After a surprisingly stellar debut season that came with the seal of late Anne Rice’s approval, Interview with the Vampire journeys to Paris as its gripping gothic romance bites into round two. That’s right, The Vampire Chronicles continues to have a chokehold over audiences in this queer-friendly version of the familiar tale. Creatively melding various elements of Rice’s books and almost directly lifting other aspects of the prose, the creative team displays a love for the grand creator’s pulpy world. We have come a long way from 1992’s film adaptation—AMC’s iteration forges ahead, exploring gender dynamics, loneliness, depression, and sexuality encased in a coffin stuffed with gory horror violence.
Picking up precisely where we last left off, eternal fourteen-year-old Claudia (now played by Delainey Hayles) and Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson, Game of Thrones, Overlord) have attempted to kill Lestat (Sam Reid, The Riot Club, ’71) together. Louis opted to dump Lestat’s body in a trunk, despite Claudia wanting him to be burned and done for good. The duo are wandering Europe in the hopes of finding other bloodsuckers out there in the world. Surely, there have to be better examples of upstanding vampires than Lestat? They sleep in the earth, and Claudia not-so-quietly dispatches people all along the Romanian countryside. In the first episode back, Claudia and Louis appear almost aimless. In her desperation to find others like her, Claudia causes danger, whilst Louis revels in proclaiming himself a “magical vodka negro.” But the people here are superstitious, and the soldiers have no patience for the strange goings-on in the woods.
How can the series function similar to the first now that Lestat appears to be out of the picture? Louis begins to have visions of his former flame-turned-mortal enemy. Lestat becomes a sort of open dialogue with Louis and his own conscience. He manifests physically onscreen, though Louis remains the only character who can see him. We know Lestat will eventually fully recover, but the show keeps his presence as Louis’s mouthpiece the primary function in season two. Granted, critics were only provided the first six episodes, and the final two could certainly change Reid’s level of involvement. What a clever way to keep the actor as a series regular tied into the action. He remains forever entwined in Louis and his soul.
In present day, Louis has now been joined in his interview with Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian of Uncut Gems and Law & Order: Criminal Intent) by ancient lover Armand (Assad Zaman, Apple Tree Yard, Hotel Portofino). Sporting dazzling powers, seductive Armand appears to be manipulating parts of Louis’s retelling. As they comb through the diaries of Claudia, Armand has torn pages out in the hopes of driving the narrative away from specific things he wishes to hide from Daniel. Louis’s narration continues to highlight curiosities and fascinating observations. Armand takes center stage for the majority of the season. By the second episode, Claudia and Louis are Paris-bound. The shift in setting refreshes nearly everything we grew to love during the previous season.
Bailey Bass was terrific as Claudia, following in the footsteps of Kirsten Dunst before her. Despite being a relative newcomer, Delainey Hayles could not have been better casting to replace Bass in the wake of her scheduling conflicts. Hayles fundamentally understands Claudia’s complicated feelings about constantly being infantilized as a younger girl. The longing to find a place she belongs follows Claudia everywhere she goes, as she hunts for an equal. When Louis first meets Armand, the very idea of the Théâtre des Vampires provides a newfangled family unit for Claudia. Live murder onstage able to hide under the guise of a horror performance, beloved by general audiences seems almost too good to be true. In Armand, Louis too finds a way forward from the loss of Lestat. Louis and Armand become enamored with one another, though Lestat’s presence constantly threatens to shatter Louis’s reverie. As much as Hayles shines, Anderson fully spreads his wings as Louis. The conflict within him sparks an unseen love triangle that threatens to bubble over at any moment, particularly given the hesitation of the theatre troupe to embrace newcomers.
The Paris segments balance nicely against the present-interview, dialed up another notch thanks to last season’s Armand-involved twist. Daniel is somehow even sassier than before, as he makes jabs at Louis and the past. A character as blunt as Daniel could easily annoy if played in the wrong hands. My favorite new addition lies in the strengthening of bonds between interviewer and interviewee: we finally get to learn more about that fateful night in 1973 where Daniel’s drug-fueled night with a vampire led into the namesake interview. Along the way, Armand and Louis similarly become inextricably linked, and Claudia grows somehow softer than her previously maniacal behavior would suggest.
Billed as Interview with the Vampire II, this AMC series does an immaculate job at adapting legendary Anne Rice’s novels for modern audiences. Refusing to sand down any gay subtext whatsoever elevates the storyline substantially. I realize there was a bit of backlash during the debut from avid readers. However, we are living in a day and age where subtext and insinuations are no longer enough. Satiating one’s bloodlust for both horror and sex, Interview with the Vampire uses period piece aesthetics and gorgeous costuming to buoy the greatest vampiric saga on television since Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Fear not—there is plenty of story left to tell from this dusty tome!
Become seduced by the powers of the vampire Armand when Interview with the Vampire II rises from the grave to AMC and AMC+ on Sunday, May 12th.
