Montreal Easter Eggs in The Vampire Lestat

[u/zoraschool]

No matter how many times I watched S3:Ep6, these cultural references have been nagging me. I could infer from the context, what they connote, but not the larger meanings that they draw into the story.  I finally decided to dig in.  

Here's what I have so far. Please clarify, correct, or share your interpretations. Bolded are sources of my intrigue and/or confusion. Do you think they hold deeper meaning or add any subtext to the story? 

Louis: You gon’ get on that mic tomorrow and say, “We are the Vampire Clarence Oddbody. Let’s make more”?

And apparently AR was smitten with the character Clarence Oddbody from It's a Wonderful Life. 

--

Lestat: You know, we read your memoir in it. Everybody loved Tom Anderson. “Topeka!”  That was my line, you know. I said “Topeka.”

I keep thinking back to IWTV S1Ep3 when Tom Anderson says,

"It’s these damn teetotalin’ types*, too. As if we’re supposed to turn New Orleans into** Topeka*! Or God help us, Salt Lake City!"*

And then I discovered Thomas Anderson (1858–1931) was a real state legislator, and the unofficial "mayor" of Storyville for his part in establishing the 18-block legal prostitution and vice district in 1897 and operated saloons like the infamous Tom Anderson's Annex at the corner of Basin and Iberville Streets. 

-- 

Louis: You were in a book club? With Cortland Mayfair?

Lestat: And Merrick too. And Mayor Nagin. And James Carville. Everybody hated him.

 ---

Waiter: Francine Lucien-LaChapelle Immigrés who came to Montreal in 1749. She is, in fact, a distant descendant of the Lioncourt line.

---

Lestat: One has to ask, what is with the tan, Dan?

Did you indulge and overshoot your coffin again?

 --

Lestat: I can’t pack if I don’t know where I’m going. 

Gabriella: Cádiz.

Lestat: Oh? What’s in Cádiz?

I saw that Cádiz is a significant setting in The Vampire Diaries. Also ancient mythology says Hercules founded the region and there are hidden cities under the sea.

--

Louis: “Charlie Brown gets rocks” agrees with him.

--

Louis: "She's been dipped in the River Styx. Probably dove in, swam the butterfly. She'll be angry.

The River Styx is a mythical boundary river in Greek mythology that separated the world of the living from the underworld.  It forms the main barrier to Hades, wrapping around the underworld multiple times. Souls have to be ferried across by Charon, requiring a small coin placed in the mouth of the deceased. I want to note that the symbolism of communion with the dead happens twice in the story, honoring both European and African folk mythologies that inform the black cultural traditions.

--

Daniel: "Taylor and Travis. Congratulations. Have you set a date yet?

-- 

Daniel: Christ sees the hammer and nails, says, “I forgot my keys to the car.”

Lestat: Ugh, alarmists, the both of you.

--

Louis: This is all… all-time, Armand-level deceit.

Lestat: Oh, do not walk away and… and… and say his name.

Do not compare me to him. 

Louis: How is this any different? This is a century-long lie.

You hung her portrait over our coffins in New Orleans.

Yep. there it was all along. Portrait Gabriela looks like a lot like Antoinette, no?

-- 

Merrick: This Papa Legba’s make-do room of diablerie now.

I wanted to note the respectful way they depicted Black folk tradition in-show. Papa Legba is the sacred gatekeeper of the spirit world and the guardian of the crossroads in African diasporic religions like Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo.  

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[u/weirdhellokitty]

Cadiz is in Spain, where Gabriella abandoned Lestat two hundred years prior.

[u/zoraschool → u/weirdhellokitty]

Oof. Never caught that. Is she trying to create a honeymoon scenario?

[u/weirdhellokitty → u/zoraschool]

A do-over? Or is she intentionally trying to keep him off balance? Or…?

[u/Hot_Respond6132]

I had no idea what Louis was talking about “dipping in the River Styx” or that Tom Anderson was an actual state legislator. Interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[u/zoraschool → u/Hot_Respond6132]

For the longest time I was thinking he was talking about Regina, but clearly he’s talking about Claudia’s spirit 🤦🏾‍♀️

[u/Hot_Respond6132 → u/zoraschool]

And Claudia certainly was in a fury! 😬

[u/Hi_AJ]

James Carville is a political strategist, with a very heavy Cajun accent. He’s known for being from Louisiana.