‘Interview with the Vampire’ Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Promise Comes Together

Assad Zaman and Jacob Anderson in Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 2.

In Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Episode 2, “Do You Know What It Means to Be Loved by Death,” the Parisian Dream the season promises begins to materialize.

After a dull hour on Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Episode 1, the change of pace, space, and narrative is a welcome addition. Louis and Claudia arrive and settle in Paris, soon making new friends, some more than friends.

We return to the show’s form, and the old IWTV is back! There is a good blend of the old and the new. How exciting!

Beware of potential spoilers!

A Brother and Sister Arrive In Paris

Jacob Anderson In Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 2
Louis flirts with Armand. Image credit: AMC+

Paris is a refreshing change for the characters and the show. It represents everything they have not seen since they left New Orleans. The city is healing from a terrible war, and one can’t tell by how lively the streets are.

However, Claudia is not on board for the first time because it doesn’t fill the void in her existence. Louis is just happy to be anywhere.

The relationship between the two has shifted. Initially, it was more like a father and daughter, but now it’s like brother and sister. Is that a cover, or is that what they’ve really become?

The latter seems more plausible because speaking about your dad and his potential lover’s big *those* would not occur to any child, no matter how old.

The relationship has its ups and downs, but it seems to be on the up in Paris.

Meet the Locals

Ben Daniels in Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 2
Santiago delivers an electric performance. Image credit: AMC+

Every city has its owners. People who might not afford the real estate there, but they’ve lived in it long enough to know the ins and outs of it to make it truly their own.

The Theatre Des Vampire is one such group. They have lived there long enough to know how to fly under the radar even when they kill for sport.

Brother and sister are almost giving up hope, but their trail of properly indisposed bodies sells them out. Through that, Louis meets the love of his life.

Lights, Projector, Fangs!

The grand event in the episode is the performance by the vampire group.

Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 2 executes it quite interestingly. A lot hinges on the performance being convincing. Not only would it earn the coven new members, but it would also win over the audience.

There is something entertainingly frustrating about watching something like Santiago’s performance. On the one hand, you’re aware that everything is real, but the audience thinks it’s for show. This disconnect is frustrating and made worse by the audience choosing to disbelieve the Belgian woman.

The naked truth hidden by the wilful disbelief makes the performance entertaining and wins Claudia over. Finally, she has a reason to stay.

Louis has other reasons to stay — well, one reason.

Armand and Louis

Assad Zaman In Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 2
Armand chats with Louis. Image Credit: AMC+

The Loumand meeting was underwhelming.

Everything about it was a huge disappointment. It’s fun to cruise, but it’s not exactly the most romantic setting. Much of what was supposed to happen did not happen, and we rely on the interview to fill in the gaps in their feelings.

Daniel: Well, where better to find who you are, to find the right kind of love, than in a public park?

Seeing Louis scared of Armand like that left a nasty taste. It was almost like the dynamics with Lestat all over.

Luckily, the writers fixed it with the massacre at the high society’s mansion.

That honest peer-like conversation established a connection missed in the first meeting. Nothing that happened inside the mansion was as interesting as Armand and Louis claiming each other.

‘Interview With the Vampire’ and The Love of His Life

The interview reaches new heights in Dubai. Has it always been that fun?

Armand’s entrance into the conversation improves it a great deal.

Listening to Louis trying to convince Daniel that his story was worth telling was becoming repetitive. Well, parts of it that he recalled well.

Louis and Armand’s love becomes visible with every answer they finish for each other, as if they can read each other’s minds.

They keep looking at each other as they recall the good times over seventy years ago.

With Armand by his side, Louis gets the courage to cut Daniel to size when he proves insufferable. And like clockwork, Armand is ready to finish the job.

Their collaboration allows them to tell their story without feeling like they’re being tortured. They back Daniel into an uncomfortable corner, and he has to listen. This is probably the best part of the episode.

Daniel’s sharp one-liners are fun, but dude, read the room. The man just opened up about being destroyed by his dead lover in a letter halfway across the world.

Lestat de Lioncourt

Sam Reid In Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 2
Lestat reads Louis a letter. Image credit: AMC+

Louis and Claudia are not rid of Lestat. They will never be.

He keeps popping up everywhere. Theatre de Vampires looked like a puppet he controlled.

His portrait hangs on the wall, and even Santiago’s performance has traces of Lestat in it. For a moment, it looks like an older version of Lestat is on the stage.

But the biggest thing is the letter.

My god, isn’t that a soul-crushing letter to read?

Lestat had this idea of how their life might turn out, but everything happened wildly differently. How could he have guessed the man he loves will be the one to kill him?

But it proves beyond doubt that Lestat was madly in love with Louis. Sometimes, things just don’t work out.

The Interview Continues

Eric Bogosian In Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 2
Daniel listens to the story. Image Credit: AMC+

Paris is great, but cracks are already developing. Louis and Claudia carry a secret, and they’re not exactly on the same page.

Louis is smitten with the vampire Armand, but he promised it will always be him and Claudia.

The ghost of his lover haunts Louis, while Claudia can’t escape her biology.

What else could possibly go wrong?

“Do You Know What It Means to Be Loved by Death” significantly improved from the season premiere. It returns Interview With the Vampire to its previous form, and that’s welcome.

We could use a little more gore, though.

Rating: 9/10