Interview with the Vampire: Episode 2, After The Phantoms Of Your Normal Self [RECAP/REVIEW]

Interview with the Vampire: Episode 2, “After The Phantoms Of Your Normal Self,” opens back in the modern day. We’re in Louis’s apartment looking at an art piece of Jesus (which is hilarious if you know Lestat’s story). I will say I am very curious about Louis’s servants; they don’t seem to be vampires, but are “happy to serve a God.”

We see Daniel sitting at a dining table, eating an incredibly fancy meal with expensive wine. The servants put plastic down on the table on Louis’s side in order to serve his blood bag. Daniel continues to be unsure of why he’s still there and worries that this will be his end. Even so, they continue with session 2. 

WHERE WERE WE?

Oh yes, two vampires walk into a church is where we left off. We see Louis blissful as one of the stages of his transformation – followed by unrelenting pain. While Louis and Lestat are in a graveyard disposing of bodies, Louis tries to drink the blood of the dead and Lestat gives him a warning. If he drinks the blood of the dead it will suck him into death also. I love a good foreshadowing moment. 

The episode moves forward and we begin to see through Louis’s newly transformed vampire eyes. Through lights, filters, and other visual FX we get to join Louis on his new vampire high through the town. Louis now hears and sees through newly heightened senses. We get to see Lestat help him walk through the first night by helping him choose the right people to drink from. As we know, hunting is an art form that Lestat is more than willing to teach. 

Louis originally chooses a young navy man. However, Lestat warns him away with logic – it’s best to let the food come to you. Watching Louis try to be patient while listening to a man drone on and on about his daughter and tractor sales is hilarious. Finally, Louis gets to have his first kill and learns that “you don’t bite the blood, you suck it”. Yes, sir.

THE HIGH CAN’T LAST FOREVER

After the high of the night wears off, Louis wants to go home to his family. He’s feeling overwhelmed. There were too many firsts for one night: being transformed, desired, and bedding down was an overture to his life. However, Louis learns that vampires cannot go out into the sun the hard way. The series gives us a wonderful effect of his walking and slowly burning and turning into ash. 

If you’re familiar with the story, Louis doesn’t take to killing humans well. Louis in the AMC series isn’t any different. He hopes to learn how to turn reading minds into possibly only killing bad people. So, we get a fantastic Twilight-esque scene of Louis and Lestat walking down the street reading the townfolk’s minds: food, sex, go home. Something this series shows that the film did not is that while Lestat can read human and vampire minds alike, he cannot read Louis. Why? Because he made him. This is a key component of Anne Rice Vampire Lore. 

Louis de Pointe du Lac, Vampire and Businessman

Even though Louis is a new vampire, he still has a business to run. Fortunately, he does the majority of the work at night. Louis refuses to leave his human life behind which is a point of contention for Lestat. 

After being gone for 6 months, Louis finally goes home to visit his family. His mother doesn’t hide her disdain for Lestat one bit or her suspicions of her son being gay. When talking with his sister, he learns that she’s pregnant! However, because of his vampire hearing, he can tell she’s going to have twins – two heartbeats. So, he gives her money for the babies and leaves. 

Back at work and discussing the business with a contractor, Louis finds him incredibly condescending and he pays with his life. Lestat is furious! This kill puts them in danger because people will come looking for him. However, Lestat can’t go to bed angry and they work out the fight in their separate coffins. In the end, Louis borrows money from Lestat and becomes the owner of the most popular club in the district. 

1912-1917

Louis has never met the twins he was excited about previously. So, when finally visiting his sister, he learns she has had another child. While holding his newborn nephew Louis is incredibly tempted to feed on him. At this point, it’s very unclear as to what happened as we flashback to the interview.

Daniel tries to force an answer from him. Instead, Louis feeds in front of him as “a master of his instincts.” Finally, we get the answer. Louis left the child on the floor and ran away. This moment is the beginning of what I like to call Brooding Louis. Upset by almost killing his nephew, understanding that he will never have a family of his own, Louis asks Lestat to throw him into the incinerator and make a replacement. 

So, Lestat does what he does best – tries to distract Louis with gifts, trips, and an opera to cheer him up. “Lestat, my murderer, mentor, lover, and maker. I worshiped him”. – Louis

The Opera

Since we’re still in the early 1920s, Louis has to pretend to be Lestat’s valet until the lights are down and the overture begins. Here, Lestat has a real moment with Louis and shares his greatest fear about being a vampire – loneliness. Louis takes the feeling of loneliness away from him and he never wants to part. 

We also see Lestat’s love for music and how he holds musicians, singers, and more on a pedestal… with the exception of the Tenor of the Opera. He is so terrible which upsets Lestat greatly. So, he takes it upon himself to show the Tenor exactly what he’s doing wrong before murdering him. Louis scolds Lestat for his actions. Lestat doesn’t understand why Louis will not embrace his true nature, because if he does he will fully understand the beauty in death.

Back to the interview

Louis now understands that he would never be a natural. He would never love the kill. He even shares that he tries to have a human dish once a week in order to stay connected to that part of him. One of the dishes was something from Daniel’s memoir – the dessert he had when Daniel proposed to his first wife. He also shares that his last human kill was back in the year 2000. At this moment, Daniel also shares more about himself with Louis strengthening their bond.

After The Phantoms Of Your Normal Self – REVIEW

Something I never understood from the Interview with the Vampire book is why Louis would stay for so long. If he was truly miserable from day one, why not kill himself or run away? For me, this series is explaining what is truly missing in the first book of The Vampire Chronicles. We finally get to see the relationship Louis and Lestat somewhat described in the later books. 

While this episode jumps back to the interview room significantly more than the previous one, I think it helps make more points and solidify that Louis wants this new book to be a warning. Louis wants a very specific line of questioning in order to tell this story. 

I love getting to see Louis and Lestat operate in a relationship. Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) and Sam Reid (Lamb of God) just understand the assignment when it comes to these two characters. Their chemistry is incredible. Reid’s understanding of who Lestat is paired with the writing is impeccable. Watching Lestat torture the Tenor before killing him is hilarious. Watching Lestat dab his blood on the sheet music every time he gets a note wrong is the level of petty I need from this character, and it’s magical to watch.

I cannot wait to see what happens next week!

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