Musings on Armand and the insistence he is ‘out of character’ in the finale
I’m genuinely curious as to why 3x07 is perceived by some fans as the worst thing Armand has ever done. Has he not already acted with the same, if not worse brutality in previous seasons? In fact just because he did not physically cause harm to Madeleine, Louis, and Claudia himself in the trial, does not mean he was not responsible for their torture (mental, emotional and physical) and, in the case of Madeleine and Claudia, their (painful!!) deaths. Which of these occasions do you think was worse for Louis? In fact Armand admits he orchestrated their deaths to be “visually aesthetic” the torture was the point. He left Louis in that coffin until he was screaming, not knowing what had happened to Claudia. For Daniel, he was held in a room and tortured for days. Does the harm only matter when it is enacted in front of you? In the end, Louis and Regina were mentally traumatised but no physically worse off. Claudia and Madeleine, however…
To me it brings up a philosophical question of what harm actually means. Because in our current day we have to see beyond individual people to our wider society. Who has caused more damage, and with more of a malicious intent - an elite class who plan and commit atrocities for the purpose of power and profit, or the people who are forced or persuaded into committing those atrocities? Do we blame the soldier themselves, or the commander giving the orders? Is the ruling class less responsible because they do not pull the trigger, even though they are the ones that hold the power? And so on and so forth. Because we see Armand committing the act himself in 3x07, he is suddenly ‘more’ of a villain, a ‘cartoon’, when the act itself is no worse than what he has already done. Is 77 years of gaslighting and mental abuse not just as bad? Nevermind the fact that Armand even after he was exposed for his gaslighting concocted an elaborate scheme to flaunt a Claudia lookalike in front of Louis just to fuck with him! And the things Regina says to Louis at the start while Armand was still controlling her mind, insulting and mocking Louis just as he has done in the past… The trial itself villifies Claudia and Louis in multiple ways, including misogynistic, racist and overall it demeans them. He made it this way. This was his vision.
And I think this question is something the writer’s actually have thought extensively on. Why else make Armand’s signature move be forcing people to commit suicide? Ah, perhaps because he is not the one killing them. He is not the one who pushed Larry in front of the train, is he? He didn’t cut Nelson’s throat himself. And in terms of his mental abuse, he did not make Alex physically pick up a bottle of wine. Why do you think Armand broke down specifically when Louis said ‘I saw good in you for a while’? Because it is the illusion of goodness that he has clung on to with his lies. That’s what he wanted Louis to see, not this ‘dark-sided’ version of him. Which, of course, is the real Armand.
So, then, 3x07’s visceral and disturbing imagery is there for a purpose. The audience can no longer turn away from the truth of Armand. You can no longer soften him, excuse him, or push away the blame. You are seeing in front of you the harm he has already caused, but now in a way that cannot be denied.
So to you, is 3x07 only out of character because you have convinced he wouldn’t do that himself? Is it uncharacteristic for the complex man we have already seen - endearing, a little awkward yet verbally eloquent, insecure, manipulative, a liar and a scared child desperate for someone to cling to - to enact graphic violence only because he has always done it from the sidelines? This is the same man who tortured Louis and Daniel because Louis found Daniel more interesting! A puppeteer controls a puppet. A director controls a play. He has always been that way. You are just seeing him come out of the shadows.
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