A change of scenery for Louis and Claudia opened up a world of possibilities for the pair.
And introduced Louis to the supposed great love of his life.
Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Episode 2 was the hour many were waiting for, as we finally witnessed that first meeting between Louis and Armand.
I have to say, Daniel may have been the MVP of this hour.
His sarcasm poured out of him at every turn as he sat across from two vampires whose words didn't match what he was seeing.
Daniel listened raptly during Interview with the Vampire Season 1 as Louis described his toxic dynamic with Lestat, all while his supposed real love idled nearby, and it's confusing at best to make sense of things.
They sit there, joined at the hip, finishing each other's sentences and putting on the façade that their love is the great one, yet it feels like a performance.
We didn't see Armand on stage when we finally saw a performance at the Théâtre des Vampires, but he's certainly putting on some show now.
Armand and Louis take pride in their seventy-plus-year romance yet don't seem to understand how they come across.
There's very little passion, and you can see how much things have changed when you see their stilted exchanges juxtaposed against their first meeting where the chemistry was chemistrying.
Daniel: Are you two gonna finish each other's sentences for the whole session?
Louis: We've been together 77 years, Daniel.
Armand: 47 more than he did with Lestat.
Louis: Should we let the math of that settle before continuing?
Daniel: Keep selling it.
But before the two finally met, Louis and Claudia acclimated to Paris.
While their relationship was more or less back to a normalcy that only those two could understand, there was also a disconnect between them.
Neither knew a coven of vampires was watching them, and while Louis did what Louis always did, supplemented his diet, and tried to pass the time, he found a way to do that by hiding behind a camera.
He found a hobby that more or less allowed him to hide in plain sight, something familiar to him. He hid behind the lens, capturing moments and getting outside his head.
Meanwhile, Claudia was still searching for something.
She wanted to find others like her and a place where she felt like she fit in. But more than that, it felt like she was trying to find herself, and Paris wasn't doing anything to help.
Louis and Claudia have such a beautifully twisted dynamic, born from spending years upon years trapped in a house with a narcissistic manipulator who only cared about one of them, and even then, had a rather horrifying way of showing it.
They are very much tethered to one another, with Louis feeling a responsibility toward her that, I think, had reached the point where it was stifling for Claudia.
Claudia cared for Louis, and the question she asked him about who he wanted to be came from a place devoid of judgment.
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She wanted him to consider what a life for himself would look and feel like if he weren't so wrapped up in others.
Honestly? I'm not sure Louis would even know what to do.
Consider the fact that he went from years with Lestat to years with Lestat and Claudia, to years with Claudia, and then years with Armand.
And Louis hasn't the faintest idea of what it's like to be truly alone and to not consume himself with another person.
The idea of Louis and Claudia gallivanting around Paris, thinking they're being inconspicuous and the perfect little vampires while the coven is watching them from afar, totally undetectable, was funny in its absurdity.
Louis and Claudia genuinely thought they were doing everything right when they had no idea.
When Armand finally came out of the shadows to approach Louis, what a sight that was.
The air around them changed, and it felt like the world melted away until only the two of them existed together.
There's a sweet magnetism about the two in Paris that doesn't carry over for me while they're in Dubai.
Maybe that's because, in a lot of ways, there's more chemistry between Armand and Daniel than he and Louis, but that's a conversation for a later time.
The Théâtre des Vampires was presented fascinatingly, with Louis and Claudia reacting in such grossly different ways that fit who they are at their cores so wonderfully.
Claudia was home, while Louis was as much of an outsider as the humans seated among him.
Santiago, Santiago, Santiago.
I don't think anyone has made as much of a captivating first impression on this series since Lestat.
That iteration of the theater works because of his commitment to the grotesque and the surreal; disarming the audience was a fun little introduction and dragging them along on a ride until the final act.
During that final act, the show no longer becomes a play, but the audience is lured into a sense of fantasy and can't see what's right in front of their faces.
Claudia was enraptured, while Louis was confused.
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And it makes for an exciting beginning to this story, considering we all know how it ends.
One of the best parts of the hour was the introduction to the coven, watching them all slowly descend upon the twosome.
It was brief and ended up being silly, but it felt like an initiation that Claudia and Louis passed.
However, their instant acceptance felt a little odd considering the months they'd spent seemingly ignoring the coven's existence.
When Louis finally saw Lestat's mug on the wall, there were the biggest record scratches, and I think we were all Daniel at that moment.
Of course, Lestat had a connection to that theater and, more importantly, Armand. OF COURSE HE DID.
Daniel: Should have seen that coming. Did not see that one coming. Big red flag, huh?
Louis: The biggest.
Louis's existence and the rest of his life will always connect to Lestat somehow.
I've mentioned previously that Daniel's snark sometimes reaches a crescendo where he seems to forget about his environment.
He, Armand, and Louis are not equals.
And Daniel forgets that sometimes when he gets into his comedian bag, like when he played The Young & The Restless theme and when he poked fun at the fact the epic loves had also been intimate with the same man.
Louis can get a little nasty sometimes, and it's always a little surprising but usually not unwarranted.
I find Daniel hilarious in his audacity, but if you poke a bear enough times, they'll come back to bite.
Daniel can be very cavalier with his jabs, and Louis and Arman give it back, but Lestat elicits something a little extra in him. And he decided to ensure that Daniel felt his retort deep in his soul.
Alice seems to be the one sore spot for Daniel, their memories causing him to break in a way we don't often see from him.
And wasn't it intriguing to see Louis continue to go for the jugular while Armand stepped in to give Daniel some fleeting comfort?
And what was up with Daniel seeing Armand in his memory?
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There's something there, and I'm not sure what it is, but there's no brushing that off.
The hour wrapped with a little mass murder, and Interview with the Vampire lives for the big, flashy moments, yet they went for understated, with a literal bloodbath happening inside.
Still, the focus was on Armand and Louis doing a little courting dance to the sounds of blood-curdling screams.
Everything comes back to Lestat.
Louis may think Santiago isn't too keen on him because he dozed off during one of, I'm sure, the many times he looks to be the center of attention, but it's probably because he could sense his unease when Lestat was mentioned.
Claudia's good at hiding her thoughts, but these vampires are better.
She may not have felt their unease, but I fear there's a lot they're keeping from her, and she's none the wiser.
Armand must have felt a pretty strong connection to Louis right off the bat to offer him help and issue him a warning when he was not obligated to do so.
I believe that Armand hasn't sought to hurt Louis, at least not that he's aware of, but the beginning of their love story was shrouded in a little mystery and a lot of death, which is the vampire way.
We've still got seventy years to catch up to Dubai, but what a start this was.
I can't wait to see more.
Extra Thoughts
- Louis's fascination with photography makes such perfect sense, and I loved it when Armand told him to put the camera away and be present in the moment.
- Claudia's happiness and leaning into her vampire pride make me sad for her and for what's to come.
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The lack of Lestat this season is glaring, but the storylines and other characters are so strong that it limits the damage his absence causes. But when he does show up?
Oh man, Sam Reid brings every emotion into every word. Even in death and a hallucination, Lestat manipulates and turns Louis inside out.
- Claudia's first meeting with Madeline was a true power clash. I'm excited to see how they develop their dynamic.
- Many moments during the play were mesmerizing, but Santiago's speech before he bit that woman? Absolute chills. He loathes humans with every piece of his being.
Interview with the Vampire Season 2 is off to a clever and entertaining start!
There's a lot to discuss after this one, so please share everything you're feeling in the comments below so we can discuss!