Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Claudia’s (Delainey Hayles) arrival in Paris incites curiosity among the city’s local vampire coven, which is run by Armand (Assad Zaman). The pair try to fit in despite still running away from their past to start fresh with a new story in this week’s Interview With the Vampire.
In the present, Armand joins Louis’ interview to supplement his side of their meeting to Molloy (Eric Bogosian) in “Do You Know What It Means to Be Loved by Death,” an episode directed by Levan Akin and written by Jonathan Ceniceroz and Shane Munson.
In the present, Armand, Louis, and Molloy argue about Paris. While Armand and Louis romanticize the city where they fell in love, Molloy sides with Claudia’s diary entries that the city sucks. Defensively and very pointedly Louis brings up Molloy’s memory of finding out his daughter’s mother, Alice, was pregnant during their visit, which sets up some tension regarding the interviewer’s personal history being invaded in a low blow.
Shifting the focus back to Claudia and Louis’ arrival through her diary, they recount her disappointment about being in a place that’s struggling to get out from under the shadow of war. They try to fit in and scavenge their prey for money. Armand interjects that they broke a cardinal vampire rule, which is to let the local coven know they were there—but Louis points out that they didn’t know that. Before crossing paths with Armand’s coven, Louis takes up photography (supplied in the present day by the real Rashid), and Claudia scraps together some money for a dress she sees in a window, leading to her meeting its young designer. It’s worth noting that the dressmaker is a change from the book’s dollmaker, another refreshing change to build up Claudia as not a little girl but rather reflect the woman trapped inside a teen body. It’s really the first time Claudia makes a female friend, or any friend outside of Louis, as the city begins to open up to her. Hayles as Claudia really stands out as the brave one between her and Louis; she thrusts herself into trying to move past their sordid history, drawing on a gift of blocking out that you could say she inherited from her maker.
Meanwhile, as Louis roams a local park, Armand finally decides to confront him. He recalls that he could tell from Louis was American from the way he walked, almost like a Taylor Swift song if the tortured poet was a vampire. Their first encounter made Louis nervous and he revealed that despite Armand looking like a boy, he could sense his ancient powers and thought Armand was going to kill him. But his first words to Louis were “I will not harm you,” and Armand affirms in the present he never has… almost too quickly. We’ll see about that and his definition of it because sure, maybe he hasn’t hurt him in the way Lestat did—but hurt can come in different forms. Back in the park, Armand invites Louis and Claudia to see his coven in the Theatre des Vampires.
The showy, gauche Penny Dreadful live show in Paris run by Armand’s coven is a longtime front to attract prey—tourists and fanatic locals—blending reality into fiction for the unsuspecting. Claudia is immediately enamored by it as lead actor Santiago (Ben Daniels) performs his power to make people want death as the coven feeds on the very real victim on stage to the applause of the crowd. It’s power unlike Claudia has ever seen and fills her with pride as finally she feels like they have found a family. Louis is more reluctant but more interested in Armand, who is very alluring in his own right, so we get it.
When they meet the coven after the show, Claudia spots a portrait of Lestat and asks who that is as if she doesn’t know; turns out he co-founded the theater coven—because of course he did. Molloy cuts in and says that’s a telenovela moment and laughs. To which yes, Armand reveals that he was also with Lestat hundreds of years before Louis. The irony feels like too much but the lovers point out to Molloy that vampire circles run small. It’s how Armand’s coven was able to quickly spot Louis and Claudia, despite them trying to keep a low profile (among their other secrets). When they get back to their apartment Louis has an outburst about Claudia pointing out Lestat’s portrait, and the pair agree to rewrite their own history—leaving Lestat out of it to avoid persecution from their new friends. Louis still doesn’t trust them but thirsts after Armand enough to entertain the idea of joining their coven, something Claudia is already game to do.
Haunted by Lestat, Louis wants to confirm his maker’s death with his law firm in France. When he meets the lawyer who handled their finances to ask, he’s given a vague answer about Lestat: “Perhaps he is dead or sleeping.” And since Lestat cannot declared dead but enough time has passed, he gives Louis a box addressed to him from Lestat. He sits with this letter which is straight up abuser 101 telling him he loves him more than anything. The letter is read by Lestat, through the mental manifestation of his maker—read aloud by actor Sam Reid in the room as if he were really there with Louis. He tells him to not seek revenge on those who separated their love but let “treachery eat away at them” which is so coded to passively shame him, the abused, for leaving, and affirms he’s the only being he trusts and “loves above and beyond” himself.
Molloy cuts in again and mocks Louis’ memory of Lestat. Louis in turn brings up the memory of his proposing to Alice in Paris—to which she said no—just to hurt him back. Armand seemingly interrupts Molloy’s facetiousness as he flashes in his head talking about a memory of his father, but in the room provides a balm to ease the tension by telling Molloy Alice wanted to say “yes.” There’s something bubbling among the trio here.
The interview continues as the coven takes the pair for a hunt at a fancy mansion. Armand is dressed to kill and very much not there to mess up this fit with blood like the coven. As the coven break in and feast, Louis and Armand have a smoke with the joyful bloodbath as a romantic backdrop. Armand tells him he felt Louis’ trepidation when the name The state was uttered, that unlike Claudia his mind is more open and he’ll wait to hear from him the circumstances by which he knew their mutual acquaintance. But not to linger too long on their shared past, he also tells Louis he knows he has the hots for him and that the feeling is very mutual. It’s extra cute when he asks him to call him Armand and not the leader name the coven does—so they’re on a first-name basis as equals. You can see that because he knows Louis has no interest in joining the coven it makes him hotter to Armand. And so continues their romance as the coven returns and they ride off through the night.
Interview With the Vampire airs Sundays on AMC and AMC+.
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