“Interview With the Vampire’s” stunning second season came to a close with a fitting mix of violence, madness and heartwrenching tenderness. Daniel Molloy blew up Louis and Armand’s relationship with little help from the Talamasca, Armand made Daniel a vampire, Louis and Lestat reunited and wept, and we finally met the real Lestat. Oh, and Molloy published the book, which means vampires all around the world now want Louis dead for spilling their secrets — a fact he seems more than comfortable with. Ahead of the season finale, TheWrap spoke with the cast and series creator, writer and showrunner Rolin Jones to unpack the biggest moments from that jam-packed Season 2 ending, and to get a little tease of what to expect from Season 3 in the process.
Lestat Plays the Hero
As Daniel discovered with the help of the Talamasca, it was none other than Lestat who actually saved Louis’ life from the stage, using mind control to make the audience chose banishment. But he was also a key participant in the trial, who appears to struggle with his own motivations throughout the finale episode. As Louis puts it when he confronts Lestat in the tower, why did he cross an ocean to rehearse a play that would burn his daughter alive? What satisfaction did he expect to get from the trial? “I don’t think he expected to get any satisfaction with the trial. I don’t think the trial was Lestat’s idea. Lestat had no intention of that,” Sam Reid explained.
Armand’s (Second) Big Betrayal
In addition to the knowledge that it was Lestat who truly saved Louis from being sentenced to death during the trial, Daniel dug up another harsh truth. Armand didn’t just sell out Louis, Claudia and Madeleine to his coven, and he didn’t just witness the “Theatre Des Vampires” performance that led to Claudia and Madeleine’s horrific deaths — he directed the play, leaving Louis to die along with them. It’s a heartbreaking reveal, and yet another lie from the ever-slippery character of Armand, but both actor Assad Zaman and showrunner Rolin Jones still have a lot of sympathy for the character.
Introducing the Real Lestat
Daniel’s revelation that it was Lestat who saved Louis’ life in Paris finally brings the show’s former lovers back together for a heartwrenching reunion. With the interview complete, the scene doesn’t take place through anyone’s subjective lens, meaning we finally met the real Lestat. “That’s as objective as we’re ever gonna get in this show,” Reid said.
The Vampire Daniel
In the episode’s final minutes, we learn that Armand made the “extreme” decision to turn Daniel, despite his centuries-long aversion to ever creating another vampire. And now, a vamped-up Daniel Molloy is doing a contentious press tour for his sensational hit novel “Interview With the Vampire.” The rub? His transformation happened off-screen, so fans who have been waiting to see the “Devil’s Minion” storyline play out will have to wait a bit longer.
Louis Is His Own Man at Last in the Final Scene
Louis’ future is another aspect of the series going forward for which there is little roadmap in the books. Once Rice turned her attentions to Lestat, Louis largely moved into the background, popping up here and there, but rarely taking center stage again. But fear not, that’s not going to happen in the show, as the finale’s final scene made clear. Back in his Dubai apartment, now alone for the first time in his vampire existence, Louis calls out to all the vampires he hears threatening and wishing him ill after he revealed vampire secrets in “Interview With the Vampire.” He basically tells them to come and get it if they want it, warning “I own the night.”
