After the hurricane dies down, Louis buys an apartment. Lestat moves in. Maybe someday, Louis will too.
A story about coming home.
Final chapter out now - this story is now complete!
"What does it mean, if I go inside with you. What is ā"
"Well," Louis said, stepping close to tuck a loose curl back behind his ear. "This is where I live now. I moved all my things here. And I suppose, when you come up, it could just be a visit. But I thought it might mean that you want to live here too. That when you're not touring, and I'm not somewhere for work, this'll beā"
"āhome?"
"Yeah."
I think he carried me home that night.
And the next morning I was standing in the crooked stone street in front of his fatherās shop, tossing pebbles up at his window.
When he stuck his head out, I said:
āDo you want to come down and go on with our conversation?ā
I'm watching the finale again and I have to say, all the quibbles I have discussed are still there but as an episode of television it's still a banger.
"Get out," I whispered. The word trailed off and suddenly my voice swelled again. "Get out," I said. And again my voice didn't stop. It merely went on until I said the words again with shattering violence: "GET OUT!" ā THE VAMPIRE LESTAT, Anne Rice
I like Rolin talking about the show like this because at the end of the day I want this to be a show that swings hard and sometimes misses, because otherwise it never gets the hits right either.
I feel like if S4+5 happen and they get it mostly right, the whole thing will have been a success (to me. and them. and at least 10 percent of other people), and if they don't, S3 will still be good but not perfect, and that's also fine.
Been thinking more about the finale and the season as a whole and reading people's thoughts. A lot of the things people didn't like I don't have an issue with (or even passionately disagree with), and I do really believe that the only way to watch this season and love it is to let go of all expectations. Let go of the scenes from the book, let go of the way S1+2 was told, let go of what you thought this season would be based on initial teasers.
(to be fair, I know this is hard to do, especially because it is the third season and continues the show, and because Rolin was waving the book around like a bible, and because for a long time the trailers made it seem like there would be more of an interview).
With that said, here are the things that bother me about S3:
Daniel
In the first 3 episodes, I got it. The same mean streak and self-righteousness that was there in the first seasons was exaggerated by the vampire temper, he started doing drugs again, he was feeling alone and abandoned. He was not good as an interviewer anymore, let Lestat rile him up. Okay. But after that, once Armand shows up, he starts acting vile to an extent that I don't understand. He publishes revenge porn, and doesn't seem to consider that Lestat is likely a victim in that 'relationship'. He goes along with a plan to decapitate and possibly kill Louis, who he up until ep 2 of this very season was very friendly with.
Devil's Minion
related to the Daniel problem: I don't think they should have pushed this ship as hard as they did this season. I know we'll probably get a lot of blanks filled in if we get more seasons, but this season hinges on Daniel being seduced by Armand and we don't see it. 'I stalked you for decades' is not in itself romantic, and teaching Daniel to walk in the sun is not enough motivation for Daniel to go from hating the guy in S2 to being his companion.
One of the final beats of Armand's story in the finale is 'you need a love that'll cradle you', and ideally that would be Daniel. If they had only hinted at DM this season, that could become Daniel in the future! But right now that just means that clearly, whatever he's doing with Daniel is not the right thing for him either because you can't imagine that man cradling anything.
Armand
I actually mostly like Armand in this season but that's only because I love seeing him on screen and Assad is such a compelling performer that I am utterly on board with whatever he does. But I don't understand his motivations in this season. Why doesn't he try talking to Louis like he does to Lestat first before beheading him? If he has a new companion in Daniel, why is he so desperate to get that from Louis? Who is he working with? Does he want to stop the Conversion at all or is it all just to get to Louis? Why does he kill Larry, which doesn't get brought up at any point so is totally useless?
Regina
I feel like they only put the reveal in that it was Armand all along to make Armand's plan more creepy, but it does a huge disservice to Regina as a character. She was very compelling as a regular girl who was dragged into vampire bullshit but as a pawn of Armand's it's just much less interesting both for her and for Louis.
Akasha
One of the best moments of the show is Akasha waking up, and it's baffling to me that she doesn't show up again in the finale. I feel like a hint of her, like, lurking behind a tree looking at the bus or something, or her hand moving, would be more compelling than an entire city being destroyed in her wake.
Gabriella
I've been thinking a lot about Gabriella the last few days, and I'm not as mad as I was a few weeks ago. I think her character makes a lot of sense in the past timeline. I understand her all the way up to the moment she shows back up in Lestat's life in ep 1. But then she loses me, because she obviously is Up To Something but we have no real idea what or why, and she is just SO over the top that she isn't interesting. The outfits, the Jarda scene, the gleeful incest, it still annoys me more than it compels me. And I now think the writers do have a plan for her, because there are hints of an interesting character there in the past, so I think a lot of it is down to Lestat's limited narration this season - but I still think it doesn't work.
You'll notice that these are all B-plot issues. I think the A-plot about Lestat works really well, I went along for the ride and it paid off. I still think there was a way to cut down on the rockstar-on-tour stuff in the early episodes and use that time for more flashbacks or more time devoted to the other storylines. But overall it worked for me.
I am very interested to see where I land on it on rewatch.
At the moment I kind of see this season as separate from the first two. Like, IWTV S1+2 is my favorite tv show of all time. TVL is an excellent show made by the same people that is less perfect but I still admire and enjoyed watching tremendously.
I'm posting my thoughts before reading other people's, like always, but I've seen enough to know a lot of people are disappointed, but then a lot of people have been disappointed throughout the season. I do think that there was a point about halfway through this season where you were either on board or you weren't. I personally really got what they were doing after ep 3, decided to let go of all desire to see a faithful adaptation of the book, and it's worked out great.
I wrote some notes for myself with what I wanted for this episode to work, and I got most of it - Louis and Lestat still being okay, Lestat turning on Gabriella at least a little, more about Armand's motivations.
Various things I liked:
PAUL. Such a beautiful moment.
In general, as a Loustat fan, this was perfect. After a season where they've been apart so much I had no real expectations and I was worried they would end up being at odds at the end but instead, once again, it's alll about the love.
The fact that throughtout all the flashbacks to the failures, the love for Louis still shines through was so great. I loved the little reunion and Louis checking his heartbeat. And yeah, Louis admitting that Lestat is the love of his life, of course, wow.
I need to ruminate a little on what I think about Armand's motivations because I really thought he was genuinely trying to prevent the Great Conversion or had some other bigger motive, so idk quite what I think about it just being personal. BUT aside from that I loved those scenes. He's just such an amazing character largely because of Assad, because he can do the most deranged psycho shit and two minutes later I'm almost crying in sympathy for him.
I've always felt like people like to forget that Louis was a pimp, so I appreciate that this season had hammered that aspect of him home. That speech to Armand where he ties their pasts together was just great.
Idk man I just love a dream sequence.
The things I liked less
A lot of it boils down to everything about the overarching plot just not being enough yet. I love this season as an exploration of Lestat's psyche, and the Louis and Armand storylines, but all the other stuff just...idc.
I wanted at least a hint of Akasha. I don't really get who wants what now...The Talamasca want vampires to kill everyone to save the planet? What?
I still think it's a shame that Gabriella isn't a better character
Daniel has become a character really dislike, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to.
The final sequence in the dream before Paul showed up dragged a little. Less speechifying would be good.
Overall, I finished this season satisfied and excited to watch it again, but also a little uninterested in the next seasons. I'd like to see more of Louis and Lestat, I'd like to dig into Armand and his past more, I even want to see Akasha again. But I don't want this show to be about battles leading to the end of the world. I just want vampires in rooms talking and reliving trauma. So we'll see.
And my worst problem was laughter. I would go into fits of laughter and I couldnāt stop. Anything could set me off. The sheer madness of my own position might set me off.
This can still happen to me fairly easily. No loss, no pain, no deepening understanding of my predicament changes it. Something strikes me as funny. I begin to laugh and I canāt stop.
