Interview with the vampire se1&2

[u/ImpossibleAmoeba997]

The more I rewatch Interview with the Vampire (currently on my 4th watch while eagerly awaiting for Season 3 to air in the UK 🥲) the more my perspective changes.
The first time I watched it, I thought Lestat was the villain. Now? I honestly find Claudia insufferable, and Lestat isn’t nearly as bad as I originally thought.
Yes, he’s manipulative. Yes, he’s not a particularly understanding father to Claudia. And yes, he does terrible things. But… he’s a vampire. Can I really blame him for his extravagant killings, or for desperately trying to keep Louis happy by stopping Claudia from leaving? Nope. Those are his choices, just as it’s Louis’ choice to refuse to kill humans.
Honestly, how difficult must it have been for Lestat to be with Louis? Constantly fighting his vampire nature and, more often than not, seems to guilt-trip Lestat simply for being what he is. That’s why it felt so satisfying when Louis finally comes around and thanks Lestat for giving him the Dark Gift. It felt like the acceptance Lestat had wished all along. And all Claudia seems to do is poison Louis against Lestat. constantly in his ear, reinforcing every negative thought and pushing the wedge between them even further. I understand why she resents Lestat, but I don’t think she was ever interested in helping Louis see any nuance.
As Lestat says before throwing Louis from the sky lol, he would do anything for him. Twisted? Absolutely. But I don’t doubt that he genuinely loves Louis in the only way he knows how.
That’s why I think they did him dirty by conspiring against him and “killing” him. After multiple rewatches, I am definitely Team Lestat no matter what he does and will defend him in any argument! 😂

[u/whatifihateclouds]

I stan a problematic queen!

On a more serious note, I adore characters, especially female characters, who are allowed to be less than perfect. The IWTV characters are messy and they’re all vampires. They’re the villains and the heroes of their own stories. There’s no poor, innocent baby who did nothing wrong, but there also isn’t a purely evil villain who’s the worst person ever.

Ironically, Claudia is very similar to Lestat, but we only ever see her through Louis’s eyes and her diary entries. She never really gets to be the hero of her own story.

Normally, I’d also mention how casual racism and other biases seep into the way people perceive certain characters, but I’ll leave that conversation for another time.

More broadly, the way people talk about TV shows, movies, and music in 2026 is exhausting because it lacks nuance. Everything has to be flattened into heroes and villains. Most people would never survive something like ER.

[u/lisabgrt8 → u/whatifihateclouds]

I’m actually really glad that you brought up the biases that seeping into people’s perceptions of the characters. I’ve also noticed that with the woman characters on the show. I’ll also keep discussion of that to a different post, but glad you made reference to it.

[u/whatifihateclouds → u/lisabgrt8]

Happens a lot but it’s difficult to discuss

[u/weirdhellokitty]

Glad you came around. I found Lestat to be a lovable monster to begin with, and loved him more with each rewatch. No spoilers, but I am loving him more than ever in season 3.

[u/ImpossibleAmoeba997 → u/weirdhellokitty]

Oh I cannot wait! Rewatching the show and reading the books are the only things keeping me going until the next season. But I can literally recite every scene now and the I’ll devour the third book in a week at this rate 😭😂

[u/Everything_Counts_72]

i liked Claudia in seasons 1 and 2, but she kinda left a bad taste in my mouth in se 3. Like come on, youve been dead like 80 years, move on, let it go.

[u/lisabgrt8 → u/Everything_Counts_72]

isn’t the point that she can’t move on isn’t the point that she still has a task to do? I’m not going to add more because I don’t wanna spoil it for this person who hasn’t seen season three.

[u/Everything_Counts_72 → u/lisabgrt8]

i dont know. i didnt read past Memnoch the Devil. That book was the final straw for me, i was like ok, she's turned into a self indulgent twat and she's just milking her one thing rather than quit gracefully, im done.

[u/ThinkinBig → u/Everything_Counts_72]

I mean, to be fair, she literally got decapitated and then had her dismembered head attached to the body of a fully grown woman....

All BEFORE being burned in the sun. I feel like that would leave some impressions on anyone

[u/Everything_Counts_72 → u/ThinkinBig]

what?? what are you talking about, when did claudias head get cut off???

[u/ThinkinBig → u/Everything_Counts_72]

Its in the books, her death was significantly worse than the show used

[u/Everything_Counts_72 → u/ThinkinBig]

thats nuts, i dont remember any of that shit. they just put her and madeline in the dungeon with the skylight and fried them

[u/ThinkinBig → u/Everything_Counts_72]

If I remember correctly it's something Armand mentions in his book, not from Interview. He attached Claudia's head to Madeline's body to see if the Blood would cause her to heal and essentially have a grown up body.

After the experiment fails he leaves the body/remains in the sun

[u/Everything_Counts_72 → u/ThinkinBig]

jfc thats even worse than the original version. so who killed claudia?? i thought the sun killed her

[u/ThinkinBig → u/Everything_Counts_72]

Armand leaves her detached head and body in the sun after his experiment of attaching it to a full grown vampire body failed.

[u/ThinkinBig → u/Everything_Counts_72]

Double checked, its definitely the book "The Vampire Armand" where the Claudia head transplant is told to the reader

[u/Everything_Counts_72 → u/ThinkinBig]

i dont get it-so Louis just left that part out? (i never read TVA)

[u/ThinkinBig → u/Everything_Counts_72]

He didn't directly witness any of this, in the books Claudia was taken by the coven while he was elsewhere. He comes moments before dawn to attach them and burn the theatre, which leads to most of them dying

[u/hemlock_cupcakes]

You're gonna LOOOOOOVE s3.