S01.E07: The Thing Lay Still

[Mr. Sparkle]

Season Finale

The vampire family makes plans to move away from New Orleans.

Streaming on AMC+ 22.11.06 and airing on AMC 22.11.13. 

Proceed at your own risk for spoilers before the AMC airdate.

[I-Kare]

Apparently my sexuality is Sam Reid as Lestat at a masquerade ball. 

[magdalene]

I hope this show lasts long enough to give me more Lestat eventually. I am assuming since his body wasn't incinerated he can come back from this death.

I find it funny that after ridding himself of Lestat in such a vile manner Louis has ended up controlled by another vampire. Did he and Claudia fall out? Where is she in the future? 

I totally understand now why a movie star like Tom Cruise wanted to play Lestat. I may watch the movie over the hiatus.

[Mr. Sparkle]

2 hours ago, I-Kare said:

Apparently my sexuality is Sam Reid as Lestat at a masquerade ball. 

I'm a straight man, but I really understand. 

[raeb23]

1 hour ago, I-Kare said:

Apparently my sexuality is Sam Reid as Lestat at a masquerade ball. 

Same.

Claudia had valid reasons for wanting to kill Lestat, but he's so deviously entertaining that I didn't want her to succeed.

Louis' declaration of love to Armand was interesting to me. Lestat tells Louis that he loves him on numerous occasions but I don't remember Louis saying it at any point throughout the season. He consistently frames their relationship as being due to their vampire bond rather than love. So the way he proudly claimed Armand at the end was a bit surprising. Especially the way he said it, I'm not totally convinced that it's genuine. (It's been a while since I've read the books or seen the movie so I'm foggy on the details of their relationship.)

Overall, I've really enjoyed this adaptation so far. I can't wait for season 2.

[AngieBee1]

10s across the board! Zero notes from me. 

The party band playing an instrumental of "Come To Me" just makes me envision drama queen Lestat making them rehearse it ad nasuem to ensure they do justice to his work.

[Ohiopirate02]

15 hours ago, magdalene said:

I hope this show lasts long enough to give me more Lestat eventually. I am assuming since his body wasn't incinerated he can come back from this death.

Lestat is definitely not dead.  There was a shot of him in the trunk at the dump opening the lid to get at a rat.  That shot was accompanied by Daniel's voice-over laying out how Louis was unable to finish the kill and gave Lestat an out and that Claudia knew it.  

[jenrising]

6 hours ago, AngieBee1 said:

10s across the board! Zero notes from me. 

This. Honestly this episode was so perfectly wild and deranged. I loved every second. Can't wait to rewatch the season and I'm already impatient for more. 

[marceline]

When Louis failed to decapitate Lestat completely I knew something was up. Claudia should've ensured complete separation.

[Zima]

Season finale already!  This show has exceeded all of my expectations in every way. An absolutely brilliant adaptation that would have made Anne Rice proud.

[Kiss my mutt]

Standing Ovation from me. I’m insatiable for more (blood). 
 

[T Summer]

OK. looks like I'll have to go against the grain. I too was enjoying the episode  until Louis cut Lestat's throat, but failed to decapitate him despite holding an ideal weapons for doing so. Why, on earth?

Then he argues Claudia down about being sure by putting Lestat's body in the incinerator. Again, why?

Knowing there's a book called The Vampire Lestat left little doubt we were not witnessing Lestat's final moments... then the last scene clinched it. IDK, it all felt rather anticlimactic to me.

Between this and a certain new HBO series with dragons having a if not the major plot line turn on a Three's Company level misunderstanding, I'm losing respect for  TV writers.

[Ohiopirate02]

4 hours ago, T Summer said:

OK. looks like I'll have to go against the grain. I too was enjoying the episode  until Louis cut Lestat's throat, but failed to decapitate him despite holding an ideal weapons for doing so. Why, on earth?

Then he argues Claudia down about being sure by putting Lestat's body in the incinerator. Again, why?

Knowing there's a book called The Vampire Lestat left little doubt we were not witnessing Lestat's final moments... then the last scene clinched it. IDK, it all felt rather anticlimactic to me.

Between this and a certain new HBO series with dragons having a if not the major plot line turn on a Three's Company level misunderstanding, I'm losing respect for  TV writers.

This is a show based on a series of books.  The writers are bound by the source material, and in that source material Louis is incapable of killing Lestat. The writers here are following what Anne Rice wrote.  It's been forever since I read the books, so I can't say if the why is the same.  Here Louis is incapable of killing Lestat because he's still in love with him and locked in a dysfunctional love affair with him.  Louis loves and hates Lestat with equal measure, but that hatred is tied up with his hatred of himself.  I do think the show has not done a good job of highlighting Louis's self-hatred.  

[magdalene]

14 hours ago, T Summer said:

Knowing there's a book called The Vampire Lestat left little doubt we were not witnessing Lestat's final moments... then the last scene clinched it. IDK, it all felt rather anticlimactic to me.

Had they incinerated this character it would have been the permanent death of Lestat by the rules of this vampire verse.   Had the writers of the TV show gone insane and done this I would have never watched another season of this show.  One of the first things I learned from the promotion before this series started was that it was based on a book series, not just one book.

I just saw the post before mine. Ditto everything.

Edited November 10, 2022 by magdalene

[T Summer]

I don't know exactly what would have been more exciting and mysterious to have happen to Lestat, as we clearly know he isn't a one season only character... being the main and all.

Lestat seems to  posses abilities he doesn't care to explain or divulge to  even Louis, his chosen mate. The stilling  of time and motion in ep 1, was it? the cloud lifting, making the complaining movie audience member slap himself repeatedly etc.. IDK if  one of those abilities could have  stopped him from being  put into the incinerator? or even if he could pull them off in his weakened state?  When Louis answers   Daniel 's question  is it possible for an immortal to meet mortality? with starvation, drinking the blood of the dead, fire and  decapitation he uses the words "he  confided that to me one blood drunken night in Baton Rouge"  indicating reluctance on Lestat's part.  Then in a scene that follows closely Louis' narration  states Lestat was "in  posession of ancient powers that had been passed on to his progeny only  in a diminished form".

So it's just my opinion... but  to listen to Louis enumerate the ways an immortal could meet mortality: starvation, drinking the blood of the dead, fire and  decapitation and then stop just short of decapitating Lestat with sword in hand and  stop short of incinerating him when Claudia says we need to burn him again and again  just seemed  rather lackluster to me. Daniel the writer even chides him over his sloppiness.

The way the story has played out with Louis needing  a while for his badly broken body to recover from  having been dropped from a great height by Lestat and his rather muted  and guarded way of being since didn't suggest it was lingering feelings of love  that caused him to stop short. Not to me, anyway. YMMV... .of  course.

[Scarlett45]

The finale wasn’t my favorite episode but I have enjoyed the series and am very excited for more. 
 

I do feel badly for Claudia. I can’t imagine how angry she is at Louis after all they arranged to get rid of Lestat and he couldn’t burn the body. Their relationship is not going to recover from this. 

[Cotypubby]

Did people actually think Lestat was going to be killed when watching this show? Of course the writers would not be stupid enough to make that major a change from the source material. We know they couldn’t kill Lestat so I liked how they revealed that Louis couldn’t fully go through with it in the end.

[peridot]

I unfortunately read spoilers beforehand so I knew what would happen this episode.

I'm surprised no one tried to burn out the vampires, if they were so suspicious of them.  Lestat's "joke" on the float was pretty messed up, he ended up losing people to feed on.  I guess he didn't care since he knew what would happen after the party.  I loved his bitchiness when the ladies approached him and he asked if he knew them.

The massacre scene was pretty gory - ripping off jaws and gouging out eyes.  Antoinette was pretty pathetic for gaining immortality, only to end up spying and reporting on others. 

The last scene happened pretty fast for me, so I'm not sure what happened when Daniel confronted Louis about Lestat.  Was Louis just lying to Daniel, or he didn't know what happened to Lestat?  I didn't get what was in the album that Armand gave to Daniel, either.

[Ohiopirate02]

28 minutes ago, peridot said:

The last scene happened pretty fast for me, so I'm not sure what happened when Daniel confronted Louis about Lestat.  Was Louis just lying to Daniel, or he didn't know what happened to Lestat?  I didn't get what was in the album that Armand gave to Daniel, either.

Daniel has spent enough time interviewing Louis that he can figure out when Louis is withholding.  He was needling Louis to admit that he was unable to finish off Lestat and why.  From Daniel's point of view, there is no reason to fly a sick man halfway across the world for an interview story when you do not want to mention it all.  He's been calling out Louis all season for dancing around the things Louis does not want to mention--the abusive relationship between Louis and Lestat, Claudia being a band-aid baby, etc.  

[iMonrey]

Quote

This is a show based on a series of books.  The writers are bound by the source material,

Hmm, I'm not so sure of that. The series has taken a LOT of liberties with the source material. 

That said, I've enjoyed the series immensely. I've commented on this before, but the weird thing is that the interview parts didn't really work for me. I would have preferred a straight-up story narrated by Louis without the constant interruptions. Something about Daniel I just don't care about or care for. All the other casting really worked for me.

Only seven episodes for a whole season. TV shows in the US are getting closer and closer to the number of episodes the UK does for a series.

[Snow Apple]

3 hours ago, peridot said:

The last scene happened pretty fast for me, so I'm not sure what happened when Daniel confronted Louis about Lestat.  Was Louis just lying to Daniel, or he didn't know what happened to Lestat?  I didn't get what was in the album that Armand gave to Daniel, either.

Entertainment Weekly website has pretty good recaps of the episodes. According to them, the album are clippings advertising the Théâtre des Vampires.

I have a question that wasn't in the recap. The man in the office showed Claudia a picture with him and her "two dads" from 1910(?) asking what's wrong with this picture. Was it that they still look the same? I know people are leaving curses at their doorstep and that one guy wanted them to help with his cancer but it seems most people (especially the rich and influential) are looking the other way which I thought was strange. Were they just scared to confront them heads on or didn't want to lose the benefits the two provided? In a previous episode, the cop hinted they know about Louis and Lestat's relationship which carries a prison sentence but nothing happened.

[Ohiopirate02]

3 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

I have a question that wasn't in the recap. The man in the office showed Claudia a picture with him and her "two dads" from 1910(?) asking what's wrong with this picture. Was it that they still look the same? I know people are leaving curses at their doorstep and that one guy wanted them to help with his cancer but it seems most people (especially the rich and influential) are looking the other way which I thought was strange. Were they just scared to confront them heads on or didn't want to lose the benefits the two provided? In a previous episode, the cop hinted they know about Louis and Lestat's relationship which carries a prison sentence but nothing happened.

Yes.  Louis, Lestat, and most importantly Claudia look exactly the same as the picture.  Something unnatural is going on in the household and I don't mean the relationship between Louis and Lestat.  Tom and the others were pretending not to notice it, but they did.  They just decided not to act on it unless they could work it to their advantage.  And Tom waited decades before demanding answers to the big mystery of the de Lioncourt/de Pointe du Lac household as payment for making Lestat Mardi Gras king.  Tom wanted the secret to eternal life and he bided his time waiting for the opportunity to ask.  

[Snow Apple]

LOL. I didn't have my glasses on and thought the picture was of Tom and the two. I thought he was showing Claudia how he got older but they didn't.

The sound on this show is terrible. I usually turn on closed caption but didn't this time. Too sleepy to read.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Snow Apple

[raeb23]

15 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

LOL. I didn't have my glasses on and thought the picture was of Tom and the two. I thought he was showing Claudia how he got older but they didn't.

You're correct...it was Tom in the pic, not Claudia. He was trying to point out that Lestat & Louis don't age with his question, but she snarkily responded that Tom didn't have the scar on his face then (the one given to him by Lestat).

[AngieBee1]

I am in the seemingly minority who doesn't believe Louis was being purposely holding back or that his memory is being muddled by Armand. Unless one has perfect recall we're all prone to be unreliable narrators. When we hear something or see something we're not taking a snapshot of the event - it is filtered through how we're hearing and how we perceive the situation to be. Or our feelings on the matter changes leading us to be more generous or more negative, depending on the situation. Now thrown in 100 years of distance and over-rationalizing and the truth becomes warped ("Was it raining, Louis?") or you shape a more palatable truth in your head.

It's easier for Louis' mind to reconstruct Lestat's murder by his hands yet omitting the fact -until pressed - that he wouldn't allow Claudia to burn him. He needs to believe that he was killing Lestat for the both of them, but when it came down to it, by not allowing Claudia to truly finish Lestat off, he betrayed her. Every step of the way Louis was helping Lestat have a fighting chance, but he didn't want to face that that's what he was doing. You slit his throat? Great. But in doing so you released all the poisoned blood so he can eventually heal. You tossed him out with the trash instead of just leaving his body in the house to that people could possibly come and set fire to the house with his body within or some other tactic of torture. Nice. But by binning Lestat to be taken to the junkyard you provided him with a rodent buffet.

Louis is hiding from himself still. I think that's why he wanted Daniel to delete the 1973 audio files and he burned the cassettes for good measure. He didn't want to be confronted with his feelings from the past because in the proceeding 49 years he has reflected and played on these events so much that a new truth has emerged. Other than the great big lie about Rashid the valet, I think has just been in denial and has played on his memories so much that they have been molded into a new truth.

My favourite Louis reshaped truth is him telling Daniel that Lestat's version of "Come to Me" was inferior, but not inferior enough for him to not keep it all of these years. He loved the idea of Lestat making a song for him that he shattered Antoinette's version and had Lestat re-record it with is own vocals.

[Snow Apple]

I'm wondering what's up with Louis calling Armand the love of his life in 2022. Where's Lestat? We know he survived. Can wait for next season.

[wanderingstar]

Podcast interview with Jacob and Sam. The host cracks me up.

[TheGreenKnight]

On 11/6/2022 at 5:04 PM, raeb23 said:

Same.

Claudia had valid reasons for wanting to kill Lestat, but he's so deviously entertaining that I didn't want her to succeed.

Louis' declaration of love to Armand was interesting to me. Lestat tells Louis that he loves him on numerous occasions but I don't remember Louis saying it at any point throughout the season. He consistently frames their relationship as being due to their vampire bond rather than love. So the way he proudly claimed Armand at the end was a bit surprising. Especially the way he said it, I'm not totally convinced that it's genuine. (It's been a while since I've read the books or seen the movie so I'm foggy on the details of their relationship.)

Overall, I've really enjoyed this adaptation so far. I can't wait for season 2.

To the point about Louis framing his relationship with Armand differently than the one with Lestat--it makes sense considering Lestat is in some ways a parent to him (as far as being the one who made him a vampire), and that even includes a power imbalance--Lestat knowing everything while Louis is still learning, Lestat being able to fly and likely being stronger because he's from an older generation of vampires, etc.

While I didn't think Armand and Louis had much chemistry together--I love the actor for Armand.

[Scarlett45]

On 12/13/2022 at 11:22 PM, Doubleab88 said:

This is one of the best finales I've seen in years !! I could not believe that Lestat called Antoinette his love again and turned her into a vampire !! The crazy part is he wanted her to replace Claudia smh Even if she joined the family, Louis would be more depressed and eventually kill himself. Did you notice Louis face when he said Here’s Armand the love of my life ? It didn’t sound or look convincing lol Louis likes to read but Armand has the books high up where he can’t reach them. Armand’s comments were also creepy. I care more about him then does himself. I protect him from himself hmmm 🧐 The present Louis still has major PTSD and it looks like his memories may have been altered by Armand. I can’t wait see Lestat fight over Louis lol

Glad you liked it! The way Louis said “the love of my life” was creepy AF. 

[Enero]

On 11/14/2022 at 9:16 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

Daniel has spent enough time interviewing Louis that he can figure out when Louis is withholding.  He was needling Louis to admit that he was unable to finish off Lestat and why.  From Daniel's point of view, there is no reason to fly a sick man halfway across the world for an interview story when you do not want to mention it all.  He's been calling out Louis all season for dancing around the things Louis does not want to mention--the abusive relationship between Louis and Lestat, Claudia being a band-aid baby, etc.  

 

On 11/14/2022 at 2:51 PM, AngieBee1 said:

I am in the seemingly minority who doesn't believe Louis was being purposely holding back or that his memory is being muddled by Armand. Unless one has perfect recall we're all prone to be unreliable narrators. When we hear something or see something we're not taking a snapshot of the event - it is filtered through how we're hearing and how we perceive the situation to be. Or our feelings on the matter changes leading us to be more generous or more negative, depending on the situation. Now thrown in 100 years of distance and over-rationalizing and the truth becomes warped ("Was it raining, Louis?") or you shape a more palatable truth in your head.

It's easier for Louis' mind to reconstruct Lestat's murder by his hands yet omitting the fact -until pressed - that he wouldn't allow Claudia to burn him. He needs to believe that he was killing Lestat for the both of them, but when it came down to it, by not allowing Claudia to truly finish Lestat off, he betrayed her. Every step of the way Louis was helping Lestat have a fighting chance, but he didn't want to face that that's what he was doing. You slit his throat? Great. But in doing so you released all the poisoned blood so he can eventually heal. You tossed him out with the trash instead of just leaving his body in the house to that people could possibly come and set fire to the house with his body within or some other tactic of torture. Nice. But by binning Lestat to be taken to the junkyard you provided him with a rodent buffet.

Louis is hiding from himself still. I think that's why he wanted Daniel to delete the 1973 audio files and he burned the cassettes for good measure. He didn't want to be confronted with his feelings from the past because in the proceeding 49 years he has reflected and played on these events so much that a new truth has emerged. Other than the great big lie about Rashid the valet, I think has just been in denial and has played on his memories so much that they have been molded into a new truth.

My favourite Louis reshaped truth is him telling Daniel that Lestat's version of "Come to Me" was inferior, but not inferior enough for him to not keep it all of these years. He loved the idea of Lestat making a song for him that he shattered Antoinette's version and had Lestat re-record it with is own vocals.

I did find it hilarious how he so dramatically announced that Armand was the love of his life when Daniel started calling him out on why he didn’t incinerate Lestat. As twisted as it may be, despite his hate towards Lestat at the time of the murder, he still deeply loved him. And perhaps deeply love him still. Hence his overly spirited announcement of Armand as his soul mate. It was an attempt to deny what he continues to feel for his former lover. Which wouldn’t be unheard of, being that Louis has a tendency to live in deep denial.

Though I cannot deny the chemistry between Louis and Lestat, and greatly enjoyed their interactions when the relationship was “good”. I was getting sucked back in like Louis at the ball, but at the end of the day the relationship was toxic and abusive. Lestat manipulated Louis into becoming his companion, which fuels the resentment between them. The fact that Lestat chose Louis as his life companion (something that Louis didn’t do) was why Lestat was so abusive and perturbed when Louis chose to abandon him. I mean the layers with that story thread is staggering, not only due Lestat’s own issues with abandonment and need for control. But the fact that he is a 16th century white man who has essentially enslaved his black companion by trapping him in the life of a vampire. But when that slave dares to leave him, he becomes severely abusive, nearly killing him and doing everything in his power to keep him there and under his control. When Iooking at the truth of the relationship, no matter their chemistry, they do not need to be together.

I enjoyed this episode and this series. Glad I put aside my skepticism and watched. Though I found the season to be overall excellent, I will say I got tired of Louis being led around by his nose. First by Lestat, which can be understood being that he was his lover but more importantly his teacher. But when the same happened with Claudia it got tiring. I mean he had not one thought of his own to do anything and execute it. It was always Claudia and/or Lestat running the show. And  perhaps that could be attributed to the abuse he suffered at the hands of Lestat breaking him down to this shell of indecision and endless brooding, but whatever the reasoning it got a little tiring. 

I think the season ended in a good place and look forward to seeing how they incorporate the dramatic story twists from the book, which they’ve yet to incorporate, in the series. 

[Harvey]

I have to say, it is a shame that the main character of this series is Louis. He is an okay character and does fine - but the actor playing Lestat is on another level. All the best scenes, all the impressive acting moments of the series come from him, and his talents feel severely underutilised. 

Still a good show though, I will have to read the books. 

[Fable]

Louis was always a dullard, but I think that was kind of the point.  I imagine that is why the author wrote a whole different story about Lestat.  

[rollacoaster]

I was so sad that the series is over! I thought there were 8 episodes. I'm hungry for more! I might just go back and watch it all again. It's leaving Max after October 31. 

I appreciate all the excellent and thoughtful takes on here. The only thing I want to add is that I thought that Louis looked absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous at the ball. His makeup and hair...ahhhhh! Chef's kiss. That 18th century style suited him so well. 

Edited October 23, 2023 by rollacoaster