I keep getting asked how I feel about this season, and the truth is that I’m not a fan of many things. There are choices I dislike, things I think were poorly handled, and criticisms I believe are completely fair.
At the same time, I remember how people behaved during s2. People were furious about plenty of things then. Every season seems to produce this cycle where disappointment immediately escalates into declarations that the entire show is ruined, everyone involved is evil, and the only acceptable outcome is cancellation.
I don’t agree that the show “deserves” to be cancelled. What does that even mean? You can dislike a season. You can criticize the writing, pacing, characterization, promotion, or creative direction. You can stop watching. But cancellation doesn’t just punish the writers or executives you’re angry with. It affects the entire cast and crew, including hundreds of people whose names you’ll never know.
I also don’t agree with people saying Jacob, Assad, and Delainey should leave the show. Again, why? What indication have any of these actors given that they want to leave? Why are fans deciding that actors of color need to abandon their jobs in order to satisfy someone else’s sense of justice?
These are adults. They have agents, managers, contracts, career goals, and the ability to make their own decisions. They don’t need strangers online to “save” them. You can be concerned about how a character is written without projecting helplessness onto the actor playing them. There’s something deeply uncomfortable about repeatedly treating actors of color as though they have no agency and need fandom to rescue them from their own employment.
Then there’s the response that people are simply being biphobic toward Lestat and that the show is “still very queer.” I’m sure some criticism is motivated by biphobia. That exists and it should be called out. But let’s not use that accusation to shut down every conversation about how queerness was presented this season.
Lestat has been an established bisexual character for decades. He’s also been openly bisexual since the first season of this adaptation. Most viewers suddenly criticizing the season didn’t just discover that Lestat likes women. That isn’t the main complaint.
The complaint is that none of the main male characters kissed this season. Meanwhile, the queer kisses we did get largely involved women kissing in scenes framed around male spectatorship. People are allowed to find that disappointing, regressive, or gross. A show can contain bisexual characters and technically remain queer while still making creative choices that diminish, sanitize, or sideline male intimacy.
And finally: “I’m going to confront the writers at this event.”
These are fictional characters. The people attending SDCC are real human beings at their workplace. A convention panel or fan event isn’t your personal courtroom. If you’re seriously considering “confronting” a writer, actor, producer, or staff member, confront yourself first and ask what you think the endgame is.
Do you think they’re going to apologize to you personally? Rewrite the season onstage? Admit that you were right while the room applauds? More realistically, you’ll make everyone uncomfortable, security may intervene, the clip will spread online, and people will clown you for years.
The people hyping you up to do it are usually people who:
1. Would never (and I mean, never) do it themselves.
2. Have their own motives for encouraging you.
3. Will disappear the moment there are consequences.
They won’t defend you when your name, face, and behavior are circulating online. They won’t help if you’re removed, banned from future events, or treated as a security concern. They’ll simply move on to the next piece of drama while you’re left carrying the consequences.
Please don’t attach your real identity to an impulsive fandom outburst.
And if you’re BIPOC, I’m especially begging you not to do this. You will be judged more harshly, perceived as more threatening, and given less grace than the white fans encouraging you from behind anonymous accounts. That isn’t fair, but it’s reality. Don’t allow people who don’t care about your safety to set you up.
Criticize the season. Tweet (not that anyone needs to be told that lol). Make videos if that makes you feel better. Rant in discord or whatever. It isn’t worth risking your reputation, your access, or your safety over a television show. I promise you it isn’t.
