‘Interview with the Vampire’ stuns with a fang-tastic second season

The much-awaited second season to the 2022 AMC show “Interview with the Vampire” began releasing episodes to viewers everywhere about two months ago. Like the series’ titular beings, the once-dormant fans seemed to collectively crawl out of hiding and buzz about, running their mouth about Louis (Jacob Anderson, “Game of Thrones”), Lestat (Sam Reid, “The Newsreader”) and the newly-revealed (for show-only watchers) vampire Armand (Assad Zaman, “Apple Tree Yard”). Creatures of the night (read: friends on Tumblr and Discord) set me under their trance, convincing me to tune in just as the finale just recently aired. And, dear reader, it has been my utmost pleasure to be in that trance.

Just as with last season’s format, we focus on Louis’s journey as mostly confined to one city, now Paris instead of New Orleans. The other noticeable trade-off, of course, is his new vampire love, Armand, whom he dates to this day. Where the two seasons deliciously differ, though, is with the addition of a second voice (Armand’s) to the narrative. Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian, “Succession”) now has two sources to interview instead of just the one — two and a half, counting Claudia’s (Delainey Hayles, “Holby City”) diaries. This addition serves to complicate the already dubious reliability of the story being woven, as its witnesses are prone to diverge in their retellings. As the show’s format necessitates that the scenes of the past reflect the subjective perspective of each narrator, they are open to fudging and reworking from either of their storytellers. As the extended trailer notes, “Memory is the monster.” And who’s to say where the truth lies?

With season two, “Interview” continues to strike a perfect balance between its remembered chronicle and the present-time event of the interview itself. You’re never itching to switch back to a preferred format, but instead delighted when the back and forth further colors your interpretation. While Molloy’s witticism and snide remarks on the romanticized cruelty perpetuated by the vampires and the general dramatics of the whole Lestat affair have taken a step back, it is only to make room for snarkily probing the new happy couple (together for 77 years almost to the day!) about their seemingly idyllic life, a very welcome way to maintain such a sharp characterization.

This season sees Molloy as a more involved player in the book he is writing, and as he is a personal favorite, I could not be more delighted. In a rare time-jumping treat, the season also has a special episode dedicated to piecing together what really occurred during their original 1973 meeting. The actor playing young Molloy (Luke Brandon Field, “The Flash”) does a phenomenal job of simulating Bogosian’s approach to the character. Though he doth protest now, young Molloy is also a testament to how hard it is not to fall for the vampire Louis’s charm.

Among the many new fanged faces to join the cast, Ben Daniels’s (“The Exorcist”) Santiago steals the stage with the greatest aplomb. An arguably significant antagonist to our lovebirds, his theatrical malice as the premier actor in the Theatre de Vampires and flair for the dramatics deepen the gothic feel and tone of the story. A business partner to Armand with opposing views of how covens should be run, Santiago introduces a significant source of conflict outside of the internal squabbles within Louis’ relationship with his lover and sister, a change from last season’s focus on family affairs. Moreover, with this being a season of reveals, twists and turns, the simmering, plotting looks Santiago gives both on and off the stage make him a standout for the season. 

Hayles, who replaces Bailey Bass (“Avatar: The Way of Water”) in the role of Claudia, has knocked it out of the park. The transition between the two actresses was easy on the viewers, and flashback sequences in a late-season episode even see Hayles “re-doing” one of Bass’s scenes in Louisiana. To write this article, I had to check if the actresses were even switched at all — funny thing, memory, is it not? Hayles has done a stellar job at the ever-tragic role of the child cursed to live as such forever. Her ability to display a range of anger from stoney coldness to fired passion is breathtaking. Claudia’s relationship with Louis sets her up for some intense arguments with riveting deliveries, particularly in their fight about Armand and Lestat. Moreover, with the introduction of Madeleine (Roxane Duran, “Mrs. Haris Goes to Paris”) we also see a more mature and caring side to her as we begin to discover who she is as an entity removed from Louis. Though this all happens in the midst of the deadliest love triangle of all time’s unraveling, I believe Hayles’s performance and the arc Claudia goes through will make season two be remembered as Claudia’s.

I would be remiss to conclude without highlighting the ghost of the vampire Lestat. A, shall we say, trick of Louis’s mind, season two retains Reid’s participation not just in additional scenes in Louisiana but as a ghostly guest in Paris. His physical presence helps remind us of his importance as the undead elephant in the room and how he and Armand contrast in Louis’s eyes. Moreover, it helps remind the audience that, until we are able to see Lestat in “our time,” meaning not through retellings for Molloy’s sake, Lestat is only who he is through the narrator’s eye. Similarly, whatever he does or says is not just as the narrator remembers, but as they wish for Molloy to perceive him. Reid, in essence, plays three different versions of the same character: Lestat according to Louis, Armand and Claudia in turn. And even then, we see several times where memories of Lestat’s actions were either willingly or unknowingly blurred and written over — is this misrecollection not yet another version? And was the vision Lestat that invisibly accompanies Louis in Paris ever real, as he seems to want to maintain, or just a ghost of his past, ever haunting? Reid’s performance manages to juggle all of the nuance that such a subtly complex role requires.

As a non-book reader, the season’s latter half was filled with a thrilling routine of twists executed to perfection, an exhilarating feeling of being at a fang’s edge with every new revelation. The final arc and the little epilogues that followed were superb, continuing to raise the bar from an already beloved first season, not just with the story but with the production, too. An unmissable part of the viewing experience is the behind-the-scenes look at how the episodes were developed. The breakdown of how the conclusion of the Theatre de Vampires arc was achieved really highlights the crew’s abilities. With the recent confirmation of its renewal (and confirmation that, yes, we are getting rockstar Lestat), this author cannot wait till the third season airs. Until then, all I can say is: Watch the damn show, it’s great.

Daily Arts Writer Cecilia Ledezma can be reached at cledezma@umich.edu.

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