S04.E09: Freddie

[formerlyfreedom]

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Guillermo has a visitor from overseas.

Airing Tuesday, August 30, 2022.

[libgirl2]

We know who that will probably be!

[Galileo908]

Man, poor Guillermo. We finally meet his BF Freddie, and Gizmo never told him the truth about anything. And then Nandor wished for Marwa to become a carbon copy of Freddie. And then the two Freddies fell in love with each other. What is it with Guillermo and narcissists? His BF left him for a literal clone. So that's two storylines wrapped up in a neat little bow. Nandor has two wishes left, and he's totally gonna waste them.

I called it that Colin's stage career would end the moment he hit puberty. Can't wait for to see more of angsty teen Colin.

I wanted to see more of Laszlo's CD ad for Baby Colin, but I'll settle for that extended scene of him listing all the vampire and wraith bands. "Hall & Throats" was my favorite.

F in the chat for Sofia Coppola, and that guy from Phoenix. Loved Jim Jarmusch coming back to the club wondering where they went.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Galileo908

[Ohiopirate02]

Just now, Galileo908 said:

I wanted to see more of Laszlo's CD ad for Baby Colin, but I'll settle for that extended scene of him listing all the vampire and wraith bands. "Hall & Throats" was my favorite.

Im trying to figure out how Lindsey Suckingham differs from the human Lindsey. 

The wraith bands were just as good. Billy Wraith Cyrus had me rolling.

[voiceover]

Well, they can’t all be winners.  I would rather have listened to Laszlo listing bands for 22 minutes.  “Undead Kennedys” was a personal favorite — and again: shoulda seen it coming.

[sistermagpie]

It amazes me how this show is so completely bizarre and yet at the heart of it is this giant beating heart and emotional logic! Poor Guillermo, but I really love how the show went in a different direction than I probably expected it would--that is, instead of Nandor just being jealous openly and childishly he does this weird thing that winds up being genuinely selfish and hurtful. Which is exactly what makes the whole Guillermo/Nando relationship interesting, that Nandor is so like that and Guillermo continues to take it. They always take a step forward when Guillermo draws a line and rejects him.

Loving adolescent Colin Robinson. Mark P must be having a ball. And I fully expect that the show will make Baby Colin's feelings of Laszlo not liking him and trying to change him part of his growing up, and Laszlo learning to accept him for the middle aged sulky adolescent he is. Bravo show.

But also, rip real Marwa. "Are you enjoying sitting in that chair?"

[Lantern7]

Well, if your new love interest is a narcissist, better to find out now than later. Semi-related question: how much wood do you think is in the mansion? Specifically, wood that can be broken off and driven into Nandor.

So much for Marwa getting to live her own life. Well, she is free of Nandor, and she did meet someone new. On the other hand, she is now a man, she think she's always been a man, and any semblance of her old life is gone. Man, this raises a lot of existential questions. Would this mean Marwa is dead? Would she have been considered alive after getting resurrected? Bright side: Djinn showed up to grant a wish to dumbass Nandor. I'm hoping he hits the reset button on all the bullshit he's caused, but I doubt it.

Anyone else hoping -- maybe even praying -- we get Mark Proksch butchering "Last Resort" and/or "Bring Me To Life" next week?

Drunk Nadja is a fun Nadja. At least she got two celebrities killed. You think any obituary of Sofia Coppolla would start with her directing, or would it immediately zero in on The Godfather Part III? Also, isn't her brother Nic Cage? Najda might have really fucked up.

I'm not familiar with Jim Jarmusch. Would he be convinced that two murders committed in front of him were elaborate hoaxes?

ETA: Cousins. Thanks, @GaT!

Edited August 31, 2022 by Lantern7

[GaT]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Also, isn't her brother Nic Cage?

They're cousins

[Vermicious Knid]

Aw, no tiny Djinn for the tiny lamp. Does anyone else enjoy the breakdancing bat from the disclaimer?

I was expecting both the Marwa and Guillermo's boyfriend storylines to end with their deaths, so this is an improvement? What Nandor did is selfish true, but if Freddie is so narcissistic as to date himself, while he was supposed to be in a relationship with someone else, it was always going to end with Guillermo hurt and alone.

I'm sure there are humans who would pay $5000 for Sophia Coppola to get exsanguinated and beheaded.

AV Club made a good point:

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There is, after all, a certain superficiality to the fact that Freddie’s list of New York musts don’t really change whether he’s with Nandor or Guillermo; in the end, he really does seem to be in it for, uh, himself.

Tonight's musical jokes:

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• Call Me Colin contains a number of Laszlo Cravensworth originals (as seen way back in “Collaboration”), including “Kokomo, Seafarer’s Song” and “Cum On Irene.” (It was “Chum On, Irene” back in season 2; I’m noting this mostly so people won’t yell at me if they fix or change it between my review screener and the broadcast version.)
• Laszlo lists the great vampire musical acts: “Gloria Estefang. Bloody Holly. Bat Stevens. Batboy Slim. Paul And Throates. Tame Impaler. The Undead Kennedys.”
• “Impaler Swift. Bruno Scars. Lindsay Suckingham. Bonnie Wraith. Wraith Hill. Wraith Evans. Billy Wraith Cyrus. Wraith No More. Wraith Charles. I could go on.” God, this must be a fun writers’ room.

[Ohiopirate02]

8 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I'm not familiar with Jim Jarmusch. Would he be convinced that two murders committed in front of him were elaborate hoaxes?

Jim is an independent film director who directed Tilda Swinton in Only Lovers Left Alive.  We learned back in Season One that Tilda is a vampire.  Jim worked with at least one vampire while filming a movie about vampires, he's probably been hypnotized one too many times.  

[mammaM]

Am I bad for LOVING the Sophia decapitation?😂😂😂😂 

And poor Gizmo, never gets to be happy. One of these days he gonna go vampire slayer on Nandor, stake him.....and then feel bad about it.

On to the season finale

[possibilities]

I'm still hung up on how anyone would fly from the UK to the USA and back for the weekend. That's a lot of travel time for not much visit.

I don't know why I didn't anticipate the accelerated puberty of Colin. He went from infant to kid really fast, too.

[meep.meep]

9 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

AV Club made a good point:

Actually, I think they're wrong.  Freddie's to do list shouldn't change whether he's with Guillermo or with Nandor.  Otherwise, he's like poor Marwa doomed to like everything that Nandor likes.  Original Freddie at least should have agency.  It was great seeing him doing everything in light and in dark.  He and Guillermo went to a matinee!

I don't care much about Nadja's club but seeing Sophia Coppola get it was great.

[Ohiopirate02]

3 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I'm still hung up on how anyone would fly from the UK to the USA and back for the weekend. That's a lot of travel time for not much visit.

I assume Freddie flew in on Friday and left on Monday.  It's only 8 hours in the air, and you arrive in NYC roughly 3 hours after you landed due to the time change.  Coming back you could take a flight that gets you back to London on the same day if you leave NYC early enough.  It's doable for a long weekend when you can fly direct.  What really kills you flying overseas from America is the layovers.  

[iMonrey]

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I'm sure there are humans who would pay $5000 for Sofia Coppola to get exsanguinated and beheaded.

{Raises hand} She totally ruined the Beguiled remake. Seriously though, that whole opening segment had me rolling, especially when they came back after the opening title sequence and they were tossing her head around the bar.

They went in a completely different direction with Guillermo's boyfriend than anything I expected, but I shouldn't be surprised, the writers usually zag when you expect them to zig. It was still bizarre though, I think a lot of people expected Nandor to be jealous of Freddy for Guillermo's attention and instead he was jealous of Guillermo because he was quickly enamored with Freddy. It was a weird character choice.

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What Nandor did is selfish true, but if Freddie is so narcissistic as to date himself, while he was supposed to be in a relationship with someone else, it was always going to end with Guillermo hurt and alone.

Except that Nandor hypnotized the two Freddys not to be freaked out by their clones, so we don't really know how they would react under "normal" circumstances. And assuming Nandor never made a clone of Freddy, Freddy may not have ever left Guillermo for him.

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Aw, no tiny Djinn for the tiny lamp.

Yeah I don't get how that works. I would assume that particular Djinn is enslaved to that one particular lamp Nandor found earlier this season. Maybe this was a different Djinn and they all look alike? Or maybe there is only one Djinn and he has to obey all the magic lamps there are?

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Does anyone else enjoy the breakdancing bat from the disclaimer?

Me!

At first I thought there was a huge mistake because it looked like Nandor was outdoors in the sunlight, but it looked like they were doing that thing where they film in the day then adjust the brightness in post production to make it look like night, only they didn't do a good job of it in the first scene they showed. You could tell it was daytime.

Edited August 31, 2022 by iMonrey

[Suzn]

9 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Aw, no tiny Djinn for the tiny lamp. Does anyone else enjoy the breakdancing bat from the disclaimer?

Love the bat!

[PurpleTentacle]

Poor Gizmo. Maybe Nandor could finally throw him a bone, specifically his bone? It's clear that those two are dysfunctional endgame. I get why the writers won't put them together too early, but after four seasons, maybe there could be some progress.

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

It was still bizarre though, I think a lot of people expected Nandor to be jealous of Freddy for Guillermo's attention and instead he was jealous of Guillermo because he was quickly enamored with Freddy. It was a weird character choice.

Nah, he totally was. He just can't admit that to himself, so he deflected, like always. "I don't want Guillerme, but I want something, clearly it's that Freddy guy!"

[tennisgurl]

Poor Guillermo. I guess its better for him to know that his boyfriend is a bit of a narcissist now, but ouch. He had this one thing of his own and Nandor just had to get in on it. He did at least end up feeling bad, which is at least more than he would probably feel in the first season. I do wonder if Nandor being immediately attracted to Guillermo says more about his feelings towards Guillermo than it does about his love of sweeper related humor. 

RIP Marwa I guess, I knew that we would have to get rid of her at some point, but I never thought that this would be the way, or that both the Marwa subplot and Guillermo's secret boyfriend plots would end like this. At least she got her woman cave for a little bit. 

Drunk Nadja heckling child performers was everything I wanted it to be and more. "Your bullies are not doing their jobs!"

We continue this seasons theme of vampires eating famous people! I'm honestly surprised that Jim Jarmusch isn't actually a vampire, that would explain a lot.

[GaT]

They should have had Freddie & Marwa fall in love & leave together.

[sistermagpie]

4 hours ago, meep.meep said:

Actually, I think they're wrong.  Freddie's to do list shouldn't change whether he's with Guillermo or with Nandor.  Otherwise, he's like poor Marwa doomed to like everything that Nandor likes.  Original Freddie at least should have agency.  It was great seeing him doing everything in light and in dark.  He and Guillermo went to a matinee!

That was my feeling. This was Freddie making his own list of things he wanted to see in NYC. It would be weird if it were different. Of course both versions would want to see the Whitney.

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

They went in a completely different direction with Guillermo's boyfriend than anything I expected, but I shouldn't be surprised, the writers usually zag when you expect them to zig. It was still bizarre though, I think a lot of people expected Nandor to be jealous of Freddy for Guillermo's attention and instead he was jealous of Guillermo because he was quickly enamored with Freddy. It was a weird character choice.

Oh, I thought he was totally jealous about Guillermo and is just too unselfaware to know it. He just assumed he wanted to be doing the exact same things as Guillermo was in parallel instead of wanting to be the one with Guillermo.

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Yeah I don't get how that works. I would assume that particular Djinn is enslaved to that one particular lamp Nandor found earlier this season. Maybe this was a different Djinn and they all look alike? Or maybe there is only one Djinn and he has to obey all the magic lamps there are?

I figured it was that the little lamp was just like him giving him a burner phone with 3 calls that didn't enslave him.

2 hours ago, GaT said:

They should have had Freddie & Marwa fall in love & leave together.

I thought they might go that way. I guess that did sort of happen in a way. But Marwa's still not herself. He basically just got rid of her and then used the two Freddies being happy as an excuse to not bring her back since he didn't want her.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Poor Gizmo. Maybe Nandor could finally throw him a bone, specifically his bone? It's clear that those two are dysfunctional endgame. I get why the writers won't put them together too early, but after four seasons, maybe there could be some progress.

I have to disagree, I don't think putting Nandor and Guillermo together that way works, it feels a little too fan-servicey and fan-slashy. 

[Vermicious Knid]

Marwa is essentially dead now she's a clone of Freddie. And I don't think them falling in love was a result of being whammied to not freak out. It still would have happened once he met a guy more into antiquities and his same interests than Guillermo.

Noticed Nadja was wearing pants or a jumpsuit at the club. I think that's the first time she's not been in a skirt or dress.

I am now really missing giant New York hot pretzels from a street cart. :(

[One Imaginary Girl]

13 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Jim is an independent film director who directed Tilda Swinton in Only Lovers Left Alive.  We learned back in Season One that Tilda is a vampire.  Jim worked with at least one vampire while filming a movie about vampires, he's probably been hypnotized one too many times.  

It's the best vampire movie, too. I also really like Sofia Coppola's films, so I'd love to see what she would do with one.

38 minutes ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Noticed Nadja was wearing pants or a jumpsuit at the club. I think that's the first time she's not been in a skirt or dress.

I was coveting that pink coat.

[thuganomics85]

Wasn't not expecting the trio of Sofia Coppola, Thomas Mars, and Jim Jarmusch to be hanging around at Nadja's club and I certainly wasn't expecting for it to end with two of them becoming vampire chow!  Complete with Sofia's head being tossed around!  That was darkly funny.  I do think Jim being the one not killed worked because he did seem to be the most natural in front of the camera out of the three, and was able to get some solid laughs over his confusion over the "magic show."

Figured he were going to meet Guillermo's boyfriend at some point, but I wasn't predicting that they were going to go down a "Nandor likes him too, so he uses one of his wishes to create his own copy of him, who will later leave and fall in love with the real one!"  You never quite know what to expect with this show!  I do wonder what this will mean for Guillermo and Nandor going forward.  Even if Nandor didn't mean anything by it and tried to to fix things, I don't see Guillermo being able to forget about this.

Drunk Nadja should be a judge on American Idol or America's Got Talent as far as I'm concerned!

Colin has finally hit puberty!

[CletusMusashi]

13 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Drunk Nadja heckling child performers was everything I wanted it to be and more. "Your bullies are not doing their jobs!"

The only thing better than one drunk Nadja would be two drunk Nadjas. Bring the doll up there and start a ventriloquist act!

Also.. look, I know who I am, okay? I'm a middle-aged bald man with a Venture Bros avatar sitting here drinking alone in a Cleveland apartment full of swords and reptiles while commenting on a Taika Waititi vampire series. I am perfectly aware that I have some nerdish tendencies. But most of the guys who I work with are even nerdier. Most of them are younger, and therefore tend to have more hair and better overall physical condition, but their levels of nerd convo put anything that I've ever over-analyzed here to absolute shame.

So, I'm probably about a week and half from having to ask at least one them "Why are you not stuffed into a locker right now?"

And, sadly, they'll love the joke. As opposed to, say, busting me for plagiarism. Which they could, if they actually watched anything outside of the officially approved list of "things nerds are supposed to be watching" list, which is pretty much nothing but Disney properties and anime. I sort of can't wait for late winter, when I can also use the "superb owl" schtick.
 

[Mr. Sparkle]

5 hours ago, CletusMusashi said:

I'm a middle-aged bald man with a Venture Bros avatar sitting here drinking alone in a Cleveland apartment full of swords and reptiles while commenting on a Taika Waititi vampire series.

[Ohiopirate02]

10 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Noticed Nadja was wearing pants or a jumpsuit at the club. I think that's the first time she's not been in a skirt or dress.

Her jumpsuit was perfection.  If I were to ever cosplay Nadja, I would go with that outfit.  

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 8/31/2022 at 8:41 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

Jim is an independent film director who directed Tilda Swinton in Only Lovers Left Alive. 

17 hours ago, One Imaginary Girl said:

It's the best vampire movie, too.

Agreed.  If you like moody vampire movies, this is a must-see.  It costars Tom Hiddleston and is currently on HBO Max, or can be rented fairly cheaply from other sites.

Speaking of Tilda, and of djinn, I enjoyed Three Thousand Years of Longing, which contains both.  Not a comedy, but lots to look at and Tilda and Idris Elba are always interesting.   Don't want to spoil it by saying anything else.

Edited September 1, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[TexasGal]

I am going to really be looking for an opportunity to work “Stop telling me things I’ve done” into conversation.  

[Roxie]

Count me in as loving the dancing bat!

[MisterGlass]

I will be a little disappointed if this is the end for Marwa.  It was so painful to watch Guillermo walk away.  There are still two wishes left, though.

I hope teen Colin comes to appreciate all Laszlo has done for him.  I imagine we're close to his reemergence as an energy vampire.  I was fond of Wraith Charles.

I'm also fond of "Only Lovers Left Alive."  It's quiet and contemplative.  It also features a supporting role from the gone far too soon Anton Yelchin.

[Glade]

I don't think it's fair to call Freddie a narcissist when he only started a relationship with his clone --after-- he was hypnotized to think it wasn't a big deal/not weird/not incestuous etc.  If Nandor had undone that hypnosis and the emotional reality had set back in, Guillermo would have had a chance.

[AAEBoiler]

I thought it was funny that you could see Sofia Coppola's head under glass in the background of Nadja's interviews in her office.

[Milburn Stone]

On 9/6/2022 at 1:48 AM, Glade said:

I don't think it's fair to call Freddie a narcissist when he only started a relationship with his clone --after-- he was hypnotized to think it wasn't a big deal/not weird/not incestuous etc. 

Also, I wonder how much any of us would be able to resist another being who was always up for doing what we were up for doing. :)

[Kel Varnsen]

On 9/6/2022 at 2:48 AM, Glade said:

I don't think it's fair to call Freddie a narcissist when he only started a relationship with his clone --after-- he was hypnotized to think it wasn't a big deal/not weird/not incestuous etc.  If Nandor had undone that hypnosis and the emotional reality had set back in, Guillermo would have had a chance.

It is interesting that even Nandor wasn't interested in being with someone who likes everything that he likes, but Freddie was ok with it.