6 vital (and incredible) What We Do in the Shadows episodes to prep you for the Season 4 premiere

What We Do in the Shadows is nearly perfect television. And, like all great television, it all begins with a simple premise: What if vampires were real, easily distracted, and lived on Staten Island?

Tuesday, July 12 will mark our return to New York City’s most-beleaguered borough to check in on Nandor the Relentless, Nadja and Laszlo Cravensworth, energy vampire Colin Robinson  and their faithful, put-upon familiar Gizmo.

Apologies, I mean Guillermo de la Cruz.

Season four’s debut will hopefully tie up the loose ends created by season three’s finale. WARNING: Here come spoilers, so if you’re just looking for some episode retrospectives and haven’t caught up yet, feel tree to skip the rest of this section.

Robinson hit the end of his 100-year life cycle (long story) and has since been reborn as a creepy baby somehow simultaneously more and less bald than a typical infant (hey, I guess it wasn’t that long a story after all). Guillermo had finally earned Nandor’s respect (through violence) and was prepared to become a vampire after an around-the-world trip with his former master. These plans were shattered after Laszlo abducted Guillermo and locked him in a coffin to be shipped to Europe alongside his wife Nadja. While that sounds bad, it should be noted:

Laszlo did this in order to protect/raise the baby Robinson. Laszlo filled the coffin with Pedialyte and Oreos and drilled a hole in the bottom of the box to prevent Gizmo from drowning in his own excrement, which was nice. Right. Guillermo. His name is Guillermo.

So, Laszlo and reborn Colin Robinson are in Staten Island. Nandor is on a trip across the globe. Nadja and Guillermo are en route to London, where they *definitely* aren’t walking into a Vampiric Council trap for the hundreds of vampire deaths on their watch.

And that’s where we stand heading into season four. The entire series is worth a rewatch since, at 30 episodes at roughly 24 minutes each, it’s an easy binge. But if you’re strapped for time, here are standout episodes from the three preceding seasons to immerse you in the vaguely formal world of vampires: