For three years, Marshal Lan "The Swan" Zhan and Marshal Jiang "JC" Cheng have been scouring the country for Wei Wuxian, who'd done a runner from Chicago after causing a fracas. Could it be they finally found... him???
I've been thinking about it for days and realized I'm not going to be able to sort it out until I've written it down, so here they are - my thoughts and ramblings about why inherently I found the last season of Vampire Disasters Adapted so unsatisfying.
Spoilers and triggery content under cut.
Tw: mother/son incest, narcissism, mental health issues, murder and mayhem
1. Lestat's navelgazing.
While true to Anne Rice's ridiculous canon, Lestat is a self-absorbed narcissist with his head so deep up his own ass that he manages to bring about an unintentional apocalypse (of sorts). I get that this was his season, and Sam Reid, bless him, ate absolutely every single second that he was on screen. The scenery was chewed, digested, and shat back out - I have no notes.
What I did have a problem with is that we had to spend the vast majority of the season finale in Lestat's head, beating an already decomposing horse about how FUCKED UP HE IS. He's fucked up. We get it. That's why we love him? I didn't really learn anything new from this and the best part of those scenes (and the most cathartic) was watching Daniel's head yelling at Lestat's head through the firmament of his mind, like a hilarious Deus Ex Machina.
2. Not enough time.
I know they only had 7 episodes to tell the story, but the way that time was utilized was very questionable. Lestat's entire relationship with Nicholas was shoehorned into a single episode and then he was relegated to the role of Hallucinicky, which at the end is simply more about Lestat being Lestat. Marius (a character who MIGHT have been extremely controversial but somehow wasn't) literally popped out of nowhere only to zoom back to fuck knows to and leave Lestat babysitting Akasha and (dead?) Enkil. And as absolutely GLORIOUS as Akasha's awakening was, it was simply a clit tease for season 4, which wasn't even a guarantee at the time they filmed it, and should have been saved for season 4 IMO.
As a result, we saw Lestat spending more time fucking his mom and babysitting Akasha than we saw him interacting with Louis - the relationship that remains the heart and core of the show.
Similarly, we were teased quite a bit with hints at Devil's Minion and even though we now know that Armand and Daniel are together (🙌🙌🙌), I assume they're also saving the juicy parts of that storyline for s4. And I have SO MANY QUESTIONS.
3. Mommy Issues.
Gabriella, Gabriella, Gabriella.
You were not a great mom.
But that doesn't actually excuse the fact that Lestat is a narcissistic psychopath. (Although how very LIKE a malignant narcissist to blame all his problems on everyone else). And how does one begin to unravel the Oedipal from the Narcissist? Both are mythical in nature, and both reflect a deep state of being so far up one's own ass that you somehow end up up your own mom's vagina again. But using incest as a way to excuse narcissism doesn't really work for me. I'm sorry. Everyone loses here.
Jennifer Ehle was really fun as Gabriella/Sofia and I really enjoyed how they hammed up her Italian origins. But again, I feel that her screen time would have been better used in service of some kind of a PLOT. Which didn't seem to be there. Maybe, just like everything else, we'll see it in season 4. Ugh.
4. Which brings us to Armand again.
Now you all know I'm a huge Armand apologist and the worse they make him, the more I love his unhinged ass. So it's no surprise that his scenes were my favorite this season. Whether he's interacting with Louis, Daniel, or poor Larry (RIP), his scenes were all underlined by that frantic kitten energy that I've grown to adore. Never has a character been more desperate to be SEEN while remaining firmly behind every curtain. His macabre revenge on Louis and Lestat feels earned. They've spent the previous seasons using him, ignoring him, belittling him, and most importantly - underestimating him. You can't blame the kitten for wanting to play with his food! And because Assad Zaman is SO FUCKING GOOD as Armand, every scene just leaves me craving me more.
And so, to conclude, my main problem with this season comes down to being massively edged and never allowed to get off.
---o---
If you've actually read this far, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Please be respectful. These are my personal opinions, which I'm entitled to, so if you disagree with them - I'm happy to engage in civil dialogue about it. 💗
