Chapter 7: Interview With The Vampire, Episode 5: "A vile hunger for your hammering heart"
Our precious vampire family reach a peak in their existence and Claudia explores America outside of her New Orleans safety net, leading to something they all can never return from.
“[Claudia] makes you and Frenchy look like a couple of existential queens.”
— Daniel Molloy

Welcome back to the fifth episode of my Interview with the Vampire recap for Spooky Season 2023! If you need a refresher of episodes one through four, please feel free to skim through the archives!
[spoilers from here on]
We’re five episodes in and tensions are building in every direction across space and time! The beginning of this episode is a lot to take in at once, so pay attention: Daniel reads quotes from Claudia’s victims, Louis feeds on Rashid (both seem to be getting pleasure from it at one point), Rashid compares Claudia’s documentation of her kills to Daniel’s journalism, claiming that he’s chronicling a suicide with this interview.

Louis reads Daniel’s mind and we learn that he still maintains the curiosity of vampire life that he did when he first interviewed Louis (well, duh, he’s here in the first place), wondering what Rashid tastes like, but then back to more journalistic curiosity of how much he weighs. Rashid is on the smaller side, and Louis feeds on him for quite some time, longer than he fed on Damit. Rashid clearly worships Louis, throwing attitude at Daniel increasingly with each interaction. Just… observing, here. Don’t mind me.
Back in New Orleans in a life post-Charlie, Louis thinks Claudia is hiding in her coffin and starving herself. Like any loving parent, he brings her pigeons in hopes she’ll eat. Lestat looks a bit somber as he plays the piano (or he’s just focused on the music), the top of it covered in the clutter of books. Louis tries to offer ideas to get Claudia to eat but Lestat defensively says, “Save your words when it comes to Claudia,” because his “sadistic” parenting has been forbidden. Lestat seems accepting of her absence, at a pause, while Louis is desperate for resolution.
“For Claudia, all humans died with Charlie.” — Louis de Pointe du Lac
They find Claudia’s diaries which disturbs them both upon reading, Lestat thrusting the diary into Louis’ chest as a message of blame. Claudia's heartache transforms into feminine rage by killing more and in such a way that puts them all in danger. The effects of Claudia’s rebirth do not only impact her, but they impact her the strongest, similar to how some human children might feel: you made me this way, so you can revel in the consequences.

Louis wants to respect her privacy but his feelings are hurt as he reads further. For once Louis and Lestat are on the same page about what Claudia has done. Lestat, angry that her pages are “inked with ungratefulness,” his parenting ban is quickly revoked. Our beloved vampire dads may not be on good terms but their frustrations with Claudia unite them in a strange way. After Claudia threats, “I guess you better hope and pray you taught me how to clean up good,” Lestat is physically violent to her for the first time, showing his “maker” dominance. She looks to Louis to defend her, but he looks away in pain.
Louis and Lestat are rightfully angry. Claudia’s actions and carelessness have put them all at risk. Her grief over Charlie, coming to terms with her new life, and a new family that she didn’t choose have led them all here. Louis said, “All vampires are born out of trauma,” and here is the result of Claudia’s. Despite their valid concern, Lestat's anger goes too far. The theatrics of vampires experiencing human emotions doesn’t mean this doesn’t exist for humans too, and fathers with rage only do harm unto their families when it goes unchecked.
“Sounds like there’s a maniac on the loose.” — Lestat de Lioncourt
Louis and Lestat are again involved in “human affairs.” Besides Tom Anderson’s ask for finances, he strangely offers them more information about what has been going on with these deaths. We can see he’s aged, and surely he’s aware they haven’t. Despite his friendly disposition, like he’s doing them a favor by disclosing these details, we learn that he lured them from their home so it could be searched. Who would have tipped off the police besides the one “old friend” who seems to know something? This fuels Lestat’s rage and I love that we get to see him freeze time again to mark Tom, even though the end of that scene is unclear.
After keeping the cops at bay in another darkly humorous scene that also reveals Claudia’s souvenirs, Louis and Lestat are torn further apart by their different feelings toward Claudia. This scene is incredibly powerful, amazingly done by all three actors (shout out to Bailey Bass, I don’t think I’ve mentioned her by name yet). Claudia reaches a breaking point, desperate to have a companion of her own, while Lestat and Louis are dealing with the bigger picture of repairing what’s happened and how to move forward.
“Who am I supposed to love?” — Claudia
First, Louis and Lestat show up as a team—disciplining Claudia, dealing with Tom, and handling the police together—this is their life together after all, and it’s been years, but Lestat quickly turns this on Louis (“You wanted her, you fix her!”) as he feels Louis is to blame for Claudia’s existence (sir, you did it though…). Louis says, “We’re doing this together,” in a pleading way that tells us that Louis also felt like a team, dare I say… a power couple!
Sidenote: There’s something about Louis and Lestat (additionally, Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid) that is beyond fun to watch. We’re rooting for them, even when it’s clear they’re not ready for each other if they ever will be. Jacob and Sam are masterclasses in the nuances of the layered emotions their characters are feeling, even down to Sam’s walk and Jacob’s telling facial expressions.
This scene quickly devolves as Lestat becomes more cruel toward Claudia, learning that she’s been trying to make a companion for herself, referring to her as an anvil on their ankles and calling her a mistake, which only pushes Louis further away. In the heat of the moment she reveals that he’s still seeing Antoinette, to the great disappointment of Louis, who has been dedicated to his family, not once wavering despite their challenges. Lestat doesn’t know what he’s created in Claudia, a vampire unlike Louis, who isn’t afraid to explore outside of their home and spy on them for her own self-preservation and curiosity for the answers Lestat won’t provide.
I had no words for her. What words were there? ‘It all happened so fast.’ ‘I was trying to save you.’ ‘All vampires are born out of trauma.’ We made her out of remorse, out of selfishness… She spent every night for half a decade with no friends, locked in the emotional storm of puberty… Her absence would lay bare who we were without her, a simmering pot of resentments.
This is finally where Claudia questions her existence to Louis, mourning the human life she is unable to have, letting the guilt wash over him. The tenderness with which he approaches her is heartbreaking. She doesn’t understand that she gave Louis what he feared he’d never have: a family of his own. But of course, that wasn’t her choice and could feel violating. We don’t choose to be born, and neither do all vampires.
While he desperately doesn’t want to lose her, his anger softens to sadness when she decides to leave behind this “pot of resentment” and Louis to think about what he and they have done. Louis and Lestat’s lives are forever changed. No more incinerator, no more parties, no roaring twenties (💔)—and for seven years they are forced to live life very low-key, as shown in the end of this scene alone as they make their plans together for the near future.

Daniel brings Louis back into the world we live in today and how the story of Claudia, regardless of the context, will be out of their hands once it’s in the public. It speaks to our current era of social media, gun violence, political extremism, and the rise of incel culture—unruly aspects of our current social climate that Louis may not be as aware of. Louis may not see the consequences of publishing this story in the 2020’s. And where will this all end?! Because we know it’s not going to end with Louis disappearing into the night and Lestat catching Daniel in his car, driving him down the Golden Gate bridge to tell an exhausted, bitten Daniel his version….
Back in the 1920s, Louis goes into a deep depression, consumed by the loss of Claudia. Lestat does what he can to maintain a semblance of a life with and without him, seeking refuge in Antoinette. Their home falls apart and Louis reaches out to Claudia mentally, not thinking there could be other vampires listening. Haven’t we all sent telepathic thoughts to people we no longer speak to, no longer can speak to, in hopes they’ll feel us in the ether?

Out in the world, Claudia meets cruelty in human and vampire alike. At first, Bruce seems a promising ally in her search for her kind, but she endures trauma at the hands of him that Louis does not want to speak about. I know he’s here to prove that what Lestat said about other vampires is true. Lestat seems to know something that Louis, Claudia, nor we know of, but it still hurts to watch her face more abuse.
Louis loses his temper when Daniel challenges Louis’ withholding of what happened to Claudia, and triggers Daniel’s Parkinson’s intentionally with his mind. It’s very telling that Louis wants to protect Claudia in this way. For spoiler’s sake, I won’t say (for now) why this matters, aside from this showing that Louis has grown from this experience, and future experiences, not only as a person but also as a vampire.
“…I am the one who is presently standing in front of you. And unlike Claudia, I am a full-blooded adult with all the right appendages. So, if my considerable considerables continue to be squandered…” – Lestat de Lioncourt



literally falling apart – images via tumblr
While Louis understandably and heartbreakingly grieves Claudia, as he’s lost so many people he loves in his life, Lestat grieves their relationship. Lestat has also lost a lot, but he’s been around for a lot longer and has had more time to separate his other losses from Louis, which clearly takes up a lot of his energy now. Maybe Lestat’s prior losses leading up to this time are what make him so possessive of Louis.
Lestat never seems to feel the depth of feeling for Claudia that Louis does, although I do believe he loves her. But while Lestat is prepared, and maybe even hoping, to continue their lives without her and “get back” to “normal,” Louis clearly is unable to. Grief is a complex and terrible thing and it can make us do, or not do, many things—like maintain a clean house, get dressed at all, or forget our partner is right there, needing our presence too.

“I spend time following Louis and Lestat now that I am my own woman. Qith no obvious sense of why I follow them other than meaning slowly disentegrates without them. My companions in immortality. But today at the cemetery I finally understood something so obvious, which I pondered for a decade: Why they made me. To be Louis’ sister.” — Claudia (read by Louis from her journal)
Louis says his final and heartbreaking goodbyes to his human life and his sister Grace. Claudia is so moved by what she witnesses while watching them in the cemetery that she decides to let them know that she’s come home, she’s sorry, and she understands why they made her: to make a family and so Louis could have a sister again. While this may not be the full truth, I can see why she would interpret that from what she’s seen. Louis embraces her sweetly, whispering thank you, but the cozy, warm jazz in the background swiftly comes to a halt.

Cruelty outside, cruelty at home—Lestat rejects her apology and mocks her desire to seek out other vampires… again. He reveals that the vampires out there (ie. in Europe) are vicious and realizes she’s learned this, but instead of consoling her, feels triumphant in his knowing. The audience feels their pain as we want to see them all together but Lestat can’t seem to let that happen. He’s incredibly jealous of Louis’ love for Claudia because he is not often the recipient of it himself. So, in pain from the rejection he’s felt from Louis for some time, he further digs his own grave by unleashing hundreds of years of his rage on possibly the only people who have ever loved him.

When Claudia sincerely asks, “If what I’ve read is lies then tell me what’s true,” but Lestat refuses to explain beyond this “society of monsters.” When he can sense that she’s experienced some out there in the “American hinterland,” he tells Louis to “read her,” which I find interesting, especially because he is incredibly perceptive. I do think he cares enough to know what happened, but he’s so caught up in his hurt feelings that he is unable to express his concern for her. The build up of his unspoken pain with Louis all comes pouring out here. Louis accepts the blame for them taking her “inconsequential life,” to Lestat for the first time, but Lestat can’t join him in this responsibility.
Claudia calls out Lestat’s way of keeping them in fear to control them, “but I think he’s scared,” she says. And Lestat just continues to build onto this ping pong of insults and hurt until it’s too late to recover, because he doesn’t know if they’ve been communicating telepathically, and just the idea that Louis seems to quietly contemplate leaving with Claudia sends him (literally) through the roof. He attacks Claudia, his hand around her throat, and that is Louis’ last straw.
“A thousand nights of sulking and the first sight of her, you’re just going to up and leave me?” – Lestat de Lioncourt
It’s maybe easy to forget that Louis, before becoming the submissive “housewife” he seems to be during this period of their lives, was violent when he needed to be and had a temper of his own. He’s been more calm for some time, but because we know how protective he is of Claudia, it is no surprise that he would defend her this way. This is the one fight that Claudia can’t get in the middle to make right.
Lestat even says off camera to Louis, “Cheri, let’s stop this! You don’t want to fight like this anymore. I am trying to restrain myself!” which tells us that Louis is fighting back, probably unleashing his own resentment and anger onto Lestat since he blames him for Claudia leaving and admitted to enjoying provoking him. All the unspoken anger boils to the surface for both of them and unfortunately, lack the control and skills to communicate their fear, sadness, and pain any other way. But why, even after saying that they should stop fighting, does Lestat continue?
Brutally beating Louis (which is also abusive toward Claudia) will not bring Louis closer to him, will not make Louis love him more deeply, and yet he still asks Louis miles in the air to tell him otherwise. The pain for the audience is that Lestat does not have to inflict the hurt he’s feeling onto others, but instead, he doesn’t know how to stop himself. It’s heartbreaking when he says he is trying to restrain himself, and even though he is not a victim of anyone else in this situation, he is a victim of himself. It is even more heartbreaking to hear Louis telepathically tell Claudia that everything is okay when it is clearly not, like many parents in this situation would do to protect their child.
When Lestat says, “I fought myself a million times. Fought my nature, controlled my temper, I never once harmed you,” you can hear the pain in Sam Reid’s voice. It’s complex to hear such pain from the abuser’s perspective. I do not feel qualified to speak on the depths of this myself, but I do observe it in the performance, though I am not sure how to put words to it. “Listen to me, and listen to me very carefully, my infant death. It was never you,” Lestat tells Claudia before turning back on Louis, “I chose you,” he says. And he did, he chose Louis as his companion, and Louis chose Claudia.
Quickly, I have to point out the flying in the air parallel that is in the film, although it’s when Lestat is turning Louis near the beginning of the film. From that perspective (of waiting for movie moments to be translated into tv moments), it was exciting to see Lestat fly into the air with Louis and for them to show a similar shot. Unfortunately, the context hurts.
And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, here is a video of it (it will play from the exact part):
And then here is the one on the show (I’m sorry you can barely see it):
/nerd moment. Back to the show…

“I have waited, Louis. I have patiently waited, in vain, for you to love me as I love you. Just say it. Say, ‘Lestat, I am never going to love you.’ It would help me a great deal to hear that from your lips. Your quivering, hateful lips.”
“Let go of me.”
“Anything for you.”
When Lestat says the above quote, it’s heartbreaking. We can feel his pain and many of us know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of unrequited love, and when someone toys with you enough to can bring you to a boiling point. I’m not sure I could argue that Louis toyed with Lestat, and if Lestat felt that way, I don’t think it was intentional on Louis’ part. Lestat lovebombed him, preyed on him, used his vampire powers on him! But Louis did choose him in return in a vulnerable moment, and Lestat could conveniently forget the context of Louis’ turning.
This scene is incredibly heavy, dark, and hard to watch. It is traumatizing but it does not feel that the show does it lightly or without care. I really do feel like everything is heightened with vampires (although these subjects are also very true to our real lives which is what makes this adaptation so wonderful). They are dead, and yet very alive—more alive than humans in some ways—they feel deeply. I have no excuses for Lestat’s abuse toward Louis, but I do appreciate him as a complex character who is also charismatic, and perhaps that is the danger right there. Sam Reid said that Lestat is “violent and hot-headed” in an interview and it’s true, we see these qualities at their worst here. But Lestat is one of my favorite villains because he has depth and reason, his own trauma—he’s not here for shock value or to be excused of his actions. Lestat has a lot to learn, and while it’s not Louis or Claudia’s job to teach him, they will—even indirectly.

Your turn…
Why do you think Claudia kept souvenirs? What did it do for her?
Why is Rashid so protective of Louis? Did he save his life or something? Just a really loyal familiar, a la Guillermo of What We Do in the Shadows, hoping to be a vampire someday soon? 😏 If you’ve seen the film, you might already know…
We know Lestat overreacted and there is no excuse for his behavior, but do you think his hurt feelings are valid?
Any other thoughts, please share below!
One complaint I have about this episode is the song it ends on. Completely takes me out of it. Whose choice was that? And Charles Manson? Ew! So while I always put the end credits song in here, we’re going to pretend this episode ended with the same song as usual. I tried putting the other one here because I’m a purist when I really love something, but I can’t.
‘Til next week! 2 episodes left! 🥲