What We Do In The Shadows: Every Hint That Colin Robinson Didn’t [SPOILER]

WARNING: The following contains SPOILERS for What We Do In The Shadows season 3, episode 9, “A Farewell.”

The What We Do In The Shadows episode “A Farewell” may have killed off Colin Robinson for good, but several details hint that he might not really be dead. Colin Robinson is one of four main vampires in the series What We Do In The Shadows, which takes inspiration from the 2014 film by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement. The show follows four vampires and their familiar, Guillermo, as they navigate the equally dark and treacherous worlds of vampire politics, supernatural romances, and modern-day Staten Island.

Three of the vampires — Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry), and Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak) — all fit the traditional bill of being undead, drinking blood to survive, and being unable to go out in the daylight, among other things. Colin Robinson, on the other hand, is an energy vampire, meaning most of these rules don’t apply to him. Throughout the series, Colin Robinson shows off ways in which he is unlike his roommates and most other vampires who cameo in WWDITS, by consuming human food, having a day job, and going into churches without burning up. Instead of sucking blood from the necks of human victims, Colin Robinson sucks the energy out of everyone around him, including other vampires, simply by being mind-numbingly boring. Other than this, though, he seems practically human.

In What We Do In The Shadows season 3, episode 9, which is aptly named “A Farewell,” Colin Robinson celebrates his 100th birthday, only to find himself having severe stomach trouble by the end of the night. As Laszlo explains, energy vampires expire after 100 years, according to a book he read in the library that the Vampiric Council guide showed them. The episode concludes with Colin Robinson’s final flatulence before he “expires” before Nadja and Laszlo’s eyes. When Nandor arrives, he believes Colin Robinson to be faking and strikes the energy vampire in the face to wake him up. Colin Robinson’s head caves in with a small explosion of goo, and that settles the matter for everyone: Colin Robinson is officially dead.

However, several hints from What We Do In The Shadows thus far could indicate that Colin Robinson isn’t so officially dead. Not much is known about energy vampires other than what Laszlo has been able to scrounge up in the library, and the same mysterious rules that foreshadowed Colin Robinson’s death could hold the answers to proving that he’s still alive. Here’s every hint that Colin Robinson didn’t really die.

Laszlo Didn’t Properly Read The Section On Energy Vampires

All season, Colin Robinson and Laszlo have become best friends as Laszlo seeks to make the energy vampire’s last days of life more enjoyable. Laszlo has known for months about the 100-year lifespan of energy vampires due to a page he found in the Compendium Vampirium, which he then tore out so Colin Robinson wouldn’t find it. However, it’s quite likely Laszlo may have misread the page. One of Laszlo’s signature character traits is his cavalier attitude, and in the same episode where Colin Robinson dies Nandor even tells him, “You are the laziest vampire I have ever had the misfortune of meeting.” Even when he genuinely devotes himself to something, like disassembling and rebuilding his car, Laszlo still often gets it wrong. The page he found has a heading at the top stating that the “known lifespan of energy vampires is 100 years,” but there was lots more on that page, too. So far, Colin’s true energy vampire origins remain a mystery; just because the “known” lifespan is 100 doesn’t mean that’s the rule for all energy vampires, and Laszlo doesn’t seem to have looked into the matter any further after crumpling up the page.

Colin Robinson Never Really “Died” Like the Other Vampires

In the What We Do In The Shadows episode “Ghosts,” the vampires discover that since they are technically dead, their souls exist separate from them and have their own unfinished business. The status of Colin Robinson’s soul, however, they’re not sure about. During the discussion, he himself notes, “Yeah, I’m not really positive what my deal is, either, so I just sort of keep on truckin’.” After a seance that brings back Nadja’s dead lover, Gregor, Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja, the vampires successfully summon all of their souls as apparitions — but there is no ghost of Colin Robinson. It’s hard to say for sure whether Colin Robinson should be considered dead or alive within the supernatural parameters What We Do In The Shadows sets up. If, as an energy vampire, he was never dead or alive to begin with, that would complicate his seeming death in “A Farewell.” His body’s decomposition could simply be one phase in a longer energy vampire life-cycle.

WWDITS Has Done Fake Out Deaths Before 

Colin Robinson has seemingly died before on the series. What We Do In The Shadows season 2, episode 5 sets up a perfect Colin scenario when he gets promoted at work, which leads to him abusing the position and growing exponentially more powerful — so much so that he is able to grow hair and duplicate himself twice. The three Colins together manage to drain Nadja, Nandor, and Laszlo’s energy almost to the brink, but it all comes crashing down when the energy vampires accidentally bore each other to death. The vampires and Guillermo then head out back to bury all three Colins and share some touching remarks about what he meant to them. It’s a pretty convincing funeral, until the original Colin pops up and announces that he wasn’t really dead, but faked it so he could hear his own eulogy.

Fake deaths are clearly on the table for What We Do In The Shadows, which pulled an even longer-term stunt with The Baron, who reappeared in season 3, episode 6 “The Escape” after having seemingly died by sunlight in season 1 (and was subsequently buried in the yard). Even if Colin isn’t faking his own death this time, there’s a good chance the showrunners are. Season 3 sees Colin Robinson fall in love with a siren, bond with Laszlo, and start to learn more about his origins. While the energy vampire has done a lot, it feels like his journey was just beginning. He says as much right before he dies, vowing that “starting tomorrow, Colin Robinson’s motto is: young, dumb and full of c**.” What We Do In The Shadows has one more episode in season 3, and with the series already renewed for season 4, hopefully, these hints do add up to confirm that Colin Robinson didn’t truly die, and that he will return to the show soon.

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