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Interview with the Vampire: Like Angels Put in Hell by God

"I didn't want this. But I have a capacity for enduring."

Like the game of chess revisited multiple times throughout the episode, this was a study of sacrifice, strategy and wits.

This was a strange episode, important to the greater arc story but I’m just not sure how much things actually progressed. Lestat slowly, over the course of years, wormed his way back into Louis’ good graces, to the point where Louis took him back into his bed. That is both disturbing and unfortunately predictable, given that their relationship has been based on the love/hate dynamic since the beginning.

Claudia has really only seen the way Lestat treats Louis, not the really creepy and horrible stuff from the beginning of the relationship. The whole situation makes your skin crawl, while at the same time Lestat is almost sympathetic given his past losses. The story of Magnus, for example, is straight from the books, and the name drop of Nicholas makes me wonder if we will get to see Lestat’s past in season two. Because yeah, as much as I hate Lestat for what he did to Louis, he is still an oddly engaging and powerfully charismatic character. Damn vampires.


Claudia continues to be a very, very strong influence on Louis; her anger at Lestat and her love for Louis is palpable. Her seething rage is all done with voice and intonation and the fury in her eyes. She quips and taunts and belittles Lestat at every opportunity, by actually being superior. She learns chess and obviously understands how to best him, but never actually wins a game until she needs to make a point. Letting Lestat lord over her is such a chess move, and of course her goal is now to kill her maker.

Then there is her need to get away and explore the world, searching out others of her kind and hoping to find elusive answers Lestat is unable or unwilling to provide. That desire to know more practically defines her character, that and as a woman trapped in a teenager’s body, she now allows the world to underestimate her. Her strength lies in thinking several moves ahead, and using timing and manipulation to gain advantage. She even does this with Louis, but for him it is clearly based on affection.

This is made all the more harrowing with Claudia’s escape onto the train. At first it is hopeful, with a sense of relief and excitement washing over her. Except that excitement is quickly dashed by Lestat, in the most perverse and violent way imaginable. He even taunts her with Bruce’s thoughts, and we get some confirmation of what happened; Bruce broke her arm and raped her. Although I do have to admit Lestat has good timing; Claudia venturing to Europe right at the start of World War II wouldn’t have been ideal.


Louis during all of this is healing, both physically and mentally. But you can see the light within him is almost gone. He exists for Claudia and Lestat to an extent, but is that enough? I mean Louis is still alive in the future, so he must’ve learned how to endure. In a way he seems almost like a ghost during this episode, only made tangible by those he interacts with. A single throwaway line from Louis does seem to inform who he is in the present. Louis asks Claudia if they would be so different from Lestat in a hundred years. Given how cold and intense Louis is around Daniel, I wonder how true that statement is. Maybe all vampires become detached and monstrous over time.

I’m not sure how to take the ending. Was Rashid appearing in Daniel’s dream just a drug-induced interpretation of the events? Or was Daniel actually remembering Rashid in the past? It would’ve been a few seconds fifty years ago, so it makes sense. However, that could only mean Rashid is a vampire and that changes a whole lot of things about the series. On the other hand, it also doesn’t quite make sense since I remember seeing him in the sunlight and his eyes are also human looking. I guess we’ll find out in the next episode.

Speaking of the finale, anyone who knows this story must be wondering how they could possibly fit the back half of the book into one episode. I bet they won't try.

Bits:

Anyone want to take bets on who Rashid could be if he is a vampire?

The flashback scene had an overhead shot of the San Francisco sign, which was also the first shot from Interview with the Vampire (1994).

The relabeling of Claudia from daughter to sister is an odd one, but I suppose makes sense for a character who only looks young. It also works with the up-aged nature of this version of the character.

I love the details about the city noticing the three of them over time as something other than human. The reactions to their unnatural presence are subtle – we don't have riots and torches – but the looks of fear and the effigies to ward away evil work just as well.

Quotes:

Daniel: "He could fly?"
Louis: "Yes."
Daniel: "Like Superman?"
Louis: "Not like Superman. Superman is a fictional character."
Daniel: "But in the air, with a fuck you to Newtonian physics flying?"

Claudia: "Who made you?"
Lestat: "His name was Magnus."

Daniel: "Hey Doc, did you know there is a flying vampire apocalypse coming your way?"

Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

5 comments:

  1. I am obsessed with this show. Other than my eternal love for Buffy and Frank Langella as Dracula, I am not particularly a vampire fan and have not not read the books. I know some stuff about the characters because of pop culture and I did see the original movie... but was never that intense about it. But this show. I can't get enough of it. I do not know what is in store for Season 2. I have just heard that it will take place in Europe. I know enough about the original material to know that Europe means Louis and Claudia. Where will Lestat be? I pray not just in flashbacks. More Lestat!

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  2. Heather, I am also all about Lestat. More Lestat! Sam Reid is doing an exceptional job with Lestat. :) I did read the books so I won't comment about Europe.

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  3. You know, I feel so conflicted. I have read and watched reviews of this show incessantly (because as mentioned in my previous comment, I am obsessed). And of course, the subject of abused and abuser comes up with Daniel. So I see it. Plus, as a woman, perhaps I doubly see it. But the chemistry between Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid is so electric... poor Rachid ... just... no. And yes, I've seen the season finale... but still... no.

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  4. Haven't seen that kind of chemistry since Moonlighting... I'm aging myself, I know...

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    1. Perhaps, but I remember Moonlighting fondly, and you're right the chemistry between Reid and Anderson is off the charts. I kind of want those crazy kids to work it out. Actually, all I really want is Lestat to get some major screen time next season, I am absolutely in love with his performance.

      As for Rashid, I don't know. Their interactions very intentionally represented to Daniel and by extension us. But I'll hold off until the next episode review is up.

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