Like I said: The writers KNEW people would scratch their heads on this whole Paul situation, and it does wonders for engagement; AMC's doing it on purpose (TheWrap, Collider):
So yeah, they're confirming that Lestat DID mentally traumatize Paul; but they're also leaving it up for interpretation on how much Lestat had to do with Paul's suicide or not. If you think Lestat did it "that's okay, that's all right."
But Rolin's also also chalking it up to people who hate Lestat hating "that Paul's there" at all, and jumping to the conclusion that Lestat must've really killed him.
It's really an un-nuanced & arrogant/dismissive attitude Rolin has that always gets on my nerves--the same way he said that anyone who hates S3 just hates Sam Reid & Daniel Hart, as if there's NO valid reason on the planet to not like what Rolin's done in S3; he's so perfect that you CAN'T/SHOULDN'T critique it or see the clear & present holes or contradictions or implications or imperfections. 🙄
Like, no; the simple fact that AMC's cast AND showrunner are consistently agreeing that Lestat traumatized Paul DOES leave the door open for people to VERY LOGICALLY assume that maybe Lestat really did kill him! 🤷♂️ Especially since Paul was already extremely mentally ill and a religious zealot/fanatic who already had weird reactions to the supernatural/paranormal.
Again: *EYE* don't think Lestat literally told Paul to jump off the roof--I think we can (and should!) contrast Lestat with a Dr-Kevorkian-From-Hell like Armand (making Larry & Nelson kill themselves & Regina slit her wrists with "Rest"). I always said that Louis jumped from the frying pain into the fire going from Lestat to Armand--that he thought Lestat's psychotic arse was as bad as things could ever get, when Lestat was child's play compared to a literal Satanist cult leader. 💀
But I DO agree with the interpretation I already deep-dived that Lestat riffling around in Paul's head convinced Paul that he was the White Devil and that Louis should stay TF away from him; that was his dying wish, like I BEEN said.
So it's NOT unreasonable to look at Lestat with the side-eye, since he DID contribute to Paul's MENTAL demise, if not his MORTAL demise.
TL;DR: Lestat Ain't Ish, and He Knows It 🤷♂️
I really like what Rolin said next:
EXACTLY. Paul was checking off his Bucket List. 😭
Eat all the checkered cake ✅
Tell Louis to stay away from that White Devil Lestat ✅
Make sure Grace is happily married & gets "a lot of love" from Levi ✅
Silence the birds for good ✅
It's literally the exact same thing that ticked ghost!Claudia off at the seance: WHY TF ARE YOU STILL WITH LESTAT?! 😡💢
Neither Paul nor Claudia are the patron saints of the Loustat ship; that's preposterous. And even Dream!Paul tells Lestat that he hates that Louis' gay and does NOT like that Lestat's a man.
So yeah, I'm actually kinda getting the sense that it really is Loustat against the world--no one really wants them together in this universe. 😅 Everyone's always tryna split them up or sabotage them, take one or the other for themselves, or are just homophobes, or wtvr. (And Akasha's coming too, good grief. 🤦♂️)
So yeah, ON PAPER it makes sense that Lestat's picturing Paul in his head, so Lestat can finally realize that Louis DOES have traumas that Lestat hasn't taken into account yet, instead of always making everything about him & his abandonment issues and not "making space" for Louis' "zip code of mess" & traumas (as Jacob said about Louis needing to "make space" for Lestat's traumas).
Ofc the PROBLEM with this season is that Louis' going thru these horrors ALONE, with no one to support HIM or show HIM grace or mercy or kindness or gentleness; meanwhile Lestat gets coddled left & right.
Oh, Lestat feels unwanted & unloved after getting cussed out by figments of his imagination--here comes Dream!Paul to tell him Louis loves him and even VALIDATE Lestat's (mis)treatment of Louis "the way he NEEDED to be loved" HUH?
Oh, Louis feels thoroughly betrayed & hated after getting cussed out by Armand & duped by Regina.... crickets
Oh, Armand leaked a revenge porn of Lioncest--here comes Louis to comfort TF out of Lestat and make him feel supported
Oh, Armand leaked a torture porn snuff film of Louis.... crickets
Oh, Daniel's got Lestat's head stuffed in a bowling bag (and we never see it rotting cuz the camera's ALSO coddling Lestat BTW)--here comes Raglan and an entire squad of Talamascans to Lestat's rescue
Oh, Armand's got Louis' head stabbed through a skewer and we see it rotting in front of us--here's a forced apology under duress and a slave brand as Louis blames himself for all of Armand's issues, rescuing himself AND Regina with his talk-no-jutsu
AMC is so determined to make sure the audience likes Lestat and roots for him at every turn, throwing every cheap deus ex machina in his lap; meanwhile unnecessarily shafting Louis over & over and making him crawl thru literal Hell only to then invalidate his suffering and even BLAME him for all of it--even using Paul as Lestat's mouthpiece.
Only for AMC to then turn around and also say: Yeah, Lestat totally traumatized Paul--but don't think Lestat killed him he would never~! 🙅 But Lestat's taking accountability for destroying the world. But Lestat would NEVER hurt Louis' brother~! But Lestat said he didn't threaten Claudia with rape he's never do something so horrible. But he totally forced her to watch Claudia burn just like his abusive mother forced him to watch the witches burn! Like...?????? 🤣
Oh sure, ONLY the antis who utterly hate Lestat would assume that Paul showing up in a room full of Lestat's victims (murdered or traumatized or wtvr) might be a victim, too. 🤨🙄
Convoluted frikkin writing.
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