‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Season 4: Nandor Will Use up His Djinn Wishes Very Soon
The FX comedy What We Do in the Shadows introduced a djinn to the vampire world in the season 4 episode “The Lamp.” They’re not done with the djinn yet, either. The djinn (Anoop Desai) gave Nandor (Kayvan Novak) 52 wishes and he hasn’t used them all yet. He will before the end of What We Do in the Shadows Season 4, though, the creators said.
What We Do in the Shadows writers and executive producers Stefani Robinson and Paul Simms were on a Television Critics Association panel on June 6. They addressed how long Nandor’s relationship with the djinn would last. What We Do in the Shadows Season 4 airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX and the next day on Hulu.
It was time for a djinn in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Season 4
Robinson said the creators of What We Do in the Shadows keep a list of other magical creatures they hope to include on the show. They’ve already had werewolves so season 4 was time for a djinn on What We Do in the Shadows.
“We have a running list of mythical creatures that we are hoping to get into the show,” Robinson said. “It’s just a matter of trying to work them in there. So I think, genie, it felt like the perfect time to go ahead and do that.”
Nandor will burn through 52 wishes pretty quickly
While “The Lamp” didn’t exhaust all of Nandor’s wishes, he doesn’t have a whole season’s worth. The djinn will fulfill any wish so don’t expect Nandor to save his last wish for the What We Do in the Shadows Season 4 finale.
“The fun part is in fairytales, it’s three wishes because you have to choose them very carefully,” Simms said. “In our story, it’s 50 wishes, and Nandor blows through all of them within about three episodes. So he’s really not very careful with it.”
Robinson said they debated how many wishes to give Nandor in What We Do in the Shadows Season 4.
“The 50 wish rule, I feel like we went back and forth on that,” Robinson said. “Like Aladdin, there was the three wish thing. Is it really like the famous genies?”
How ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ decided on 50 wishes
Most djinn or genies grant three wishes and only three wishes. Simms and Robinson wanted to give more.
“I feel like part of it was when we decided we wanted him to bring a genie or djinn back from his ancestral homeland,” Simms said. “Our first conversations were how do we do this without it looking like it’s from the animated Aladdin or something?”
The creators of What We Do in the Shadows debated how many wishes would distinguish them from Aladdin.
“We wanted to subvert every expectation and have him be just like a genie who is more like a businessman,” Simms said. “And someone who goes, like, ‘Yeah, the three wish rule, that’s all made up, you know. That’s not real.’ There’s more story with 50 wishes. Why not?”
But, not a whole season’s worth of story.
