One of the biggest things that I think the writers do have to contend with, and hopefully they will listen to real feedback, is a lot of the writing of Armand is entrenched in xenophobia in the books. Anne treated Armand as a sin-eater, so to speak, for Lestat. He exists, mostly, in The Vampire Lestat to: attack Lestat, inform Lestat and absolve Lestat. It’s all about making Lestat more sympathetic and making his journey simpler and more compelling.
Assad’s casting should be the biggest strength of this adaptation because the colonial nature of Lestat, Gabrielle and Marius’ treatment of him and the kind of language they use to refer to him could be highlighted and critiqued. All those slights against Armand from Lestat and Gabi across the season could’ve amounted to something.
But they chose to neglect this completely, relegate him to the background and only focus on the hyper-violent side of the character. I think the scene will be enough to connect with the most casual viewers a little because it’s spelt out for them what they’d supposed to feel, but the deeper context deserves examining.
And then you factor in show!Louis and how he’s also been treated this season, and it’s so much worse.
Both characters, in different ways, were used as punching bags this season which would be something if it had gone anywhere, but the big climax is Armand taking out anger that ought to be directed at Lestat on Louis?
Look, I do think this is the work of people who just switched Louis and Lestat’s roles and didn’t consider the consequences. Perhaps that’s being generous, but it’s better than the alternative. But it still is what it is. It still looks how it looks. Can’t blame the budget for this one. This beautiful, nuanced exchange between Louis and Armand which was a conversation that needed to be had is buried inside this scene, and it’s a shame because Assad and Jacob carried this episode.
They’ve made great changes to Louis through casting Jacob, whereas Assad is much more in line with his book counterpart and both of these things ought to be strengths. But thoughtless writing robbed them of that. There is a learning opportunity here and I hope it is taken, but if you can and if you want to, do take the time to email AMC with a detailed complaint. I’m drafting mine right now.
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