(indistinct chatter)
NADJA: Our work on converting the Vampiric Council
into a vampire nightclub
is not going well.
Stop the work! Stop the work!
NADJA: The custodian of this
wonderful raw space is being something
of a total harpy in my ass.
Continue the work. Continue the work.
Ignore her, keep working.
My voice reigns supreme.
I have been in charge of this sacred reliquary
for hundreds of years.
You can't just dismantle it all.
NADJA: We're not dismantling anything, we're just moving things around.
-Oh. -There is a very specific filing system here.
-Which is? -Which is everything stays exactly where it is
and nothing gets moved or changed ever.
Are you sure you don't want to protect
your precious books by putting them
into storage so they don't get damaged
by my blood sprinklers?
Blood sprinklers?
No, no, no. This is not right. Put it all back.
You can get fucked. This took hours.
Oh, I wasn't talking to you.
LASZLO: What the fuck?
NADJA: Fucking wraiths.
Anything you can do, my wraiths can undo.
This conversation is over.
("You're Dead" by Norma Tanega playing)
♪ Don't sing if you want to live long ♪
♪ They have no use for your song ♪
♪ You're dead, you're dead, you're dead ♪
♪ You're dead and out of this world ♪
♪ Now your hope and compassion is gone ♪
♪ You sold out your dream to the world ♪
♪ Stay dead, stay dead, stay dead ♪
♪ You're dead and out of this world. ♪
♪ ♪
(barks)
-Cute. (chuckles) -Which one's yours?
I do not own a dog.
-I only come here to speak to you. -Oh.
NANDOR: My search for a new wife has...
not been going so great.
I used to have 37 beautiful wives.
But that was hundreds of years ago.
Now I have no one.
But I have a plan.
I secretly smuggled back 850 pounds of ancestral treasure
from Al Qolnidar.
I thought my ancestral treasure
would make a very impressive dowry.
But it seems,
for modern women, it's just not enough.
I am not a creep.
I'm just a very powerful and ancient warrior
who wishes to marry you.
So I'd like you to come back to the basement of my mansion
and examine my massive dowry.
Hmm?
So, here I am,
surrounded by all my secret treasures
but without a wife to share them with.
And, yes, I have kept my secret treasure secret
from even my housemates.
No one will ever know the precious riches
-that I have hidden deep... -GUILLERMO: Master?
What the fuck? Guillermo?
How did you get in here? The door was locked.
Wh-- How long have you had this secret room for?
Whoa. Look at all this stuff. Is this stuff real?
Sure, just come on down to my secret treasure room,
why don't you? Don't touch that.
-Ow. -Of course it's real.
The aggravations are endless.
I am paying a full crew of workermen to do nothing.
-You know what I think this stairway needs, Tobe? -What's that?
Hey, I bet they do a shiplap accent wall.
-Watch. -...a shiplap accent wall.
Man, come on, these guys have, like, two go-to moves at best.
No, that's where you're fucking wrong.
Bran and Toby choose to use shiplap
because it has the perfect amount of artistic flair
for any aesthetic.
Also, not a budget-buster.
Did you want to do shiplap on this wall?
-Where? -Just, like, right over here?
Well, if you've got some.
Every time I persuade the workermen to work,
The Guide and her wraiths undermine me.
-Hey. Hey! -Whoa, whoa!
(Nadja groans)
I told Nadja it wasn't safe for her crew to be working here,
but she doesn't listen.
(worker screams)
I have tried using the carrot, as one does
with a stubborn donkey, but now it is time for the stick!
I must ask you about some of the things
I overheard them saying when I was working in, um, England
at the Supreme Vampiric Council.
(chuckles): Oh. Did they speak about me
and my dedicated work here?
-I shouldn't say, no. -Oh.
Okay, I'll tell you.
Yeah, so, some of them were definitely saying
that they think that this branch of the Vampiric Council
is very much stuck in time,
and that the real estate would probably be more valuable
if they leased it out to a... CVS Pharmacy.
Who said that?
The main one.
Dark Lord Tyrantus?
The Liquidator of Underlings?
Him-- that's him.
Uh, okay, uh...
(softly): What do I do?
Okay!
Let's do this! Uh...
Wraith meeting! Wraith meeting!
Hey, uh, stop injuring crew workers
-and assemble for an official wraith meeting. -(worker screams)
All right, that's the last one.
Ah, yes.
Any woman in ancient Al Qolnidar would throw herself at my feet
if she knew I had a spoon like this.
Well, most modern women have access to spoons already, so...
We live in a time of miracles.
No.
What's this?
-Oh, just a djinn lamp. -A what?
A djinn lamp. Like in the old stories.
You-you rub it and a magical man comes out and grants you wishes.
Oh, a genie lamp.
It is a djinn lamp.
Uh, the ancient tales say it is magical,
but like most of the ancient tales, it is all horseshit.
-Well, then rub it. -I rubbed hundreds of djinn lamps
as a child, nothing ever happened. See?
Nothing.
Well, did you ever rub it counterclockwise?
Eh, rub, rub, rub. See? Nothing.
(rumbling)
What is happening?!
You rubbed it a hundred times and never thought
about rubbing it the other way?!
NANDOR: We are about to die,
and this is what you want
your last words to be?!
(rumbling stops)
Okay. It stopped.
-Hey. -Hey, yo...
NANDOR: Oh, hey.
Are you a djinn?
Yes.
You don't look like a djinn.
-You can't say that. -I just did.
Thank you all for coming.
Would you like me to explain what we require of them?
No, I'll handle it. I'm just waiting
for the rest of them to get here.
I don't want to say it twice.
-(gasps) -Um...
I say, exactly how many wraiths are there?
GUIDE: So, so many. And so many of them
are habitual stragglers!
-(laughs softly) -Mm.
GUIDE: Okay, I guess they're all here.
(clears throat)
-Hear me, my wraiths! -WRAITHS (whispering): Yes...
For today we embark on a new mission.
-(wraiths whispering sibilantly) -Oh. (groans)
Now, many changes will be made to this building.
And your duty heretoforth is to help
the human workers...
-Help. -...and to not harm the human workers.
-Don't harm them. -Am I understood?
WRAITHS: Yes...
All right. Now we will organize ourselves
into work squads, and within those squads
-we will decide who does... -Ooh, sorry, this is not the john...
(whispering sibilantly)
-GUIDE: Wait. -(worker screaming)
-(crunching) -Ooh.
Uh, what did we just say?!
GUIDE: Oh, no. I was worried
about this happening.
You see, the wraiths and I have been together
for so long that no matter what I tell them to do,
they know what my heart really wants.
Well, maybe you should tell your heart to think of some...
It's all right, my darling. I think I can deal with this.
So, logically you're prepared
for change, yet your inner,
uncontrollable emotions are resisting.
Would I be right?
What?
I think can fix her.
Psychology is considered to be
one of the newer sciences.
Isn't really new to me at all.
In fact, I was there at its conception.
I spent a few of my younger years with Sigmund Freud,
while he was using cocaine and working on his theory
that all neurosis is derived
from what he called "hand envy."
I remember taking a steam bath with the chap,
and my towel accidentally dropped,
and he caught sight of my rather generous John Thomas.
He shrieked "Eureka," and then came up with "penis envy."
Or what I like to call "wanting of the wang."
(puffs)
So, how many wishes can you grant?
Do you wish to know?
-No, don't... -Sure.
Well, it's 52.
But you just used one, so it's 51.
-(grumbles) -Don't wish it.
NANDOR: My first thought was,
I will just wish the djinn to get me a new love.
But then I remembered I had already found love.
I had 37 wives, and one of them,
I specifically remember, I really loved.
I just cannot remember which one.
-Hmm... -So, what was her name?
It might have been a he. They weren't all women.
-You could do that back then? -Of course.
Some of my wives were girl wives,
some of them were guy wives.
It's not that different.
Hmm.
I cannot remember the name,
but either he or she had
very long, dark hair.
28 of them had long, dark hair.
Hmm. I want to say Becky?
-No. -Hmm.
NANDOR: How about Dalal?
I think I remember him having a very fun handlebar mustache.
-There were three Dalals. -Three.
(sighs) You know what? Just bring them
all back and we'll figure it out.
I don't think that's the most efficient way to deal with...
Uh, is this your wish?
Yes. This is my wish.
I wish you to bring back all 37 of my dead wives.
Very well.
(indistinct chatter nearby)
Oh, boy.
(exclaims)
Greetings, my wives.
(rising chatter)
Hi.
Nandor... (speaking Farsi)
Yes, hello to you, too, I want to say Mina?
-(all gasping) -Miriam?
-Zahra. -That's it.
I also wish for them all to speak English.
...Fatemeh said you were going to return
-when the moon was next full. -Did she?
But we waited three full moon cycles,
-and guess what. Nothing. -Oh, three? Sorry about that.
Which is very disrespectful not just to me
-but to my father... -Let me go check
and I'll get right back to you...
(overlapping chatter)
(all shouting)
Give me one moment! Uh, everything will be normal soon.
-How long must I stare at the...? -I don't know.
-(pounding on door) -How long, Nandor?
Okay, so it's definitely not her.
Guillermo, I'm going to need you to install
37 bunk beds in the attic.
-(pounding on door) -MAN: Open!
-LASZLO: Keep going. -I've been watching over
this building for hundreds of years.
I'm so intertwined with it, I feel any changes physically,
in my own body.
What, you mean, like something sexual?
More like, if there is a brick that gets chipped,
I get a headache.
If the steam pipes are backed up, then I am also backed up.
-Nothing sexy. -I'm just gonna ignore
most of that and put that down to your female hysteria.
-Hmm. -Moving on, the thought of changing this building,
-how does that make you feel? -Bad.
If anything gets changed here, something very bad will happen.
-Could you give me an example? -I just have an overpowering
"bad things will happen" energy, and it's flowing through me.
Do you mean a sexual sensation?
No, it's more like, when you enter a room...
-Keep going. -But you have to take an even amount of steps
because the floor will be bad and then you tap the doorknob
three times and you do it all over again.
You know, regular stuff.
-(grunts) -(indistinct chatter)
Guillermo, now is not time for shopping.
My wives are hungry.
I know. This is the Uber Eats order for your 37 wives.
We've narrowed it down to 32 now.
Well, what did you do with the rejects?
Guillermo.
Those beautiful, sensitive,
poetic creatures are not rejects.
They're just simply not what I'm looking for
-at this particular juncture, so we got rid of them. -What?
-I-I don't kill them. I just make them dead again. -Yes.
-Isn't that killing them again? -NANDOR: No.
He re-deads them. But in a nice way.
And they go to paradise, don't they?
Sure.
We even came up with a nice way of doing it.
My sweet Nandor said I'm supposed to ask you
for a special gold coin?
-(laughs) -Ah, yes.
Come, come.
NANDOR: So they never see it coming.
And there is no sadness or tears.
That sounds like murder.
I'll pretend I didn't hear that.
But, you know, this isn't just a job to me.
You know, I'm not clocking in and clocking out.
-This is who I am. -Right.
And if you don't mind me asking,
who were you before... this?
Well, I was, um...
a...
Well, I...
I can't remember.
You've no idea, have you?
I have no idea.
Well, that is fascinating.
And if you will allow me,
I have a technique
that could retrieve that lost memory.
Will it hurt?
Maybe.
My dear Roshni, I thought we'd do a little quiz.
"34 Questions That Lead to Love."
-(chuckles) -Question one,
"if you could choose anyone in the world,
which three people would you invite to dinner?"
Well, for one,
I would love to hear the Sufic poetry
of the great poet Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi
directly from his own lips.
Excellent choice.
And next?
I suppose my dear grandfather.
A simple farmer but a very wise man.
Very nice, Roshni.
And finally?
-And then perhaps... -Mm-hmm.
Yes?
...Behrouz the Mighty.
A most fearsome warrior.
A hero.
-Behrouz? -Yes.
-The Mighty? -Yes.
Mm.
Hi. Nandor said
-you have a gold coin for me. -(sighs) Yes,
I do.
(bell tolls)
You're walking down the corridor of your mind.
Can you picture it?
-Yes. -Good.
You walk down that corridor
and come across an important-looking room.
What does it say upon the door?
"Storage."
You open that door.
What do you see inside?
-Boxes. -Boxes.
-Mm. -All right.
You open one of the boxes.
What's inside?
Some smaller boxes.
And each one has a label on it.
And what does the label say?
-"Contents: Even Smaller Boxes." -"S-Smaller Boxes."
Yes, I thought you might say that. Let's get the fuck out.
-MAN: Is this a bad time? -I really can't talk right now, okay?
-All right. Yeah. -I'll call you back later.
Whenever you can. I really miss you.
Yeah...
I know what everyone's thinking.
I'm gonna be super jealous of whoever Nandor's wife
ends up being, but...
I'm really not.
I just want him to be happy.
And...
I'm in a very good place right now.
As far as that's concerned.
Because...
that's all I will say about that.
-All right. Special delivery. -(chattering)
Got some dresses
-and shirts and all the... -I was going to make Nandor
a shank of lamb-- do you know if he likes lamb?
-Um, I don't think he's really into lamb, actually. -DARYA: Hey.
-Can you take this infant away from me? -No...
-He is exhausting me. -Okay,
maybe in a second, Darya.
Kind of have my hands full here, all right?
Wow. It is so great to have a nice,
nonthreatening male to talk to.
-Okay. -DARYA: Isn't it?
What is your name, eunuch?
Well, it's Guillermo,
and I'm not a eunuch, so...
-DARYA: Close enough. -Cover yourself up.
LASZLO: Continuing down the corridor of your mind,
-what do you see? -Someone needs to clean it up.
All right, apart from that, do you see a door?
-Many doors. -Can you tell me what they say?
-"Conversation Starters." -All right.
Uh, "Favorite Looks Casual."
"Favorite Looks Formal."
"Shame-- Do Not Open."
Uh, "Box Storage Number Two."
That might be a good one to get into.
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa. Back up a second.
Did you just say "Shame"?
Let's go in there, have a bit of a poke around.
-The "Shame" door? -Please.
Says "Do Not Open."
Well, fuck that. Just give it a...
give it a hard push.
(grunts)
Nope.
-It's not budging. -Right. Ah!
What's that I hear?
The footsteps
of somebody strong and powerful
coming down the corridor of your mind to help you.
Do you see that person?
-Yes. -Who is he?
It's Guillermo.
No, no, I said somebody strong and powerful.
Do you see that person?
-Yes, that's Guillermo. (chuckles) -Really?
Well, he's naked.
-Hello, Guillermo. -Uh, just get him to open the door.
-He's naked. -Can he open the door?
He's trying,
but his hands keep slipping off the doorknob
due to the oil that he used to glisten up
his naked body.
Right. You know what? I think I might take a break.
(inhales deeply)
DJINN: Nandor's process
is, uh...
well...
(growling)
You have an impressive and powerful physique, Kublai.
-(grunts) -I cannot wait to explore it.
(chuckles) But I'm afraid...
I am stronger.
-Even a very strong man like you... -(growls)
...won't want to step on that nail.
-Nail? (groans loudly) -(grunts)
(groans)
Ah!
You win, Kublai.
I may not remember my beloved's name.
As your prize, you get a very special gold coin.
But I do remember that they never beat me at anything.
Fucking Kublai.
Okay, first things first, I'd say
the two Dalals are definitely out.
They were humble and an excellent listener.
My sister, when she was being courted by her husband...
Well, he didn't end up actually becoming her husband.
-Mm-hmm. -We were all certain they were to be wed, you know?
I'd forgotten how many wonderful stories you have to tell, Mina.
But he was also, like, a...
NANDOR: The love of my life
was not petty
or slovenly
or vain.
-Saddle up! -Or manipulative.
He's a naughty boy.
They never asked me to shave off my beard.
Okay, she's a maybe.
This guy I don't trust. This one
never learned to read. I like her,
but she's so much smarter than me, so...
see ya!
They were warm and wanted to be with me.
You know, Behrouz the Mighty,
all of his fearsome shit was actually done by other guys.
My heart's desire was kind
and a good haggler.
They never borrowed my boots without asking me.
They were merciful.
And horny.
And this, my dear Ramy,
is where the magic happens.
Shall we?
Could I get one of those gold coins now?
My beloved had a sense of spontaneity and fun.
-(chuckling) -(giggles) Nandor, what are you hiding?
-Ah! -(yelping)
H-Hey! No, wait! Come back!
-Where you going?! -No.
Come back!
It's just a lobster!
(yelps) Leave me alone.
Wait!
♪ Bu-Bu-Bu-Bublitchki. ♪
That was adorable.
Nasrin! Nasrin!
Hey! Don't be afraid!
-Nasrin! Hey. -(shrieking)
Where are you going?!
Do not fear him! We are about to kill him anyway.
-(horn honks, tires screech) -Oh!
Shit.
(engine idling)
Whoops.
Yeah, she's dead.
-It is a process. -♪ Hey! ♪
GUILLERMO: You were meant to look
You can't just let him wander off.
NANDOR: Here, boy! (whistles)
GUILLERMO: He's not a dog. He's a child.
Why are you so grumpy these days, Guillermo?
Oh, I don't know. Maybe 'cause I'm exhausted
from feeding and taking care of your 37 wives.
Actually, we're down to seven now.
-Little baby Colin! -Colin? -(pounding)
Oh, wow.
This little rascal really likes
to hammer holes in the wall, doesn't he?
Between taking care of your wives
and making sure this poor child
-doesn't die... -Hey!
...in this death trap of a house,
I haven't slept in weeks.
-Colin, give me the hammer. -Hey! Shit.
Do you know that I've missed my mother's birthday party
three years in a row?
No. Why would I know that?
I would have to know that it was your mother's birthday
and also the things you do.
I-I really am glad that you want to find a wife,
and I think it's cool. I really do.
-I'm cool with that. -Oh, good.
I'm so glad you are "cool" with that.
But I already have a family. And one that I don't see
because I spend so much time taking care of you guys,
I don't take care of myself.
I think he has fallen asleep.
I think your story bored him.
(snickering)
Only kidding, Guillermo.
Eesh.
We've had a breakthrough.
This job isn't my job.
It's my punishment.
She'd locked away her most shameful and sordid memories
for so long that she'd forgotten them.
-I was a bad vampire. -Yes.
GUIDE: I was sloppy.
I was wild.
I was a moth to the danger flame.
I led the Inquisition.
I danced the Dance of the Seven Veils.
(whispers): Without the veils.
LASZLO: Top work.
GUIDE: I was, simply put,
-extra. -It's true.
And we finally got to the bottom of the, uh,
naked, glistening Guillermo business
that's been lurking in her tawdry mind.
Don't stop. This is getting good.
The final straw came,
the ultimate messiness for a vampire...
(sighs) when I slept with a vampire killer.
Shit.
No.
A Van Helsing.
No.
Yeah.
I knew it was wrong
when I did it.
There's something about his kind--
the danger, the depravity.
Will this climax be the end of my story?
And what a way to go.
His fingers that could wrap around my neck.
All right. Leave this with me.
(whispering): What? Are you fucking insane?
No. No way.
It's every young boy's fantasy.
What's wrong with you? It works, doesn't it?
-As if you could do any better. -Just do it.
Get her to stop talking about that fucking building.
She clearly has a weakness for your kind.
She might teach you a thing or two.
Okay.
If I do this, what's it worth to you?
Name your price.
I want to be the nightclub's accountant.
LASZLO: Why?
Why not?
This makes me suspicious a little.
Well, do you want my help or not?
Eh. I mean, we do, so...
-done deal. -Okay. Well.
Yeah, I've done a lot of things for Nandor, Laszlo and Nadja
over the years, but...
seducing a vampire to do their bidding?
(exhales)
That's a new one.
(creaking)
Guillermo, I know why you're here.
But the answer is no.
Oh, come on. (chuckles softly)
Don't-don't you think a nightclub would be...
a nice, fun change of pace for you?
Yeah, sure. The nightclub's fine.
I don't care about that anymore.
-Okay, good. (chuckles) -Yeah.
No, it is our...
-forbidden love... -(gasps)
...that I must squash before it has a chance to blossom.
Yes.
Yeah. All right, well,
nice doing business with you.
I'm gonna go.
(gasps)
We felt a passion for each other from the moment we met, no?
Oops! I should have known you had Van Helsing blood in you
when I felt that tingling in my most private of parts.
Great. I'm gonna...
-Ooh! Ooh! -Oh.
Oh, my sweet, sweet Guillermo.
My attraction to you
is a manifestation of a longing for my past life,
when I was a naughty, dirty vampire.
(cackles)
But that's not who I am anymore.
-(grunts, pants) -Please tell me you understand.
-No hard feelings. -Okay.
Now I'm gonna go,
-and you're gonna stay. -Bye-bye.
Guillermo, can you find it in your heart
to be just... friends with me?
Sure.
I could use a friend. (chuckles)
High five. (gasps)
All right. Then what are we waiting for, huh?!
-(chuckles) It's a good day. -Where'd she get that from?
Let's get this old shit out of here
and make a vampire nightclub!
-GUILLERMO: What are you gonna do with the hammer? -(whoops)
Yeah!
(cackles)
As you can see, another patient cured
and returned to perfect mental health.
Yes, she seems very well now, doesn't she?
-No charge. -(cackling)
Well done, my love.
Indeed.
She's gone.
What are we left with?
I have found the one.
We are engaged to be wed.
This is Marwa.
Hello. I am Marwa of Al Qolni...
I mean, it was obvious all along.
You know, like, duh.
Would you excuse me for one moment,
please, my little pomegranate?
Be right back.
(clears throat)
I was lucky enough to have the best education...
I always imagined my wife with blonde hair.
...but my passion lied in science and mathematics...
I think I was thinking a little less platinum blonde,
little more, um, hint of red.
I am most proud that my observations
-of Jupiter and Saturn... -Hmm.
You know what? I think
I prefer it just as it was in the beginning.
Using up a lot of wishes.
Yes, I know, but let's do it.
Nothing is too good for my perfect wife.
I am very lucky to have a man of such intellect
to share my life with.
Mm.
(chuckles)
♪ Bu-Bu-Bu-Bublitchki ♪
♪ I promise you will be ♪
♪ My only love ♪
♪ So will you give to me ♪
♪ All of your bublitchki ♪
♪ The bu-bu-bublitchki ♪
♪ I'm dreaming of ♪
♪ I had a love, you see ♪
♪ Who gave me bublitchki ♪
♪ I fell in love with him ♪
♪ But he did not ♪
♪ He gave his all to me ♪
♪ All of his bublitchki ♪
♪ All of his bublitchki is all I got ♪
♪ All of that bublitchki ♪
♪ Is all I got... ♪
♪ Hey! ♪
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org