‘Interview with the Vampire’ Recap: ‘A Vile Hunger for Your Hammering Heart’

Written by Shae Rufe

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Interview with the Vampire’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. This article also contains discussions regarding domestic abuse and sexual assault, which may be triggering to some individuals.
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It’s important to know that not all victims of abuse turn into abusers. That being said, it’s not a shock that Louis has some tendencies of his own. In regard to Daniel the Journalist, Louis seems to be content with exerting his power and will over him. Each episode has progressed with varying degrees of Louis showcasing his power, yet in this he takes it too far. When Daniel makes a comment about Claudia’s journal, how four pages are missing, Louis warns him. Daniel pushes. These missing pages contain the details of what happened when she crossed another vampire. This vampire took full advantage of her, raped her, and Louis took those pages from her journal and tore them free. Supposedly to spare to reader or shield himself from what she had gone through.

To Daniel, this just leaves more questions. It’s now Louis’ word without evidence to back it all up. Much like this whole thing, Louis brushes it off. This is his story after all, this is how he is going to tell it. He even goes so far as to demand Claudia be written in such a way to overshadow her countless murders. Daniel is blunt, blatant, doesn’t hold back. So, when he tells Louis that once this is written and out there for the world to see, there is no controlling how the story is taken. Readers decide, no matter how the story is written. At the threat of Claudia not being seen as the precious innocent he believes her to be, Louis exerts his power over Daniel. Forces the man’s arm to uncontrollable and violently shake. It’s beyond cruel to do to a man suffering from the onset of Parkinson’s disease. When he finally lets Daniel free, he snaps. Slapping Louis. It’s a justifiable reaction.

Louis, however, a survivor of abuse himself, has no problem toying with Daniel, taking control over this entire situation, and putting Daniel in vulnerable situations. Daniel is caught in the web of a spider, being toyed with until the spider decides to strike. The frivolity at which the vampires treat human lives is a sad affair. Louis seems to have tried to be ethical about it, while Lestat was the opposite. Claudia on the other hand was the worst of all. A young woman now trapped in the teenage body, forced to ever fight it. She’s always going to be seen as just that, a barely pubescent child.

In the past, we learn that Claudia’s killings and behavior are an interesting blend of what she learned from Louis and Lestat. She isn’t as calculated, but she is cruel in her own way. She kills to satisfy an insatiable hunger. When she flees, the cracks in Lestat and Louis relationship are once again on full display. Lestat cheats, but he doesn’t want Louis to have anyone else. Lestat does what he wants, and Louis mourns for the child who left. It gets worse and worse and worse. Louis’ sister takes her family and leaves, it’s the last straw that draws Claudia back to Louis.

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She points out Lestat’s abuse during her confrontation with them. She isn’t here to stay, she’s here to take Louis and go to Europe. Flee, run, be away from his control. Maybe find others. It doesn’t go well. Lestat attacks her and in turn Louis attacks back. He’ll protect Claudia at all costs because it’s his fault she’s one of them. Lestat is older, much older, much stronger. The fight is terrible and bloody. Louis does his best but he’s not strong enough to win. Lestat drains him of blood, weakens him, beats him to a pulp, emotionally and mentally degrades him. The violence is almost overshadowed by the emotional ploys Lestat uses against Louis.

Love can be a powerful weapon.

In the end, Louis is left a bloodied, battered, mess. Claudia is wounded and beyond devastated at what she’s seen.

They have to leave. Lestat will kill either or both of them. After all, Claudia is the mistake he regrets making. Louis is the one he chose, wanted. Doubting that Louis loves him back, well that’s just dangerous.

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