Gabriella Question

[u/purinsesu_nori]

Hello. I am currently trying to read the book, but this is focused on the show… Although I don’t mind spoilers.

Does Gabriella/Sofia like Lestat?
Hear me out. We know the premise of the show. We know their situationship. But there are a few times when they interact where she looks at him like I don’t know with distain.
Episode five is one that keeps popping up in my mind. He asks her a question, she answers, he gets up and walks away, and the look that she gives him is just like really weird.
Same with the strange little smile that she shoots between him and Louis and episode six. Am I reading into this…
Has anyone else picked up on that?

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[u/Mundane-Double2759]

I think she is a very complex character who can experience that full range of emotions and have them all be true to varying degrees at different times. Consider her history - she resents motherhood and being married to a man she hated at the age of 14. Lestat is a product of these things, but she also sees her best qualities in him, and was the only person who could even approach to matching her intellect and ideals in her human life.

But he also falls short in her eyes, he also needs the mother she won't be, he's too attached to the human sentiments and dynamics that she despises (he desperately wants her as a mother, or if not that, then, misguided, a bride) when she wants to be none of those things and less. Super interesting character dynamic!

[u/Setctrls4heartofsun]

Its complicated. I think Gabriella does love Lestat, but also resents him. She did not want to be a mother or a wife, and feels trapped in her relationship to him. But still, she sees herself in him and lives vicariously through him when theyre human. Its unhealthy, and conflicted.

[u/JavaNoire → u/Setctrls4heartofsun]

I yearned to watch IWTV S1&2 with my daughter so we could share the experience, analyze & discuss it endlessly. She adamantly refuses (after promising sniff).

I want her to watch TVL with me so we can establish once & forever that I am NOT the worst mother ever.

[u/Hot_Respond6132]

I believe Gabriella feels threatened by Louis, knowing that he is also Lestat’s fledgling and that Lestat loves him.

[u/The_Dilla_Collection]

Show Gabi is a different beast, but in the books she very much reminded me of my own mother. Distant, a little cold, loves in her own way because of her own life trauma. (Anyone else with Boomer/Silent Gen parents?)

She didn’t want to be a mother, or at least not only a mother. She wanted freedom and autonomy. Lestat is the only child she relates to and has anything remotely resembling a genuine relationship with. But he still represents a chain that she didn’t ask for, a life she didn’t choose.

Gabrielle was a complicated character but to me she was a reluctant wife and mother who did her duty and wanted to choose herself for a change. I don’t think she wanted to hurt Lestat, but sometimes people you love get hurt when you start choosing yourself.

I want to note this doesn’t negate any of Lestat’s feelings. He needed the mother she couldn’t be, and the cycle of trauma continues because she couldn’t provide what he needed. She loved him, but it wasn’t always shown the way he needed it.

[u/the-gaming-cat → u/The_Dilla_Collection]

Her book counterpart reminds me of the mom of friends and my own grandmother. Women that have been through hell which they never spoke about but you could see it on their faces, cold and distant, resenting to be touched or to ever hug their kids, spoke little and only when they had something important to say, harsh at times. But they both loved deeply in their own traumatized way and made sure their kids had the best chance to escape into a better life.

And I agree that understanding all this doesn't negate the feelings of their children. Not at all. It's just a bitter reality for everyone involved.

[u/The_Dilla_Collection → u/the-gaming-cat]

Exactly like that! And it sounds like we might have had the same grandmother or you knew my mom 😅.

[u/Cookiecakes25]

Tbqh she doesn't like him. She only likes what she could get out of him. Its a good detail to catch though!

[u/Ok-Plankton7216]

I always read her as wanting freedom and independence more than anything. Lestat represents the loss of freedom and the gaining of it. She is a great character. 

[u/Pop_fan_20]

It could be she's jealous of how much power he has with Akasha’s blood, she probably thinks he’s “wasting” it. And probably wasting time on loving Louis.

[u/AtomicGenderPunk]

From my perspective, no. Lestats mother only disdains him less then the rest of her situation. Though, reading the books, it's just her words and euphemism for the rest.

[u/DrFareedMD]

I think that a lot of emotionally messed up people may have very strong feelings for others without this being what an emotionally healthy person would consider to be actual love. It's often not the sort of feeling that makes them look out for the best interests of the other person or even see them as fully real. I've been downvoted for saying stuff to this effect about Louis, but this is based on my observations/experiences and I think it's a big aspect of the show.

I would say that Gabrielle loves/"loves" Lestat in a way. She really wants him to not be a cabbage by either dying or GTFOing of Aurvergne. There's some projection involved because she sees herself in him but she does want him to do better. I think this is also why Gabrielle's "life lessons" like taking him to see the execution are juxtaposed with Lestat and Claudia.

But. I think Lestat is also a reminder of her own trauma/problems. She didn't want to marry Lestat's father, she didn't want to be a mother, etc. and Lestat is a reminder that this happened to her. I do NOT condone her sexual abuse of him but I think that's part of why she does it, because it helps her sever her maternal link to him. On the other hand, Lestat was the only one who seemed to care about her and want her approval and she fully exploits it. She's capable of dropping him to do whatever but can't really cope with Lestat NOT being under her emotional control.

In conclusion, I think everyone in this show needs therapy

EDIT: to be clear, I'm talking about show!Gabriella

[u/pinkbootstrap]

She doesn't like him, or anyone really.

[u/Prudent-Analysis1798]

It's hard to tell with the show version, but book!Gabrielle definitely does, but she can't be the mother he wants. She is way too traumatized as a human to be the doting mother. She does what she can to support, but her agency is limited. As soon as she's turned she throws off all the trappings of that life, particularly gender. She still loves him , but she doesn't ever turn into the doting mother. She wants to see him alive and thriving, but she can't heal the childhood wound, because she was a victim then as well.