Swinging back to an interview style, this episode packs a seriously heavy emotional one-two punch. Yet even with as much as we uncover, bits of the story feel unfinished, or maybe edited, as Lestat dribbles out small snippets of his history.
The first half is all affectation as Lestat almost revels in drawing Daniel in and mocking him. Laughing at him despite the fact that he was just covering from his actual trauma revealed later on in the episode. I will admit I was hoping for a bit more with Nikki, who dominated a rather large chunk of the original book. But if they had to confine their romance to one episode, this wasn’t badly done.
Nikki was always a bit unstable, and even from their first interactions you could feel things were going to end badly. Everyone warned Lestat not to turn Nikki; even after Armand hurt him, there was a question of whether he was right for immortality. Nikki begged Lestat to turn him, but the gift proved to be too much for him ultimately, as he lost his mind to jealousy and perhaps the prospect of immortality. It isn’t fully explained what was wrong with him, but he had very obviously lost his mind.
That entire final sequence where Nikki broke down in front of an indifferent Armand and an almost mockingly cynical Gabriella was heart wrenching. The pain displayed was palpable, from Lestat trying desperately to hold onto his love, his pain watching Nikki prove he could not handle immortality, and the horror of watching him cut off his own hand. It was a brutal reminder of the extremes of personality vampires can have, and that loss of control can be deadly.
Daniel got a glimpse, a harrowing and soul-gripping hint of Lestat’s true nature. But it was fleeting, and that is an impossible truth for a journalist who wants to document everything. Watching him panic as he reviewed the footage and realized what Lestat had done was almost painful. He was so wrapped up in his questions, in his interview, he never realized that it was all in his head. I’m also not loving the repeated hints that Daniel isn’t long for this world, but he is somewhat violent and not necessarily a good person. So we’ll see. Maybe it is just foreshadowing as a red herring.
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If the Nikki stuff was everything, this still would’ve been a strong episode. But the real gut punch was up next. First we follow Louis as he ruthlessly and somewhat easily takes out the Fang Gang’s lair with quick and somewhat dispassionate beheadings. It was almost comical watching him move through the house dispatching thugs as if they were paper models, even going so far as to have a possum come up and start licking the head left on the lawn in front of the house. It was weird and very much in the vein of this series, mixing comedy and tragedy often at the same time.
Of course the comedy ended there as we moved on to the meat of Louis’ purpose as Killer and Baby Jenks show up on a motorcycle, and Killer turns out to be the very Bruce that had kidnapped and hurt Claudia all those years ago. Louis is cold and calculating at first, tossing Baby Jenks aside as if she were nothing and ripping out Bruce’s spine to completely incapacitate him. Then he pulls out a carefully preserved clutch of hand-written papers, which are the mysterious four pages missing from Claudia’s diary mentioned last season during Daniel’s interview.
Then things shifted, with Lestat almost literally saying “the show must go on” as he walked back on stage after his car crash. The song highlights those moments of horror as he was transformed into a vampire as an image of Magnus leaves the show. Then Gabriella exits stage right, because Lestat made it pretty clear her presence was no longer wanted. Which is a shame because I’ve enjoyed her character, but her laughter throughout the past and the present was unsettling, as if she were mocking Lestat’s pain.
Bits:
This episode marks the return of Armand both in the past and the present. I am curious what the show runners are doing with Alex, and what Armand has in store for him?
The short scene of Magnus as a Lestat groupie was hilarious and so very fake that I was surprised that Daniel bought into it at all.
Lestat finally admitted that his band isn’t that successful and he was going through a nervous breakdown. Yet he also fessed up to the truth that the music was what was sustaining him.
A red ring is prominently shown on Lestat’s finger; it was worn by Nikki in the flashback.
Lestat casually mentioned witches again. That’s the second time this season.
Original Songs: “I’m Your Biggest Fan” and “The Loneliness” were featured in this episode.
Quotes:
Lestat: “The vainglorious homogeny of the Toronto skyline is something to behold, an onslaught of impractical cоndоm dominated by a 147-floor Waterpik. Its banality is lost on the polite citizenry of Canada. To them, it's iconic…”
Lestat: “I'm the Front Man Lestat. The Vampire Lestat. I'm immortal, more or less. The light of the sun, the sustained heat of an intense fire, Jefferson Starship, garrote-wielding coven members, these things might destroy me. But then again, they might not.”
Daniel: “Eight wolves by yourself.”
Lestat: “Everyone always repeats the number when I say it. I had a pistol, a rifle, a dagger, a mastiff.”
Daniel: “The stuttering wolf killer.”
Lestat: “Well, that was the first name for our band. 'Hello, Fort Collins, we are the Stuttering Wolf Killers. Are you ready to r-r-rock?'"
Daniel: “From the ages of 9 to 29, you…”
Lestat: “Stuttered. I stuttered, yes. And every kill I have made is a response. My entire psyche is formed from the deformity. It's like being strapped down in a dentist's chair, opening your mouth wide, only to have the dentist say, 'I'm not a dentist,' as he lubes up a thick rubber glove. So you be gentle, Dan.”
Claudia: "He let me go 'cause I seemed small and it looked like he'd won. And he did win, 'cause I want nothing, to be nothing and say nothing and do nothing. You know the stupidest of all, dear diary? I thought I was the thing lurking in the shadows. I thought I was."
Through tears and pain we are given a lengthy glimpse into the inner workings of Lestat’s mind. A monster through tragedy and stillness, of inaction when he could’ve stopped it. But is the tragedy because he failed to act, or because it was probably better that he didn’t?
4 out of 4 Actions not taken
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.
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