S02.E01: What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned

[AngieBee1]

Series two begins with Delainey Hayles taking over as Claudia. I'm trying to not compare her to Bailey Bass' performance of Claudia, but with each line reading I would wonder how Bass would interpret the line. But she's good and I'm sure I will love her Claudia as much as a love Bass'.

Episode one is building episode so I can't wait for next week where things should pick up.  As usual Jacob Anderson is incredible.

[Harvey]

Some of the memory revelations are already hiting Louis hard, and they honestly haven't even gotten started yet! Poor Louis. Jacob is doing an amazing job! Louis and Claudia have really good chemistry in this episode, and they did a good job of showing the love there but also the growing frustration and resentment with each other.

I would have liked more of Lestat, but what we got was very interesting. When Louis approaches him he is in a Christ pose. You can also tell that Louis was very confused about his feelings there and the anger and guilt he feels. I also found him seeing Lestat during his speech to Claudia also very interesting. His vision of Lestat is not going away but actually gets even more solid. Lestat in the truck also had such a sad, almost pure look and not at all the way he looked when he "died "

[dwmarch]

3 hours ago, Harvey said:

I also found him seeing Lestat during his speech to Claudia also very interesting.

Made me wonder if he was directing his words to Claudia or to Lestat.

I think this season is off to a great start and I enjoyed the episode the whole way through. I am less interested in the modern portions where Armand seems to be up to something shady but I think there are some potentially interesting directions they can go in with that plot so I'll wait and see.

I wasn't sure about the new actress for Claudia based on the previews but I thought she did great. The other Claudia was cute and bubbly while this one has seen some shit.

Speaking of which, line of the episode had to be Louis: "Nah, I'm a vampire. That's fuckin'... catfish with teeth."

Edited May 13 by dwmarch

[magdalene]

Gut-wrenching opener - and this was only the tip of the iceberg of gut-wrenching Louis will have to face.

I sure hope the ratings will be good enough that we will be able to get to the part of the narrative I personally want to see the most.

[Snow Apple]

I wasn't sure about a new actress playing Claudia because I don't like change but I'm sold.

 Was it just me or did Louis gave that little boy a weird look? For a second I thought it was foreshadowing that he'll grow up to be Daniel, LOL.

Oh Lastat, how I've missed you. Glad we got glimpses of him, but not too much. This is about Louis and Claudia for now.

[Mr. Sparkle]

18 hours ago, AngieBee1 said:

Series two begins with Delainey Hayles taking over as Claudia. I'm trying to not compare her to Bailey Bass' performance of Claudia, but with each line reading I would wonder how Bass would interpret the line.

I found Bass to be more playful and mischievous, whereas Hayles is more serious. I suppose the story has something to do with that. I prefer Bass, but I'm giving Hayles a chance. I thought she did a good job here. 

Anyway, I thought this episode was fantastic, and I'm thrilled that it's back and hasn't lost a thing. I love that they're telling the story we've probably all read a dozen times in a new way. 

[Ohiopirate02]

Louis and Armand's attempts at faking intimacy made me chuckle when compared to the chemistry between Louis and Lestat last season and Armand and Daniel in this episode.    I am curious to see how Louis and Armand interact in the upcoming episodes because their current relationship reads as two people just going through the motions.  There is zero spark between them right now.  And Daniel's acidity seems to be perking Armand right up. I am also curious to see some more flashbacks to San Francisco in the 70s.  

[tennisgurl]

That was a really good start, they are really digging into those memories now and its just getting started. I like Delainey Hayles so far as Claudia, she has a different vibe than she did when played by Bailey Bass, she's more intense than the more playful and younger seeming Bass, but I think that works for the character as she has gotten older and seen more hardship. She and Louis have great chemistry, their relationship is so interesting. They love each other, but have so much buried resentment and anger, with Lestat as this ghost following them everywhere they go. 

It was cool seeing some of the "old" vampires, they sure do make them different in Romania. I am also glad we got to see a glimpse of Lestat, he has such a prescience for good or for bad. He and Louis also had such fiery chemistry it makes Louis and Armand look even more stale.  

[magdalene]

I am guessing Armand and Louis having no chemistry is intentional.

Love of my life - yeah, right. Try on another.

Edited May 13 by magdalene

[AngieBee1]

Quote

Lestat, he has such a prescience for good or for bad. He and Louis also had such fiery chemistry it makes Louis and Armand look even more stale

I love Louis and Armand as a couple. We can be pretty sure that Armand is manipulating Louis somehow. Whether he has mind whammy Louis somehow or has just help massage Louis' memories into something less painful (Armand is great at rebranding. Louis was mortified and pained at the idea of Claudia never dreaming, and Armand opined that perhaps it was more of a tabula rasa -giving Louis a more soothing viewpoint).


But I see them as what they are: a couple who have been together for 70 years. Surely they were a heated combo when they first hooked up and they were definitely catting about in the 80s and Louis was seemingly riskier. Now he's settled. They are settled as a couple. Armand is handling business; selling that Francis Bacon, indulging his man with this interview. I think their relationship provides a stability Louis needed. Sadly, it is pretty much a sure thing that Armand's care over Louis harbors something darker, or at least, less altruistic.


Louis, I feel, wants to believe that Armand is the love of his life. He needs to believe it, just like he needed to believe it was solely the strength of the vampire bond that kept him with Lestat and not that he was so in love with Lestat that he took whatever abuse Lestat hurled his way (and Claudia's). It probably pains Louis that he settles for a "nice" vampire whereas he burns for a vampire who put him through the wringer for decades.

[iMonrey]

On 5/13/2024 at 3:47 PM, tennisgurl said:

I like Delainey Hayles so far as Claudia, she has a different vibe than she did when played by Bailey Bass, she's more intense than the more playful and younger seeming Bass, but I think that works for the character as she has gotten older and seen more hardship.

Huh. I thought Hayles seemed and looked younger than Bass. Why was the part recast?

[Mr. Sparkle]

7 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Why was the part recast?

Near as I can tell, she (Bass) got a part in the Avatar series of films and had scheduling conflicts. 

[Irlandesa]

Although from what I read, Bass could have probably done it as this show had permission to film during the strikes while Avatar did not. But neither knew it at the time.  It just worked out that way.

 

[ferjy]

On 5/14/2024 at 3:35 PM, AngieBee1 said:

They are settled as a couple.

True, but it’s dull. My parents were settled too, but I wouldn’t want to watch them in this show either. 😁

 

Edited May 26 by ferjy

[ShellsandCheese]

Louis and Claudia are so delusional thinking they are good vampires. LOL.