Mari

Nope. Just as disjointed, poorly acted, and dull as always. Still no real idea of what the risks and stakes are or what characters or events we should be invested in. I'm not quite hatewatching, but it's sort of hate-watching adjacent. ETA: Watched the mini commentary at the end of the episode, and we're supposed to be rooting for Rowan as she disappears the body her offspring brought home. That's how come they made that scene "beautiful."

I'm not sure Armand truly loved Louis. To me, it seemed more that Louis helped him reinvent himself, met Armand's needs, and super-special bonus, allowed Armand to really, really torment Lestat. Louis being ridiculously rich does kind of make sense. He managed to successfully run businesses in Jim Crow south, while still human. Now that he can read human minds and racism is at least much less of a factor, him being really successful makes sense to me. And the interview info was definitely backed up in the cloud somewhere.

It almost has to be Javicco or Constantine, doesn't it? Inez might be the heir, but she's a woman. Dune society doesn't seem to put women in ultimate leadership positions. The only real women in authority positions seem to be the BGs. Technically, it has been about the sisterhood of the Harkonen girls. Sometimes sisters are just . . . uncaring, selfish, and extra-manipulative? Desmond might be attractive, but he definitely aged like Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tantooine.

I am desperately hoping I have not put more thought into it than the showrunners, but my current theory is a combination of "they have to eat something," and "pulling in others whose children were in the circle." The monsters could be nourished by blood, flesh, or even by general despair/hopelessness. All of that would require people. How people are chosen could be having a connection to the sacrificed circle children. Victor, his sister, and his mom were all pulled in. Their connection would be the mom's, and the kids just got pulled along for the ride. Same thing with Tabitha's family. If someone on the bus--I'd guess Elgin, just based on the connection he's got--is in the right time/place, their vehicle gets pulled in, along with whomever else is on or in it.

I think that ended in season 2 when the guy let his monster girlfriend in and a fairly large number of colony housers didn't make it.

True--and it's not like they'll run out of film. The camera has the same magic powers as Boyd's gun; it replenishes its own ammo.

There did at one point seem to be more than one away tree. I watch with a couple of friends, and the characters annoy us enough that we have a list of people who should be "treed." Our list can only be five people. Going into the final episode, it was Tabitha, Jim, New Cop Lady, Fatima, and Ellis. Jim dying opens up a spot, and the "Boyd tortures Elgin" was just obnoxious enough we're considering adding him as Jim's replacement.

Okay. I understand Evelyn wanting to make sure she doesn't overpopulate her ship. But if you're going to have a character who make choices from a selfish standpoint, at least make sure her choices actually make sense.. Someone who made captain should understand that you'd want their experts. The person who was blasé about losing her boarding crew, would have been "Let's trade these useless people for an extra engineer, their plant guy, and their doctor. "

Which probably won't get there for 3 years, given how much TP the girls bought. Seriously. Those boxes hold a LOT of toilet paper. I'm rooting for the girls. If I'd said that during season 1, you'd know I was next to be exorcised, but the girls have really grown on me. Plus, Andy might have refused contact. Addiction centers aren't allowed to even confirm or deny someone is there if the patient pulls their permission; I've neither/nored people that dropped off patients because the patient wouldn't sign the form that allows us to acknowledge them. As freaked out and worried as Andy was, I could see him denying contact and pulling permission. This bugged me, too. Especially when you add in her reaction to Sheryl at the grocery store. Yes, I know she's deep in denial and her job is to be a skeptic, but there comes a point where you've had weirdness after weirdness and you won't even suspend the tiniest bit of disbelief? It seems like that bit was there just to make Kristin extra sad and guilty when Sheryl died.

Okay. I was kind of dreading the rock star Lestat, because I figured it would be hard to pull off without being incredibly cringey, but this looks like it should work. It looks like we'll be bouncing between Lestat's current day life--which is where they'll use Anderson, somehow--and is past in the documentary. The trailer did its job; I'm excited, now. Thanks for sharing the clips @nodorothyparker

My headcanon: The Devil is all about lies. I'm betting the jar fluid gives you--and anyone else taking it--an energy bump and the illusion of youth. If it gives you an energy boost and causes you to see yourself (and other takers) as years younger, you're going to act that way. Probably with some extra confidence, which would change people's reactions to you. And the withdrawal from something like that would be hideous. People go to terrifying lengths to make sure they get their next fix of regular drugs, let alone something that convinces you it's the fountain of youth. Plus, you know that the Devil and demons would be getting a lot of sadistic glee out of convincing their followers they're getting something when everyone but the purchasers know it's an illusion.

We also do have to remember that Armand is likely stronger than Louis. Louis might have been used to being in charge of their relationship and the more dominant partner, but that seems to be a combination of Armand's mind twisting skill and Armand choosing to be submissive. Armand could easily have killed Daniel and strewn small pieces around the apartment, and I'm not sure that Louis would really have been able to do much about it. I don't think fear of Louis killing or maiming Armand is going to stop Armand. Maybe? I'm undecided about it, honestly. The problem is those episodes seem to have been told through mostly Claudia's POV, and Claudia was a teenager. She might have been a teenager who wanted to be older and was brilliant, but there are things her brain just wasn't able to do; it wasn't fully developed, yet, and because of the vampire thing, it never would. I have no problem believing Lestat was jealous and resentful of Claudia--especially during the years Louis was so depressed after her absence and the years after the drop when Claudia seems to be the reason Louis would not reunite with him. But, teenagers rarely see their parents and guardians in a neutral light, especially if they blame that parent/guardian for a decision or consequence. Lestat could love her fiercely and want to protect her, and she may not be able to see it.

Okay. Not convinced of ShowArmand's stability at all, but he does seem to be slightly less horrible than BookArmand.

Did Lestat have a lot of choice in the Akasha thing? Because my spotty recall thinks of it as questionable consent. And the production team has said that Lestat and Louis are endgame, so how do you think they're going to keep Louis around when they do The Vampire Lestat? Subconscious Louis won't work for a lot of Lestat's story and they're surely going to have to figure some way to incorporate the actor?

Oh, Armand had to have orchestrated at least some of that. Anything that wraps together so many of one character's wants into one event that leaves him primarily blameless? Santiago might think it's all his idea, but I've doubts. Claudia's gone--Armand wanted that. The Lestat appearance and participation--that was designed to drive more distance between Lestat and Louis, and Armand was all too aware of Louis inability to really move on from Lestat. It also, arguably, might give Armand an in with Lestat. After all, Lestat's traitorous offspring are being dealt with. Louis is now more vulnerable and has confusion and doubts about his own mind. It would be easier to rearrange his thoughts and/or memories into something more aligned with Armand's wants/needs. There is no way that old, powerful Armand was unable to get away from one measly little junior guard. And there was one or two cut-aways to Armand's box, and his face was definitely not overcome with sorrow. It wasn't quite smiley and smirky, but it had that feel. As for the Lestat performance (and Sam Reid performance, I guess)--I think, too, that at least the majority of the woodenness is intended to emphasize Lestat's difficulty and possible unwillingness to be there. There was a script. How much of that was Lestat given input into? And how much of it was his actual thoughts/feelings? It's not out of the question that Lestat is being controlled or influenced at times. He was nearly killed at Marde Gras and might not be back to full strength, yet. I think you're right. It doesn't substantially change things. It does present a slightly different point of view--but we all remember things slightly differently. It's difficult to know how much of that was Lestat's true feelings in this third-hand, scripted retelling (You know Santiago and Armand had say in that script.), but there was clear guilt and clear acknowledgement that Lestat was to blame for some of it.