As I watched Louis make his way out of the gravel, the coffin and the morgue,
I thought this is probably the moment his strongest emotions propelled him forward with what was to come. It did take me
a moment to realize the ghost of one of Louis' post-exhumation victims was actually helping him prepare.
And like the name of this episode, we see something else that brings to mind the 1994 film adaptation. Louis' revenge.
A fire in a theater.
Since it is well known that a theater is one of the most deadly places to have
a fire, Louis used this well. Theaters are large, cavernous spaces designed to hold a lot of people, but have very few doors
anywhere. One tragic example of this is the Chicago Iroquois Theater fire in 1903. But how would such a thing play out if
those inside the theater are vampires?
Louis went in while everyone was still in bed--I mean coffins. And like the 1994 film adaptation, Louis doused each coffin
liberally with an accelerant. Despite this, a few of the vampires, including Santiago/Francis, managed to escape the burning
structure. Of course, Santiago/Francis and the others did NOT stop to try to evacuate anyone else. To him, everyone else
was completely expendable. Only HE mattered. Something Louis made sure to let Santiago/Francis know he was wrong about--right
before he...uh, finished him off.
It would not be until more than 70 years later that Louis would learn it was not Armand who swayed the audience into sparing
Louis, but Lestat.
Sometime between the end of Daniel's present-day interview and Louis reuniting with Lestat, Louis returned to New Orleans.
And this is the kind of thing I love. A tour guide taking people through the French Quarter, and stopping in front of the
house Louis and Lestat had lived in with Claudia. While the tour guide thrilled his audience with the legend of this party
gone horribly wrong and what was found in the house after Louis and Claudia had fled, there was Louis, the French Creole,
wearing a baseball hat and jacket as he stood quietly listening with the rest of the tour group.
Now, since we have just recently learned there will be a Season 3 of Interview With the Vampire on AMC, let's talk
about Lestat's house. Where Louis goes to thank Lestat, who broke down while asking Louis if he tried to hurt himself on
September 8, 1973. Without giving away too much, those who have read the Vampire Chronicles, and The Vampire Lestat
in particular will recall that Lestat had hidden himself beneath an old ruin of a house in New Orleans in 1929, and did not
reemerge until 1984. The old ruin of a house Louis finds Lestat in...same house? We'll just have to wait and see!
Episode Graphics Courtesy of AMC/AMC+ and Anne Rice's Immortal Universe
See a Show Me More Season 2 featurette by AMC+ on YouTube:
So, this is vampire justice...and the Court of Public Opinion is allowed a vote because they think it's a show being put on?
I think? Well, except for the soldier with the big mouth whom Lestat confronts. Despite having to amend the charge of murder
to attempted murder since the victim himself is present to give testimony, that only covers Louis and Claudia.
But Madeleine? Someone who merely wanted companionship and had endured frighteningly graphic attacks herself? I'm going
to have to go back and refresh my memory on the character of Madeleine, because that seems...unjust. Guilt by association.
With a child vampire who should not have been made a vampire because she was a child. That would have been on Louis
and Lestat, yes?
After all of that, only Louis is spared a vampire death, instead being banished.
However, "banishment" meant a morgue, and sharing a coffin completely full of gravel WITH the gravel. That...makes me a
bit...dizzy...
But...wait. HOW did this come to pass? How is it Louis is spared at all, allowed banishment while Madeleine, whose only
"crime" seemed to be wanting to remain a companion to a child vampire who wasn't supposed to have been made in the first place
because she was a child? Instead of joining a coven who made her acquaintance by doing all of this to her? Well, let's ask
the guy in the back. Armand.
Somehow, Armand was able to sway the audience, the "Court of Public Opinion", to vote for banishment over death for Louis.
Despite the audience having voted for death for Claudia and Madeleine both. What.
Did Lestat make a move to help Claudia? Of course not. Did he make a move to help Madeleine? No. And why not? Good question,
but let's just pause there for a moment. It was Armand who intervened for Louis. With Lestat right there, watching the entire
thing. Including the end of both Claudia and Madeleine. So, of course we want to see the season finale! HOW to explain
this mess, and how, even after the side trip to 1973 San Francisco, Daniel is seated before Louis and Armand again, Armand
being the love of Louis' life?
Episode Graphics Courtesy of AMC/AMC+ and Anne Rice's Immortal Universe
Armand had never made a vampire himself in the nearly 500 years he's been one?
I think my eyes would have gotten big with disbelief, too, had I been in Daniel's place. Something interesting and curious
about both Armand and Claudia just occurred to me for the first time...ever.
Armand was also very young when he was made a vampire. It's a bit jarring to see the difference in the apparent age at the
time Armand became a vampire when you compare Armand in Interview With the Vampire (1994) with Armand in this series.
However, Armand is portrayed in the series as having been quite young at the time he became a vampire, which is a lot closer
to the character of Armand in the Vampire Chronicles novels.But what has this to do with Claudia?
That depends on just how young Armand was when he became a vampire. Claudia
was a child when she was made a vampire, rather than simply "very young". Armand had at least reached adolescence or early
adulthood when he became a vampire. Despite Armand's eventful "unlife" over a period of nearly 500 years and all that he
had done, both on his own and with other vampires he did not make, Claudia having been a child when made was enough to shock
and offend even his sensibilities.
Claudia having been forced to remain a child for the rest of her long existence was something she would never be able to get
past. She had not even gotten close enough to adulthood to at least try to pass herself off as someone who did not require
adult supervision. And like any child, she hadn't exactly been given a choice.
So what happens now? What happens to Claudia, Louis, and this French dressmaker Claudia had chosen to be a mother figure
to her? Especially since it now appears that Lestat was waiting in the dressing room as the three were revealed onstage?
Episode Graphics Courtesy of AMC/AMC+ and Anne Rice's Immortal Universe
This departure from Paris in the 1940s to San Francisco in 1973 goes over the
point in the original interview when Daniel wanted to Louis to turn him, but with one detail omitted: Claudia. What happened
to Claudia? Why wasn't she present in 1973? Louis made some vague statements regarding Claudia's having left at some point,
that their paths had separated, not to be rejoined again.
We have yet to learn what exactly happened to Claudia, but without giving away too much, there is more that tends to remind
us, in vague ways, of Merrick...
Episode Image Courtesy of Anne Rice's Immortal Universe
Commentary for Episodes 1, 2 and 3 are not here because the Parlor only kept those up temporarily
before deciding to keep a running commentary on a page dedicated to the AMC series...
The Parisian Vampire Starter Pack (are the drinks complimentary?): A photographer
from New Orleans...hmmm... Now that we've seen traces of the vampire Armand's mortal life in paintings in a Paris art gallery
that hint at his mortal life as Amadeo, I wonder if there might at some point be references to a later witch turned vampire
named Merrick...
A look back...
...at the artwork made for each episode of Season 1 by Anne Rice's Immortal Universe. Each episode graphic was tinted a deep
blood red.
They've made some fantastic promotional material for both series that can be seen on their social media (Facebook, Instagram,
X). Some of their creations for the Mayfair Witches series can also be seen on this page of the Parlor:
By the time Interview With the Vampire was adapted into a series by AMC and premiered in
2022, Merrick, Blackwood Farm, and Blood Canticle had all been published. The rest of the Vampire
Chronicles novels had also all been published, including the graphic novel, Claudia's Story. Anne Rice, to the
heartbreak of the Parlor, and to Anne's family, friends, and fans all over the world, had passed away.
In the fall of 2022, the new series premiered on AMC. It was a somewhat revised version of Interview With the Vampire.
Revised? Say what, now?
Well, for starters, the time period of the story moved from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. While the beginning
was still set in New Orleans as it always had been (mostly), Louis de Pointe du Lac went from operating this type of business:
Plantation of Louis de Pointe du Lac, 1791
to this:
Fair Play Saloon of Louis de Pointe du Lac, 1910
But does this mean Louis also continued to live where he worked?
For many years, bringing the Mayfair Witches to the screen had been something Anne Rice had wanted
to see, and she even wrote early scripts for this anticipated project. Finally, on January 8, 2023, over a year after Anne's
death, Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches premiered on AMC.
Something the two shows have done is to tuck in little surprises here and there, similar to the "Easter eggs" found on DVD
Extras. Little references in episodes of one show to the other show. With Merrick, the Mayfair Witches were introduced
slowly to the Vampire Chronicles. In their own little ways, the two AMC shows do something similar.
Mouldings One also has plans for the historic Gallier house! In fact, they have quite a bit on
the details of the house, including some historical photos of the interior in black and white. For those who would like to
see the plans for the Gallier house, the link to them on Mouldings One is below:
Built in 1857, this was the home of architect James Gallier and his family. It is at 1132 Royal
Street in New Orleans' French Quarter. There will be more information about this house soon, so please keep checking back!
The Parlor ghost, in place of Winona Ryder in the famous red gown from Bram Stoker's Dracula...and
she's wearing the...Mayfair Emerald?! Or Claudia's emerald necklace..?
Claudia (Bailey Bass) is gifted with an emerald necklace in AMC's Interview
With the Vampire (Season 1)
