Interview with the Vampire (Season 1), Episode 2 Recap & Ending Explained: Episode 2 of Interview with the Vampire is pristine. People were a bit unsure of the series after the first episode, which wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but the second episode confirms that the show indeed has promise and the acclaim isn’t misguided. I fully understand how some viewers are tempted into thinking that critics are forced to like things with diversity these days. And for some parts, the notion might hold true. But it does not have to be generalized.
‘Interview with the Vampire’ has thus far been an intriguing homage to the source material and the film released two decades ago. The fresh themes that the makers have chosen to touch upon travel beyond just that of race and morals. They are gradually shaping up to be sheer delights in a layered, slow-burn narrative.
It is a complex process the way they’re brought to life and it will surely attract viewers from all corners. Read our recap and ending explainer of episode 2 of ‘Interview with the Vampire’ below.
Interview with the Vampire (Season 1), Episode 2 “…After the Phantoms of Your Former Self” Recap:
Daniel admires an old and exquisite painting as he waits for Loius. His assistant informs Daniel that his master will be shortly with him. The man seems enchanted with his “God”, denying Daniel’s suspicions that he is scared of working for him. Soon enough, we see him announce to Daniel that there will be a seven-course meal, over which Louis will continue with the interview. Butlers swarm from all corners with the most exquisite delicacies imaginable. All of it looks pristine and quite savory, as Louis walks in and offers his apologies for the previous incident during the interview. Although Daniel still has his doubts, Louis tries his best to persuade him to continue.
“Memory is a monster. We can forget, but it can’t”, quips Daniel as he dives into his plate. Louis has an AB negative “fresh from the farm” and continues narrating his adventurous tales as a vampire in 20th-century mayhem in New Orleans. We go back to the night when Lestat turned Louis after he has left wandering and reeling with the pain of losing his wife and child. Lestat disposes of a body he just fed on in the graveyard. Louis struggles with the seizing, unrelenting pain. He almost goes in to feed off the dripping blood falling from the corpse but Lestat warns him. “You only drink the blood of the living”.
It is said that if Vampires did indeed drink the blood of the dead, they might die. Louis is finally turned when Lestat spots the spark in his eyes that identifies him as a vamp. Along with the change, Louis also goes through a gamut of sensory changes in sight, smell, and listening. His murderous smile is returned with a similar one by Lestat. Louis says that Lestat’s blood illuminated in him a sense of rage and excitement he hadn’t felt before. The two vamps then wander about on the street looking at things differently. “Your ears will pick up the world like a maddening symphony”, Lestat explains to Louis, as he does indeed have an enhanced sense of everything around him.
They discuss different targets that they could feed on. Louis’ hunger will drive his eyes to different things. The duo goes through the works because it is time for Louis to learn how to hunt. It is an art and will take time. But it is an essential part of their lives as, without it, they won’t survive. Louis’ eyes go straight to a ravenous sailor, who seems lively, the blood in his veins pumping due to the merry-making. But Lestat guides him not to go after him. The food, in the beginning, should be allowed to come to them instead of the other way around. They turn their gaze toward a lonely tractor salesman. They endure his boring explanation of his familial life and prepare to take him back to Lestat’s place.
The newly turned vamp’s desperation showed – he was still naive. But once the salesman is brought back, Louis is on to him in a flash on Lestat’s command. He quickly devours his blood albeit with an unsavory taste. Lestat promises it will improve as he becomes a natural. He doesn’t feel too good about his first hunt – not the morals of it, just inside. Although he presses to go home, Lestat warns him against going out. An angry Louis pushes him against the wall and off he goes. Only to discover that it is day outside and the sun burns him. A screaming Louis pounds Lestat’s door as he makes his way back.
Inside the trappings of Lestat’s luxurious home, Louis is shown where the old pro sleeps. A cushy coffin that instantly repulses Louis. For now, he allows Louis to sleep over him. Just until they find him a coffin of his own. Louis explains the night and what went before it with Lestat as sort of coming out to Daniel. The interviewer is surprised at his lack of compassion. he feels Louis robbed a daughter of her father that night and nothing more. But Louis sees it differently. “A vampire romance”, is probably the better term. Daniel is casual with his disdain for “queer theorists everywhere, but nothing can deter the vamp. He sees Daniel’s recordings and mocking provocation. For the next course, he devours a live bunny in front of Daniel to show him how vampires are killers and God-like figures.
Louis admits that the salesman haunted him for quite a few nights and he had trouble hunting. The vamp duo meets Finn in their nightly sojourns, He is still recovering from the incident the other day. He asks Louis if he could allow Finn to head the new game he is setting up at the club and Louis obliges by saying he will take it up with Fenwick. Lestat warns Finn wants to steal from Louis, demonstrating how vampires can read minds as well. Louis doesn’t have it, yet. “Food, sex, and home” is what the commoners think about mostly, Lestat says to Louis.
He teaches him how to listen in and his theory is proven right – this time. And then a few more times. Next will be the ability to see their thoughts. But it will come a little later. Louis admits to Daniel that he hadn’t been able to detach the human in him from his new avatar. He still wanted to maintain ties but it was getting difficult. Louis visits his family that night, who is having a party. Lestat accompanies him too. It is a bit awkward as Louis is able to read his mother’s thoughts and confronts her about them. Just to be funny. He meets Grace, his sister, who is happy to see him. His senses again get the better of him as he picks up on a second heartbeat when she hugs him. She is pregnant!
Grace is unhappy that he hasn’t visited her for this long. He offers him money which she denies but takes as a sign of him doing well. Louis meets up with the Alderman’s agent talking about the sporting house. Mr. Carlo speculates why Fenwick sent him instead of himself but Louis is sure of a good relationship. They discuss decorations and the interiors. Carlo is happy and impressed that Louis is diligent about the business and says he deserves his 15% thoroughly. There is a hint of condescension and casual racism in his tone and Louis was frustrated. That is how the show is different and espouses doing something different with the characters. His anger gets the better of him as he devours Carlo.
He’s not lying on his back and taking it anymore – for he is no longer a man! Lestat warns him against doing it again, not in the least at his place of business. When important men go missing, the police take an interest. What if they discover he met Louis the last? Louis sure enough has his own coffin and Lestat regrets shouting at him. For redemption, he asks Louis what he wants, who replies the “Fair Play Saloon”. Lestat does it and Louis signs the papers. Louis truly changed the club around and crowds thrust in to have the nights of their lives. His dream had finally come true. The place was so successful that he paid off Lestat’s loan in a year’s time. From 1012-17, he made a mountain of money. But in the meanwhile, he has missed out on keeping up with the family.
Grace is disappointed in him and rues about the missed time. She knows about his homosexuality and is accepting of it. But she wants Louis to visit more often and get more involved with the family. Louis is tempted by the newborn, whom Grace hands over to him. But she is back just in time before something bad happened. She is called again by Levi and Louis is left alone with him. The scene cuts to the interview where Louis admits he no longer kills. He hasn’t since the year 2000. Louis says the readers must know he is “a master of his instincts”, unlike his peers. Daniel asks him again about the baby – whether he ate him or not and how the pandemic and geopolitical situation in Russia and Ukraine hindered them.
Interview with the Vampire (Season 1), Episode 2 Ending, Explained:
Why does Louis reprimand Lestat for killing the soprano?
Louis says he didn’t eat the baby amidst Daniel’s constant pandering. To showcase his restraint, Luis calls out to Damek to put on a show for Daniel. He sucks his blood in a manner that does not kill him or convert him. He suggests Daniel visit Kite Beach as Louis keeps sucking the blood out. The next thing we see is Louis crying tears of blood in front of Lestat, saying he nearly ate the baby. Lestat calms him down and asks him to stop seeing them. Louis regrets he cannot have a family ever again. Lestat tries to cheer him up and asks him to spend time in Rome. He says Mrs. Bricktop will handle business while Louis is away.
Louis confides that he saw Lestat as God – as everything to him. The racial mechanics of certain places they visited together forced him to act as Lestat’s valet. But he never made him feel beneath him. Lestat saw him as an equal and rued the feeling of loneliness that saddened him before he met Louis. They enjoyed the soprano so much that Louis is almost moved to tears. Music rested at an elevated place in Lestat’s eyes. But he isn’t impressed by one of the performers messing up his notes. He marks them in blood on the note sheet with him. He was so angry as he began his hunt for the man. Louis had finally started to feel the despicable nature of the vamp’s hunting rage. Compassion started to take over him.
Louis fights with Lestat when he kills the performer. Lestat asks him to embrace his killer side. Louis was able to see the performer’s thoughts as his life flashed in front of his eyes. The childhood memories come alive through his words. Lestat asks Louis to see the beauty in his death, as he patiently consumes his victim. Louis joins in as he couldn’t resist Lestat’s charm. He had him under a spell.
This episode was about acceptance. The reimagined setting and experiences of a vampire certainly have a charm of their own. The dialogue is captivatingly written and the story ebbs and flows in a controlled manner. It never spirals out of grip and the lead actors make it worth staying to enjoy the experience of watching it unfold. We see Daniel reminisce about Alice, his wife, and remember his first date in the last scene. The very last still is that of the two seated at the dining table having dinner, like acquaintances, and maybe even friends. That is a powerful visual. It underlines why this adaptation is not in the shadow of its predecessors and how it can take a shape of its own to become a meaningful creation. What more does one want?
Read More: Werewolf by Night (2022): Review & Ending, Explained
Interview with The Vampire (Season 1), Episode 2 Show Links – IMDb
Interview with The Vampire (Season 1), Episode 2 Show Cast – Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Eric Bogosian, Chris Stack, Bailey Bass, Kalyne Coleman
Where to watch Interview with the Vampire
