Don’t miss our review of The Interview with the Vampire Season 2 here.

Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Mon: And I’m Mon, your other host, an entertainment writer with bylines in Bam Smack Pow and Huffpost, to name a few. This episode will have spoilers as The Vampire Lestat has been out for awhile.

Ron: Before we start our episode, we would like to acknowledge that the land we are recording on is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. It is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Mon: While we are making this land acknowledgement, we understand that this is not enough and that positive action is required by the people of Canada to make substantive change for the Indigenous nations and communities whose lands we now reside on.

[Music]

From Interview with the Vampire to The Vampire Lestat

Ron: The first two seasons of this show were called Interview with the Vampire and the central character was Jacob Anderson’s Louis de Pointe du lac. But this season, the protagonist is Louis’ paramour, Lestat, played by Sam Reid. And the name of the show has been changed to The Vampire Lestat.

Mon: They were going to run out of story eventually from the first book. I’m still glad they made two seasons out of it. The Vampire Lestat is an amalgamation of two books The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned. We learn more about Lestat and his backstory in this season from book two, but the whole musical band thing is from book three. 

Ron: You know the history because you’ve read the Anne Rice books. Lestat is actually the main character; Louis is the protagonist only in the first book. 

Mon: He is. I was always concerned about how the show would handle the pivot from Louis to Lestat. Because we’ve all fallen in love with Anderson as Louis. It’s tough not to see more of his character. 

Ron: I’ll say I was a bit concerned about the swap in protagonist as well. I enjoyed Reid’s Lestat in the first two seasons and the relationship with Louis and Claudia has had me at the edge of my seat. But I absolutely adore Louis in this show. He’s so quiet yet angry. He’s got all this love but he gives in to hate. He’s so fiercely protective of their daughter, Claudia. I was ready to be really sad that Louis wouldn’t have the spotlight. 

Mon: Sam Reid definitely had his moments. There was very little of him in Season two but he was mesmerizing every time he showed up. But yeah, he’s not Louis. Louis is not supposed to be this interesting y’all. But what to do. And it doesn’t help that Reid and Anderson have the most amazing chemistry that keeps us wanting more. 

Ron: The chemistry between everyone in this cast is ridiculous. It pops right off the screen and you can’t help but love and hate everyone because of that. 

Mon: Sam Reid, though, seems to be enjoying the camp and ridiculousness of the character. But not at the cost of the emotional heft of the story. Let me tell you, the show is making Lestat much more nuanced and unpredictable than his book counterpart. It’s sometimes to the detriment of the show, because Lestat isn’t just a Brat Prince. He’s an emotional being who goes through a lot, but has little to no one to get through to. 

Ron: Oh, interesting. Despite my fear that I would miss Louis, I found The Vampire Lestat addictive from the moment it began. That dulcet, sarcastic voiceover. Lestat’s simultaneous disdain for everything vying with his all-encompassing love for his art (or is it the adulation?). The fact that he’s so damn petty about the stupidest things. He’s such an emotional baby, sometimes! And yet, he can be incredibly manipulative. It’s what we saw in his relationship with Louis but here, it’s intensified because it’s from Lestat’s POV. I couldn’t stop watching. 

Mon: The complexity of these characters is why we’ve all been hooked on this show. Louis, Lestat, Claudia, Daniel, Armand — each one is a combination of good, bad, angry, hurt, loving. They’re messy like all of us, with the added burden of being immortal bloodsuckers. 

What is The Vampire Lestat about?

Ron: So, what is The Vampire Lestat about, since Louis isn’t our anti-hero any more? We’re in present day but there are plenty of flashbacks. Lestat is the lead singer of a rock band. And Daniel Molloy, played by Eric Bogosian, is making a documentary about Lestat and the band. Why? Because Daniel’s book on Louis was so popular that he’s been tasked with making a movie. Oh, and Daniel got turned into a vampire. By Louis’ latest paramour, Armand, played by Assad Zaman. 

Mon: The big problem is that Lestat insists everything in the book was a lie, but he refuses to open up enough to reveal the truth. Plus, he’s definitely got delusions of grandeur about his band’s potential for success. 

Ron: But Daniel isn’t exactly the nicest guy to open up to. Louis was patient enough to talk to him but Lestat has none of that. And he’s coming from the back foot. He’s having to refute Louis’ version and he can see that Daniel is enamoured by Louis. Daniel already hates Lestat, and he makes it obvious, because he thinks of Lestat as Louis’ abuser only.

Mon: We’ve got a few storylines running about. Lestat has formed a band as a faux-homage to the book, but also a way to live out his dreams of grandeur and maybe something else. 

Louis—who is virtually absent from the books that this season is based on, is given a new storyline about coming to terms with his greatest loss. 

Armand—also missing from these books—appears to be on a path to redemption, but really, he’s the thorn in everyone’s side, all while claiming he has some great unrequited love he wishes to conquer. 

Daniel’s story is also new but he continues being the interviewer while battling his own journey as a vampire. 

Lestat’s band mates have story arcs as well, though they were just wallpaper in the book. 

We meet a ton of other characters from the books. None of them look like what I thought they would, but they kinda fit the needs of their characters in the show. Magnus, Marius, Akasha, Gabriella, all of them appear. But hint hint, some talk of Amel too. His journey in the books really goes places. Extremely weird places. 

What we loved about The Vampire Lestat

Ron: Usually weird is not my jam. But I love Interview with the Vampire. I never know what I’m going to get, moment to moment, it’s all a surprise to me. And that is my favourite thing about this series. I didn’t know what to expect from The Vampire Lestat but I knew there would be music. But the music is so much more than just filler. It tells Lestat’s life story, his anxieties, and his greatest fears. It’s a vehicle to share Lestat’s battle with creativity.

Mon: Yes. In the book we know Lestat is doing a tour, but it’s more a plot to gather vampires, and less to tell Lestat’s story—because his story was already shared in book two. Here they merge the two to great effect. The result is chaotic, philosophical, and unpredictable. It’s weird, but I dug the unpredictable nature of the story. I knew some of the story beats they’d have to hit, but the unpredictable paths to them were certainly fun. 

Ron: Of course, I did want to see Louis in some form. Lestat was Dream-Stat in the second season and I thought we’d get a similar version of Louis. But no, he’s in the show.

Mon: Louis may have a small role but wow he’s amazing. How is Jacob Anderson this exceptional? Mein gott, he’s an incredible actor. He does emotional so well — you can’t help but love him even when you’re supposed to hate him. 

Ron: I cannot get over Jacob Anderson. He’s a delight to watch and I adore his Louis. One of the best written and acted characters; hands down. Here, he’s the serene stream to Lestat’s tempest. The one with the emotional control. But only when it comes to his partners. When it’s about his child? All that self-control goes right out the window!

Ron: Louis finds a waitress in a crappy diner who looks just like Claudia. Delainey Haynes returns to play this waitress. And Louis is immediately obsessed with reclaiming this child/ sister that Lestat and Armand jointly killed. He even pays her to act like Claudia. He gets her a girlfriend with a bad redhead wig to replace Madeline! It’s unhinged. And completely on point for Louis. He never got over losing Claudia. And even murdering Bruce, her attacker, didn’t give him closure.

Mon: I kinda love that they found a way to say goodbye to Claudia in this season. She died so hideously in Season 2, which was in line with the books. But they didn’t get time to give the character a proper farewell, especially not from Lestat’s side. But we got that here. And it was such a touching moment and song. Beautiful. I’m so glad Delainey Haynes was able to return for this season. She’s just excellent. 

Ron: Yes, let’s talk about the Lestat of it all. Because so far, we’ve had Louis’ version and Lestat seemed like a very off-hand dad. Louis was the loveable, indulgent dad. But when Lestat sees the waitress, he’s barely keeping it together. You can see the pain he’s kept from Louis and how much he did love Claudia. And the fact that he spares Louis further pain by telling him the waitress isn’t Claudia. Even though, he couldn’t tell them apart either. I loved it. I loved his song for her. I teared up. 

Mon: Stunning moment. And it’s all so sweet and sentimental. Nothing like what Claudia’s life was like. Nor like her personality. They sort that out don’t they? 

Ron: The penultimate episode séance where Louis and Lestat are faced with dead Claudia. Why, oh why, did they think that was a good idea? She absolutely eviscerates them. She tells them, tells Louis, how much she hates him. And she’s right to. Louis went back to Lestat after what he did. He stayed with Armand despite everything. He deserved to hear that. 

Mon: I was stunned by this choice. Because, in hindsight, that twee goodbye just wouldn’t have worked. It lets Louis and Lestat off too easily for making her life a nightmare. But honestly the seance was just another great showpiece for all of them to act their hearts out. They’re so good! Louis is so desperate and pleading and your heart is breaking for him. Lestat shrouds his sadness in indignation. And Claudia is angry. Wow these guys are good! 

Ron: Ultimately, it gave them closure. Not how they wanted it but still, better than nothing. But it really broke my heart that Claudia isn’t reunited with Madeline in the afterlife. That is so colossally unfair. This kid couldn’t get a break as a mortal. Her life as a vampire was so unfulfilling and painful. The one good thing she had was Madeline and they were together for maybe days. What a cruel story to deny her her love in death.

Mon: I’d like to think Claudia finds Madeline eventually. Being a ghost in this universe is not an easy thing to be, but I’m hoping for the best for Claudia. 

Does The Vampire Lestat have a villain?

Ron: I thought the throughline of this season would be Lestat’s love of music but it actually ended up being Armand’s search for meaning. Which we learn has been happening in the background.

Mon: I know right? Good golly, how fun is Armand? He’s so straight-laced in this season. Pretending to be earnest about making amends. But he’s manipulative and cruel. And he does everything with this stony face. I absolutely love that Zaman keeps coming back to this role and just killing it! 

Ron: Armand, you beautiful, manipulative little monster. He not only compelled Fake Claudia, aka Fraudia, into meeting Louis, he found the perfect DNA donors to make her? Man, I love watching him. But I don’t trust anything he says. There’s no way he could have made Fraudia so perfectly. Or could he? And he’s telling Daniel he’s loved him for 50 years? You’re lying! Or are you? I don’t know. He’s so precious and sincere. I want to believe him. And then he goes and kills Larry, Lestat’s rival in the band. Like, why? What was the point? Never change, Armand.

Mon: And then of course, the events of the final episode. 

Ron: For all his puppy dog eye moments, Armand’s journey turns out to be all about petty revenge. He couches it in making amends, or Armends, as he calls it. But he can’t help being vindictive and murderous. He gets so much pleasure from power and control. 

Mon: The finale is all kinds of messed up—I mean, Armand, my man, you’re heinous. But that bit with the camera focused on Armand’s face as he listens to Louis’ absolution. My goodness. Not a tear shed. Not a word spoken. Just gentle emotions to show Armand, beneath all that hideousness, is just a lost and scared person wanting love. Ugh. So good. 

Ron: Zaman is ludicrously good. How does he always look so amazing in close up? But yes, that moment when Louis tells Armand how he thinks about what 12-year-old Arun must have been like. Taken away and denied a childhood. That’s the turning point. But what does this mean for Armand and Daniel? Are they really together? Does Daniel forgive Armand for the events of 50 years ago? So many questions! 

Mon: Yeah. Thinking about it the theme may have been absolution. All the characters are searching for it. Most get it in some form or other, but not to their satisfaction. Which makes sense. You’re going to do a lot over a lifetime, and for vampires, several lifetimes. You may do bad and horrible things and live with those things for eons. Someone’s going to want to feel better about it at some point. Even if it’s fleeting, why not take it and hope for some brief respite. 

Ron: Interesting. They look for absolution but they find forms of closure instead. Will they learn from that, there’s the question.

The music of The Vampire Lestat

Mon: Thoughts on the songs?

Ron: The songs are great but also some are very stupid. Which is exactly what those songs are supposed to be. Daniel making fun of the lyrics is amazing. I agree with him. But that theme song is gorgeous. I can’t get enough of it.

Ron: Now, we chatted about this and I, for some reason, thought Lestat would have a more pop vibe for his band. I was surprised that he was rock n roll. It works, definitely, but when I heard the ballads, I was like, this is what Lestat sounds like. To me. Or at least, Sam Reid’s Lestat sounds like a pop ballad vampire.

Mon: That’s so funny to me. I guess because I’ve read the Queen of the Damned I knew he’d have a hard rock sound. I actually thought he’d border on heavy metal but they didn’t go that far, thankfully. 

Ron: On paper, Lestat definitely comes across as a rock singer. But I just couldn’t get the pop genre out of my mind.

Mon: I can’t get over that. But they thread the needle of all the genres to please all of us. I love the theme song All Fall Down. That’s the most stereotypical rock Lestat song for me. I think most of the other songs were fun to listen to, but not really to my taste. The ballad to Claudia though was really lovely.

Ron: After the theme song, Claudia’s song, Stained Glass Eyes, is the best. But I have to say, that ballad Lestat sings for Louis, Brutal Love — oh my heart. It was so beautiful, I got teary. And Sam Reid sings it with such heartfelt pain and pathos. The songs we get this season, it’s a wild ride from the chaotic, like Long Face, to these beautiful ballads to the vampires he loves. I didn’t think the music would affect me this much but oh, it did. 

Mon: I was not expecting a love ballad like Brutal Love to hit that hard. And Sam Reid’s voice is so deep and gorgeous in that song. Plus they shoot it with these earnest, longing gazes. Made for romantic suckers like us. 

Ron: Suckers. So apt!

Criticisms of The Vampire Lestat 

Mon: One thing I really missed this season was more scenes between Lestat and Louis. Every time these two were together the banter was unbelievable, the chemistry was unmatched, and my happiness knew no bounds. Now, it is true to the books that Louis and Lestat spend less time together as the books progress, but I preferred the two of them sharing screen time. 

Ron: The chemistry between Anderson and Reid is too hard to ignore. They’re so perfectly in sync and their responses feel so natural. How they capture the feeling of a couple who’ve been together for a century, I don’t know. But they’re so beautiful to watch together. 

Mon: I know right? I really missed that. 

Ron: They do rectify it in the penultimate episode. And they’re teasing more in future seasons. Which I’m hoping we get.

Mon: The penultimate episode made me miss them even more. Why couldn't we have had more of them together throughout the season! 

Mon: I’ll be honest. So much of Lestat’s screen time and storyline was about his Oedipal fascination with his mother Gabriella. But Gabriella was so uninteresting to me. She’s not that interesting in the books either, but she has a smaller role to play there. In the show, I felt she had an outsized role that took away from our more beloved characters. I guess what I’m really trying to say is that I just wanted more Louis, more Armand, more Daniel and the same amount of Lestat. 

Ron: Is it a criticism that Lestat and Gabriella are the weirdest and squickiest thing we’ve seen on this show? Because vampires don’t seem to follow any rules. And the de Lioncourt family was bizarre before these two became vampires. I kept watching Gabriella and I realised she’s enjoying being a vampire because of the independence it gives her. This is a woman from medieval times; suddenly she had the freedom to kill and lust with abandon. Her son became a vampire and hot; she does not care about rules. 

Mon: Aye. I can’t remember if it’s that bad in the books, but yeah, vampires and rules don’t coexist. 

Ron: Lestat, on the other hand, wants his mommy. And he’s a real baby about not getting attention. The voicemails he keeps leaving her. He’s as clingy as Louis is to Claudia! And this despite Gabriella having seen Lestat only twice in the last century. Like, Lestat, let it go. She’s not that into you.

Mon: I love how Lestat turns into a petulant child every time Gabriella is nearby. Like he’s so annoying. Sam Reid is just superb at playing so many facets of this complicated character. 

Ron: Shoutout to Louis for handling the situation quite well. Any normal person or vampire would have booked it out of there. But Louis asks Lestat really probing questions about what the whole scenario is about. That argument was a delight to watch. These two actors are beyond brilliant. It’s really like watching an old couple. 

Mon: Louis is too good for Lestat. 

Final thoughts on The Vampire Lestat

Ron: I love The Vampire Lestat so much. You were so worried about me watching Interview with the Vampire but I have loved it from the instant it came on my screen. Every episode, every plot line, every character makes me fall deeper in love with the show. I cannot believe I adore it this much, considering how much I absolutely abhor any stories with incest. But it weirdly works here. These vampires are odd. There are no rules against this stuff. What are parental bonds when both mother and son are dead?

Mon: The chaos is real. Half the time I felt like I’d missed part of someone’s conversation, only to realise they were saving the revelations for later. I still don’t know what happened with Louis’ battle cry to the other vamps at the end of Season 2. But who knows, it’s either already been answered or will be. I love this show. I love these characters. They’re so horrible and beautiful at the same time. The performances are killing me. How are these actors so good at conveying this gamut of emotions?

Ron: The actors make this show about the undead so real and relevant for the living. We’re seeing this longing for companionship in a world that’s becoming increasingly isolated. We’re seeing the impact of idolatry in a world where heroes are dwindling. We’re seeing the patterns of abuse and manipulation continue from generation to generation. And all told through vampires.

Mon: That is so perfectly said. The show only works because we understand these characters, especially when we don’t agree with them. The story has definitely shifted a lot from the books, and a lot of the timelines are out of order. But they’re hitting the major beats without compromising the show’s version of the tale. It’s glorious. 

Ron: I still can’t stop thinking about the Toronto episode. How Lestat being turned into a vampire so mimicked what Bruce did to Claudia. I’m still so shaken by that story choice. It’s put Lestat in a whole different light for me. And it’s also highlighting how much pain Lestat is hiding from himself. Let alone Louis.

Mon: In the book it’s not that plainly written but in the show Lestat says his turning was not consensual. He is a much more layered character in the show for a variety of reasons. Pinpointing his pain is part of that. It’s why he’s able to be so utterly kind and tender when he wants to but reverts to being a Brat when things don’t go his way—he hasn’t learnt to regulate his feelings because he’s hurting and won’t say it out loud. He needs professional help. 

Ron: And that is why this show is extraordinary and unexpected and, I’m going to say it, perfect. I want to bask in what we’ve seen. But I’m also hoping for more. 

Coming Up Next

Ron: That’s it for this bonus review episode of The Vampire Lestat.

Mon: Join us next time for our review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Ron: You can listen to Stereo Geeks on stereogeeks.ca, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to rate us, and leave us a review; it helps other listeners find us.

Mon: And, get more exclusive content when you subscribe to our newsletter on our website, and follow us on Instagram, @stereogeeks_podcast. Plus, we’re also on BlueSky, @stereogeekspodcast.bsky.social. 

Ron: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. Our music is courtesy Audionautix. 

Mon: See you next time.