After several weeks of restricting Lestat (Sam Reid) to Louis (Jacob Anderson)’s guilty conscience, writer Heather Bellson finally bring back the Lioncourt in a juicy flashback.
Missed A Review? Horror Queers Review of S01 / S02E01 / 2.02
Episode 10: “No Pain”: Armand tells the history of the Théâtre des Vampires; Louis tells of his reluctance to join.
It was always going to be a challenge for Interview with the Vampire to sideline Lestat, particularly when Reid and Anderson had such great chemistry in S01 of the series. Despite hitting the half-way point of S02, “No Pain” still feels like we’re still setting up the second season’s storyline. Part of that dramatic inertia is due to the fact that the show has been missing its main source of conflict.
“No Pain” suggests that will end here. Not only is the Paris covent tired of Louis’ reticence to join them, but Claudia (Delainey Hayles) moves full steam ahead, taking her vows as part of her initiation. What’s fascinating is how the young vampire has bonded with Santiago (Ben Daniels), despite Armand (Assad Zaman)’s ominous claims late in the episode that vampires her age don’t last long. “Her mind will break apart” he warns Louis and there’s a hint of that in the closing moments when the teen is presented with a child’s costume and told she’ll play the role on stage for the next fifty years.
The other big revelation are the five Laws that vampires must abide by, something that Lestat (unsurprisingly) never told either of his progeny. To paraphrase:
- Each coven has a leader and only he may enact the working of the Dark Trick upon a mortal;
- Vampires may not turn humans who are crippled, maimed, or children;
- Do not write the history of the vampires;
- Do not reveal their true nature to a mortal and let them live; and finally,
- No vampire can kill another vampire except a coven master tending to his own flock. And it is the coven master who is obligated to seek the destruction of those who have broken any of the five laws.
Naturally a cursory glimpse at the Laws will immediately raise red flags in both the past and the present. In a sequence that would have been tense and eerie if we didn’t know Louis is presently alive, Armand takes our hero into the sewers to murder him (seemingly for violating the second Law). Of course Armand knows that Claudia and Louis have also broken the fifth rule, and in the present, the pair of lovers are in the process of violating the third.
What the final piece means for Armand and Louis as they are interviewed by Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) is unclear, though the episode does open with the writer being approached by Raglan James (Justin Kirk). Molloy immediately suspects he’s an intelligence agent, and the fact that James is easily able to penetrate his computer’s security might support that claim, though he could just as easily be from within the vampire community.
With Louis sleeping, Armand entertains Daniel with his own backstory of meeting Lestat some two hundred years. The memorable introduction occurred after Armand was originally sent to Paris in the mid-1500s to assume control of the Paris covent. Surprising no one, Lestat was a wild child: he flaunted the Laws by performing publicly on stage, cavorting with a human boyfriend, and undermining Armand’s authority in front of the malnourished and destitute Children of the Darkness by revealing they could live a much better, more liberated life.
Armand’s original covent eventually self-destructed thanks to Lestat’s meddling, but afterwards the pair built the Théâtre together. Whether Lestat ever truly liked Armand, however, is another question: their initial meeting is standoffish, then Lestat – much like Louis – refuses Armand’s invitation to join the covent, which eventually requires Armand to use his Mind Gift to force him into submission.
Then, within a week of teaching Lestat the same trick, the red haired vampire absconded.
The first half of the episode benefits greatly from the charismatic presence of Reid (whose French is quite good!) Lestat is so captivating that when the narrative switches back to mopey Louis and ambitious Claudia, “No Pain” temporarily loses its power for a brief period.
The hints of malice from Santiago, the clandestine walk through the sewer, and the slow burning courting between Armand and Louis are all still good, but this extended flashback confirms that Reid’s presence is like a fiery ember that overshadows Interview‘s other elements.
Still, there is a threat of violence that lingers over every scene as Claudia and Louis clarify and rehearse their back story about “Bruce.” What’s surprising is not just that Armand immediately saw through the ruse (he confesses he’s known Louis has been lying for months), but that so, too, has Santiago. When Claudia tells the performer that the only power her sire taught her was the art of lying, Santiago replies that she’ll make a good actress and that she should “stick with it. You’re almost there.”
It’s not hard to read between the lines here: he doesn’t believe her lies, despite her impressive talents. This suspicion, along with Santiago’s continued dislike of Louis, as well as the confirmation of the fifth Law, all foreshadow bad, bad developments on the horizon.
Other Observations:
- It was implied, but not confirmed, that Claudia was sexually assaulted in S01. Bellson confirms this here, but it’s done in an emotional, but not exploitative, fashion. Claudia confesses to Louis that she was crammed under floorboards and that “Bruce” told her he loved her – before, during, and after. That’s as explicit as it gets, but between the dialogue and Hayles’ performance, the meaning is clear.
- Director Levan Akin breaks out the fish-eyed lens to convey Louis’ unstable state of mind when he mistakes Armand’s friend Jean-Paul for Lestat in the alley and kills him. It’s properly messy and confusing, so it works well.
- The other visually memorable sequence is the tight and tense sewer walk as Armand prepares to kill Louis with a fist of flame.
- While Reid and Zaman have OK chemistry, the idea that Armand was so heartbroken by Lestat’s abrupt abandonment that it took him 150 years to say “I love you” again feels slightly forced. Here’s hoping we get a few more flashback scenes to their relationship because “No Pain” is a promising start, but there’s nothing here to suggest that depth of emotion.
- Armand brings Lestat to heel in a fairly public display of power, but it’s Lestat’s human lover Nicky who gets caught in the cross-fire. The boy toy later turns up in the Théâtre’s band, eying Lestat and Armand jealously as the former puts the moves on the latter. Armand ominously declares Nicky “fragile”, so I’m expecting fireworks if the character returns in the future.
- I’m an Interview novice, but I imagine that Anne Rice / The Vampire Chronicles fans took notice when Armand name-dropped Lestat’s sire, Magnus. It seems inevitable that we’ll get a glimpse of the character if the show continues long enough, right?
- Finally, special shout-out to Théâtre des Vampires stage hand Sam (Christopher Geary) who steals not one, but TWO moments. The first is when Claudia explains how the incinerator worked back home and he quips “Feels a bit German.” Moments later, upon hearing squeaking rat sounds in the drum, he delightedly exclaims “They found the heart! Rats love hearts.” What a character!
Interview with the Vampire S02 airs Sundays on AMC