After last week’s series best episode, Interview With The Vampire continues its stellar second season with an episode that that pulls the rug out from under audiences in its final moments.
Missed A Review? Horror Queers Review of S01 / S02E01 / 2.02 / 2.03 / 2.04 / 2.05
Chapter 13: “Like The Light By Which God Made The World Before He Had Made Light”: Claudia asks Louis for a life-changing favor.
There’s rarely a moment without tension (or dread) in AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, but credit writers Hannah Moscovitch (S02E01 & E05) & Shane Munson (S02E02) for distracting us with the Madeleine (Roxane Duran) storyline before blindsiding us with the abruptness of those closing scenes.
The turbulence of the Paris coven has been a percolating through most of the season, particularly in S02E04 when Armand (Assad Zaman) nearly murdered Louis (Jacob Anderson) in the sewers as Santiago (Ben Daniels) plotted his coup.
The rebellion tilts over into violence in Chapter 13’s closing moments when newly made vampire, Madeleine, Claudia (Delainey Hayles) and Louis are all abducted for a one-time-only matinee performance by the Théâtre des Vampires. There’s very little uncertainty in where the show will go next, as evidence by the updated marquee: “Trial! The treacherous and unnatural crimes of the vampires Louis & Claudia (and their fledgling Madeleine).” It’s a cumbersome title, but for anyone familiar with Anne Rice‘s source material, the words alone are enough to make one’s stomach knot in dread and anticipation of what’s to come.
But that’s next week. For now the vast majority of Chapter 13’s runtime is dedicated to Claudia’s unorthodox request to make Madeleine her companion after the dressmaker sees the violent aftermath of Claudia’s efforts to save her from a (physical and implied sexual) assault.
I have little doubt that Claudia could have been more covert, which means this is not-so-secretly the teenage-presenting vampire’s way of forcing the issue. Either Louis (and by extension Armand) can grant her request to make Madeleine a vampire…or the disgraced dressmaker dies and Claudia will make their lives miserable.
It’s a risky gambit, but Claudia knows she has a good amount of leverage. After all, Louis will do anything to appease her, and Armand is in love with Louis.
Things get more complicated, however, when it’s revealed that Armand is something of a virgin when it comes to making vampires. The way that Moscovitch & Munson fold the tension from Louis and Armand’s relationship in to Claudia’s request works incredibly well; Louis has been playing the Dom with Armand ever since he forced the former Maître to submit to him two episodes ago.
There’s more than a mere power hierarchy at play. There’s also a sexual one, which is made obvious by Louis’ graphic request of Armand earlier in the episode: “Clothes off, face down in the coffin. You can read ‘em to me while I fuck you.” Daddy and Daddy are exploring the nature of their relationship and Claudia’s request is the perfect opportunity to test the newly (re)negotiated parameters.
I’ve been critical of Zaman’s performance until the last few episodes, but the actor’s soft features have proven essential for relaying the character’s somewhat subservient role. Which is not to say that Armand isn’t still a powerful foe: if anything it’s part of the episode’s magic trick. We’re fooled, like Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) – who can’t believe Armand had never made a fledgling – into believing that Armand is virginal/inexperienced despite his lengthy tenure on earth.
And that’s an integral part of the distraction. It’s easy to believe Armand when he mournfully admits he should have seen Santiago’s duplicity coming or when he lies to Claudia about not missing the Theatre. Any tension or animosity in his performance can be attributed to the lingering effects of the events of 1973 San Francisco, which present-day Louis and Armand spend the episode bickering about.
The bleed-over makes it easy to write off any suspicions that Armand is lying or being disingenuous, which is another reason why the twist ending hits so hard. “He made his choice” indeed…but it’s not the one the audience was anticipating.
Other Observations:
- Regarding the events of 1973: Armand claims that Louis begged to make him forget after they “dumped” Molloy. Of course, how can Louis or Daniel (or us, for that matter) believe him? As Daniel notes when he runs out of Claudia’s diary entries, there’s “no written corroboration from this point on.”
- Speaking of trust issues, has Louis ever said anything as cruel as “Can you imagine me without the burden of her?” while trying to convince Armand to turn Madeleine? It’s such a mean line, and even if Louis doesn’t mean it the way it sounds (as he tells Claudia afterwards), there’s a ring of truth to it that can’t be dismissed. At least some part of Louis wishes to be free of Claudia, in part because he regrets turning her and setting her on a path that Armand has repeatedly claimed will claim her sanity/life.
- Director Emma Freeman films Madeleine’s death/rebirth in a hazy halo, with the edges of the screen fuzzy and out of focus. The flashes of her life play out like a silent, melodramatic montage and these fleeting exchanges visually give credence to Madeleine’s stern, mocking responses to Armand’s questions. She’ll handle immortality just fine because she’s already seen the worst of humanity. It’s an almost lyrical sequence that makes her death both weighty and simultaneously gorgeous.
- That’s an odd sentence to write considering she was fraternizing with Nazis during the war, though as she tells it, Madeleine did what she needed to survive, unlike her chic neighbour who died of starvation.
- Highlighted moments from her indictment include being bagged, her head is shaved, and she is publicly shamed in the street. We don’t know it at the time, but this treatment anticipates what’s to come in “The Trial.”
- I love that with ‘Enduring For Guido’, playwright Sam (Christopher Geary) has effectively written a vampire equivalent of ‘Waiting For Godot.’ Also amusing is how Santiago pretends to find it ponderous, then secretly compliments his acolyte telepathically after his fake temper tantrum.
- Justin Kirk returns as Raglan James (last seen in S02E03 “No Pain”) and we get confirmation that “real” Rashid (Bally Gill) is actually working with him in The Order. Also: love Kirk’s delivery of “We’re particularly bad at keeping our assets alive” when Daniel insists he wants to publish his vampire book *and* keep his life.
- Obviously the biggest talking point of the episode is bound to be the “ten minute warning” delivered to a familiar red-haired anti-hero at the matinee. Lestat (Sam Reid) is back, baby!
Interview with the Vampire S02 airs Sundays on AMC