Il Est Impossible

They/them, late twenties, writer and avid reader.

[resinousroad]

I, honestly, don't think they're going to have Lestat go to the trial voluntarily. They, especially Rolin, mislead us in interviews CONSTANTLY, and I think having shots where Lestat is swaying, drifting off, and allegedly having conversations with Madeline, wouldn't be shot for zero reason? I could see them potentially switching it up and having Gabrielle pressuring Lestat to go and get revenge (as she does canonically see him after murder night), but I still don't think he engaged willingly. For one, he doesn't go off script "in the middle," he goes off script quickly, and it was confirmed that he was going into the crowd to get inside people's heads and make it easier for him to use the mind gift later to save Louis. We also have Delainey saying that, if Lestat had the power, she truly thinks he'd have saved Claudia, too, but that he was too weak in the moment to do so.

We have Lestat literally saying in the trial that, if Louis and Claudia are guilty, he's guilty, as well, for turning Claudia. So if they are to be sentenced, he should be, too. Sam Reid has also noted he has the "real" trial script. In Big Boss, Lestat also notes how it's the "Big Boss" who decides who lives and who dies, as he's wearing pants similar to the ones he had on during the trial.

An extremely odd scene to me is the flashback with Lestat and Armand 'rehearsing.' For one, there's no one narrating it. This could either mean it's how Daniel imagined it going based off the notes on the script, or the show was trying to show us Armand's flashback (which does not make sense, as again he's not narrating). Yet even in that version, Lestat doesn't seem to entirely WANT to be there.

The one thing we're missing in the show is the concrete reason Lestat was there. In the books Lestat seeks Armand out because he needs his blood to heal him, and he is then betrayed. We do have Gabrielle canonically there after murder night, but it's still possible her blood wasn't strong enough to heal him entirely. That said, with this being a more powerful, older, Lestat, it's POSSIBLE he healed? We also have the possibility that he goes to the trial with the intention of saving them, engages begrudgingly in rehearsals (which could match the flashback), and yet, as a precaution, Armand still has him weakened pre-trial to ensure he doesn't pull anything (Armand is not aware Lestat has the blood of Akasha in him at this point). It would also make sense with the notes on the script, given that Armand wanted to delay Lestat turning to look at Louis (he may have believed that, if Lestat did, even if he was complying, he would change his mind). It's also possible that, because of the size of the coven, Lestat was outnumbered, with the mind gift already taking a lot out of him (we see him collapse with the soldiers), and could only save one (he could also have still been weaker since the murder attempt).

When I was initially watching the trial, even when I didn't know what was next, I didn't think Lestat wanted to be there. I even thought, when he said he should be sentenced, that he was potentially even trying out a plan he'd hoped would end differently. I seem to recall Sam Reid also saying that Lestat was trying to send messages, or hints, to Louis through the trial.

None of this adds up to me as Lestat voluntarily participating in the trial with the goal of seeing Louis, Claudia, and Madeline die. I could be wrong, but if so I would see it more as a last-minute change done to provide contrast between Gabrielle getting Lestat to participate in murdering their family and Lestat deciding to save Louis.

[resinousroad]

It honestly confuses me when people's critique for season 3 involves the fact that Lestat is "cringe" when he uses modern references. It's...supposed to feel that way, in my opinion. These vampires are OLD; Louis didn't even fully understand how the cloud worked! Lestat canonically, even in the books, LOVES learning about all the changes humanity experiences over time, what's popular, what people are up to, what phrases they use, etc. In cut dialogue from the season 2 finale script, he mentions to Louis that he's been figuring out how YouTube works. He's having fun, but he's from an entirely different time. It's sort of like when you're a teenager and your parents use modern slang. Even if they use it correctly, you end up cringing a bit because something about it just sort of sounds wrong.

[claumandscathedral]

Delainey Hayles on what shes learned about claudia:

“Audiences love multi-faceted characters but when they talk about claudia, they talk about how angry she is all the time, do not reduce her to that (…) shes’s actually full of love and extremely delicate”

[loustatified]

oh my heart 🥺

[resinousroad]

Here is how I interpreted the situation regarding Claudia's views on Louis (this is not Louis hate at all, nor is it arguing Louis was the "worse parent." It's just examining their relationship):

We have (mostly) two perspectives of seeing Claudia in season one and two, with some pages missing from Claudia's diary, along with clues the shows dropped through the seasons. We also have some context in the reveal, such as the fact Claudia's aunt was abusive (which was also stated in some interviews).

I think to truly understand Claudia's dynamic with her fathers, particularly with Louis, we first have to consider what we know from context (largely from the trial) regarding Claudia "pestering" Louis about how she was turned. This is because, from this point forth, Claudia has to build her understanding of her situation on the foundation of the story Louis told her (confirmed by both Louis and Lestat to have not been the truth). As such, the situation Claudia knows to be true is that Louis went into the burning building, found her, brought her home (why did he bring her home? why not a hospital? - questions Claudia later has), and requested Lestat turn her. Lestat, not informing Louis what would happen (again, this is the version Louis told), turns her to keep Louis with him.

This version, from the jump, frames how Claudia sees her fathers and her situation. Louis rescued her out of guilt, brought her home to Lestat. Lestat then turns her to keep Louis by his side, purposefully neglecting to mention that Claudia would never physically age. Louis, even though he rescues her, doesn't disclose how heavily he persuaded, begged, and pleaded with Lestat to turn her. This leaves him to take a more passive (something he later detests about his book depiction) role in her turning. He'll bring her home, but he has Lestat actually do the work of turning her while he stands to the side. Why home and not the hospital? Louis never answers, but it's largely because of his own guilt, and desperation to preserve someone who for a moment still saw goodness in him.

Claudia takes to vampirism alarming quickly, which makes some sense given the fact she'd lived a life of grief and abuse. She has an opportunity; she's going to throw herself into it. Louis during this time is starving himself and living off animals, something that disturbs Claudia when the two go fishing together. This leaves Lestat to teach her how to feed, dispose of bodies, etc. Notably, Claudia documents in a diary entry that Louis is her favorite, but that she and Lestat have a lot in common (hunting together, amongst other things). There's no reason for Claudia to lie about Louis being her favorite at this point, but this also alludes to the fact that she has to separate the vampire part of herself with more human part that Louis prefers. This is also important when you consider how she wrote that Louis was put off by her behavior at his mother's funeral, and tells her she has to spend more time around people, whereas Lestat felt she did just fine. This isn't a "Lestat was right and Louis was wrong" post, it's just me contrasting their different approaches.

Louis doesn't stop them from killing, he doesn't fight with them to (notably, Claudia was not present when Louis tried to argue alternatives with Lestat), he just tells Lestat to not kill in front of him, and asks Claudia to try to fit in better with humans. He didn't turn Claudia, he just brought her home (again, Claudia doesn't know that Louis DID try to turn her, but didn't know how). Then, when Claudia accidentally kills Charlie, Louis is standing there, both of them waiting for Lestat. Notably, Lestat is the one Claudia asks to try to save Charlie, as though Louis isn't right there. Louis largely stands quiet as Lestat attempts to handle the situation (which he, notably, does not do well), and when he argues with Lestat you hear Lestat ask in frustration if he was supposed to just tuck her and Charlie into coffin together (something to this effect, I cannot recall the exact line). Lestat took action based on his own trauma that...then traumatized Claudia, but Louis didn't have an answer, nor did he try to come up with any possible solutions. (Frankly, I think Louis let it happen because he knew nothing could be done about Charlie, but didn't want Claudia mad at him. Louis made a lot more decisions than Claudia fully realized).

Louis then leaves wingless birds in Claudia's room, assuming she's in her coffin refusing to feed. Lestat is frustrated, and speaks up to shatter Louis' humanizing perspective by saying there is no possible way that Claudia just hasn't been feeding the entire time. Both of them then, out of their depth, read through her journals. Lestat and Louis are both angered by them, due to how Claudia portrayed them, as well as how reckless she is being. Claudia asks Louis if he's going to do anything to defend her during this argument, and Louis describes himself as crossing his arms and looking to the side. Again, having Lestat handle the situation. This isn't Louis being as passive as Claudia perceives him, given he and Lestat CLEARLY talked the whole thing out beforehand, as they choreographed their entrance.

The questions Claudia asks Louis and Lestat after the police search also inform us on how she sees their dynamic. Who is going to be her Lestat? Who is going to be her Louis? Claudia knows those two revolve around each other. That, no matter how much they fight, their hearts beat in sync. "Which one of you is going to fuck me?!" Is a disturbing way of Claudia articulating, "which one of you is going to love me?! Which one of you will choose me?!" She doesn't want to be alone. She even points out to Louis how, if he'd taken her to a hospital, perhaps she'd have a husband and some children by now. She's spent most of her dynamic with Louis and Lestat acting as glue, physically sitting between them even at the movies, jumping in to join their dance.

It's worth noting that Louis and Lestat do LOVE her, but they're so caught up in their dance that Claudia will always be the one cutting in, welcome or not. They're both doing their best, but they're both failing her. The difference is that Louis NEEDS Claudia to see him in a good light, his happiness is dependent on her, so he often presents himself as having made less choices than he actually makes.

Even when she returns, she's the one taking care of Louis, cleaning up the mess of a house, and acting as the driving force behind him refusing Lestat's apologies. When Louis is left alone? He goes back to Lestat again, and Lestat drops everything to be with him. Lestat then returns home, but by this point Claudia is sick of it. She needs to eliminate one of them and, due to Louis' guilt, she feels she can convince him to kill Lestat. There was no world where she was going to convince Lestat to kill Louis instead. Louis saw her solely as their daughter, whereas Lestat noted at the trial that he saw Claudia for the clever, cunning, and ruthless vampire that she was. Claudia knew she could manipulate Louis' guilt, create a story strong enough to persuade him, and then try to use his perceived passivity to her advantage. Louis never knows the truth of the full plan; his role instead is to distract Lestat by just carrying on being with Lestat. What she didn't predict was his love for Lestat ran deeper than she originally estimated, and that Louis is not a passive participant in his own life. instead of letting Claudia burn Lestat, he wrapped his hand around her throat and refused. Even with Lestat supposedly dead, Louis loved him more than her.

To cover every part of their relationship in season two is...daunting...to say the least (let me know if you want a more thorough analysis on that), but we see them through their highs and lows. I truly do think Claudia felt more for Louis than pure hate, but I think both of them felt overwhelming bitterness towards each other. Louis refused to believe Claudia that Armand choked and threatened her, taking the side of someone that Claudia knew for a fact he didn't love nearly as much as Lestat. Meanwhile, in Madeline, Claudia finds the love she's been looking for. The person who sees no one in the room but her, who sees her kill, who sees her feed, and isn't scared of her. This is Claudia's big point she emphasizes to Louis, that Madeline wasn't scared. This is both to emphasize Madeline being a good candidate to become a vampire, and that Madeline didn't love Claudia in parts. Claudia could be the killer, and Madeline loved her just as much as the more human parts of Claudia. She saw her wholly.

Louis states that Claudia, after Madeline's turning, told him that they were "even" now. I think Claudia really was grateful for this. This is something Louis didn't want to do, but that he made the choice to do so that Claudia could be happy. I think this is why Claudia and Madeline come back for a proper farewell, as there's no other real reason for Claudia to do this. She's no longer trying to manipulate him; she has no reason to. This choice leads to her and Madeline's capture/demise. Claudia is a spirit unable to find the love of her life because she chose to say goodbye to Louis and walked into a trap. Then Lestat is at the trial, and if Lestat was going to be able to save one person, he would always pick Louis. Whether Louis helped kill him or not, Lestat would always pick Louis. Madeline chooses her, only for Claudia to be stuck as a spectator, unable to find the one person who chose her above all else. Louis, meanwhile, survives because Lestat did.

It's not "Louis specifically sucked as a parent," or "Claudia always hated him most." It's that Claudia never WANTED to be the result, or representation, of Louis' guilt...and that's what she is immortalized as. Her diaries that she hated being read by Louis and Lestat are made public, Louis kills Bruce despite her saying when she was alive that she didn't want him to, her dress is hung up as a symbol of Louis' heartbreak (the dress Madeline made for HER, the one Madeline said she looked splendid in), Louis tries to end his own life to be with her, and Claudia again exists as a symbol of his depression. I will also say - this is more of a surface level read of Louis' extremely complex feelings, but I'm seeing this from Claudia's perspective. The dress honors her the same way the mess did while she was gone - a symbol of Louis' depression at not having her there. Then, once again, she's expected to come and clean the mess up.

[resinousroad]

Read some interview quotes from Jacob Anderson noting how Louis had to say what he said under duress, and I'm hoping that is how it will be addressed next season. Louis had to say what Armand wanted to hear and, while there may have been some truth mixed in, the claim that Louis' coldness drove Armand to this point is absolute nonsense. I'm glad JA also doesn't believe that to be true (because it literally isn't).

I see a lot of people trying to spin the facts to make it so Louis SHOULD have been the one to apologize to Armand, and I honestly find these trains of thought baffling and sometimes even concerning. Armand gaslit Louis for years, he literally altered his memories, he killed his daughter, he even fucked with Louis' mind during the interview whilst Louis was doing his best to try to justify Armand's behavior. This doesn't mean I dislike Armand as a character, you will be driven to madness if you go into this show wanting to pick a favorite character based on a notion of moral superiority, but it means you need to accept Armand as a character for the facts we are presented.

Armand tormented Claudia until her death, he had Louis tortured and thrown on stage to be murdered as part of a demented play, then altered his memories of the event (the last memories Louis has of Claudia) to portray himself in a better light/place Lestat in a worse one (Sam Reid has noted he has the real trial script, which to me strongly indicates that Armand played with Louis' memories regarding what was actually said). The amount Armand messes with the minds of others, the way he toys with their lives in both an obsessively attached and detached method, is part of what makes his character interesting. Lestat notes he finds mindreading boring in season one, but playing with the mind is where Armand excels most, and it's one of the reasons that him turning Daniel is beyond profound...because he sacrifices that level of control with it.

As someone who's read the books, I honestly did like what they were doing with Armand up until this finale. I just find it an odd decision that feels almost last minute. Was Louis perfect in their relationship? No. But was everything Louis did completely eclipsed by Armand's actions? Absolutely. That's not insulting to Armand the character, it's viewing what happened. Armand IS petty, he is malicious, he's fine tormenting people, but what he did to Louis doesn't fit his character motivations, and it's a massive disservice to Louis' character. They could have used the finale as a way to drop more lore on what happened between him and Lestat, including showing Armand's obsession with him in greater detail, but instead we rehashed things from previous seasons whilst Louis finds out he's also had his autonomy robbed from him since their relationship ended.

I can understand a plotline where Armand is looking for "who to blame," as Assad previously alluded to this point, and becoming twisted/obsessive over this. That said, I don't think Armand would arrive at Louis, I think he would be FAR more likely to put the blame on Lestat, as Lestat is one of the driving reasons he had an investment in Louis to begin with. This is also me not saying Lestat owes Armand an apology, either, because...NO. It's just me saying that I think it would make a better plotline, as Armand repeatedly blames Lestat's lack of romantic love for him as the basis for his failings in the books. I think Louis deserved a better plot, and I think the writers could have created one.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I am quite surprised by the reaction to Louis apologising to Armand. Louis's reactions and behaviour about sexual assault has been an important aspect of his character this season. From Daniel recounting what Louis told him about Lestat being raped and turned, to reading Claudia's diaries about being raped to her rapist before killing him 'for her', and then trying to use that against her by saying she should be grateful. The pattern of making other's trauma about him, the last of which makes him stop and reconsider himself. His apology to Armand makes sense as a continuation of that reconsideration, but is also probably the only thing he could say that wouldn't be a complete lie. I don't think he owed Armand any apology, nor do I think he really said it for Armand, but ultimately because he could feel himself dying and he falls back onto religion and making amends - the emphasis of given previously by the monk at the witches burning talking about mercy and amends. It's not coming from a place of understanding and empathy for Armand, but rather selfishness of how it makes him feel bad when he remembers.

Glad it made sense to you then.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I would like to add Jacob's words here though - NOT as a jab at you, just... he sees it differently:

Jacob Anderson: Yeah, Louis is under duress. His amends to Armand are about Armand; they’re not really about Louis or how he feels about things. Through what he says to Armand, and through what he knows Armand needs to hear, maybe Louis does reach a truth about himself or about how he metabolized Armand’s history and how that connects to his own history. But there’s also the side where Louis essentially says, “My withholding led to this moment,” which I wholly disagree with. I’m not sure Louis really believes that. There are a handful of lies and one or two truths.

A Long Table Talk With the Boys of The Vampire Lestat

Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, and Assad Zaman on the season finale: “There’s a lot left to unpack and revisit.”

[resinousroad]

I'm honestly really glad to see this quote on the matter and JA's opinions on it because I wholeheartedly agree. I think the only way to somewhat salvage what happened is to completely show the situation Armand put Louis in for what it was, and that Louis had to say whatever he could to get out of it. That said, it doesn't change the fact it was a baffling narrative choice, and doesn't make sense as an overall motivation for Armand.

[nalyra-dreaming]

The more I think about it, the more I’m like they should have stopped at episode 6. And then came back with 8 episodes for season 4. I’m still baffled by the finale.

I hated Armand’s storyline, hated whatever they were doing with Daniel. These are my faves here. At least with Louis storyline it was building up to his reunion with Lestat in 3x06 and closure on Claudia, it didn’t just come out of nowhere. But loumand wtf where was this coming from.

They killed Larry for this???? My head is still spinning.

Yeah, I feel the same, unfortunately.

[cbrownjc]

Yeah, I mean, with the way this ended up ... Armand basically killed Larry for no reason.

Or, at least, because he was really holding fast to the Fourth Great Law.

Seriously, at the moment? That is what it looks like, and the only thing that makes sense about it.

Except, you know, he apparently gave Regina a pass on that, so... 🤷🏾‍♀️

[resinousroad]

The Larry situation really bothers me when viewing the season as a whole. A lot of choices made this season were executed thoughtfully, with clues being dropped in the prior two seasons. The finale...did not feel thoughtfully written. Why on earth did Larry have to die? What did Larry have to do with Louis? Armand set up Fareed and Regina just to eventually cut Louis' head off?

Even when you think of the last two finales beside one another, you're left even more baffled by the decision. Armand is revealed in the season 2 finale to have manipulated Louis' memories and killed Claudia...then one season later you have him torturing an apology out of Louis? I really do agree that I wish they left it at six episodes and taken more time to think through certain choices. They could have gone in so many interesting directions with Armand's motives...instead we got...this.

[cbrownjc]

Like, in my opinion, the only way you can play the aftermath of this is if Louis told Armand what Armand wanted to hear. And that's it.

Because Louis owed Armand absolutely zero apology. Not after the reveal that Armand did try to kill Louis and did kill Claudia.

He even told Louis here that he was going to kill him via the trial for the aesthetic of it.

Louis owed Armand nothing for that.

The episode is a mess and pointless, but I can see ways to retroactively fix the things it left us with somewhat, going into Season 4. Having Louis say he just finally told Armand what Armand wanted to hear is a way to fix some of the BS that happened with Louis.

As to the Larry thing, however... 🤷🏾‍♀️

[resinousroad]

That was my thought, too re: having Louis say he told Armand what he wanted to hear. I could see that being a way to retroactively fix the narrative, but even then it just makes the entire event a bit of a waste of time. I truly hope this is what they decide, though, as it makes absolutely 0 sense to have Louis be the one to apologize. Adding torture on top of it after all he's experienced this season also just...twists the knife too deep.

I really do wonder if changes were made late in the game to the script. It's just unusual for the show to feel so unfinished. There's no way to really spin the Larry thing so that it makes sense, unless they planned to somehow give Armand an even greater motive that he had a change of heart on post-apology (although I highly highly doubt this,, and think it would just further confound things).

[nalyra-dreaming]

The more I think about it, the more I’m like they should have stopped at episode 6. And then came back with 8 episodes for season 4. I’m still baffled by the finale.

I hated Armand’s storyline, hated whatever they were doing with Daniel. These are my faves here. At least with Louis storyline it was building up to his reunion with Lestat in 3x06 and closure on Claudia, it didn’t just come out of nowhere. But loumand wtf where was this coming from.

They killed Larry for this???? My head is still spinning.

Yeah, I feel the same, unfortunately.

[cbrownjc]

Yeah, I mean, with the way this ended up ... Armand basically killed Larry for no reason.

Or, at least, because he was really holding fast to the Fourth Great Law.

Seriously, at the moment? That is what it looks like, and the only thing that makes sense about it.

Except, you know, he apparently gave Regina a pass on that, so... 🤷🏾‍♀️

[resinousroad]

The Larry situation really bothers me when viewing the season as a whole. A lot of choices made this season were executed thoughtfully, with clues being dropped in the prior two seasons. The finale...did not feel thoughtfully written. Why on earth did Larry have to die? What did Larry have to do with Louis? Armand set up Fareed and Regina just to eventually cut Louis' head off?

Even when you think of the last two finales beside one another, you're left even more baffled by the decision. Armand is revealed in the season 2 finale to have manipulated Louis' memories and killed Claudia...then one season later you have him torturing an apology out of Louis? I really do agree that I wish they left it at six episodes and taken more time to think through certain choices. They could have gone in so many interesting directions with Armand's motives...instead we got...this.

[resinousroad]

I see a lot of people referring to the criticism regarding the season 3 finale as negativity, and I just want to address that for a second.

Of course, people have the right to block whoever they want. That's literally fine. That said, misrepresenting what people are saying, and acting as though fans have to be 100% on board with all decisions the show makes at all times, isn't.

I will never watch a show with 0 intent of imagining what I would have changed, how it could have been better, etc. Honestly, growth in most forms of media comes from feedback. Television is not created without the bias of the people working on it, and people who respond to it are not "tearing it down" or purposefully being "negative." Especially not when they're criticizing the racism present in certain decisions made within the writer's room.

Having Louis be tortured for an extended period of time as a head without a body only to be forced to apologize to the man doing it...is absurd. Some of the decisions made in Lestat's sort of hallucinatory dream sequence were questionable at best, and having him be comforted by Paul's ghost (?) while meanwhile Louis is being tortured was another incredibly bizarre decision. In my opinion - the finale was messy and felt far more rushed than the rest of the season. it further made a mess of the timeline (what happened versus what didn't happen, why certain things were shown to be true when they were previously shown not to be) and had Louis tortured by the narrative (and literally by Armand) for absolutely no reason.

That isn't saying the entire season is without any merit, there was a lot I legitimately enjoyed about it, but people are allowed to have thoughts/feelings/opinions on things without being labeled "bad fans"' or "complainers." Louis in the show, in my opinion, fully surpasses the Louis of the books. It's not okay to create this incredible character just to only have him be served a plate of misery and a loss of autonomy. I didn't hate Louis' entire arc, and Jacob Anderson does an absolutely phenomenal job bringing Louis to life, but the finale especially is focused on punishing him for no reason (other than the bias...of a particular person, especially) and ONCE MORE takes his autonomy away from him. We don't need to see Louis be repeatedly tortured, and people calling for the writers' room to figure out something more to do with his character other than make him a vessel of suffering and grief are not being "unsupportive."

Even the fact two of the fan favorite moments between Louis and Lestat were improvised...says a lot. I honestly don't know how that scene of Lestat having a panic attack wors without Louis hugging him. Was Louis just standing there in the original script? What sense does that even make? The sequence with the blood also manages to put a lovely bow on that interaction as well, with Louis asking for Lestat's blood as a way to show he's not disgusted with him. Frankly, some of the best moments of the show are when we see how these two interact each other, why they love each other so much, and we aren't instead presented with further questions that confound the timeline. Most of the reveals were clearly planned from the very beginning with various hints being dropped in season one, but the finale loses this thoughtfulness.

It bothers me to see people with thoughtful feedback be reduced to "bad fans" who watch the show "just to hate it." If you want to enjoy things uncritically that's fine, but it's not a position of moral superiority.

[lioncourtz]

THE VAMPIRE LESTAT 03.07 | "The Failures"

[sugarcarnation]

louis going out of his way to drink lestats blood after learning about his relationship to gabriella is actually so important because it’s his way of showing lestat that despite what louis said earlier he is not disgusted by him. he still loves him, he still wants him and he wants to share his blood with him (something which according to lestat is more intimate than having sex)

[reputayswift]

love the journey he goes on here

[resinousroad]

DISCUSSING TVL FINALE

I plan to write something more thought out later, but I just wanted to get some thoughts off my chest. It's really irritating to me to see how Louis was handled in the finale, specifically seeing him tortured and forced to give ARMAND an apology. To be clear, I'm not someone who hates Armand, but the way that whole scene was framed was so gross.

Here's the thing, Louis wasn't the kind of narrator in the first two seasons that you were led to believe had no faults. Louis showed how he could be selfish, how he didn't prioritize Claudia, and how sometimes he lied to himself to cope with aspects of his reality that he doesn't like. He was also telling the story as someone who believed Lestat had killed their daughter which, as I discussed in a previous post, likely led to how he portrayed Lestat. He was also actively attempting not to miss him, and to not set Armand off by glorifying him. There were some really interesting dynamics at play that I feel like led to the version of events told by Louis (his own anger/bitterness, his own denial, Armand messing with his memories, believing Lestat killed Clauida, etc.) but I never walked away with the impression that Louis had no faults.

The finale almost feels like we're crossing into territory of having the narrative punish him. The Merrick reveal was bound to happen, and Claudia has every reason to hate both of her fathers (especially since she's stuck as a ghost and cannot find rest/healing), and I definitely understood why the Regina plotline was there. To be clear, there's things I would have changed about both, but it at least ties into some canon struggles Louis has (tbh I do think they should have reworked the part with Claudia as a ghost a bit more, especially as so many circumstances changed, but I digress). But having him get decapitated, tortured, and find out all the strings in his life were pulled by Armand again, is completely illogical, and to me makes no sense in the narrative of the show.

Louis doesn't have to be punished by the narrative to this extent. Specifically, it makes no sense to have ARMAND do the punishing. Think of last finale, we found out Armand had played with Louis' memories, killed Claudia, etc. Now, a finale later, we're having him torture Louis, brand him, and receive an APOLOGY? It makes absolutely 0 sense. It also makes all his interactions with Lestat this season borderline pointless. It does both characters an injustice, but the impact it has on Louis is inexcusable.

Louis doesn't owe Armand an apology. This isn't me writing as someone who is anti-Armand - this is me speaking as a writer, and someone invested in the narrative. Louis does NOT owe Armand an apology, and seeing him get tortured crosses ANOTHER line that did NOT need to be crossed. Armand could have just as easily taken LESTAT hostage, and it would have revealed more of their history, their book dynamic, and addressed questions built over the season we'd like answers to. Louis spent the last season defending Armand until the discovery at the end, he gave Armand several chances, his mind was manipulated by Armand, he was lied to by Armand, and now the narrative is pushing that he owes Armand an apology? Yes, there is one scene where both of them say horrible things to each other, and immediately after Louis suffers GREATLY.

It also does a disservice to Armand and Daniel's relationship to have Louis telling Armand he deserves to be loved for all he is. I would much rather see that narrative take shape between Armand and Daniel.

I'm not someone who is typically negative about this show, but as soon as I found out what happened I felt sick. We didn't need to see Louis struggling all season just to be tortured in the finale and find out that he AGAIN lacked autonomy over the events in his life. It was entirely unnecessary. I will have more cohesive thoughts later, but I'm sincerely disappointed by this ending to the season.

[lioncourtz]

THE VAMPIRE LESTAT 03.06 | "Montreal"

[bluebell218]

These reviews are COOOOOKIN'

(Forbes)

[vorreitenertiqui]

SAM: And [Louis and Lestat] are left like Tweedledum and Tweedledee, dumbfounded, walking through the park unable to speak. Like this huge chapter of their lives has just come jamming to a finale and a close, and they're like– what's the line? Louis is like, 'I guess we just have to sit with that' '...we got to live with that'? or what do you say?

JACOB: '...hold that'. 'I guess we just have to hold that for–'

SAM: 'Hold that'. You just have to hold the fact that you destroyed somebody's life– destroyed your daughter's life, somebody that you brought into the world without choice: she was not conscious when she was brought into the world. She was brought into the world as a band-aid of their relationship. They always put each other first over her. She never got a chance of pursuing her own things, which... she did find love. They were both killed like, within a matter of weeks. And it was all part of the storm. 'She was a shilling that blew off their roof'. Was it 'a shilling'...?

JACOB: I was just going to say, it's the most fucked up thing that she once again is the shingle on the roof. Like, at the end of the séance, it's like the thing that brings them closer together, again, is at her expense. And they know! Like the other thing Louis says when they're walking through the trick-or-treaters is like, 'She's going to be angry'. She's in hell, they know she's in hell. And I think they actually need to be faced with the reality of that and hear it from her in the same way as they did in the trial, when she gets her moment to speak finally. Like once again, they are brought closer by her misfortune. It's horrible...

AUTUMN: It's horrible!

JACOB: It's awful. The whole story. On that note, I have to go.

AUTUMN: (Laughs) Yes. Okay. I was gonna say, on that uplifting note...

JACOB: I would– I do put my child before anything else, in a way that Louis can't!

AUTUMN: Good. Good. Thank you guys so much. of course I have to do my toast to you both for your incredible groundbreaking– There we go– APEROL. LET'S GO. You're not just drinking straight Aperol, are you? Wine?

JACOB: No, I'm going to a function for my six-year-old daughter. I'm not going to drink.

AUTUMN: Oh, I didn't realize we were going to a child's function. I'm sorry.

SAM: All I have is Amorto. I made a tiramisu recently.

AUTUMN: That'll be an interesting shot to take down.

SAM: I was going to take a half cause it's finished pretty sweet.

AUTUMN: Yeah. Yeah. I'm very curious to see what your face is going to do after this. Are you Jacob? Do you have water? Do you have anything? Or are we just going to mime along? There we go.

JACOB: I'm going to act.

AUTUMN: Okay, perfect. This is to being shot through the heart. For you: Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid.

JACOB: 'But you're too late, 'cause you give love– 'cause they give love a bad name.'

AUTUMN: A bad name!

JACOB: I'm signing off.