampire clan reuniting in Staten Island after a time apart. Nandor (Kayvan Novak) had accidentally caused the Suez Canal boat crash by eating everyone on board; Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) decided to open a vampire nightclub; Laszlo (Matt Berry) was still hoping to find romance; Colin Robinson (Mark Prokasch) was now growing into a rebellious youth; and long-suffering familiar Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) is still trying to maintain sanity and become a vampire.

The plotlines involved the usual wild fun for the vampires. The Guide (Kristen Schaal) became a larger presence and harbored a crush on Guillermo. Nandor discovered a genie who resurrected his 37 deceased wives, one of whom he decided to remarry amid other bungling. While Nadja worked to get her nightclub off the ground, Guillermo was trying to raise money to rebuild the falling mansion.

Baby Colin’s continued growth included a stint as a singer and the gang trying to enroll him in school. A wild episode involving a fake reality fix-up show did lift a curse that improved the mansion. Further antics included Laszlo taking Baby Colin on tour and an encounter with the Jersey Devil.

How did Season 4 end?

The Season 4 finale had everyone thrown when Colin suddenly grew right back to his old, boring adult form with no memory of his time as Baby Colin. Nadja decided to burn down her failing club but only succeeded in burning up the office containing all her money. Nandor got a crush on Guillermo’s boyfriend Freddie and used his last wish from the genie to turn his wife into a copy of the guy…only for the two Freddies to fall for each other.

The big turn was Guillermo finally realizing Nandor was never going to make him a vampire as he preferred Guillermo the way he was. Likewise, the rest of the gang were content with their lives as they were. So Guillermo took a pack of money he’d been embezzling from the club and offered it to frenemy Derek to make him a vampire.

So that’s how Season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows ended up and sets up a wild Season 5.

What We Do In the Shadows season 5 premieres Thursday, July 13 at 10/9c on FXX and streaming on Hulu.