The following contains spoilers for What We Do In The Shadows Season 5, Episode 1 “The Mall,” which aired on July 13. 2023 on FX.
What We Do In The Shadows has had a steady cast for its entire run on the tv. One of the characters has had one goal and that is to become a vampire. Harvey Guillén’s Guillermo has desperately wanted to become a vampire since Season 1. The end of Season 4 was left on a cliffhanger when Guillermo offered to pay a fellow vampire to turn him into one of the undead. Season 5, Episode 1 “The Mall,” finally offers some answers to that cliffhanger, but there is a very unexpected twist.
Guillermo started his obsessions with vampires when he saw Antonio Banderas in Interview with a Vampire. This inspired Guillermo because he had never seen another Latin person onscreen as a vampire. Now he has finally achieved his dream and has had his blood sucked by a vampire and then drank that vampires blood. He is on his way to vampirism, but there is a twist to his own transformation. Despite doing the right procedure, his transformation isn’t progressing as well as it should be.
Guillermo’s Transformation Is Different From Any Other in What We Do In The Shadows
Season 4 showed Guillermo paying his friend Derek to turn him into a vampire. Derek agrees and bites Guillermo and sucks his blood. While the feeding and drinking of Derek’s blood causes a big mess, Guillermo seems to successfully complete the vampire ritual. What Guillermo didn’t know at the time is that being converted into a vampire by a vampire who isn’t their master is a huge offense. If Nandor finds out what Guillermo has done, then he will have to kill Guillermo then himself. It should be incredibly obvious that Guillermo has undergone the change, yet for some reason it is taking a very long time.
While most transformations in the show take place very quickly over a few hours or days at most, Guillermo’s is taking significantly longer, weeks even. This transformation is a big deviation to the normal procedure. Guillermo seems to still be able to go out in daylight and function relatively normally. This obviously has Guillermo concerned about what is going on with him. He made a rash decision to become a vampire, but now it has all gone wrong. On top of all that, he must continue to hide it from Nandor and the rest of the people in the house.
Why Is Guillermo’s Transformation Different?
One of the big reasons that his transformation may be different is due to his heritage. Guillermo is the descendant of famous vampire hunter Van Helsing. Throughout the show, he has been shown to be an expert vampire hunter, even instinctually killing vampires without much effort. It may be that his Van Helsing blood is affecting his transformation. His blood may be vampire hunting the new vampire blood before it has a chance to fully turn Guillermo. It’s difficult to say which blood type will win out if that is truly the case.
What We Do In The Shadows has put Guillermo through the ringer on his quest to move from a familiar to a vampire. He has served Nandor faithful for years and years, yet he got tired of waiting. Getting Derek to turn him into a vampire was an impulsive move, but it worked out. Yet, Nandor will have to destroy him if it comes out and Guillermo may be dealing with his own problems if his heritage is preventing his transformation.
What We Do In The Shadows airs Thursday on FX and Hulu.