Initial thoughts for 2x08 (Episode 15) — SPOILERS INCLUDED!
FINALLY! I can talk freely! 🤣😭🙌🏽 Do y’all know how hard it was for me to keep my mouth shut over the fact it was LESTAT who saved Louis while Armand directed the play?! But I’m coming to all that. I’m glad I knew about all this beforehand, because there were a lot of things left up in the air and many loose ends. That is the twist to which I think Sam was referring. No concrete answers to certain things other than the main points. So here we go.
The rocks healing inside Louis’ ankles. Are you joking? The way this made me physically hurt and cringe and feel so bad for Louis. His feet have to be in pain to this day, yet he’s punishing himself by not removing them. I’m going to need a scene of Lestat finding this out and those rocks finally being removed by Lestat. A true symbol of the healing and forgiveness that Louis is desperately trying to extend to himself.
Louis saying no matter what would’ve changed in his life, Lestat was always his destiny. 😭
How long did Armand let him starve? Louis’ wails and moans were ripping my heart out. Let him go!
Louis’ rage. It’s a thing of beauty. Possibly one of my favorite sequences across the entirety of both seasons. Torch those assholes! 🔥
Also? Louis has power! When he used the mind gift to hone in on Estelle and Celeste, I got chills. It reminds me of Sam and Jacob saying that Louis should, by the later lore, have those powers too, because Lestat made him, and Lestat is powerful from both Magnus and Akasha.
Louis vs. Santiago. I cheered. It’s been building, and Ben Daniels created a Santiago that was actually worth the time Louis took to kill him. Do not underestimate Louis. 🥰
Lestat just hanging out in Magnus’ tower? Repeating the words that Magnus spoke to him? Mmhmm. Oh I’m sure. Y’all see now why I said it had Armand’s handiwork written all over it? Louis choosing Armand over Lestat in the most melodramatic, telenovela way? I’m betting a million dollars that scene did not happen like that, and I’m also betting Lestat wasn’t the arrogant, apathetic fiend like we see in that moment either.
I do, however, believe Louis went with Armand to spite Lestat. It goes right along with the intentions of the OG interview in 1973 and all the petty insults in an effort to get Lestat’s attention, which pokes another hole in the Magnus tower scene. Louis seemingly blames Lestat for Claudia’s death in the tower, yet that’s not really the tune he’s singing in 1973. Again, like I’ve mentioned several times, why has the story changed in Dubai? *ahem*
Daniel. My man. The MVP. “Where does the bullshit start, Armand? Amadeo? Arun?”
Sam was the Talamasca operative all along. Very very interesting.
“I could not prevent it.” Mmhmm. Not only could Armand have prevented it, but he directed the entire trial and made several important notes in the script wrt the Loustat relationship and how Lestat was supposed to behave and even directing it to have Lestat not look at Louis until the key moment, because Armand knew what would happen the second Lestat looked at Louis.
Lestat rehearsing. Oh yes, he’s sooooooo invested in the play to the point he’s resistant to their directions, screams that they know nothing of Claudia’s strength, and literally throws the script back in Armand’s face.
We still don’t know how/why Lestat got to Paris and exactly what all went down with him before, during, and after the trial. THANK GOODNESS WE HAVE S3 CONFIRMED! 🙌🏽
Lestat saved Louis. It took all his strength to do it. That’s why he couldn’t save Claudia too. Daniel bringing up the soldiers from 1x03 was meant to highlight this. Remember how weak and pallid Lestat looked afterward? How he collapsed with his ears bleeding?
He looked the same at the trial, and his ears were bleeding.
We also have the glimpse of Lestat completely zonked in the aftermath and swaying on his feet before Claudia dies.
All of this from Lestat’s POV in S3 will be devastating.
The Loumand breakup. I was very interested to see the reactions to Louis throwing Armand into the wall and telling him to get out.
“Not my Lestat!” from 1x05 🤝 “Not my Armand!” from 2x15.
In all seriousness though, I don’t think Armand was really going to let Louis die. I think there was more to it and perhaps he’d worked something out with Santiago. I don’t know, but it is a rather cold turn for Armand, even though I think the show has honed in on the fact the trial was always (even in the book) about Lestat and about Armand’s desire for revenge against him for what Lestat had done to his coven and for rejecting him. It’s always always been about Lestat — for both Louis and Armand.
Sebastian Melmoth. I smiled. Little Tale Of The Body Thief easter egg. One of Lestat’s favorite aliases.
LOUSTAT REUNION! 😭♥️🙌🏽 Our babies came home to us! We’ve been living off Louis’ side of the hug for months, but now we have Lestat’s side. It was worth the wait.
Look at his face. Look at his hand trembling. Look at the way he closes his eyes in profound relief. The overwhelming love and relief that Louis, his beautiful Louis, is alive and safe. He’s not dead like Nicki and Claudia, which is a direct aspect from The Vampire Lestat.
Lestat saying he left Louis with Armand and asking if that was saving Louis….I told y’all the parallels with Nicki were smacking us in the face.
“Did you hurt yourself?” I talked about this moment already here, but I won’t ever get over this. He loves Louis. Like, OMG. He LOVES Louis. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Louis apologizing to Lestat. Louis explaining that he was wrong and wanted to be awful to Lestat due to his own suffering. Lestat’s soft little “I see” in response. The way you can already see his self-loathing and the way he believes he failed at making Louis happy. Louis finally acknowledging vampirism as the gift that it is. Louis thanking Lestat. Lestat’s shock that Louis isn’t there to berate him or reject him, and that’s when Lestat’s walls crumble, and the first true words to Louis are asking about the suicide attempt. I can’t, y’all. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH!
Lestat punishing himself by living in squalor. However, I don’t think we’ve heard the full truth of everything that he’s endured since Paris. He sounded so weak and ill in 1973 and in 2022, he’s still seemingly in a mental fog. He’s not well, and there’s no way Louis would’ve left him in that condition.
Louis softly kissing Lestat’s face. The way it looks like he kisses the mouth scar. No words. Just….no words. A small glimpse into their future. The way the embrace starts to loosen, but then Louis clutches him back into his arms, and Lestat easily goes while he continues to sob.
At the end of the day, this was two parents grieving the loss of their daughter. She will continue to haunt them for the rest of their existence. No one can know this pain except them. They were the happy family. She was their baby, their child. They both failed her even though they both loved her.
Having said that, y’all remember the flack I got for saying Lestat loved Claudia? 🖕🏽😊
This is what I meant when I said Loustat is left ambiguous. We don’t know how they leave things or if they did leave things. We don’t know where Lestat is during the final scene in Dubai, which brings me to a theory that must be considered.
What if this meeting is the contested NOLA meeting? What if Louis didn’t find Lestat in NOLA, because Lestat went underground when he got the call in 1973? What if Louis included this meeting in the book as a call to Lestat to draw him out? Just something that needs to be considered, but I like to believe it really happened and Lestat was sleeping in the bedroom in Dubai, even if they’re not yet “together” again.
The symbolism of Loustat clinging to each other as the hurricane rages around them. The world could be crumbling around them. As long as they have each other….it’s always only them. Fatally. They are it for each other.
The color coming back into Louis’ life after reconnecting with Lestat? My heart. 🥺
Ah yes. The final scene with The Vampire Louis. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. “I own the night.” YES, LOUIS! YES! 🙌🏽👏🏽
Do y’all see how this perfectly sets up The Vampire Lestat? Louis is now in danger. Lestat, wherever he is, won’t stand for that. 🥰
Lastly, The Vampire Daniel. Y’all! I was screaming over this! So so happy! 😭 So yeah, idk how anyone could say Devil’s Minion wasn’t a thing after this. For one, I don’t believe Daniel was made out of spite. Nope. For another, I think parts of Devil’s Minion already happened, and this perfectly sets up their journey together, because Daniel is Armand’s only fledgling.
Again, thank the lord we have a S3 confirmation! 🙏🏽 So many things were left open and so many threads/arcs being established. The pacing was an issue. Too many things extended in the earlier episodes that could’ve been condensed, because 2x07 and 2x08 needed the time to breathe, and I feel like everything was simply packed into the last two episodes, because time was wasted at the theater.
Overall, did S2 exceed S1? No, but this part of the book was never my favorite, and I’m just glad to be moving on from this dark arc, and finally knowing we’re gonna get to see Louis and Lestat moving forward together and getting the development that only existed between the lines in the books. Onward and upward! 🥂🍾♥️✨🙌🏽
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