Interview With The Vampire review, Episode 3: A messy gothic romance

Interview with the Vampire‘s third outing is all about Louis and his identity crisis as he grapples with his true nature as a vampire. The episode begins with Lestat and Louis discussing their options when it comes to killing and feeding. Louis proposes that they try only killing people who deserve it, but Lestat counters that all humans are capable of abomination.

Spoilers ahead for Interview with the Vampire episode 3

They listen to the thoughts of passersby until Louis settles on one. Lestat using his usual torture methods rather than killing solely to feed. A disgusted Louis grabs a spare cat off the street and drains it instead of participating in Lestat’s games.

To be a vampire that only feeds on animals is to go against their very nature, says Lestat. It’s like a fish that doesn’t swim or a bird that doesn’t fly, but Louis argues that he can do it.

A messy gothic romance

Our first scene in Dubai 2022 has Daniel arguing that Louis’ recollections have changed substantially since their first interview in San Francisco during the 1970s. He plays an audio file from that time, and a younger Louis is far angrier when discussing his time with Lestat. Daniel presses Louis on the nature of his relationship with the other vampire.

Was Louis abused? Louis argues that he doesn’t see it that way and does not consider himself a victim, which Daniel counters by saying that’s par for the course for many actual victims of abuse. They were in a “f**ked up gothic romance.”

Still, decades have passed since that first interview, and Louis wants Daniel to appreciate the odyssey of his recollection without the constant comparisons to his past, using a passage from Daniel’s own book to assert that it’s okay for his memories to change and evolve with him.

In a show of good faith, Daniel chucks all the old cassettes into the trash can, and when Louis calls the action performative, he deletes all the audio files off his laptop for good measure. And as the final nail in the coffin of that old interview, Louis lights the tapes on fire because, apparently, vampires can also start fires with their minds!

Rekindling an old flame

Returning to the past, we learn that Lestat would often sleep with other people. He has sex with a woman named Antoinette Brown, and Louis is surprised that Lestat doesn’t kill her. The fact that he is having sex without feeding means he’s doing it just for fun. Is that considered cheating? Lestat doesn’t think so. He essentially presents Louis with the idea of an open relationship.

They will be together for thousands of nights; to stave off dullness, they need to sleep with other people from time to time—as long as they always come home to each other.

Well, I have a hard time believing Lestat can let Louis sleep with someone else without being jealous, and he proves me correct almost immediately! A former flame of Louis’, a soldier returned from war named Jonah, comes back to Storyville for a visit. He and Louis hook up in the woods. Louis bites himself to keep from harming Jonah.

He later finds Lestat throwing a party with tons of soldiers, and Lestat snarkily comments that he thought Louis would like it since soldiers are his type. Lestat confirms that he snuck into the woods and watched the entire encounter between Louis and Jonah and admits that he’s jealous. Lestat argues that it’s different when he has sex with Antoinette because he doesn’t have feelings for her, but really, Lestat just doesn’t like sharing.

The Devil walks at night

Louis is basically a powder keg waiting for a light throughout this episode. It starts with him trying to adapt to an all-animal diet and comes to a head when he returns home to visit his family for the twins’ birthday. Louis’ mother calls him a devil and tries to prevent him from going into the house to see Grace and his nieces.

He knocks the door clean off his hinges, terrifying Grace and the girls. Grace tells him to get out. Just like Lestat said, Louis trying to maintain a relationship with his family was only ever going to end in sadness.

And as if all of that isn’t enough, Louis’ grip on his businesses in Storyville is coming to an end. Alderman Fenwick tells him a new ordinance is being passed that will force segregation in many of the local businesses.

Adding fuel to the fire is the Alderman’s disrespectful offer of re-buying the Azaelea from Louis for significantly less than its worth. Louis questions if Tom only sold him the Azaelea to begin with because he knew this would happen at some point.

In an act of defiance, Louis sticks a sign on Azaela’s front door that reads, “colored only, no whites allowed,” which pisses off the Alderman and his cronies. As Daniel points out, “take a black man in America, make him a vampire, f**k with that vampire and see what comes of it.”

Everything Louis has been struggling with rises to the surface, and the Alderman’s smugness is the final straw. Louis viciously tortures and kills him, stringing his body up in public with a “whites only” sign beneath him as a message to all. Lestat is suitably impressed with Louis’ methods and thinks he has finally embraced his true nature, but Louis argues that he didn’t do it for himself. Louis did it for his people. Then he tells Lestat that they’ll never work and Lestat will always be alone.

In the final moments of the episode, Louis desperately tries to find his moral compass again as Storyville burns around him in the aftermath of the Alderman’s death. He hears a young girl screaming from inside a burning building and runs in after her. He might not have been able to save Storyville or his people, but he could save her—his light, his redemption, Claudia! Yes, it looks like the next episode is preparing to introduce one of the other critical characters in this saga.

Overall, another fantastic episode that really delves into the heart of Louis’ internal struggles and the nature of his connection to Lestat.

Grade: A+

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels