ok SO tvl ep 6 thoughts, starting with the good:
my love ldpdl is actually present for the whole episode. he really breathes so much life into every scene thank you jacob anderson
we got loustat interacting!! a lot of it!! i love their banter and chemistry and plethora of personal issues <3 this season really had me worried for a bit but they're finally in the same room for more than 5 minutes YAYYY
the whole scene with brutal love was really good and this might be my fav song of the season. i liked seeing gabriella's growing discomfort as louis took the center of the screen and lestat's attention. also the way louis face showed how he hated vibe more with every passing sentence was hilarious LMFAO
the way loustat discussed the incest. how louis first makes it about himself being betrayed but then lestat has a whole panic attack and it clicks that things are a lot more complicated and fucked up than previously considered :( the acting for that whole convo was stellar. for a moment we were so back
the star of the episode and honestly the whole season: CLAUDIA MY BELOVED!!! delainey's acting is so deliciously intense and full of just the right amount of rage and sorrow. tear into them queen!! (and excuse me while i cry about how she doesn't have madeleine IM SO UPSETTT)
very glad that devil's minion got to fuck things up. more evil deeds please
and now the bad:
number one blaring siren: why was claudia's rant to louis so fucking racist. i was wincing repeatedly throughout the whole speech because what white writer thought is was a good idea to make her say all that
and why did she hate on louis so much more than lestat. idk. the specific language choices were so weird, and at several points undermined the complexity of the dynamic between these 3 characters
in general why is lestat getting off so easy in regard to any of his issues that he is not the victim of? the narrative keeps going back to louis' guilt and mistakes, and i get that he's also made plenty of mistakes (mostly towards claudia, not lestat, the one he keeps apologizing to for whatever reason) and his guilt is a huge aspect of his character, but why is this so central to a season about lestat? and why are we still brushing over every single way LESTAT repeatedly hurt his loved ones? when it was momentarily alluded to in the car he brushed it off with the "blood of akasha" bullshit again and they both just?? moved on??
there is a trial-shaped elephant in the room and for some reason each episode likes to pan the camera to 1 inch of its trunk. and then continue to not address it
i understand the point that loustat are not good parents, but them chuckling and flirting on a bench w each other after All That was so tonally jarring and ooc
i'm sad that dm got together offscreen but that will probably be revisited later so i'm not too devestated. however i am still sad about the lack of armand in general. can he come back. pleaseee
this ep was def better than past ones in this regard. but generally speaking, ep 6 continues the pattern of feeling like a bunch of scenes strung together with little to no proper lead up and framing. i can't even pinpoint how for this ep because all the scenes technically follow each other and there was the "bad idea" bit in the beginning, but i still feel like i missed a step on the stairs somewhere
