If you’re confused as to how the very first episode of The Vampire Lestat on AMC and AMC+ can be the start of Season 3, that’s because this is Season 3 of the AMC series Interview with the Vampire. The series is based on Anne Rice’s books, and the show fully expects you to have watched Seasons 1 and 2.
Rolin Jones returns as showrunner, however, there’s a palpable tonal shift, at least in the premiere episode, “Detroit.” With the playful, egocentric-but-self-mocking vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) as our narrator, the mood in “Detroit” is considerably lighter, almost comedic, compared to the first two seasons. There are also enough flashbacks, flashforwards, side flashes and acid trips to compete with a Quentin Tarantino movie.
It certainly helps to be familiar with the characters and why Lestat is so infuriated by the nonfiction (in-universe) book Interview with the Vampire by Pulitzer-winning journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian).
Lestat, as viewers of previous seasons and readers of Rice’s novels will know, was made into a vampire as a young man in 1794 France. He’s had a hell of an unlife since then.
For more, check out our recap of Lestat's live NYC performance.
Daniel’s Interview tells the story, via interviews, of Lestat’s fledgling and great love Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson). While Louis passionately loved Lestat as well and fesses up in the book to some mistakes of his own, there are places where Lestat doesn’t come off too well.
The lively opening Vampire credits show Lestat in a shirtless rock star performance (with scars on his torso), also incorporating animation, images from the original Nosferatu, and more.
Then we’re inside a space where two big glass cases are on either side of an auctioneer’s podium. Chairs have been set up for the very exclusive, very wealthy bidders.
Among them, we see the vampire Armand (Assad Zaman), wearing an eyepatch. Armand was, until the end of Season 2, Louis’ lover post-WWII through the 2000s. Then, thanks to Daniel’s research and some intervention from Lestat, it came out that Armand had engineered the death of Louis’ beloved vampire “sister” Claudia (Delainey Hayles). Further, Armand had tried to cause Louis to be executed by a vampire court; when it didn’t work, he pretended he’d tried to save Louis. To top it all off, Armand turned Daniel into a vampire.
Also present is the human thief Raglan James (Justin Kirk), a Talamasca agent, and, as viewers of Talamasca: The Secret Order will recall, a back-stabbing bastard.
Louis enters late, using a cane. He removes his sunglasses as he trades glances with Armand and Raglan.
The auctioneer thanks everyone for their compliance with the “unorthodox” requirements for the event. The auction sponsors and attendees are anonymous. In other words, this never happened, no one was ever here.
That out of the way, there are two lots – inside the glass cases – being auctioned off. Lot 1, in the case to the auctioneer’s left, includes the master recordings of the complete works of Lestat. The auctioneer then presses a button, and the contents of Lot 1 burst into flame.
Lot 2 remains intact. This is a gigantic geometric wooden cabinet, a “music box” curated by Lestat. It contains, among other things, a magnum of Lestat’s blood, and a single vinyl pressing of “the complete works of the vampire Lestat,” including his album, an “omniscient” view of his tour with his band, and “the consequential global catastrophes that sprung from said album and tour,” as narrated by Lestat himself. Lestat has named this collection The Failures.
As the auctioneer starts the bidding at 50 million, Lestat’s voice cuts in: “If you are hearing this now, you must be a very privileged individual – you could have fed a small nation for years … you bought my box instead – I like you already. Let’s begin in the middle … I am not saying that the attempted extinction of the Y chromosome across the continents was all my fault. No, that would suggest a level of self-importance even I’m not comfortable with …”
Lestat acknowledges that he contributed to the catastrophe. Then, as promised, he deposits us in “the middle.”
Lestat is fronting the rock band known as “The Vampire Lestat” in front of a large and adoring crowd. (The songs are, in reality, written by Daniel Hart.) The schtick is that Lestat is pretending to be a human singer pretending to be a real vampire.
Lestat introduces us to his backup team. Lead guitarist Larry (Noah Reid), the band’s frontman pre-Lestat, is now a resentful sideman. Larry’s more talented (in Lestat’s opinion) brother Alex (Seamus Patterson) plays guitar and keyboards. Bearish bassist “Salamander” Ryan Kattner) Lestat sums up as “shockingly dumb.” The drummer is garage band veteran T.C. (Sara Swire).
As a videographer makes his way through the concert crowd, Lestat explains he was having a documentary made about the band’s tour, using a first-time director.
Lestat communicates telepathically with some vampires in the audience, one of whom tells him, “Your song sucks.”
Lestat crowd-surfs on his back and returns to the stage in a move only a vampire could make, though the crowd can’t tell.
A bit later, backstage, Lestat is carrying an unconscious, bloody-necked fan. This is Baby Jenks (Ella Ballentine), who took a variety of party drugs right before the concert. Lestat hands her off to a roadie. Nobody in the band or crew seems the least bit fazed by this.
Band manager Christine Clare (Jeanine Seralles) is after Lestat to handle some paperwork regarding an incident in Corvallis. We gather that there was at least one death.
Lestat tells us Christine hired Albanian gangsters to find him a body double who would do things like eat tuna melts in diners, so that people would take pictures and post them. This keeps up the ruse that Lestat is a fictional character invented by Daniel in his book.
The band spent a year rehearsing before going on tour. Daniel didn’t watch tonight’s show and is waiting for Lestat on the tour bus. Now a vampire himself, Daniel complains that Louis isn’t returning his texts or his telepathy. Lestat is texting with someone he’s designated “Toi” (he’s “Moi”). This seems to be Louis, though Lestat doesn’t mention this to Daniel.
Daniel asks why Lestat, with his extraordinary time observing history, wants to sing music “no one wants to hear in pants no one should ever squeeze into.”
Lestat says Daniel asks this every night, and Daniel says Lestat gives a different answer every night. The two have some quasi-prickly banter. Lestat also reiterates that many things in the book weren’t true, including Lestat threatening to rape Claudia.
Alone at home, Lestat composes on the piano. He is face-timing with Louis, who pronounces the composition “nice.” The two have clearly more than made up for their previous estrangement. Lestat is in Montreal and wants Louis to come visit. There’s a garage band, Satan’s Night Out, practicing loudly across the street.
We realize we’re further back in the flashback when Lestat sees the book “Interview w/ the Vampire” advertised on the Internet. Lestat is furious that Louis talked about him to a mortal. Louis assures Lestat that the book will be gone in a month.
Lestat goes to a bookstore, where the book is very much not gone. People are talking about it, agreeing that Lestat is boring, but Armand has layers. Reading the book makes Lestat even angrier, a sentiment heightened when he sees Daniel on a talk show.
It’s Halloween. Lestat is polite at first and offers candy to young trick-or-treaters. Then he sees a little boy who looks like Louis, dressed as a photographer, and loses his temper.
Lestat breaks into the band practice across the street. We recognize everyone as Lestat’s future backup players. Lestat plays a riff on an electric guitar, breaks it, chastises lead guitarist Larry, says his manager will pay for the broken guitar and broken door. Then he leaves. Despite this unpromising introduction, Larry recognizes star power when he sees it and runs after Lestat.
Daniel sums up Lestat’s musical side as a “Byronic reaction” to the book. He doesn’t want to do a rewrite, he just wants to go to Cannes with the documentary.
We hear various vampires telepathically arguing over Lestat. Some like his music; others feel Lestat should be killed, as his act and Daniel’s book are combining to cause chaos.
Onstage in Detroit, Lestat is playing rock fiddle. Larry is supposed to put down his guitar and pick up the tambourine for Lestat’s solo, but refuses to yield. Lestat, in a temper, extends his fangs but is then overwhelmed by the sound of his own music as the band plays, and by the audience’s reaction. This, in turn, unleashes a flood of memories.
Lestat has the epiphany that, by pretending not to be a vampire, he’s been holding the band back. He gets to his feet, resumes his fiddling, the band musically rallies round him, and he can feel the crowd. Baby Jenks jumps up on stage and hugs Lestat. He bites her.
Lestat brings Baby Jenks into his dressing room, where he finds Daniel feeding from Lestat’s human girlfriend/blood donor, Dee (Amaka Umeh). Lestat is having a major reaction to whatever Baby Jenks took, which is now in her blood.
Lestat hallucinates Dee floating and talking to him (her real body is on the floor). She tells him he’ll die, everything dies, he keeps going to ground and falling in love. Why is he so sad? He has thousands of fans. He tells her he wants millions. Lestat winds up vomiting blood into his hotel toilet.
Lestat and the band grace the grand opening of the small hotel where they’re staying. Erstwhile playwright Sam from Théâtre des Vampires (he and Lestat parted on good terms) is the DJ playing the party.
Daniel interviews Baby Jenks for the documentary. She calls Lestat “the scalpel” in his ability to get to the heart of the music and of his listeners, a description Lestat likes.
Two “regional” vamps, Tim and Russ, join Lestat at a urinal (yes, vampires urinate, though not as often as humans). Tim and Russ want Lestat to come with them, but he refuses.
Back on the dance floor, Lestat recalls that Russ is the vamp who telepathically told him his song sucked and detects other hostile vamps. He thinks, “I have the blood of the Queen in me.” He’s also still drugged to the gills from feeding on Baby Jenks.
Lestat tells us that, in the book, Louis and “Dan” tiptoed around vampire sex, making it seem like some kind of obligation before blood exchange. In fact, after draining someone to death, draining someone to almost death, and having a glass of blood, sex is a vampire’s fourth favorite thing. This leads to Lestat having sex with Dee, Baby Jenks, and a hotel bellman in the elevator.
When finished, Baby Jenks says she’s getting married in a week, but she’ll never forget them. She and the bellman leave; Lestat and Dee disembark.
Tim and Russ are waiting in the hotel hallway. Tim lectures Lestat on Law Four, which states that vampires shall never reveal their true natures to mortals. Lestat laughs. He tells Dee to face the wall because she doesn’t want to see this.
About eight other vamps step out of hotel room doorways. Lestat takes on the fanged mob. For a moment, they seem to have the upper hand. Then the elevator dings, and Daniel and Sam the vampire DJ, arrive to turn the tide.
Lestat acknowledges that Dan saved his life, but more of the world might be alive now if he hadn’t. Lestat’s bandmates and manager arrive to see the brawl’s aftermath. Lestat jumps out of the glass hallway wall and flies off, leaving Christine and the band open-mouthed, finally understanding that the vampire act is not an act at all.
Then we’re back with Lestat kneeling by the blood-spattered toilet. There are a bunch of texts from Louis, but the vampire who comes through the hotel room door, to Lestat’s delight, is a woman (Jennifer Ehle). Lestat describes her as “fledgling, lover, mother.”
