AMC’s fantastic adaptation of the late Anne Rice‘s Interview with the Vampire kicks off S02 with an episode dedicated to breaking away from the past in order to start anew.
Spoilers follow…
Chapter 8: “What Can The Damned Really Say To The Damned”: Louis recounts Claudia’s quest to find Old World vampires amidst the backdrop of Europe during World War II.
Missed S01? Listen to the Horror Queers recap
Building the S02 premiere around characters literally haunted by and/or searching for the ghosts of the past is apt. After all, Sam Reid‘s Lestat – aka one of the series’ defining characters and one third of its central relationship – has been effectively sidelined.
In the S01 finale, the charismatic sociopath was betrayed by his lover Louis (Jacob Anderson) and young charge Claudia (formerly Bailey Bass, now played by Delainey Hayles) and left for dead. “What Can The Damned Really Say To The Damned” picks up the action approximately four years later as Louis and Claudia pick their way through Germany to Soviet-occupied Romania in search of other vampires.
What they can’t avoid, however, is the baggage that has followed them across the ocean. Not only does Louis still carry Lestat in his heart (and his hallucinations), it’s clear that Claudia hasn’t dealt with the trauma of Lestat’s manipulations or the broadly hinted at sexual assault she survived in S01.
Hence why Claudia’s so desperate to find a single vampire that isn’t, in her words, a “goddamn bastard.” It’s also why she’s so distraught when the two vampires they discover in the woods outside a superstitious Romanian town are quickly killed. While it’s clear that Louis doesn’t share her enthusiasm for conversing with other vampires (see: the episode’s title), there’s something tragic about the intensity of the brief connection Claudia forms with Daciana, the witchy Old World vampire.
After the woman’s offspring is blinded and euthanized by its mother, Claudia and Louis follow her through the woods to a cottage “like a fairytale.” The visual ties to Hansel & Gretel are undeniable, but it’s evident that Louis and Claudia are in no danger from the witch; instead she promises the girl the verbal equivalent of sweets when she spins a yarn about returning to the States and sharing their respective histories. It’s a glimmer, however unlikely, that Claudia has found what she’s been looking for.
Then the Old World vampire throws herself in the fire.
It’s not exactly a surprise; in hindsight, Daciana’s words are clearly too good to be true. And yet the impact of her death on Claudia is terrible: Louis practically has to drag the mute, nearly catatonic girl to Paris while administering words both “hard” and “soft.”
He promises that they’ll stick together, but she can’t pretend that there won’t be hard times in the future. It’s parenting 101, and likely exactly what Claudia needs to hear, but given that Louis is actually delivering his monologue to the hallucination of Lestat, it’s simultaneously pathetic, devastating, and ironic all at once.
And that’s before you factor in what viewers who know the source material or the Neil Jordan film know is coming in Paris: the Theatre de Vampire.
There’s pain and hardship on the horizon. There are “goddamn bastards” aplenty. And there’s ghost Lestat’s promise to seek revenge on Louis as soon as he’s happy.
“Hurry up, mon cher” indeed.
Other Observations:
- There’s a surprising amount of tension and conflict in the 2022 interview scenes with Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Season one ended with the revelation that Louis’ assistant Rashid (now played by Bally Gill) was actually Armand (Assad Zaman), his partner of 70+ years. The banter between the journalist and the lover is highly charged, so much so that by episode’s end Armand plots with Louis to regain control of the interview by presenting a united, romantic front.
- It seems that Louis has blocked out certain events from the ripped out pages of Claudia’s diaries. Between this and his chaste kiss with Armand, it’s clear that not everything is alright in Louis’ relationship. Considering how much of S01 dealt with his abusive relationship with Lestat, is history repeating itself?
- This episode makes it clear that Claudia is better at picking up languages, while Louis is fundamentally better at negotiating human relationships. Take the romance between Emilia (Stephanie Hayes), the superstitious Romanian woman and Morgan (Blake Ritson), the American war correspondent she’s dating: Claudia barely pretends to care about them unless it pertains to Emilia’s efforts to arm the villagers with garlic and crosses. Louis, on the other hand, invests deeply in Emilia and Morgan’s star-crossed romance…at least until Emilia needs rescuing after she’s bitten. Then Louis returns to Claudia. He learned his lesson last season about interfering in humans concerns.
- Director Craig Zisk, working from a teleplay by Hannah Moscovitch, shoots a large chunk of the episode out in the open as Louis and Claudia make their way across Europe. The bleak post-war countryside doesn’t provide the most exciting visuals, but the monochrome landscape does a good job of reinforcing Louis’ belief that the war has impacted the taste and quality of the residents’ blood.
- Finally: there was a great deal of hand-wringing about recasting Claudia in S02. I’m pleased to say that Hayles acquits herself well, particularly in her line delivery, so the transition feels relatively seamless. Claudia is relatively subdued in the premiere, though, so it’ll be exciting to see what Hayles can do as the season progresses.
- Also: *love* the card announcing the change in actor at the top of the episode. It’s very theatrical, which is exactly in keeping with where this season is going.
Interview with the Vampire S02 airs on AMC on Sundays