WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for What We Do in the Shadows Season 3, Episode 3, "Gail," now available on Hulu via FX.
What We Do in the Shadows portrays vampires as pretty sex-positive compared to the general human population. Based on their immortality and apparent prowess and appetites, one might assume that Nandor the Relentless has had his fair share of partners over the course of roughly seven centuries. But the more fans get to know about the ruthless former warrior from the Ottoman Empire, the more it seems like he's actually kind of a nice guy destined to be friend-zoned whether he's wooing human women or supernatural ladyfolk.
In Season 3, Episode 2, Nandor pursued Meg from the reception desk at Massive Fitness. She assumed his anachronistic behavior was meant to be ironically charming, which led Nandor to believe that they were in love and destined to spend the rest of their lives together. Meg turned out to be a lesbian, but that was almost beside the point. When he returned to the house, rejected, he confided in Nadja that his eternal life felt meaningless without someone to share it with. She roundly mocked him, but it's clear from Season 3, Episode 3, "Gail," that she does care and wants what's best for longtime roomie and friend.
What We Do in the Shadows' third episode continues what seems like the plot of this season: Nandor's quest for true love. He rebounds from Meg rather quickly and has reunited with an old flame named Gale. However, the fact that Nandor has a lover isn't surprising. It's Nandor's self-aware confessional that fills in the blanks about his long but uneventful love life that's the shocker. He had 37 wives, most of whom hated him, then 200 years of a dry spell. In the previous episode, Nandor admitted he wasn't good with modern women, but it seems he could've left out the "modern" part. He's pretty bad at romance in general. Therefore, Gail -- who he met sometime in the early '80s -- has been his only real relationship.
At present, Gail is a just-past-middle-age single mom of an adult daughter from Buffalo, New York. She likes Bob Seger, strawberry vanilla crunch yogurt and her independence. Nandor is deeply infatuated with her, but she's passingly interested in him, at best. When Nandor shows his housemates an engagement ring and tells them he plans to turn Gail into a vampire and propose, Nadja is immediately worried for her friend's sake. The rest of the housemates accuse her of disliking Gail or maybe even being envious of her. But Nadja protests that she doesn't dislike Nandor's girlfriend; she just recognizes the pattern and knows Gail's going to break his heart.
Every time Gail and Nandor get serious, he offers to turn her into a vampire, and at the last minute, she changes her mind and disappears. In an incredibly specific monologue about sardines, Gail explains her reasoning. Nandor's an acquired taste that one might crave, then eventually get sick of. Nadja doesn't see why this time would be any different. Not to mention Nadja's noticed that Nandor is a changed man around Gail. He adjusts his personality and interests to suit her the way a too-desperate boyfriend might.
When Gail unexpectedly transforms into a werewolf under the full moon, Nadja (and a jealous Guillermo) are relieved that it might be the end of it. However, Nandor was already aware that she was a "werewoman," and it didn't bother him enough to cut things off. However, Gail's also having an affair with a werewolf named Anton. When a kickball accident renders Gail unconscious, Nandor bites her to prevent her from dying, and Gail becomes a vampire. He gets down on one knee and proposes. Although Gail thinks the gesture is sweet, she tells Nandor that she's not really interested.
But she leaves him with false hope. "Wait for me," she says before flying back to Buffalo. Nandor replies that he'll wait for her forever, which only shows he hasn't learned anything from his recent experiences with women. There's something kind of wholesome about watching this once fiercely intimidating and hyper-masculine man try so hard to be the perfect boyfriend and flounder so painfully. He's loyal, attentive and ready to settle down. Still, he's got to learn to tone it down and play the long game.
See Nandor and Gail's unusual relationship in Season 3 of What We Do in the Shadows. The first three episodes are streaming now on Hulu via FX.