‘Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire’ Recap: ‘What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned’

5/13/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Jacob Anderson and Delainey Hayles as Louis De Point Du Lac and Claudia in Episode 201 of ‘Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire’ - ‘What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned’. (Photo Courtesy of Larry Horricks/AMC.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season Two Premiere of ‘Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire’. To revisit the Season One Finale, click here.

There comes a point in all of our lives, where we grow quite curious about who we are. Simply because we don’t find our purpose and direction, and outright meaning right away, when we set out into the world. Some of us float, some of us enter new chapters without giving them any agency or thought, and well… a life changing event or something eye opening tends to snap us out of our slacker reverie or gives us pause. Wherein… we opt to decide to really learn about the person we see in the mirror. Specifically, what makes us happy? What angers us? What do we want out of this life and what kind of person do we want to be?

Which in turn, puts us on that quest. Where we try to find ourselves, find out where we belong and answer all of those questions and that process, is indeed worthwhile. Since we do indeed discover all, we need to know about ourselves and act accordingly. But what’s fascinating about this process and how we perceive and discuss it, is that we don’t really spotlight the fact… that it isn’t always positive or swift in nature. Because not everyone finds what they need right away due to a complex search or some darkness in their lives, the kind that complicates... everything. But we should discuss that more to temper expectations and to help people understand the search for personal truth isn’t always sunshine and rainbows and that’s why the season two premiere of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire is of note.

Because ‘What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned’ happens to be a story that explores that more difficult search for personal truth and that sense of belonging, and it accomplished that feat by catching up with Louis and Claudia in Europe. In fact, this story was set in the midst of World War II, wherein this duo was searching high and low… for more of their own kind. Because Claudia was still soured on the incident involving Lestat, and she was deeply curious as to whether or not the vampire had a greater purpose in the universe than to be sorrowful and angry creatures that could only kill and impart harm upon one another. So, what better place to find purpose than Europe. Where the vampire was born and well… that’s where the central theme came into play.

Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid as Louis De Point Du Lac and Lestat De Lioncourt in Episode 201 of ‘Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire’ - ‘What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned’. (Photo Courtesy of Larry Horricks/AMC.)

For the search was a disaster through and through. Because this duo only found heartbreak and sorrow, and ugliness worse than anything a vampire could conduct, courtesy of the Nazi Regime, and there were no signs of vampires from lore. There were echoes of course, but nothing more and that left this duo to their sourness. To the ugliness they left behind. In fact, Louis often saw Lestat at his lowest points and this duo also came to learn… continued sorrow can poison blood. Because their meals weren’t fulfilling and left them with minimal energy and well, it left Louis and Claudia wondering if they’d find anything at all. Or if they were alone, and if wandering and anger was their purpose for eternity now… that is until a surprise came forth in Romania.

In that, they came across a village where superstition and worry regarding vampires was rampant, and where the locals refused to talk about it in detail, and that excited Claudia to no end. For it meant more vampires had to be here, and that there was a chance at last she could understand her future, her purpose, her direction… only to be disappointed. Because all she found were corrupted vampires and broken spirits. Which left her of the belief that she was to forever be a monster. But Louis informed her, she could forge her own path, with him, and life could be vastly different. Which brought them to Paris and a chance at a new beginning and a fine reminder of the lesson at hand. Since Claudia was in fact, a person mired in roadblocks and frustrations on her path to self-discovery.

Which can happen when there is trauma to overcome, or genuine darkness coming forth from one’s current situation or if one’s disposition is poisoned with anger and defensiveness. But thankfully, there is a way forward and sometimes it is just trying something new and forging a path to see what sticks or what comes forth. All of which made for a thoughtful and relatable episode, and an emotional one at that. Since you could not help but feel for Claudia and Louis, and their lonesome quest to be more than what Lestat and the broken vampire here transformed into, and that quest, will give rise to a fascinating season of storytelling. Wherein more lessons regarding the human condition will come forth from two beings that deeply miss it, and it will be fascinating to see what those lessons will be, and to immerse ourselves in more iconography from this legendary story as season two of this magnificent show continues along. Until next time.

Watch ‘Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire’

0 Comments