You don't have to post this if you don't want (obviously) but what you said about season 3 often being where fandoms turn on shows was so interesting to me. This is the first fandom I've ever been in, and it's been odd to see how the reaction from corners of the fandom on here and on twitter doesn't match either the great critical reception of the show or the general audience reception (as much as I can tell anyway, going by what AMC has said about the numbers for the show and the audience ratings being in line with the first two seasons). Just interesting.
I think during the first season or two of a show, viewers take in what they see as facts being established; if a character does something unexpected, the viewer feels as though they’ve learned something new about them. If the tone shifts dramatically, they accept it as part of the story’s design. But depending on how much time there is between seasons as well as the point in which the fandom actually formed, there usually comes a moment when this mindset changes. I’ve found that it’s often during season 3, but obviously that's not a hard rule.
All of a sudden, if a character does something unexpected, they’re out of character. If the tone shifts, the writers "don't know what they're doing" or the show "suddenly turned bad". This change in approach happens, I think, because at that point the viewers have had the time to develop their own interpretation of the story, have become confident in that interpretation, and in the case of fandom, have poured a lot of time, love and sometimes creative efforts into the story and its characters.
Because the fandom is so deeply attached, emotional beats now hold a LOT more weight than they do to a casual viewer. Everything is fatefully serious, and every detail matters. Even the smallest moments are dissected extensively, and with discourse constantly happening on social media, extreme and often bad faith takes are amplified and argued over. Everything feels absolutely monumental, emotions run high and disappointments are devastating, partly because to many people, the fandom has become a part of their identity. To be clear, I’m not saying this is necessarily bad, just that it inevitably affects the way you engage with it.
And of course, with deep fascination comes expectation – in some cases, there could have never been a season 3 that truly satisfied the fans. With years between seasons, fandom ends up creating its own versions of the characters and the story, and things like prediction posts and fanfiction give people an idea of the things they’d like to see, and even if there is collective agreement about what those things are (and that’s a big if), it's pretty much never what ends up on screen. There is also, sometimes, an element of entitlement added to the mix, especially in smaller or more niche fandoms – the idea that the writers “owe” the fans all these things because the fandom is the only reason the show is successful.
That’s not to say that it’s only ever in fans’ heads – some shows really do deteriorate in quality, or change dramatically, or just make stupid or offensive decisions. Criticism is a healthy part of artistic discourse and the analysis fandom engages in can illuminate things that general audiences don’t pick up on. I don’t mean to imply that getting attached to a story or its characters is bad necessarily, even if it can end up blinding you.
As for The Vampire Lestat specifically, I think a lot of this plays into the disconnect between the fandom’s perception of the season versus the critics' and the general audiences’. I’ll say upfront I do believe some of the criticisms of the season are very valid, even some of those I don't necessarily agree with. But there are also some reactions that are heavily informed by everything I detailed in this post. Judging by the reactions I’ve seen (and honestly just thinking about it myself) it’s my opinion that if you watch TVL without remembering, obsessing over and having analyzed every single detail in IWTV, season 3 is probably an absolutely exhilarating viewing experience. Even when IWTV was first airing, there was a clear divide between general audiences and the existing Vampire Chronicles fandom; people in the fandom HATED episode 5, while audiences consistently cited it as the best of the season. With a show as bold, emotional and provocative IWTV, a writing choice like that can be absolutely cataclysmic for the fandom, while an average viewer just sees it as a powerful scene and move on.
I hope this explains what I meant by the “season 3 is when the fandom turns” thing. I want to be very clear I’m not passing judgment here, just sharing what I’ve observed over my many years in fandom spaces. Personally, when this kind of thing starts happening in a fandom, I tend to take a step back for the sake of my own emotional wellbeing, but it’s up to every person to decide how they want to engage.
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