A Sneaky Easter Egg Confirms ‘What We Do In The Shadows’ Is A ‘Se7en’ Prequel
What We Do in the Shadows (2019) was a goofy horror show not quite like anything else on TV—a gleefully grim series that had a lot of fun playing with sitcom tropes and horror archetypes alike. It was at its best when it could combine those two elements successfully, with slapstick beats amplifying the harsher moments of horror that could come out of nowhere. Sometimes, the scariest things in the show were just the implications of how horrifying the main cast could really be.
Take Colin Robinson, a dull “energy vampire” who drains the life out of people through boredom. Played by Mark Proksch, Colin’s encounters were often played for dry comedy or taken to weird extremes. However, a gag in Season 4 revealed that one of his victims seemingly went on to become John Doe in Se7en (1995), creating a major ripple effect and effectively turning What We Do in the Shadows into a prequel to those events. The result is one of the darkest—and silliest—crossover moments in a show that was full of them.
‘What We Do In The Shadow’s Deep-Cut Reference To ‘Se7en,’ Explained
In Season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows, Colin Robinson spends much of the year reverted to a child form following his "death" at the conclusion of Season 3. Raised by Lazlo as a surrogate son, Colin eventually grows back into his original form in part by discovering his old journals in the season finale, "Sunrise, Sunset." As explained by The Movie List Podcast, Colin Robinson's journals include a reference to November 17, 1994, where he went up to a man on the subway and had a conversation with him, making small talk and talking about the weather.
However, Colin's "banality" left the man, causing him to go through physical distress and vomit on the energy vampire. Colin then made the situation worse by refusing to accept the man's apology, eventually leaving him laughing in despair and madness. It's already a pretty grim gag, but it turns out that this is actually almost a word-for-word recreation of a journal belonging to John Doe that is found by Detective Mills and Detective Somerset during the course of Se7en.
Why The Easter Eggs Make ‘What We Do In The Shadows’ Scarier
The implication from this Easter egg is that Colin’s energy draining of John Doe is the cause of his descent into madness, prompting him to carry out a series of murders across the city. In the film, Doe believes this unseen influence is the result of God moving through him, giving him an outlet that will make the world pay attention to him. In reality, however, the FX comedy suggests it was a chance encounter with Colin Robinson that left John Doe transformed into a killer. It’s a subtly scary addition for both properties.
For Se7en, it makes Doe’s murders all the more unsettling, as they weren’t just committed by a person who had lost their mind. Instead, he had it corrupted by a simple conversation, the influence of the energy vampire’s effects on his mind, leaving him a brutal murderer. It’s also a reminder that, for all their lovable qualities and comedic charms, the cast of What We Do in the Shadows are genuine monsters. They gleefully kill people, turn others into monsters with little cause, and enjoy themselves immersively the entire time. This Easter egg also places Se7en in the fantastical world of What We Do in the Shadows, hinting that the setting is full of unseen threats and terrible monsters beyond the murderers that roam the streets.
‘What We Do In The Shadows’ Quietly Served As A Massive Franchise Crossover
Notably, this is far from the only meta franchise crossover that What We Do in the Shadows does. "The Trial" reveals that the ruling class of the vampiric society is dominated by a number of powerful vampires, all played by actors who've previously played vampires in other films and TV shows. This implicitly places them all in the same universe. The most obvious references are the inclusion of Jemaine Clement's Vladislav, Taika Waititi's Viago, and Jonny Brugh's Deacon from What We Do in the Shadows (2014), connecting the film and the show into a shared universe.
There's also Tilda Swinton, Evan Rachel Wood, Wesley Snipes, Danny Trejo, and Paul Reubens—referencing Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), True Blood (2008), Blade (1998), From Dusk 'Till Dawn (1996), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), respectively. It’s a solid little beat, hinting that even if the exact events of those films and shows didn’t happen, they have analogs that do exist within the world of What We Do in the Shadows. The Se7en connection might be the wildest of these connective beats, but it’s a great reminder of just how expansive and silly What We Do in the Shadows really became over time.
