Interview with the Vampire: Do You Know What It Means to Be Loved by Death Books Included

May 19, 2024 3:25 AM - Season 2, Episode 2

Armand joins the interview, and he and Louis tell Molloy the story of how they met.
posted by fight or flight (7 comments total)

Another amazing episode. The introduction of Santiago and the coven was so good. Ben Daniels as Santiago is horrifying and enthralling like he should be (I can't tell if they're going to go with Armand and Santiago's canon relationship, which would add another fascinating and terrible layer).

But Armand is definitely Alice, right? What Daniel remembers as proposing to Alice was actually him proposing that Armand turn him into a vampire, right?

God, this delightful messy vampire telenovela.
posted by fight or flight at 3:33 AM on May 19 [1 favorite]

"Setting aside certain events..." SETTING ASIDE CERTAIN EVENTS?!?!?

The way that Assad is playing Armand is so amazing. So, so amazing. He's uncanny and beautiful and terrifying and absolutely perfect.

Ha, the archival gloves! There was so much bitching on Tumblr last season about those gloves. Can't help but think that line is a bit meta, but any which way, thank God they acknowledged it.

Do we think the solicitor, Roget, is also a vampire in this version? The portraits certainly are awfully similar, if not. Love a family business, I guess.

Ohhhh the theater. Perfect notes of chintz and dread. Ben Daniels, the actor you are! I loved seeing the tired, creatively bankrupt Grand Guignol bits (1897-1962, says Wikipedia) set against the more interesting, vivid use of the onstage cinema elements.

Thought the music in this episode was particularly effective at setting the Paris mood.

I can't even get too deep into all the Dubai trio stuff in this episode. It makes me too giddy and insane to even talk about it.
posted by merriment at 7:31 AM on May 19 [2 favorites]

I’m also on team Armand = Alice, fight or flight.

What a fever dream this episode was. Never thought I’d laugh so hard at hearing the Young and the Restless theme as I did watching this episode.

I re-read the Devil’s Minion chapter at least once a year. It means so much to me. And yet I wasn’t prepared for my emotional reaction to that 10 second flashback near the end, or how Assad just keeps nailing every expectation I’ve ever had about Armand.

The Theatre scenes were perfection and now I understand why they had the S2 premiere at Sleep No More, because the vibes are there, down to the repeat visitors. I also loved how they updated it for the times, because of course Armand would have been into animation and film and effects.

Finally , I am getting a doormat that says WELCOME TO THE DISPLACEMENT OF REASON.
posted by haplesschild at 8:18 PM on May 19 [1 favorite]

My wife, who is much more grounded in the history of these sorts of things than I am, noted that Claudia's new outfit is in Alpha Kappa Alpha colors, probably in reference to her college misadventures.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 1:08 PM on May 20 [1 favorite]

Bonjour, mes amis! I have finished the second episode and, as a early 90s teen goth who still owns the falling the fuck apart paperback of the original Vampire Chronicles trilogy, I am here to have feelings.

The hits:

Delainey Hayes is just fantastic. Brava. "Vampire Pride!" indeed.

Santiago is quite a catty bitch. Daniel and he would have gotten along quite well.

LBR: Lestat would not love Louis more than himself. No one loves himself more than Lestat.

I love the meet-cute convo with the massacre in the background.

Armand and Louis acting like a united front, but it definitely has a performative feel. But I think it's performative from Armand; Louis, that sap for love, probably fully believes Armand feels the same as he does.

The misses:

Yeah, I just didn't vibe with the Grand Guignol show from Theatre des Vampires. I guess what it made erotic and scary in the novel (and the movie) was a packed house of well-heeled Parisians too dumb to see what is front of their eyes. The TdV in the show just feels...tawdry? Not scary or erotic? And with the returning dress-up audience members, I'm like, yeah this doesn't work for me.

Legit question: Is Daniel meant to be a closeted gay man or a bisexual man? There's some definite sexual tension in the SF flashbacks.

Jesus christ, Armand, what is with that hat?? No, really, honey you cannot pull off that hat.
posted by Kitteh at 4:50 PM on May 20

Regarding what we know about Daniel's sexuality from the show's text, we pretty much have this exchange with Louis from the first episode:

"We met at a gay bar, didn't we, Daniel?"
"It was a good place to score. I did what I had to."
"You've been married?"
"Twice. But we're not here for me, are we?"

And then at Polynesian Mary's in episode 6, when Louis invites him back to his place (ostensibly for drugs):

"I mean, if something happens, you know, I'm cool, but, yeah, I really want to interview you."

Otherwise, it's just vibessssss.
posted by merriment at 4:44 AM on May 21

It's also worth noting that the bartender at the gay bar knows him well enough to address him by name. Even if he was only there to score, he clearly stuck around and made himself known. I think there's a strong implication that he was living in a gay man in the 70's. What's interesting is whether, as part of the assumed memory manipulation by Armand and/or Louis, he was also made to believe that he's straight. I strongly doubt that the writers would do something that clumsy without making a point of it (there has been so much interesting commentary on queerness so far) so I believe that it will just be part of the jumble of them convincing him that Alice existed.

There's that line from Louis in this episode about Daniel not feeling comfortable taking Alice's hand while they were walking in Paris (why was that Daniel?) which suggests to me that he was living for a time as Armand's (Alice's) lover.

We'll have to see if his second ex-wife is real or not. I can't wait for it all to unravel but god, poor Daniel.
posted by fight or flight at 10:54 AM on May 21