Isobel Grieve
The following review contains spoilers for Interview with the Vampire S2E6, “Like the Light by Which God Made the World Before He Had Made Light” (written by Hannah Moscovitch & Shane Munson and directed by Emma Freeman)
God, I love Real Rashid (Bally Gill). I like that Interview with the Vampire has taken the inconspicuous, trusted servant of Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Armand (Assad Zaman) and turned him into an undercover operative. Love to see a side character get their backstory filled in. I’m all the more invested in Rashid.
Trouble in paradise. Anderson and Zaman have fiery chemistry. When they are acting in love, they are cute and desirable. When they are at odds, their bickering is clipped, filled with aching old wounds and complicated history. They scoff at one another all episode. Anderson layers his pet names for Armand with sarcasm. Armand has clipped embarrassment steeped in his every monologue and admission to Daniel Malloy (Eric Bogosian) in the Interview. The repercussions of Episode 5 follow the trio throughout Episode 6.
Yet I grow to feel more compassion for Armand than for Louis. For much of Armand’s existence, he has felt unrequited. First, his creator, Marcus. Then, his co-conspirator, Lestat. And sadly, again, with his 70-year companion, Louis. Perhaps he deserves to be selfish, a coward. As much as Louis has endured, Armand has spent 500 years being abused.
Shifty actions in the background at Theatre des Vampires show the women, Celeste (Suzanne Andrade) and Estelle (Emse Appleton), under Santiago’s command, making moves to solve the shady nature of their recruit, Claudia (Delainey Hayes) and uncover the disappearance of their co-founder, Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid). How the interview/narration skews this double-cross is delectably layered with tainted memories and shame.
I have yet to compliment the actors roaming in the wings, the other members of Armand’s coven. Now is as good a time as any to express my gratitude for their distinct portrayals of diverse characters, each with unique signifying traits and memorable squabbles. I find Sam (Chris Geary) extremely memorable, with his quippy one-liners and facial expressions: humor, disgust, annoyance, and envy. Eglee (Genevieve Dunne) has immense comedic timing. Quang Pham (Khetphet Phangnasay), Tuan Pham (Yung), Gustave (Jake Cecil) and Hans Lechenbaum (Ben Bradshaw) are far quieter in their presence, but they are noted and accounted for nonetheless.
I am still in awe of Madelaine (Roxane Duran), the dressmaker and seamstress, and her unique and nuanced story. We know her history as a lover to a young and naive Nazi soldier during WWII and how her loneliness and desperation led her to that decision. War will make villains of us all. This connection that Claudia and Madelaine share is compelling. Is it lust? Love? Companionship? Fascination? Claudia clung to the idea of Madelaine as soon as she spotted the swastika painted on her shop window. Claudia saw her loneliness reflected in Madelaine; bitterness, too.
“The first vampire capitalist.” – Armand
Louis is a money man. He forsakes his passion for photography and runs in the monetary direction to soothe his wounds. If he cannot be an artist, he will bankroll on the work of others. We see the beginnings of Louis and Armand’s collection build, an explanation for their wealth in 2022. There is no need to forge identification on bonds and stocks when you have a vault of precious art. Yet, this ruthless, money-hungry piece of Louis’s character is also unflattering. There is and has always been a lack of humanity in pursuing wealth. Capitalism demands the oppression of others to gain the financial freedom of some. Where we once saw Louis’s emotional suffering and philosophical debates about taking life and saw that rare remnant of humanity in him, this new pursuit disintegrates that.
When Louis decided he was going to turn Madelaine for Claudia, at first, I was confused. It took me a moment to filter through the dialogue between Armand and Louis surrounding this issue. The discussion sounds an awful lot like discussing the birth of a child, adoption, etc. There is a parallel between Louis realizing Armand had never turned someone before and a husband realizing his wife is infertile. That sense of betrayal and toxic ideation that this person you love is not all you they are ‘meant’ to be: a woman as a birth machine, a coven leader (an alpha, a master, etc.) who has never created a vampire.
Once the deed is done, Louis feels the change in himself. He has less room for Claudia now, with Madelaine’s resurrection forever embedded in him—the scars on a womb from childbirth. Again, this metaphor.
Yet, now the other shoe must drop. The coven, the Theatre des Vampire, under Santiago’s direction, has been planning for the revenge of their patron, Lestat. Doomed from her very last breath and cold reawakening, Madelaine must be punished in conjunction with the crimes of Louis and Claudia as Armand stands by. The trial begins… Next week, Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Episode 7 will be one for the books, I’m sure.
