What I can’t stop thinking about is Daniel telling Louis I can be your Lestat and your Claudia. Like that’s so insane. He even said he has more to offer.
Edit: also young Daniel definitely wanted to be bit by Louis.
Well he is being Louis therapist so maybe he had a point. He could just be Louis' friend forever. Not dependent on Louis, not expecting things of Louis. Louis could use that.
While I agree. I think if he would have just said I could be your friend.
Invoking both Lestat and Claudia imply both romantic and familial relationships to me. He wanted to be his companion.
Daniel, even as a young, burgeoning journalist, already saw through Louis’s façade in the 70s and shows why he became so damned good at getting things out of people as he grew in his career.
He had the gifts of insight and perception. Louis being drawn to that in a bar in the 70s — maybe bc he knew that something was being held back from him and Daniel with his need for drugs was a great means to a few ends. Louis loves humanity and makes sense why the Paris vampires repulsed him.
Also makes sense of Louis’s suicide ideation. Daniel has an eagle eye into his soul.
The exact topic that made Louis run to the roof was bringing up how Claudia didn’t love him right? Wonder if Armand regretted saying exactly that. But keeping Louis out of his coffin after was cruel
When Daniel mentions being kidnapped by the KGB and Louis’s like “how’s that relevant” - it’s very relevant LOUIS he’s going through all his kidnapping experiences!
I loved that scene. And especially after Louis is all „…your point being…?“ and Daniel answers „I don’t know. No point. Other than, fuck your boyfriend.“ I had to giggle
I love how faithful the script is to each character. Louis not understanding how that statement is relevant because he is so self absorbed. If it's not about him he doesn't see how it applies.
Baby Daniel is way too freaky and down for anything for his own good
But show him a pair of fangs and party boy Daniel is gone, interview Daniel is here. With his shirt on
Jacob Anderson driving this season without Sam as much shows why he is a star. He did so much with his GoT role and so glad he gets to be #1 on AMC. His acting range shown in this episode is incredible.
I couldn't picture it at the time. Especially since I've never seen him do American television. All Brits sound clunky to me when they do their first project in the states. When he first started speaking I was so blown away with his narration/monologue and accent work that I had to go back to listen again. I still can't believe Eric could see the talent that was brewing from the little he did in GOT. He was really wasted in that show. To be fair though I was totally disinterested in Daenerys' story line.
I think it was the guy who taught him the language he spoke on Game of Thrones who said something like in his entire history of working with actors on accents and languages Jacob was the best.
I wonder how early Armand started messing with his mind. It makes me feel much more sympathetic towards him, because how can he even know which mistakes are his own? How can he even attempt accountability?
This interview is really his last ditch effort to feel anything. I was never a shipper, but he and Lestat really deserve to be happy, someone let them be happy!
In a lot of ways it definitely is. Lestat didn’t get taken in by Louis’s poor me stuff he got frustrated and raged violently like when Claudia returned and Louis perked up.
Lestat is having none of Louis’s* human, emo bullshit.
See also: Lestat laughing at “ain’t I enough?”
ETA: typo
A relationship where it all gets out and vented despite the unhealthy ways it's channeled vs. one where one partner will gaslight and fuck with the other covertly while lying and smiling. The former, while very unhealthy still allows both individuals to have their own mental agency and sense of self.
3rd week in a row of me saying this episode is my favourite episode of the season, will next week’s be my new favourite ? Stay tuned !
Some firsts happened for me whilst watching this episode.
Having to pause just to take a laughing break. I was not expecting Louis and Armand to start mocking Each other.
And then screaming “nooooooooooo” when the episode ended. Shit finally hit the fan in present day and now we have to wait a whole week. I don’t know if I can do it y’all
https://i.redd.it/p3jp5lj7bj5d1.gif
No this one took me out. That entire fight had my mouth open actually. I couldn't believe my ears -ESPECIALLY when Louis hit him with that soft beige pillow comment. I said, "Excuse me ???"
1. the writing in this is effing amazing. All of Armand's lines, the first implosion with Louis, the DELIVERY...
* (my fav line: "If you wanted the insanity back—if you wanted escape from this prison of empathy I've locked you away in—all you had to do was ask Louis"
2. That first fight with Armand, like GURL 👀 Louis you did not have to be that vicious
3. I freaking loved seeing Daniel and Louis *needing* the other to remember. They needed each other to put the pieces of the puzzle together. ✨teamwork✨
4. Armand's manic violent power trip on Malloy gave me chills. The *desperation* to fix his "boringness". Idk what it is; just the lengths Armand goes to to hold onto Louis even if it means subverting the power dynamic and hurting those around him
* which is why I don't think he actually intended to leave Louis when he offered his "last act of service." I honestly think he just wanted to add a little kick of toxicity by using it as an excuse to dangle Lestat in front of Louis (and Louis in front of Lestat)
"I love you Louis...tell him I love him Armand...I love you Louis...tell him Armand...Louis....Louis....LOUIS"
I felt the most devastating blow to my chest hearing these words
& yet Armand doesn’t tell him that part, right? Or did I misunderstand. Armand needs to cut & run. Leave miserable Louis to himself. Are we sure Lestat is really dead in this series?
I hope not. I Love Lestat.
But the fact that this was still included in the scene is confusing... either Louis eventually found out or it was for the viewers benefit only. But considering the stellar writing of the show, that would surprise me.
Note: Did anyone catch that Louis told Daniel "there are stories that need to be told" when he hypnotized him and sent him away? He told him it would be a tape playing in his brain and it helped him survive.
Those are also the first words that Daniel said in Ep 1 of the show.
The writers are so freaking amazing.
And not to be that guy, but… it makes me so mad about Mayfair.
Interview is soooo good. Everyone involved understood the assignment perfectly then elevated it beyond expectations.
Mayfair, opposite.
I am convinced nobody on the Mayfair team has read the books, and the entire production of the show was basically an afterthought that AMC threw to the “Rice-Averse” team last minute as they were finishing filming season 1 of Interview.
It’s shocking to go from the supremely purposeful, rich, intricate production of Vampire to “we had 6 days to shoot this and everyone had to bring their own costumes” vibe of Mayfair. Practical Magic (1998) somehow manages to be a better Mayfair interpretation than the actual show, and it has literally nothing to do with the series except it treats it’s own witch lore and characters with a modicum of honesty and enthusiasm.
My bestie and I are longtime Anne Rice fans. I think we only got through two episodes of Mayfair Witches, and my friend turned to me and said, "IWTV was written for us queers. Mayfair Witches was written for straight girls who used to watch Charmed." And I've never heard anything so accurate in my life.
I must admit I never really saw Armand's appeal until this episode. This was his most captivating performance yet. Also, Louis is an asshole sometimes.
I think a lot of people also miss or forget that dreamstat is Louis own subconscious thoughts so any toxic or shitty thing that version of Lestat said it was Louis own thoughts.
And maybe if it sounded like something Lestat would say that demonstrates how similar they are
It is definitely peak cruelty to weaponize a struggling human to 1. be used against your current vampire partner, 2. bc you can’t work out your inner conflicts of being a vampire and missing your humanity and 3. contact his first love bc Louis can’t bring himself to do it.
Louis in this episode seemed equally manipulative to Armand and yes way more dangerous bc of the lies he tells himself. Even Dreamstat highlights what he can’t say out loud.
His ranting to Daniel about Lestat could easily have been Lestat ranting about him and his navel gazing cover as “vulnerability” when he’s anything but. This is why Lestat admonished him over and over for his denying his vampire nature. Like stop already and just embrace it but, Louis’s personality has always needed a veneer.
When Malloy told Louis "set the big picture aside get the story straight first" it made me think jacob was noticing how Louis using pretension and sweeping poetic dialogue to cover up hard emotions.
Like even when he was shit-talking Lestat in the 70s it wasn't regular insults to an ex, it was all this faux Shakespearean dialogue.
Louis as a human was a pimp, a hard man of liberty street who pulled a knife on his brother and no one was shocked. He admits he was rougher back then.
How he went for Santiago shows he still has that spirit, the way he moved on Armand as soon as he knew his back story. That Arun and Armand’s maitre shows he isn’t innocent, he is manipulative. He ignored the coven, told Armand what to do, he handed Claudia over to a coven that he knows she won’t like the rules off.
Louis is just as hard and tough in Dubai as he was as a tough pimp of liberty street pre lestat
Yes, he always had this behavior, but with Lestat he lowered the tone, he found someone who can be submissive to him (Armand) and now this is evolving, in the books it's clear that relationships between vampires are always a dynamic of power.
Yeah, I'm waiting to see Louis go full berserk at some point. He has potential to be devastating when unleashed and I'm here for it.
^(As long as it's not Daniel on the other end.)
All of these characters are delightfully toxic (theyre vampires!) But i drives me crazy that people refuse to accept that in certain characters, and overemphasize it in others
It’s funny how episode 5 made me feel sorry for Armand just like episode 5 from last season made me feel bad for Lestat in a way, despite his actions. By mortal standards, they could be seen as “abusers” (Lestat almost killing Louis and Armand messing with his mind), but Louis can be extremely vicious towards the people he loves. And as much as some people dislike to admit it, some of us fear rejection by the person we love more than we fear stuff than in theory was supposed to be scarier, like physical violence or gaslighting.
Like, if you’re in a relationship, do you constantly fear your loved one beating you? Unless things were wrong from the get go, I don’t think that’s something most people fear. At least not until it starts happening and becomes a habit you need to fear. But being called boring and uninteresting? I think that’s more relatable to the average person, the thought of your significant other thinking such thing about you.
And Louis does have a way of making the ones he love feel rejected by him. Be it Claudia, Armand, or Lestat. So yeah, the show unfolds in a way that makes me kinda sympathize with Lestat being vehemently rejected by a Louis that only knows how to speak about Claudia, Claudia and Claudia. And the moment she returns home, for the first time in years Louis shows her the warmth he denied Lestat for years.
Then there’s Armand, who is called boring by the one he loves the most, despite all his efforts. That must’ve hurt, especially when being compared to a guy Louis barely knows. Especially when he lived in Lestat’s shadows for years. The same Lestat who previously shook his world and bewitched his coven.
It doesn’t justify their reactions, but well, they’re monsters. And that’s to be expected when monsters are in a relationship with someone as complicated as Louis, who can also be extremely vicious in his own way and who’s very effective when it comes to poking insecurities. But I don’t think it means they don’t love him, because being unhealthy doesn’t mean it’s not love. Someone can love a person even more than they love themselves, even die for them, but still harm this person in some ways. I don’t think these things are mutually exclusive. It’s a complicated and ugly world.
But what all these individuals have in common is that they all seem to love Louis more than Louis loves them. They all feel powerless and insufficient.
Just wow. How much better can this show get!?!?
That fight between Louis and Armand.
Lestat calling out for Louis.
Daniel and Louis putting back together the pieces of their memories...and trauma.
Phew. And we still have Paris.
I think it’s so funny because on one hand he’s so terrified, but on the other hand his little reporter brain is like “I’m going to die having cracked the case”
never been so stressed during an ep of TV where I know everyone’s making it out alive(ish). also, young Daniel …… I’d have kidnapped him too (nb I’m probably kidding)
Ever since Armand went to Paris he has been the leader who felt like a servant. He hated running the Coven and felt chained to it but he still engaged in it with hyper controlling manners. The similar dynamic plays out with Louis. He feels utterly devoted to Louis but engages in his devotion with controlling behavior. He resents his subserviance and lashes out at times but will always fall back.
I like how Armand's hair has more volume the less emotionally vulnerable he is. Watching his hair this ep I knew he was going to be throwing off sparks.
Rewatching it, and it leaves me wondering how many of Louis' memories has Armand altered. The entire fairytale-esque Paris meet cute? Their Paris rendezvous? It could also be that the bitterness happened after everything goes down in Paris, but who knows? Also just because Armand knows where Lestat is, doesn't mean he's safe. Armand said he found Lestat, but Armand could still have him locked away somewhere and doing the telepathy while Lestat is a captive. Normally in a situation like that Lestat would be fiery but if he's weakened, malnourished, depressed, and broken? He wouldn't have the strength, until something triggered it, which was the mentioning of Louis being injured
Just a thought from a non-book reader 🤷♀️
I lost count, of how many times I held my breath, in this episode. But it got me wondering; Armand, clearly, finds Daniel very interesting in current times with all those secret and not-so-secret looks he throws at him.
And since he is the only one who remembers everything (that we know of) the "you are boring" line and the proverbial "what does he have that I don't have" in regards to Louis's attention fucked him up. My question is, since the way he treats Daniel, now, do you think he has found it yet?
I think this ep just encapsulated so much of what this show is about. In my eyes, the main underpinning is what extremely powerful and lonely beings would do and endure to keep love in their lives.
Armand, even with all the torment Louis puts him through for loving Lestat over him, would take the 2nd-hand leftovers to keep Louis in his life. And Louis, even with all the hurt Lestat inflicted, would choose to live a shell of a life even if it meant he could still hold onto the ghost of what he had with Lestat.
G*ddamn, this episode! Did anyone else get anxiety watching it? THERE'S the Armand from the books: sinister, manipulative, twisted, damaged. The fact that he wouldn't pass on Lestat's message of love to Louis was heartbreaking.
I loved all the Louis/Daniel scenes, past and present. This show is so fucking phenomenal. 🔥🔥🔥
*"You left me for Death. Will I be on suicide watch for the next thousand years?"*
Man, Assad is such an amazing actor. The pure softness he can instill in such lines and then go back to the mighty terrifying but still so soft and so contained Armand is mesmerizing to watch.
This is why in the books a lot of the Vampires were alone or drifters. The older they get the more damaged they are. The show does a great job of capturing just how damaged Louis and Armand are. Every episode just gets better and better.
Best episode of the season. Mind blown. So emotional. And such a smart re-tooling and enriching of the source material. God, I love this show so much. Please renew it, AMC!
Every episode finishes and I’d spend 10 minutes yapping “this show is so fucking good” around my house, telling my partner as if he would watch it if I just say it more.
Thinking about Armand’s definition of “fine” - Nicky was “fine” after the coven drained him, Daniel was “fine” while he’s crying in the other room with broken bones
Also I wonder if Armand kept checking in on Daniel - that’s how he knows the Paris proposal thing
https://preview.redd.it/vbqsr08a1v5d1.jpeg?width=1057&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76def71a62470af832db7a9d44ef0c094787a8ad
Your comment was all I could think about and I had the time. Armand will be going through it in the following episodes.
Fantastic episode. How the onion of their memory is peeled and every character takes turns being vulnerable and being toxic. Such tension and the full scale of human/vampiric emotion. So many great scenes. Down to the very end with the paino note on the closeups of all three.
Armand having the same relationship skills he honed as a boy to manipulate older adults. The damage on display of constant manipulation in order to stay in control. He and Louis share that trait it just presents differently and contributes to the ongoing dom/sub swap.
Louis telling Armand to leave Daniel alive reminded me of what Claudia said to Lestat in S1: “We leave the damage so we never forget the damage.”
Poor, poor Daniel being the unwitting weapon in a twisted relationship between vicious vampires.
The thing I keep trying to say is that the writing is *this* good. You can see the stage of life everyone was when they were turned, the layers of damage accumulated over the years, the tricks they’ve learned to manipulate, even their perceptions of Lestat determining how he’s portrayed. With them both remembering here, it’s the closest to a “true” accounting of the story we’ve had so far.
Armand’s shaking dagger eyes.
Daniel’s blood pulsing from his neck.
Louis’s charred flesh.
Untouched cassette tapes unspooling like blood.
The poor neighbor!!
So much detail to ramp up the tension and force the viewer to be in that room.
Its mixed perspective. What Louis says he remembers out loud is what he remembers...
.... Some is for us. What "really" happened as if we were in the room..
Lestat sounded weak, sad and echoed.
I was soo curious about why did Louis opinion on Lestast changed so much between the first and second interview. Learning that him trash talking Least at was just his way to gain his attention might destroy me
That episode was FANTASTIC I'm going insane. Plus the music and sounds, those crooked string notes when Armand is being intimidating made my heart speed up, that was so GOOD. And when he was lifting Daniel and making him fall to the ground, they used this like.... shivering effect on his eyes to show the power, so subtle but so so good, holy shit this show impresses me on levels I never expected. I'm definitely going to be rewatching this episode over and over, so worth the hype oh my goddd I need to know what happened neXT and I need more of this Armand, everyone's performance was amazing as usual but I was entranced by Assad in this one. And the communication with Lestat, the manipulation with not telling Louis he loved him, I'm losing my mind
Thinking back & reflecting on the episode I find this interesting…
In SF, Armand was so insecure and jealous about Daniel. Louis had brought others back, but Daniel was the first he shared his secret with AND spared. He found him interesting, useful, and more. Louis begged Armand to leave him alone.
Flash forward to present day Dubai, that time that Armand and Louis were being particularly cruel to Daniel it was Armand who stopped and reined things in.
There’s something in the way Armand looks at Daniel. IMO. Is it jealousy, distaste, longing? A mess of emotions? Idk but I’m so interested in exploring more of Daniel’s history and dynamic with Louis and armand
I’m surprised Louis attempted suicide in 1973. That scene was brutal.
We can really see Armand’s toxicity on full display. You can tell Armand is hurt with the fact that Louis still loves Lestat.
The moment with Lestat was touching. It shows he is alive, in America, and cares about Louis. I think Armand was taunting Lestat with it though.
I feel sorry for Daniel. His torture was pretty rough.
Finally, we get the real Armand this episode, and I am HERE FOR IT.
Him torturing Daniel was hard to watch, not to mention attempt at hurting Lestat through Louis. Assad is so damn good at switching from wounded to malevolent.
And Jacob... he's just so impressive in his range as an actor. He broke my heart this episode.
I would say Lestat doesn't hold back when he wants to terrify...he's like yes this is me...the fuck you gonna do? Also he's very impulsive..goes with the flow...doesn't think about the consequences to his actions...major abandonment issues.
But with Armand it's psychological,slow and almost invisible. He has immense psychological power so he really doesn't need to be physically intimidating
This. Lestat will “just” beat the shit out of you, drag you through the house by your shattered jaw, fly you up into the sky, drop you, then regret it and try to lovebomb you into taking him back.
That’s amateur hour as far as Armand’s concerned.
Armand.
Lestat fucks with your body. He beats you to a pulp or gives you an orgasm, that's it. You'll almost be excited to get your ass whooped by him.
Armand likes to get to the nasty bits. He gets into your head to break your heart and rip out your guts out of your ass. Then leaves you alive so life can break you further.
At least when Lestat wants to kill it will be quick.
We also got to see how toxic Louis is back then. It was like seeing two married people that have grown to hate each other (but they’re vampires so add a bunch of murder and torture to the equation).
I spent the whole episode laughing and crying. It's so emotional and dark and devastating but then there are jems like "oh man, are you the zodiac killer" and I just can't... The bickering even managed to be funny and sad at the same time.
You know that there is great writing when I am watching Armand and even through all of his crazy and overzealous actions he still in some way feels kind and caring. Like he is holding Daniels face and he is standing over Louis' coffin and I can't help but feel kindness even when he is being manipulative. How many times has Louis attempted to die? How many of Daniels memories were actually altered because of this? Considering if they also do Devils Minions this could also be that Armand is still hiding a lot more with Daniel especially so I am excited to see where this goes.
(Also Armand in the teal button up with the sleeves rolled up is now my favorite thing in the world)
If you had told me in the beginning of this series that Armand would end up being my favorite character, I would have laughed at you. Gaslighting cunt who is absolutely unapologetic about it? I love it.
Also, young Daniel is cute and also another crazy. He would have made a great vampire.
Same! Season 1 I was like F Armand, He's the devil! And now I'm like, Armand is a bad bish. He is him! From episode 1 until now, he has been serving looks. The way he stepped into that room dressed to the nines, walking into an ambush like "hey y'all!" was too funny. I also feel for his character. Every single person in the cast has pulled at my heart strings. to the point I can't be mad when they hurt each other. I'm just disappointed in them.
I loved this ep - the acting from every one was insanely good. Louis and Daniel bonding in past and present was wonderful and captivating to watch.
I was slightly surprised at how antagonistic and toxic Daniel and Armand were in the flashbacks as the present day flirting seemed to suggest something more romantic or sexual had happened with them in the past but obviously not and I misread it. Or we haven't see everything yet.
I don't think this was the last interaction between Armand and younger Daniel. There's still a ton of mystery about Alice's proposal in Paris, and her character as a whole,I think he's involved in that.
It was unsettling to see how desperate Louis was to get Daniel to remember and tell him the whole story during Armand’s lunch break. Including “he’s getting back soon”. Really made it seem like Daniel + Louis vs Armand
Also vampires are so powerful it’s odd to see one real need something out of a human
oh my god where to fucking START. this episode was truly everything i wanted out of the san francisco flashback episode, everyone was acting their hearts out, i felt sick (positive) basically the whole way through. loved all the louis + daniel (or to those that can perceive. louis x daniel) moments in dubai, the way their relationship goes from an antagonistic push-pull to what maybe amounts to camaraderie in their shared quest to recover their memories, the way louis' performance of himself he adopts during the interview and especially when armand is present drops away as he genuinely finds himself on the back foot. and in stark contrast, the clear performance that is the first interview! the underlying flirtation of louis constantly calling daniel "boy", deliberately playing up the big bad vampire angle, the way he (of course) distorts certain things in his narrative. i was fully on the fence wrt whether said distortion was a deliberate choice to make lestat seem like he was less important to him than he was or just a genuine snapshot of how louis felt about lestat at some times (there's an interview where jacob anderson says he doesn't see louis' unreliability as a narrator as an outright lie but rather a true reflection of louis' feeling and often memories, a perspective i'm also very partial to because i think it makes for a more interesting story); it was louis emphasising the negative perspective of lestat to armand that convinced me he was probably a little harsher than he otherwise might've been for armand's benefit. again i definitely don't think he was lying, just choosing to prioritise certain things about lestat over others. i often have issues with connecting younger versions of characters to older ones in visual media, somehow i can't really suspend my disbelief on that front, but i am sooo fascinated with the throughlines in daniel's character even though it's clear how much he's changed over the years. eg the evolution from young daniel equating "marriage" with "cancer" on the bad things that happen in mortal life list to twice-divorced older daniel............... 1) i know what you are 2) jesus fucking christ that IS the same guy. i cannot even talk about the loumand fight and louis running out subsequently it made me so ill. it makes sooo much sense also knowing their backgrounds that armand prioritises stability & comfort which louis, depressed, cannot fucking abide by so he goes and searches for anything / anyone to hold his interest (also louis calling armand beige. lmfao) i also appreciated the reminder that despite whatever armand and louis profess, despite "yes, maître", one of the people in this relationship has actual material power over the other and it is not louis, whose power if he has it at all is symbolic. it's another way this episode drove home the similarities and differences between lestat & armand for me especially in the way armand chose to deal with daniel, because he is no doubt as cruel & uncaring as lestat but he goes about it in such a different way, he doesn't need the spectacle of lestat's mardi gras performance and subsequent hunting the town's elite for sport, he prefers to be slow and methodical and draw his victim into him even when he's hunting them (also the fact that while all these memories are being unearthed armand is doing exactly that, a slow hunt of a single victim, strategic and thought-out). on that note, probably says a lot about me that i thought armand was so hot this episode it genuinely made me lose my mind. but then again so was louis, and mr jacob anderson once again invented the craft of acting. those first few shots of his face when daniel is just getting them started on realising that their memories are falsified? devastating. though as i've already said, the acting was on another level this week from absolutely everyone. more than any other episode this season the ending of this one left me on the edge of my fucking seat, i cannot wait to see how the 2022 interview will progress now that it seems louis & daniel have joined forces against armand instead of armand & louis against daniel.
I wonder how much of the iPad prison vibe is all Armand has put in place to keep Louis out of the sun?
And since Armand said the second interview is "chronicalling a suicide".... if he's given up on his Eternal Sunshine therapy and finally moving towards letting Louis go.
The writing in this show is amazing.
Also the first time this show has ever made me feel uneasy. The scenes with Armand being toxic/hurt with what Louis said to him, and taking part of it out on Daniel was genuinely hard to watch for me. Armand is frightening.
Louis suicide attempt as well was just very unnerving
Young (High on coke) Daniel Molloy whoring himself out to Louis.....
I find it very funny.
Makes me think if Daniel & Louis could/should become an item. These two have chemistry with each other.
Compared to Lestat & Armand, Daniel seems to be the least toxic option.
I just noticed that it was Louis helping Armand with Daniel in the photographs (he’s burnt and covering himself with sunglasses and a hoodie) and that the tapes Armand wasn’t holding were unspooling themselves 😳
The unspooling tapes were such a perfect, additional level of creepy power on display after a series of highly disturbing events. I feel like I was in that room. My hand flew up to my mouth so many times.
We’re really seeing now how Louis is at the center of all the drama. His fight with Armand, wow. Louis has made decisions that led to his living a life in which he’s unsatisfied, and at Armand’s expense, as he longs for Lestat. The pain in Lestat’s voice when he says “tell him, Armand”. We know now that no matter what happened in Paris that Lestat still loves Louis. Why Louis continues to stay with Armand and is hesitant for Armand to contact Lestat is still unclear, I think, and maybe has to do with what happened in Paris. It could also be that Louis is too proud to admit that he’s made the wrong decisions, so proud that he can’t let Armand go to pursue being with Lestat, instead, he does the interview to get Lestat to pursue him again. I feel sorry for Armand, he’s been through a lot and deserves to be loved in the way that he wants to love. Louis can’t give that to him because he will always love Lestat, Armand knows this, and yet Louis won’t let him go. It’s unfair to them all.
Armand says that Claudia never loved him and Louis said he knows! Thinking back to when she wrote in her diary that she was going to push Louis and Lestat together, without Louis’ full knowledge, and break Lestat’s heart…I’m eager to hear more about Louis’ understandings of the complexities of Claudia and her role in what happened in their family.
I’d like to see more of Armand and Daniel. I hope more comes of their relationship like I’ve heard may be the case.
Louis knows now that Armand has wiped his memories before. If Louis’ motivation in the 70s was to reconcile with Lestat, what is his motivation today? And does Armand mean it when he says that he thought that keeping Daniel alive would be beneficial one day, and if so, why? Or is that just a cover for his doing as Louis asked?
Louis is just using Armand because he can manipulate Armand's affections in a way he couldn't with Lestat. It's kind of like an unrequited love dynamic where Louis plays 'come close, stay away' until Armand gets sick of it.
I feel like Armand never got the love/companion he needed/deserves (I don't think Daniel's the one either). Whereas Louis and Lestat have and deserve each other but keep f--king it up whenever they're with each other.
So basically Armand is a boring dude to spend decades with - that I see honestly. But also Louis this is mean. You chose to spend all this time with him.
Armand is much more insecure than I realized. Torturing this kid because your boyfriend finds you boring
Louis is having his cake and eating it too. Both know that Louis is unhappy but are afraid of facing the reality of the alternatives: Louis having to face Lestat and admitting his wrongs to the one who loves him unconditionally regardless and Armand being alone after giving up his power and coven for Louis
omg this episode was insane. i was legitimately scared of Armand, when his eyes were vibrating it was terrifying. and so so sad for Louis and Daniel. WTF is going on?! I don't even care about Paris anymore, what's happening now??!!! Lestat where are you!!!!
Louis does a lot of hallucinating and seeing or hearing things that aren’t there for a guy whose brother hallucinated but also definitely doesn’t have schizophrenia
Man this episode adds a TON of subtext for the season 1 episode when Armand gets rid of the shade on one window so that Louis can hold his arm in the sun in front of Daniel. And the whole time Armand doesn't look away until Louis pulls his arm back to safety.
If current day Daniel doesn't get to be a vampire, I will be VERY disappointed. I feel like he's earned it just for all the shit the vamps put him through.
Absolutely speechless half an hour after I have finished the episode and I am still shaken to my core.
While I do not watch a lot of TV (Because I grow uninterested in tv shows after a while) this TV show is making me remember the 2000s and 2010s when I was more involved in the theory side of fandom.
First of all, I thought this would be a breather for the upcoming episodes but I WAS SO WRONG! This was probably one of the most tension filled episodes, I haven't had this amount of shock and horror since the fight in season 1.
Armand, my Armand, I love his character so much and he was so captivating here, so evil and yet not competely evil, but also very tragic. And Louis, and Daniel. I cannot believe how much the performances have made me fall more in love with Louis and Daniel (Armand was already a favourite).
Jacob Anderson and Eric Bogosian are terrific actors, youngDaniel too. And I really really hope this is the take-off for Assad's career and we see him more often because his acting this season is insane.
Okay so this was the ep I was most interested in since I saw the episode titles and the early trailers. Boy did it not disappoint
- I loved Daniel's character since the beginning of S1, but it felt like in this ep it got elevated to new levels. The casting was so good for old and young Daniel
- "I want 20 minutes. For me." ugh my heart
- Daniel seems to have a *very* complicated relationship with desire and sex, from the taking his shirt off 0.5 seconds after being in the room with Louis, to the 'I can be on my knees' with Armand, which could have been self preservation talking, but also the memory Armand plucks out about that girl with the bag over her head. Old Daniel seems much more jaded by age in that regard, but he worries about what Louis and him did in 1973 and also the look when Louis mentions "do you want to now?" was totally a 'jkjk we have an interview to do... Unless????'
- Armand. From feeling for him and his past last episode to being a manipulative ass to 2 people for years. The way Assad bounces between the portrayal of this character is absolutely mesmerising
- "The boy? He's fine" *thud* "I'm fine, we're all fine, everything is fine!" *thud*
- Talking about the fight between Armand and Louis, I loved the way they showed the back and forth. Usually in tv shows when they fight, you can hear clearly one line and the next, or maybe actor A gets interrupted by actor B just as their line is about to end. Here you could hear them shout over one another, highlighting the way each of them wanted to overcome the other in how much they wanted to hurt one another.
- On the flip side, the use of silence. We saw it in Santiago's speech when he was first introduced, the way he paused to let each word hang and have the audience (both in the theater and at the TV) completely mesmerized. We see it again now when Daniel rewinds the audio of the interview to showcase the different sounds, the door slam. He does it twice, "wasting" screentime on this to make sure Louis got to the correct memory on his own. He already knew, or at least guessed, that Louis tried to off himself but he wanted him to get to that conclusion without telling him outright.
- and in the same way Daniel helped him time and time again with unlocking memories of Claudia, Louis now pushes Daniel to remember by bringing him to the tree and trying to guide him. Was it to get more pieces of the puzzle as to what he didn't remember himself, or was it out of concern for Daniel? Maybe both, I guess
- to top it all off, Armand the fashionista returns to two angry boyfriends and realizes that maybe he bit off more than he could chew
i think what really stood out to me is that Armand has this narcissistic desire to be someone- *anyone's* respite or tranquility, but he keeps running into people that don't want it. he's so caught up in being someone's calm, Louis bored out of his mind, Daniel refused to 'rest' until he was set in a trance right before Armand tried to drain him to death. he even created a fake ass scenario where Daniel's is miserable by simply being mundane, but he likes the mess, he liked interviewing that woman who worked at a titty bar and that Vietnam vet. Armand doesn't understand them and he resents Louis and Daniel for that
'final act of service', 'will i be on suicide watch for the next thousand years', 'have i atoned' really, really gives off those bros who weaponize therapy speak to guilt and shush their victims
I think Louis being so close to his humanity and denying his vampire instincts is why he finds Daniel the human fascinating. On top of the persona he created as a human as protector and savior for his family and being a brothel owner/pimp. The loss of Paul really messed him up and it happened again with Claudia. He was/is always drawn to damaged people in need of saving. Even current, older Daniel is sick and in need of rescue from a human disease and lack of love, companionship.
“Imagine me without the burden of her” WHO is HER that’s burdening YOU, LOUIS? I’ll kill him myself and im so serious.
I feel like NOLA Louis, Paris Louis, SF Louis and Dubai Louis are ALL SO DIFFERENT. I love NOLA Louis, I actually miss him! Armand and Louis are just a toxic couple, Louis still not healed from Lestat and Claudia, so much for “detachment” 😒 and Armand is just Louis handler honestly, I don’t think they are a genuinely happy couple. Armand says he’s trying to save Louis from himself and that’s the problem I feel. He tries to control and handle Louis like a puppeteer. Loustat vs Loumand, just go back home Louis lmfao. Cause imagine your bf calling your EX… then Armand didn’t even wanna finish the job!
Also, why did the man in the bag look like Tom Anderson?! Just me?
https://preview.redd.it/udhi9m03xj5d1.jpeg?width=518&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba6d0360154c0776787b70460f5e9e39912caa67
All of the acting in this episode is phenomenal. But Assad killed it. The scene with him holding, caressing, and comforting Daniel, as he convinced him to accept his death. Wow. Absolutely masterclass acting.
Slightly off topic, but do we think Daniel (show Daniel) is gay? Or bi? Or simply just willing to do what is necessary to score drugs?
He seemed to be thirsty over Louis, but maybe it was just because he knew he had drugs.
The shot of Armand wrapping his arm around Louis to drag him back inside reminds me of Louis holding Lestat as he cut his throat.
The last time Lestat screams for Louis at the end of Armand's game of telephone sounded like reused audio from when he screamed his name when Claudia first came back after touring colleges.
God the way Lestat was begging Armand to tell Louis he loved him broke my heartttttt. Like Louis doesn’t know!!! That’s such a good set up for some drama
Louis would remember what Armand was repeating to him but I think hearing his voice was just for the audience. Allowing us to know that Lestat is alive, loves Louis and that Armand kept that from Louis added a lot to the story
I loved that this episode gave us as the audience a real glimpse of how different and how much more powerful the vampires are to what humans are. Like Daniel would have easily just been one more body. This episode makes it all feel much more real somehow. Also, Armand playing chess with the situation added this whole other level to how scary he is. He’s had centuries to learn how to manipulate others.
I love Armand. He has done nothing, and everything, wrong.
Assad is amazing. At the end of season 1 I was really fascinated by him despite his short screentime, listened to podcasts with him etc., and now seeing him be a leading role makes me so happy.
oh that Daniel/Louis stuff, so good!! yeah they didn't have sex (he really wanted to, he tried...) and that's a bummer... but instead they were psychologically tormented over a 4 day period. But ! They're tethered to one another that defies time and memory tampering. Like, I'm sorry that's good stuff! That's romance!
They really tapped into the insect alien quality of Armand here. He just doesn't get it!!! He's so far removed from it all, it's painful to watch. 'Is that what makes you fascinating??' - 'We're all fine!!!!'
I'm wondering if Louis knows Lestat was really talking to Armand or if Armand was just hurting him again. But also, I feel like he legitimately didn't want to talk to Lestat either. Which I feel like is bc he knows Armand has the power to hurt more people he cares about so he has to placate Armand's insecurities here... But I also think Louis wants whatever he has with Armand to work too. So much that he'll pick him again and again. It's truly sick. He wants to believe he's tamed the monster, but he hasn't.
Also new Loumand fight!! A truly rich experience to witness. Can you believe that was one of the first things they filmed together? Unreal. I feel robbed we didn't get to hear their fight in the bedroom last episode lol.
Louis stays with Armand because he’s afraid Lestat wouldn’t want him. It’s also pride. He wants Lestat to chase him. He stays with Armand because he knows Armand would never leave him and would continue to clean up after him. If he was to go to Lestat and Lestat was to reject him then who would Louis have? He would be alone and he fears being alone.
Anyone have a guess where Lestat is? Like he sounded weak. If he knows Louis is alive why is he staying away? And if Louis knows Lestat is alive same question.
Ugh. I can't wait for the finale!!! I've got so many questions.
Because he lashed out and showed his true wounded self and if he kept those memories he wouldn’t be able to maintain that persona of *I’m a good empathetic person because I was hurt too* or control the narrative.
He wiped Daniel so he wouldn't ask to many questions. It was more of a convenience thing.
For Louis... I think the fight hurt him deeply and they did say nastiest things to each other. But mainly, I think he was terrified that once the floodgates were open (the implication is that they haven't talked about Paris much at all since it happened), Louis could attempt to kill himself again. For all the talk, the punishment that Armand was doing, he is not ready to let Louis leave, to Lestat or to his death. From now on he's going to be serving Louis even better, so he doesn't "act out"
I think Armand justifies a lot of things for the sake of “arranging things for Louis”. I guess Louis is Maitre but Armand is the majordomo who takes a lot of liberties
It's such a pleasure to be treated to adult entertainment as well written and performed as this. The production team continues to excel, and I can't praise Daniel Hart's music enough.
Book Spoilers thread https://www.reddit.com/r/InterviewVampire/s/Y3dwZC5vyQ
What I can’t stop thinking about is Daniel telling Louis I can be your Lestat and your Claudia. Like that’s so insane. He even said he has more to offer. Edit: also young Daniel definitely wanted to be bit by Louis.
Well he is being Louis therapist so maybe he had a point. He could just be Louis' friend forever. Not dependent on Louis, not expecting things of Louis. Louis could use that.
While I agree. I think if he would have just said I could be your friend. Invoking both Lestat and Claudia imply both romantic and familial relationships to me. He wanted to be his companion.
Daniel, even as a young, burgeoning journalist, already saw through Louis’s façade in the 70s and shows why he became so damned good at getting things out of people as he grew in his career. He had the gifts of insight and perception. Louis being drawn to that in a bar in the 70s — maybe bc he knew that something was being held back from him and Daniel with his need for drugs was a great means to a few ends. Louis loves humanity and makes sense why the Paris vampires repulsed him. Also makes sense of Louis’s suicide ideation. Daniel has an eagle eye into his soul.
The exact topic that made Louis run to the roof was bringing up how Claudia didn’t love him right? Wonder if Armand regretted saying exactly that. But keeping Louis out of his coffin after was cruel
Makes you wonder his vampire specialization would've been. He would've been a damn good mindreader - or maybe just REMARKABLY enhanced senses.
*Will be.* Eric Bogosian said he wants to play a vampire. They will not deny him, I'm sure of it.
Old Daniel admits that was too far of him, yeah. I think there's a grain of truth in it, though - he and Louis truly did connect that night.
When Daniel mentions being kidnapped by the KGB and Louis’s like “how’s that relevant” - it’s very relevant LOUIS he’s going through all his kidnapping experiences!
I loved that scene. And especially after Louis is all „…your point being…?“ and Daniel answers „I don’t know. No point. Other than, fuck your boyfriend.“ I had to giggle
As much as Assad and Jacob owned this episode, Eric still had his fair share of amazing moments, as he deserves.
I love how faithful the script is to each character. Louis not understanding how that statement is relevant because he is so self absorbed. If it's not about him he doesn't see how it applies.
Baby Daniel is way too freaky and down for anything for his own good But show him a pair of fangs and party boy Daniel is gone, interview Daniel is here. With his shirt on
I just love this comment so much. Baby Daniel is definitely a type of vibe and captured the 70s so well.
Cocaine can be one hell of a drug.
Louis is one desperately unhappy vampire
Jacob Anderson driving this season without Sam as much shows why he is a star. He did so much with his GoT role and so glad he gets to be #1 on AMC. His acting range shown in this episode is incredible.
Honestly I was so so so excited when I heard he was cast
I couldn't picture it at the time. Especially since I've never seen him do American television. All Brits sound clunky to me when they do their first project in the states. When he first started speaking I was so blown away with his narration/monologue and accent work that I had to go back to listen again. I still can't believe Eric could see the talent that was brewing from the little he did in GOT. He was really wasted in that show. To be fair though I was totally disinterested in Daenerys' story line.
I think it was the guy who taught him the language he spoke on Game of Thrones who said something like in his entire history of working with actors on accents and languages Jacob was the best.
I know he sad bad things but he has such a sad life. I sorta just want Daniel and Louis just to run away together
I wonder how early Armand started messing with his mind. It makes me feel much more sympathetic towards him, because how can he even know which mistakes are his own? How can he even attempt accountability? This interview is really his last ditch effort to feel anything. I was never a shipper, but he and Lestat really deserve to be happy, someone let them be happy!
Yeah, this episode almost made me feel like the Louis-Lestat relationship is healthier than the Louis-Armand one, which is quite something.
In a lot of ways it definitely is. Lestat didn’t get taken in by Louis’s poor me stuff he got frustrated and raged violently like when Claudia returned and Louis perked up. Lestat is having none of Louis’s* human, emo bullshit. See also: Lestat laughing at “ain’t I enough?” ETA: typo
A relationship where it all gets out and vented despite the unhealthy ways it's channeled vs. one where one partner will gaslight and fuck with the other covertly while lying and smiling. The former, while very unhealthy still allows both individuals to have their own mental agency and sense of self.
3rd week in a row of me saying this episode is my favourite episode of the season, will next week’s be my new favourite ? Stay tuned ! Some firsts happened for me whilst watching this episode. Having to pause just to take a laughing break. I was not expecting Louis and Armand to start mocking Each other. And then screaming “nooooooooooo” when the episode ended. Shit finally hit the fan in present day and now we have to wait a whole week. I don’t know if I can do it y’all https://i.redd.it/p3jp5lj7bj5d1.gif
Louis: My Daddy Vamp groomed me into a little BITCH Me: Fell out
I needed to take a minute. 💀💀 
The effortless flow from English accent back to American draw? 🤌🏽💋
No this one took me out. That entire fight had my mouth open actually. I couldn't believe my ears -ESPECIALLY when Louis hit him with that soft beige pillow comment. I said, "Excuse me ???"
For me it was 100% Daniel going “Are you the zodiac killer???”
I can’t get over the visual of Armand unraveling all the cassettes at once. So cool, just rad vfx whenever he’s around
Yes that was so creepy, all the "guts" spilling out of the tapes was so uncanny
Claudia, who played the little bird, calls Louis to to the roof where he meets the sun. Birds spoke to Paul, called him to the roof and the flagstone.
Oh great catch. The poetry is ballistic in this show.
Absolutely.
The thematic motif is so damned good.
1. the writing in this is effing amazing. All of Armand's lines, the first implosion with Louis, the DELIVERY... * (my fav line: "If you wanted the insanity back—if you wanted escape from this prison of empathy I've locked you away in—all you had to do was ask Louis" 2. That first fight with Armand, like GURL 👀 Louis you did not have to be that vicious 3. I freaking loved seeing Daniel and Louis *needing* the other to remember. They needed each other to put the pieces of the puzzle together. ✨teamwork✨ 4. Armand's manic violent power trip on Malloy gave me chills. The *desperation* to fix his "boringness". Idk what it is; just the lengths Armand goes to to hold onto Louis even if it means subverting the power dynamic and hurting those around him * which is why I don't think he actually intended to leave Louis when he offered his "last act of service." I honestly think he just wanted to add a little kick of toxicity by using it as an excuse to dangle Lestat in front of Louis (and Louis in front of Lestat)
His last gift to Louis was to us. Lestats voice was weak, echoed and sad.... Lestat isnt out there living his best life, to say the least.
Louis getting Daniel to do the feet-in-the-rocks trick was entirely too cute.
Sooo cute!! And Daniel like “it’s not working!”
Yes! I loved the team work! After 2 seasons of them fighting :-D
Him hushing Daniel when he begins to cry and then digging into him is so fucking cool. Like god the writing that takes is so cool
"I love you Louis...tell him I love him Armand...I love you Louis...tell him Armand...Louis....Louis....LOUIS" I felt the most devastating blow to my chest hearing these words
& yet Armand doesn’t tell him that part, right? Or did I misunderstand. Armand needs to cut & run. Leave miserable Louis to himself. Are we sure Lestat is really dead in this series? I hope not. I Love Lestat.
Correct. Armand does not tell him, and instead disconnects from Lestat.
I tell you what, Lestat needs to come back.
But the fact that this was still included in the scene is confusing... either Louis eventually found out or it was for the viewers benefit only. But considering the stellar writing of the show, that would surprise me.
Note: Did anyone catch that Louis told Daniel "there are stories that need to be told" when he hypnotized him and sent him away? He told him it would be a tape playing in his brain and it helped him survive. Those are also the first words that Daniel said in Ep 1 of the show. The writers are so freaking amazing.
The writing is so good I feel like I need a cigarette after each episode lol like damn.
And not to be that guy, but… it makes me so mad about Mayfair. Interview is soooo good. Everyone involved understood the assignment perfectly then elevated it beyond expectations. Mayfair, opposite.
I am convinced nobody on the Mayfair team has read the books, and the entire production of the show was basically an afterthought that AMC threw to the “Rice-Averse” team last minute as they were finishing filming season 1 of Interview. It’s shocking to go from the supremely purposeful, rich, intricate production of Vampire to “we had 6 days to shoot this and everyone had to bring their own costumes” vibe of Mayfair. Practical Magic (1998) somehow manages to be a better Mayfair interpretation than the actual show, and it has literally nothing to do with the series except it treats it’s own witch lore and characters with a modicum of honesty and enthusiasm.
My bestie and I are longtime Anne Rice fans. I think we only got through two episodes of Mayfair Witches, and my friend turned to me and said, "IWTV was written for us queers. Mayfair Witches was written for straight girls who used to watch Charmed." And I've never heard anything so accurate in my life.
I must admit I never really saw Armand's appeal until this episode. This was his most captivating performance yet. Also, Louis is an asshole sometimes.
People underestimate Louis a lot, Jacob has said that he is much more violent than people think.
I think a lot of people also miss or forget that dreamstat is Louis own subconscious thoughts so any toxic or shitty thing that version of Lestat said it was Louis own thoughts. And maybe if it sounded like something Lestat would say that demonstrates how similar they are
Exactly, deep down he longs for that messy intensity.
Exactly this. Lestat demeaning Armand’s Shakespeare is LOUIS doing it. Messy heaux that he is.
It is definitely peak cruelty to weaponize a struggling human to 1. be used against your current vampire partner, 2. bc you can’t work out your inner conflicts of being a vampire and missing your humanity and 3. contact his first love bc Louis can’t bring himself to do it. Louis in this episode seemed equally manipulative to Armand and yes way more dangerous bc of the lies he tells himself. Even Dreamstat highlights what he can’t say out loud. His ranting to Daniel about Lestat could easily have been Lestat ranting about him and his navel gazing cover as “vulnerability” when he’s anything but. This is why Lestat admonished him over and over for his denying his vampire nature. Like stop already and just embrace it but, Louis’s personality has always needed a veneer.
When Malloy told Louis "set the big picture aside get the story straight first" it made me think jacob was noticing how Louis using pretension and sweeping poetic dialogue to cover up hard emotions. Like even when he was shit-talking Lestat in the 70s it wasn't regular insults to an ex, it was all this faux Shakespearean dialogue.
Louis as a human was a pimp, a hard man of liberty street who pulled a knife on his brother and no one was shocked. He admits he was rougher back then. How he went for Santiago shows he still has that spirit, the way he moved on Armand as soon as he knew his back story. That Arun and Armand’s maitre shows he isn’t innocent, he is manipulative. He ignored the coven, told Armand what to do, he handed Claudia over to a coven that he knows she won’t like the rules off. Louis is just as hard and tough in Dubai as he was as a tough pimp of liberty street pre lestat
Yes, he always had this behavior, but with Lestat he lowered the tone, he found someone who can be submissive to him (Armand) and now this is evolving, in the books it's clear that relationships between vampires are always a dynamic of power.
Yeah, I'm waiting to see Louis go full berserk at some point. He has potential to be devastating when unleashed and I'm here for it. ^(As long as it's not Daniel on the other end.)
All of these characters are delightfully toxic (theyre vampires!) But i drives me crazy that people refuse to accept that in certain characters, and overemphasize it in others
Louis is brutal! No wonder the Talamasca are saying Daniel needs to be careful of Louis, not Armand.
It’s funny how episode 5 made me feel sorry for Armand just like episode 5 from last season made me feel bad for Lestat in a way, despite his actions. By mortal standards, they could be seen as “abusers” (Lestat almost killing Louis and Armand messing with his mind), but Louis can be extremely vicious towards the people he loves. And as much as some people dislike to admit it, some of us fear rejection by the person we love more than we fear stuff than in theory was supposed to be scarier, like physical violence or gaslighting. Like, if you’re in a relationship, do you constantly fear your loved one beating you? Unless things were wrong from the get go, I don’t think that’s something most people fear. At least not until it starts happening and becomes a habit you need to fear. But being called boring and uninteresting? I think that’s more relatable to the average person, the thought of your significant other thinking such thing about you. And Louis does have a way of making the ones he love feel rejected by him. Be it Claudia, Armand, or Lestat. So yeah, the show unfolds in a way that makes me kinda sympathize with Lestat being vehemently rejected by a Louis that only knows how to speak about Claudia, Claudia and Claudia. And the moment she returns home, for the first time in years Louis shows her the warmth he denied Lestat for years. Then there’s Armand, who is called boring by the one he loves the most, despite all his efforts. That must’ve hurt, especially when being compared to a guy Louis barely knows. Especially when he lived in Lestat’s shadows for years. The same Lestat who previously shook his world and bewitched his coven. It doesn’t justify their reactions, but well, they’re monsters. And that’s to be expected when monsters are in a relationship with someone as complicated as Louis, who can also be extremely vicious in his own way and who’s very effective when it comes to poking insecurities. But I don’t think it means they don’t love him, because being unhealthy doesn’t mean it’s not love. Someone can love a person even more than they love themselves, even die for them, but still harm this person in some ways. I don’t think these things are mutually exclusive. It’s a complicated and ugly world. But what all these individuals have in common is that they all seem to love Louis more than Louis loves them. They all feel powerless and insufficient.
Just wow. How much better can this show get!?!? That fight between Louis and Armand. Lestat calling out for Louis. Daniel and Louis putting back together the pieces of their memories...and trauma. Phew. And we still have Paris.
“Are you the zodiac killer?” Took. Me. Out.
Amazing line delivery by young Daniel
I think it’s so funny because on one hand he’s so terrified, but on the other hand his little reporter brain is like “I’m going to die having cracked the case”
Luke Brandon Field (young Daniel) was soooo good!!!
never been so stressed during an ep of TV where I know everyone’s making it out alive(ish). also, young Daniel …… I’d have kidnapped him too (nb I’m probably kidding)
Right? Armand can do something that is arguably even worse than killing you, and it's terrifying to wait and see what he did to them.
Louis shitting on Lestat semi-drunken while young Daniel is revelling in it like *ssssslaaayyyyy yyyyyyaaasssss,* was truly everything lmao
That fight scene between Louis and Armand was insanity, and really fucking funny too, tbh.
The way they mimicked each others accents took me out
Yes! So much tension.
"Being crushed by a soft beige pillow" ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I died laughing! The dialogue on this show is so next level.
PICKING LINT… OFF THE SOFA?! really got me lol
The Maitre - Arun talk shows how messed up the dynamics of their relationship are. They all need therapy.
They need to have separated decades ago and gone no contact.
No seriously and every time they say/do it I feel secondhand embarrassment like plsss go see the lady 😭
Ever since Armand went to Paris he has been the leader who felt like a servant. He hated running the Coven and felt chained to it but he still engaged in it with hyper controlling manners. The similar dynamic plays out with Louis. He feels utterly devoted to Louis but engages in his devotion with controlling behavior. He resents his subserviance and lashes out at times but will always fall back.
"Beige... pillow" Holy shit the tension. I too may need to go "vacuuming, on valium" in order to recover from this Excellent writing. Stunning acting.
THE BEIGE PILLOW LINE 😭😭🤣
Yes. I'll gladly be SUFFOCATED by Armand's BEIGE PILLOW (Lolooll)
I like how Armand's hair has more volume the less emotionally vulnerable he is. Watching his hair this ep I knew he was going to be throwing off sparks.
His hair is so big because it’s full of (his own) secrets
Daniel: I really thought we did. Louis: Do you want to now? He sometimes lingers when boats come into harbor. Daniel: 😳 Me: 💀
Rewatching it, and it leaves me wondering how many of Louis' memories has Armand altered. The entire fairytale-esque Paris meet cute? Their Paris rendezvous? It could also be that the bitterness happened after everything goes down in Paris, but who knows? Also just because Armand knows where Lestat is, doesn't mean he's safe. Armand said he found Lestat, but Armand could still have him locked away somewhere and doing the telepathy while Lestat is a captive. Normally in a situation like that Lestat would be fiery but if he's weakened, malnourished, depressed, and broken? He wouldn't have the strength, until something triggered it, which was the mentioning of Louis being injured Just a thought from a non-book reader 🤷♀️
I lost count, of how many times I held my breath, in this episode. But it got me wondering; Armand, clearly, finds Daniel very interesting in current times with all those secret and not-so-secret looks he throws at him. And since he is the only one who remembers everything (that we know of) the "you are boring" line and the proverbial "what does he have that I don't have" in regards to Louis's attention fucked him up. My question is, since the way he treats Daniel, now, do you think he has found it yet?
I think this ep just encapsulated so much of what this show is about. In my eyes, the main underpinning is what extremely powerful and lonely beings would do and endure to keep love in their lives. Armand, even with all the torment Louis puts him through for loving Lestat over him, would take the 2nd-hand leftovers to keep Louis in his life. And Louis, even with all the hurt Lestat inflicted, would choose to live a shell of a life even if it meant he could still hold onto the ghost of what he had with Lestat.
G*ddamn, this episode! Did anyone else get anxiety watching it? THERE'S the Armand from the books: sinister, manipulative, twisted, damaged. The fact that he wouldn't pass on Lestat's message of love to Louis was heartbreaking. I loved all the Louis/Daniel scenes, past and present. This show is so fucking phenomenal. 🔥🔥🔥
Anxiety yes. During the argument I was sat with my hand in front of my mouth in shock at how vicious that was.
The way Armand kept saying Lestat over and over. Louis never really let him go.
*"You left me for Death. Will I be on suicide watch for the next thousand years?"* Man, Assad is such an amazing actor. The pure softness he can instill in such lines and then go back to the mighty terrifying but still so soft and so contained Armand is mesmerizing to watch.
My watch alerted me of my resting heart rate being high twice so…yeah, pretty anxious lmfao
This is why in the books a lot of the Vampires were alone or drifters. The older they get the more damaged they are. The show does a great job of capturing just how damaged Louis and Armand are. Every episode just gets better and better.
Best episode of the season. Mind blown. So emotional. And such a smart re-tooling and enriching of the source material. God, I love this show so much. Please renew it, AMC!
I literally got up and started screaming halfway through. What the fuck was that? I loved every second.
Every episode finishes and I’d spend 10 minutes yapping “this show is so fucking good” around my house, telling my partner as if he would watch it if I just say it more.
Thinking about Armand’s definition of “fine” - Nicky was “fine” after the coven drained him, Daniel was “fine” while he’s crying in the other room with broken bones Also I wonder if Armand kept checking in on Daniel - that’s how he knows the Paris proposal thing
Where's the photoshop of Armand's head on the This is Fine dog meme?
https://preview.redd.it/vbqsr08a1v5d1.jpeg?width=1057&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76def71a62470af832db7a9d44ef0c094787a8ad Your comment was all I could think about and I had the time. Armand will be going through it in the following episodes.
You want to [do it] now? 💀
Fantastic episode. How the onion of their memory is peeled and every character takes turns being vulnerable and being toxic. Such tension and the full scale of human/vampiric emotion. So many great scenes. Down to the very end with the paino note on the closeups of all three.
Armand having the same relationship skills he honed as a boy to manipulate older adults. The damage on display of constant manipulation in order to stay in control. He and Louis share that trait it just presents differently and contributes to the ongoing dom/sub swap. Louis telling Armand to leave Daniel alive reminded me of what Claudia said to Lestat in S1: “We leave the damage so we never forget the damage.” Poor, poor Daniel being the unwitting weapon in a twisted relationship between vicious vampires.
The thing I keep trying to say is that the writing is *this* good. You can see the stage of life everyone was when they were turned, the layers of damage accumulated over the years, the tricks they’ve learned to manipulate, even their perceptions of Lestat determining how he’s portrayed. With them both remembering here, it’s the closest to a “true” accounting of the story we’ve had so far.
Armand’s shaking dagger eyes. Daniel’s blood pulsing from his neck. Louis’s charred flesh. Untouched cassette tapes unspooling like blood. The poor neighbor!! So much detail to ramp up the tension and force the viewer to be in that room.
I felt my claustrophobia creeping in as if I were there.
Lestat: I love you, Louis. LOUIS!!!
The way he said Mon Cheret (sp?) so softly and with such concern 😭
BUT whose point of view was Lestat's voice? Only Armand's right? So then WHO is remembering that memory?
Its mixed perspective. What Louis says he remembers out loud is what he remembers... .... Some is for us. What "really" happened as if we were in the room.. Lestat sounded weak, sad and echoed.
I am so damn sad... THIS DAMN SHOW IS MAKING ME FEEL TOO MUCH THAT I HAVE NEVER FELT IN ANY SHOW
I was soo curious about why did Louis opinion on Lestast changed so much between the first and second interview. Learning that him trash talking Least at was just his way to gain his attention might destroy me
" AI'mn thuh VahMpair ArrManhd, andmy Daddy Grooomed Mee into a LIttl BitCH " - I'm so dead holy shit " MyDaughterwusMySisterwusmyThroePillowouldn'tlookaahtmehkaaaieendly " ... ooohhhhhhhhhh LORDY
The “Lestat, Lestat, Lestat…” was very Jan from the Brady Bunch going “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”
That episode was FANTASTIC I'm going insane. Plus the music and sounds, those crooked string notes when Armand is being intimidating made my heart speed up, that was so GOOD. And when he was lifting Daniel and making him fall to the ground, they used this like.... shivering effect on his eyes to show the power, so subtle but so so good, holy shit this show impresses me on levels I never expected. I'm definitely going to be rewatching this episode over and over, so worth the hype oh my goddd I need to know what happened neXT and I need more of this Armand, everyone's performance was amazing as usual but I was entranced by Assad in this one. And the communication with Lestat, the manipulation with not telling Louis he loved him, I'm losing my mind
Thinking back & reflecting on the episode I find this interesting… In SF, Armand was so insecure and jealous about Daniel. Louis had brought others back, but Daniel was the first he shared his secret with AND spared. He found him interesting, useful, and more. Louis begged Armand to leave him alone. Flash forward to present day Dubai, that time that Armand and Louis were being particularly cruel to Daniel it was Armand who stopped and reined things in. There’s something in the way Armand looks at Daniel. IMO. Is it jealousy, distaste, longing? A mess of emotions? Idk but I’m so interested in exploring more of Daniel’s history and dynamic with Louis and armand
I’m surprised Louis attempted suicide in 1973. That scene was brutal. We can really see Armand’s toxicity on full display. You can tell Armand is hurt with the fact that Louis still loves Lestat. The moment with Lestat was touching. It shows he is alive, in America, and cares about Louis. I think Armand was taunting Lestat with it though. I feel sorry for Daniel. His torture was pretty rough.
Finally, we get the real Armand this episode, and I am HERE FOR IT. Him torturing Daniel was hard to watch, not to mention attempt at hurting Lestat through Louis. Assad is so damn good at switching from wounded to malevolent. And Jacob... he's just so impressive in his range as an actor. He broke my heart this episode.
He is indeed so good at it! But it goes to show they are two sides of the same coin hence why the phrase “hurt people, hurt people” exists.
My main question is after this brilliant episode: *Who is actually more terrifying? Lestat or Armand?*
I would say Lestat doesn't hold back when he wants to terrify...he's like yes this is me...the fuck you gonna do? Also he's very impulsive..goes with the flow...doesn't think about the consequences to his actions...major abandonment issues. But with Armand it's psychological,slow and almost invisible. He has immense psychological power so he really doesn't need to be physically intimidating
This. Lestat will “just” beat the shit out of you, drag you through the house by your shattered jaw, fly you up into the sky, drop you, then regret it and try to lovebomb you into taking him back. That’s amateur hour as far as Armand’s concerned.
While Lestat is mistreating you, you'll *know* he's mistreating you. That's a lot less terrifying and harmful than thinking it's love in between.
Armand. Lestat isn’t going to play some decades long mind eff game with you. He would probably get bored. Also what are Louis’s true memories?
Armand. Lestat fucks with your body. He beats you to a pulp or gives you an orgasm, that's it. You'll almost be excited to get your ass whooped by him. Armand likes to get to the nasty bits. He gets into your head to break your heart and rip out your guts out of your ass. Then leaves you alive so life can break you further. At least when Lestat wants to kill it will be quick.
Not only attempted in 1970s but when Claudia first left seriously considered it then.
We also got to see how toxic Louis is back then. It was like seeing two married people that have grown to hate each other (but they’re vampires so add a bunch of murder and torture to the equation).
It was giving pure unadulterated Liz Taylor & Richard Burton in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf'
Louis should have been in a coffin when he was injured from his suicide attempt. Armand let him suffer more.
I spent the whole episode laughing and crying. It's so emotional and dark and devastating but then there are jems like "oh man, are you the zodiac killer" and I just can't... The bickering even managed to be funny and sad at the same time.
You know that there is great writing when I am watching Armand and even through all of his crazy and overzealous actions he still in some way feels kind and caring. Like he is holding Daniels face and he is standing over Louis' coffin and I can't help but feel kindness even when he is being manipulative. How many times has Louis attempted to die? How many of Daniels memories were actually altered because of this? Considering if they also do Devils Minions this could also be that Armand is still hiding a lot more with Daniel especially so I am excited to see where this goes. (Also Armand in the teal button up with the sleeves rolled up is now my favorite thing in the world)
https://preview.redd.it/c3ciht2byj5d1.jpeg?width=653&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70b7f15c5c01c53fcca81546fb350d58d219826b
I love this and heartily co-sign.
My heart shattered during this episode. This show is everything
If you had told me in the beginning of this series that Armand would end up being my favorite character, I would have laughed at you. Gaslighting cunt who is absolutely unapologetic about it? I love it. Also, young Daniel is cute and also another crazy. He would have made a great vampire.
Same! Season 1 I was like F Armand, He's the devil! And now I'm like, Armand is a bad bish. He is him! From episode 1 until now, he has been serving looks. The way he stepped into that room dressed to the nines, walking into an ambush like "hey y'all!" was too funny. I also feel for his character. Every single person in the cast has pulled at my heart strings. to the point I can't be mad when they hurt each other. I'm just disappointed in them.
... After all that. Armand wearing the shades. ... ARMAND WEARS THE SHADE IN THIS HOUSEHOLD, LOUIS THROWS THE SHADE -
Bro just ate and he’s feeling AMAZING!
I busted out laughing when he came in with those 80s glasses on. It looks like he stepped out of Bladerunner.
God, Jacob is so good at playing tormented
He really broke my heart this episode. Loved all his scenes with young and old Daniel.
I loved this ep - the acting from every one was insanely good. Louis and Daniel bonding in past and present was wonderful and captivating to watch. I was slightly surprised at how antagonistic and toxic Daniel and Armand were in the flashbacks as the present day flirting seemed to suggest something more romantic or sexual had happened with them in the past but obviously not and I misread it. Or we haven't see everything yet.
I don't think this was the last interaction between Armand and younger Daniel. There's still a ton of mystery about Alice's proposal in Paris, and her character as a whole,I think he's involved in that.
Ooooouuu good call!!! I can totally see Armand manipulating that whole situation to get rid of/control Daniel. Especially given the location!
It was unsettling to see how desperate Louis was to get Daniel to remember and tell him the whole story during Armand’s lunch break. Including “he’s getting back soon”. Really made it seem like Daniel + Louis vs Armand Also vampires are so powerful it’s odd to see one real need something out of a human
oh my god where to fucking START. this episode was truly everything i wanted out of the san francisco flashback episode, everyone was acting their hearts out, i felt sick (positive) basically the whole way through. loved all the louis + daniel (or to those that can perceive. louis x daniel) moments in dubai, the way their relationship goes from an antagonistic push-pull to what maybe amounts to camaraderie in their shared quest to recover their memories, the way louis' performance of himself he adopts during the interview and especially when armand is present drops away as he genuinely finds himself on the back foot. and in stark contrast, the clear performance that is the first interview! the underlying flirtation of louis constantly calling daniel "boy", deliberately playing up the big bad vampire angle, the way he (of course) distorts certain things in his narrative. i was fully on the fence wrt whether said distortion was a deliberate choice to make lestat seem like he was less important to him than he was or just a genuine snapshot of how louis felt about lestat at some times (there's an interview where jacob anderson says he doesn't see louis' unreliability as a narrator as an outright lie but rather a true reflection of louis' feeling and often memories, a perspective i'm also very partial to because i think it makes for a more interesting story); it was louis emphasising the negative perspective of lestat to armand that convinced me he was probably a little harsher than he otherwise might've been for armand's benefit. again i definitely don't think he was lying, just choosing to prioritise certain things about lestat over others. i often have issues with connecting younger versions of characters to older ones in visual media, somehow i can't really suspend my disbelief on that front, but i am sooo fascinated with the throughlines in daniel's character even though it's clear how much he's changed over the years. eg the evolution from young daniel equating "marriage" with "cancer" on the bad things that happen in mortal life list to twice-divorced older daniel............... 1) i know what you are 2) jesus fucking christ that IS the same guy. i cannot even talk about the loumand fight and louis running out subsequently it made me so ill. it makes sooo much sense also knowing their backgrounds that armand prioritises stability & comfort which louis, depressed, cannot fucking abide by so he goes and searches for anything / anyone to hold his interest (also louis calling armand beige. lmfao) i also appreciated the reminder that despite whatever armand and louis profess, despite "yes, maître", one of the people in this relationship has actual material power over the other and it is not louis, whose power if he has it at all is symbolic. it's another way this episode drove home the similarities and differences between lestat & armand for me especially in the way armand chose to deal with daniel, because he is no doubt as cruel & uncaring as lestat but he goes about it in such a different way, he doesn't need the spectacle of lestat's mardi gras performance and subsequent hunting the town's elite for sport, he prefers to be slow and methodical and draw his victim into him even when he's hunting them (also the fact that while all these memories are being unearthed armand is doing exactly that, a slow hunt of a single victim, strategic and thought-out). on that note, probably says a lot about me that i thought armand was so hot this episode it genuinely made me lose my mind. but then again so was louis, and mr jacob anderson once again invented the craft of acting. those first few shots of his face when daniel is just getting them started on realising that their memories are falsified? devastating. though as i've already said, the acting was on another level this week from absolutely everyone. more than any other episode this season the ending of this one left me on the edge of my fucking seat, i cannot wait to see how the 2022 interview will progress now that it seems louis & daniel have joined forces against armand instead of armand & louis against daniel.
I wonder how much of the iPad prison vibe is all Armand has put in place to keep Louis out of the sun? And since Armand said the second interview is "chronicalling a suicide".... if he's given up on his Eternal Sunshine therapy and finally moving towards letting Louis go.
The writing in this show is amazing. Also the first time this show has ever made me feel uneasy. The scenes with Armand being toxic/hurt with what Louis said to him, and taking part of it out on Daniel was genuinely hard to watch for me. Armand is frightening. Louis suicide attempt as well was just very unnerving
Somewhere out there Lestat is still screaming LOUIS! and that melts my heart
Young (High on coke) Daniel Molloy whoring himself out to Louis..... I find it very funny. Makes me think if Daniel & Louis could/should become an item. These two have chemistry with each other. Compared to Lestat & Armand, Daniel seems to be the least toxic option.
I agree. I was really loving all the Louis/Daniel scenes.
Cute how Daniel takes off his shirt and Louis is like, What.
But also Louis in both times is being a hit of tease/coy. He knows young Daniel wanted him coke or no coke and old Daniel imo isn’t completely opposed
I loved him just ignoring the present day offer. He's not gonna say no, he's just now mature enough to want to finish the work BEFORE he strips down.
I just noticed that it was Louis helping Armand with Daniel in the photographs (he’s burnt and covering himself with sunglasses and a hoodie) and that the tapes Armand wasn’t holding were unspooling themselves 😳
The unspooling tapes were such a perfect, additional level of creepy power on display after a series of highly disturbing events. I feel like I was in that room. My hand flew up to my mouth so many times.
Oh God I missed that entirely and going back, it's suuuuuuch an unsettling little detail. And Armand is doing it so CASUALLY, too.
We’re really seeing now how Louis is at the center of all the drama. His fight with Armand, wow. Louis has made decisions that led to his living a life in which he’s unsatisfied, and at Armand’s expense, as he longs for Lestat. The pain in Lestat’s voice when he says “tell him, Armand”. We know now that no matter what happened in Paris that Lestat still loves Louis. Why Louis continues to stay with Armand and is hesitant for Armand to contact Lestat is still unclear, I think, and maybe has to do with what happened in Paris. It could also be that Louis is too proud to admit that he’s made the wrong decisions, so proud that he can’t let Armand go to pursue being with Lestat, instead, he does the interview to get Lestat to pursue him again. I feel sorry for Armand, he’s been through a lot and deserves to be loved in the way that he wants to love. Louis can’t give that to him because he will always love Lestat, Armand knows this, and yet Louis won’t let him go. It’s unfair to them all. Armand says that Claudia never loved him and Louis said he knows! Thinking back to when she wrote in her diary that she was going to push Louis and Lestat together, without Louis’ full knowledge, and break Lestat’s heart…I’m eager to hear more about Louis’ understandings of the complexities of Claudia and her role in what happened in their family. I’d like to see more of Armand and Daniel. I hope more comes of their relationship like I’ve heard may be the case. Louis knows now that Armand has wiped his memories before. If Louis’ motivation in the 70s was to reconcile with Lestat, what is his motivation today? And does Armand mean it when he says that he thought that keeping Daniel alive would be beneficial one day, and if so, why? Or is that just a cover for his doing as Louis asked?
Louis is just using Armand because he can manipulate Armand's affections in a way he couldn't with Lestat. It's kind of like an unrequited love dynamic where Louis plays 'come close, stay away' until Armand gets sick of it. I feel like Armand never got the love/companion he needed/deserves (I don't think Daniel's the one either). Whereas Louis and Lestat have and deserve each other but keep f--king it up whenever they're with each other.
Lestat didn’t/would’t allow Louis to have that veneer of “I’m still a good person” the way Armand and Claudia do.
So basically Armand is a boring dude to spend decades with - that I see honestly. But also Louis this is mean. You chose to spend all this time with him. Armand is much more insecure than I realized. Torturing this kid because your boyfriend finds you boring
Louis is having his cake and eating it too. Both know that Louis is unhappy but are afraid of facing the reality of the alternatives: Louis having to face Lestat and admitting his wrongs to the one who loves him unconditionally regardless and Armand being alone after giving up his power and coven for Louis
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maybe I like vampires more than I thought but every episode of this show is a banger. wish witches was like this
Anyone else notice Lestats voice seemed weak, sad and echoed?
omg this episode was insane. i was legitimately scared of Armand, when his eyes were vibrating it was terrifying. and so so sad for Louis and Daniel. WTF is going on?! I don't even care about Paris anymore, what's happening now??!!! Lestat where are you!!!!
Louis does a lot of hallucinating and seeing or hearing things that aren’t there for a guy whose brother hallucinated but also definitely doesn’t have schizophrenia
Man this episode adds a TON of subtext for the season 1 episode when Armand gets rid of the shade on one window so that Louis can hold his arm in the sun in front of Daniel. And the whole time Armand doesn't look away until Louis pulls his arm back to safety.
“Are you the Zodiac Killer?” is actually the correct response to some dude being really fucking weird in 1973 San Francisco
If current day Daniel doesn't get to be a vampire, I will be VERY disappointed. I feel like he's earned it just for all the shit the vamps put him through.
Episode 2: I kinda like Armand Episode 3&4: I kinda hate Armand Episode 5: I kinda love Armand?
Absolutely speechless half an hour after I have finished the episode and I am still shaken to my core. While I do not watch a lot of TV (Because I grow uninterested in tv shows after a while) this TV show is making me remember the 2000s and 2010s when I was more involved in the theory side of fandom. First of all, I thought this would be a breather for the upcoming episodes but I WAS SO WRONG! This was probably one of the most tension filled episodes, I haven't had this amount of shock and horror since the fight in season 1. Armand, my Armand, I love his character so much and he was so captivating here, so evil and yet not competely evil, but also very tragic. And Louis, and Daniel. I cannot believe how much the performances have made me fall more in love with Louis and Daniel (Armand was already a favourite). Jacob Anderson and Eric Bogosian are terrific actors, youngDaniel too. And I really really hope this is the take-off for Assad's career and we see him more often because his acting this season is insane.
Okay so this was the ep I was most interested in since I saw the episode titles and the early trailers. Boy did it not disappoint - I loved Daniel's character since the beginning of S1, but it felt like in this ep it got elevated to new levels. The casting was so good for old and young Daniel - "I want 20 minutes. For me." ugh my heart - Daniel seems to have a *very* complicated relationship with desire and sex, from the taking his shirt off 0.5 seconds after being in the room with Louis, to the 'I can be on my knees' with Armand, which could have been self preservation talking, but also the memory Armand plucks out about that girl with the bag over her head. Old Daniel seems much more jaded by age in that regard, but he worries about what Louis and him did in 1973 and also the look when Louis mentions "do you want to now?" was totally a 'jkjk we have an interview to do... Unless????' - Armand. From feeling for him and his past last episode to being a manipulative ass to 2 people for years. The way Assad bounces between the portrayal of this character is absolutely mesmerising - "The boy? He's fine" *thud* "I'm fine, we're all fine, everything is fine!" *thud* - Talking about the fight between Armand and Louis, I loved the way they showed the back and forth. Usually in tv shows when they fight, you can hear clearly one line and the next, or maybe actor A gets interrupted by actor B just as their line is about to end. Here you could hear them shout over one another, highlighting the way each of them wanted to overcome the other in how much they wanted to hurt one another. - On the flip side, the use of silence. We saw it in Santiago's speech when he was first introduced, the way he paused to let each word hang and have the audience (both in the theater and at the TV) completely mesmerized. We see it again now when Daniel rewinds the audio of the interview to showcase the different sounds, the door slam. He does it twice, "wasting" screentime on this to make sure Louis got to the correct memory on his own. He already knew, or at least guessed, that Louis tried to off himself but he wanted him to get to that conclusion without telling him outright. - and in the same way Daniel helped him time and time again with unlocking memories of Claudia, Louis now pushes Daniel to remember by bringing him to the tree and trying to guide him. Was it to get more pieces of the puzzle as to what he didn't remember himself, or was it out of concern for Daniel? Maybe both, I guess - to top it all off, Armand the fashionista returns to two angry boyfriends and realizes that maybe he bit off more than he could chew
i think what really stood out to me is that Armand has this narcissistic desire to be someone- *anyone's* respite or tranquility, but he keeps running into people that don't want it. he's so caught up in being someone's calm, Louis bored out of his mind, Daniel refused to 'rest' until he was set in a trance right before Armand tried to drain him to death. he even created a fake ass scenario where Daniel's is miserable by simply being mundane, but he likes the mess, he liked interviewing that woman who worked at a titty bar and that Vietnam vet. Armand doesn't understand them and he resents Louis and Daniel for that 'final act of service', 'will i be on suicide watch for the next thousand years', 'have i atoned' really, really gives off those bros who weaponize therapy speak to guilt and shush their victims
I think Louis being so close to his humanity and denying his vampire instincts is why he finds Daniel the human fascinating. On top of the persona he created as a human as protector and savior for his family and being a brothel owner/pimp. The loss of Paul really messed him up and it happened again with Claudia. He was/is always drawn to damaged people in need of saving. Even current, older Daniel is sick and in need of rescue from a human disease and lack of love, companionship.
“Imagine me without the burden of her” WHO is HER that’s burdening YOU, LOUIS? I’ll kill him myself and im so serious. I feel like NOLA Louis, Paris Louis, SF Louis and Dubai Louis are ALL SO DIFFERENT. I love NOLA Louis, I actually miss him! Armand and Louis are just a toxic couple, Louis still not healed from Lestat and Claudia, so much for “detachment” 😒 and Armand is just Louis handler honestly, I don’t think they are a genuinely happy couple. Armand says he’s trying to save Louis from himself and that’s the problem I feel. He tries to control and handle Louis like a puppeteer. Loustat vs Loumand, just go back home Louis lmfao. Cause imagine your bf calling your EX… then Armand didn’t even wanna finish the job! Also, why did the man in the bag look like Tom Anderson?! Just me? https://preview.redd.it/udhi9m03xj5d1.jpeg?width=518&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba6d0360154c0776787b70460f5e9e39912caa67
that was intense
All of the acting in this episode is phenomenal. But Assad killed it. The scene with him holding, caressing, and comforting Daniel, as he convinced him to accept his death. Wow. Absolutely masterclass acting. Slightly off topic, but do we think Daniel (show Daniel) is gay? Or bi? Or simply just willing to do what is necessary to score drugs? He seemed to be thirsty over Louis, but maybe it was just because he knew he had drugs.
I think bi. He was a little disappointed he and Louis hadn’t had sex, or at least wouldn’t have been upset about it. But also his marriages seem real.
The shot of Armand wrapping his arm around Louis to drag him back inside reminds me of Louis holding Lestat as he cut his throat. The last time Lestat screams for Louis at the end of Armand's game of telephone sounded like reused audio from when he screamed his name when Claudia first came back after touring colleges.
God the way Lestat was begging Armand to tell Louis he loved him broke my heartttttt. Like Louis doesn’t know!!! That’s such a good set up for some drama
REST.
QUESTION: Whose point of view was Lestat's voice, though??? Whose memory?
Louis would remember what Armand was repeating to him but I think hearing his voice was just for the audience. Allowing us to know that Lestat is alive, loves Louis and that Armand kept that from Louis added a lot to the story
I loved that this episode gave us as the audience a real glimpse of how different and how much more powerful the vampires are to what humans are. Like Daniel would have easily just been one more body. This episode makes it all feel much more real somehow. Also, Armand playing chess with the situation added this whole other level to how scary he is. He’s had centuries to learn how to manipulate others.
I love Armand. He has done nothing, and everything, wrong. Assad is amazing. At the end of season 1 I was really fascinated by him despite his short screentime, listened to podcasts with him etc., and now seeing him be a leading role makes me so happy.
This episode was great! No words
oh that Daniel/Louis stuff, so good!! yeah they didn't have sex (he really wanted to, he tried...) and that's a bummer... but instead they were psychologically tormented over a 4 day period. But ! They're tethered to one another that defies time and memory tampering. Like, I'm sorry that's good stuff! That's romance! They really tapped into the insect alien quality of Armand here. He just doesn't get it!!! He's so far removed from it all, it's painful to watch. 'Is that what makes you fascinating??' - 'We're all fine!!!!' I'm wondering if Louis knows Lestat was really talking to Armand or if Armand was just hurting him again. But also, I feel like he legitimately didn't want to talk to Lestat either. Which I feel like is bc he knows Armand has the power to hurt more people he cares about so he has to placate Armand's insecurities here... But I also think Louis wants whatever he has with Armand to work too. So much that he'll pick him again and again. It's truly sick. He wants to believe he's tamed the monster, but he hasn't. Also new Loumand fight!! A truly rich experience to witness. Can you believe that was one of the first things they filmed together? Unreal. I feel robbed we didn't get to hear their fight in the bedroom last episode lol.
Louis stays with Armand because he’s afraid Lestat wouldn’t want him. It’s also pride. He wants Lestat to chase him. He stays with Armand because he knows Armand would never leave him and would continue to clean up after him. If he was to go to Lestat and Lestat was to reject him then who would Louis have? He would be alone and he fears being alone.
Anyone have a guess where Lestat is? Like he sounded weak. If he knows Louis is alive why is he staying away? And if Louis knows Lestat is alive same question. Ugh. I can't wait for the finale!!! I've got so many questions.
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Because he lashed out and showed his true wounded self and if he kept those memories he wouldn’t be able to maintain that persona of *I’m a good empathetic person because I was hurt too* or control the narrative.
He wiped Daniel so he wouldn't ask to many questions. It was more of a convenience thing. For Louis... I think the fight hurt him deeply and they did say nastiest things to each other. But mainly, I think he was terrified that once the floodgates were open (the implication is that they haven't talked about Paris much at all since it happened), Louis could attempt to kill himself again. For all the talk, the punishment that Armand was doing, he is not ready to let Louis leave, to Lestat or to his death. From now on he's going to be serving Louis even better, so he doesn't "act out"
I think Armand justifies a lot of things for the sake of “arranging things for Louis”. I guess Louis is Maitre but Armand is the majordomo who takes a lot of liberties
It's such a pleasure to be treated to adult entertainment as well written and performed as this. The production team continues to excel, and I can't praise Daniel Hart's music enough.