TV Review: ""Interview with the Vampire: What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned" (S2, Ep. 1)
The hit AMC series is back with a triumphant start to its second season, and I am absolutely here for it.
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This is truly a good time to be T.J. As a lover of fantasy and science fiction, I'm on the edge of my seat for the return of both The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon, and I’m still reveling in the release of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. And, as if all of that weren’t enough, this week also saw the release of the first episode of the second season of AMC’s Interview with the Vampire. I absolutely adored the season for a whole host of reasons–not the least of which was the fact that it made explicit the same-sex eroticism that was somewhat tamed in the 1994 film–and so I was eagerly waiting for its return. The action picks up essentially where the last season left off: Daniel (Eric Bogosian) is interviewing Louis (Jacob Anderson) about his past, even as he’s also contending with the influence of Armand (Assad Zaman), who has his own interests in Louis’ revelations. In the past, Louis and Claudia (Delainey Hayles) are making their way through Eastern Europe in the midst of World War II, all in the desperate hopes that they’ll finally find someone who can provide them with some insight into the true story of vampires and how they came to be. At the same time, Louis continues to struggle with his conscience and the shade of the maybe-dead Lestat (Sam Reid).
I’ve been wondering for some time now how (or whether) the series was going to explore Louis’ and Claudia’s exploration of Eastern Europe. In the novel, they go there in the search for vampire origins, only to find it largely populated by mindless ghouls who can give them no more answers about the nature of vampirekind than Lestat did. This sequence was entirely absent from the movie version, but it’s been restored to this one, though in this case Louis and Claudia also have to navigate the ravages of World War II and its aftermath. As they discover, however, it’s not just humans who are monstrous, for they encounter both a mindless and ravaged vampire and its maker, Daciana, the latter of whom proves to be even more tragic than our two vampire orphans.
Even though she is clearly a far cry from the glamorous Lestat, for a brief moment it seems as if this tattered and fragile being will be able to be restored to some semblance of sanity and beauty but then, just as she holds out this promise to Louis and Claudia, she proceeds to throw herself into the flames and self-immolates. Like so many other vampires in Rice’s universe, the weight of immortality–and the fact that she cannot produce a vampire child who is anything more than a shambling, animated corpse–drives her to despair. It’s a reminder to both Claudia and Louis that being a vampire might be far more complicated than either of them thought, and that there may simply not be any satisfying answers to the questions they constantly ask. This whole exchange casts the title, and Louis question, in a stark and unforgiving light.
Indeed, it’s hard not to feel sorry for Louis in this first episode. This is a vampire, after all, who conspired to murder the love of his life and who is now rootless and wandering, condemned to an existence that lacks the erotic spark it did with the vampire who made him. It’s thus not surprising that Lestat’s ghost continues to haunt him, his leonine beauty marred by the grievous wounds inflicted on him when Louis and Claudia gained their freedom. As a purely practical matter, these little interludes give us some time to spend with Lestat, who otherwise would be entirely absent from the narrative (for a while, at least). And, of course, it probably goes without saying that Anderson continues to bring Louis to gorgeous, melancholy, tortured life, his beautiful face letting us see into his tortured immortal soul.
Obviously, one of the most notable things about this second season is the fact that Claudia has been recast, with Delainey Hayles now taking over the role from Bailey Bass. I’m still not entirely sold on this idea of Claudia being a perpetual teenager rather than a child as in both the book and the film version, but she’s growing on me. Part of this, I think, stems from the fact that she is very much an enigma. We never quite know where we are with Claudia, and this seems to be as true for Louis as it is for us as viewers.
In the present, meanwhile, Louis, Armand, and Daniel continue their little game, as the latter has to find his way through the maze of half-truths and self-delusions that Louis has constructed around his history and that Armand has willingly aided and abetted. I have to say that I am loving what Assad Zaman is doing with Armand, turning him into someone who is quite content to manipulate Louis for his own ends, no matter how much damage he might be doing. The chemistry between Anderson and Zaman might lack the potent electricity that we feel every time Anderson and Reid share the screen, but that’s only to be expected. After all, their relationship, while no less complicated and complex than that between Louis and Lestat, is more muted and subtle. Say what you will about Armand, but he is the type of vampire who knows how to play the long game, and it’s clear that, regardless of whether or not he truly loves Louis for who he is, he definitely has him dancing to his own tune.
All in all, I quite enjoyed “What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned.” It had all of the elements that made me fall in love with the first season and then some, and I’m particularly enjoying the sparring between Eric and Armand, neither of whom trusts the other. It’s clear that there’s much from this time in Louis’ life that he would rather remain suppressed, just as it’s clear that Armand’s influence on him might go further than the latter would like anyone to know. Interview with the Vampire continues to show the extent to which Anne Rice’s beloved novel remains as potent today as it did when it was first published.