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Spoilers follow for <\/strong>The Vampire Lestat<\/strong><\/u> Season 3, Episode 7 – \u201cThe Failures\u201d which is available on AMC and AMC+ now.<\/strong><\/p>\nWhile Season 3 of AMC\u2019s The Vampire Lestat (formerly known as Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire<\/u>) was promoted through the lens of Lestat de Lioncourt\u2019s \u201cROCK STAR!\u201d image, in truth the season was really about exposing 200 years worth of vulnerabilities festering within this mercurial bloodsucker (played by Sam Reid). <\/p>\n
In this season\u2019s finale episode, \u201cThe Failures,\u201d a beheaded Lestat mulls his multitude of sins as they come back to haunt him in a mind palace of his own making. At the same time, an equally headless Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) sits in a butcher shop, defiantly staring at his disembodied torso while his very<\/em> angry ex-lover Armand (Assad Zaman) tries to force him to make amends. There\u2019s no more runway for these star-crossed lovers (known by their fans as \u201cLoustat\u201d) to outrun their poor choices, so \u201cThe Failures\u201d finally come to bear for them both, literally and figuratively. <\/p>\nShowrunner Rolin Jones tells IGN that the whole season was building to their parallel confessionals. \u201cJust watching those two [stories] together, in theory, it’s supposed to be bringing Lestat and Louis’ journeys together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nMore From the Chronicles<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/section>\nLouis Making Amends<\/h2>\n In the aftermath of their dual beheading by Armand and Molloy (Eric Bogosian) in \u201cMontreal<\/u>,\u201d Louis wakes to find his still conscious head is on a pike positioned to look at his beheaded torso. Jones was thrilled to lean into such a horrifying tableaux: \u201cIn the horror world, we’re probably known as ‘horror lite,’ so the idea that the story allowed itself to go there for at least half of this finale, that was us going, \u2018Oh, we can do the horror too.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Jones looked to contemporary horror as a guidepost for how he explored the existential horrors that live inside these vampires. \u201cThere’s five to 10 [recent] movies that give you all the terror, and then they go some other place,\u201d he says with admiration. \u201cIt’s been so elevated recently. Horror is like the extremities of what we’re all capable of, right? And so, it was fun to see that [here].\u201d<\/p>\n
Armand revealing himself to Louis as the villain of the season is a twist that Jones says was extremely difficult to execute. \u201cNormally, we would have shown you,\u201d he says of Armand\u2019s stealthy side machinations. \u201cBut all the backtracking of Armand’s lurking is fixated on the Regina [Delainey Hayles] of it all, and that’s such a long play on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Vampire Lestat Images<\/h3>\n<\/span><\/output><\/p>\n
Jones says they went through a lot of effort to keep that a secret until Armand tells a shattered Louis, and a terrified Regina has to explain herself. \u201cFor anybody who is rewatching, just ask yourself in every scene \u2014 where’s Armand now?\u201d says the showrunner. \u201cYou could feel him. Like Lestat says, he’s like wallpaper that peels off slowly to suffocate you, then jumps on you. That’s what’s going on and it’s hard to pull off because you have to withhold Assad so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that twist does get Louis to finally understand the depth of the damage he\u2019s inflicted on Armand, which prompts him to make genuine amends to Armand and to forgive Regina as well. Says Jones of Louis\u2019 change of heart, \u201c[His] real turn there is that movement from \u2018I want to save Regina\u2019 to \u2018What am I actually accountable for when I froze this guy out?\u2019 Yes, this might be a little extreme where [he\u2019s] at right now. But what didn’t [Louis] say when he threw him into the wall in Dubai? So I feel very empathetic towards Armand at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Jones doesn\u2019t say whether Regina’s escape signifies the close of Hayles\u2019 time on the series, he does urge the audience to rewatch the character\u2019s arc this season. \u201cGo look at Delainey. Look at what she’s doing in those scenes that you thought were one note,\u201d he says of her diner scenes with Louis and Lestat. \u201cThey’re not. There’s so much going on, and she’s been so crippled about talking about it because she really had to wait for this [finale] to come. Now she’s free to brag, and she should brag. She’s incredible this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nLestat\u2019s Nightmare Dinner Party<\/h2>\n Because Season 3 is told from Lestat\u2019s point of view, most of the finale takes place inside the vampire\u2019s muddled head as he dreams of being taken to the dining room of his former Auvergne home. There, he finds the motley crew of his maker Magnus (Damien Atkins), mommy Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle), first love Nikki (Joseph Potter), New Orleans era Louis, ex-lover Antoinette (Maura Grace Athari), Marius de Romanus (Christopher Heyerdahl) and drummer TC (Sarah Swire). <\/p>\n
Asked if that table was set from the start, or if it went through different guests, Jones confirms there were many iterations in the writing, and then scheduling of the actors. \u201cIt was way weirder in its early stages. We had versions with Claudia there. But after the s\u00e9ance, it was like, \u2018What’s left?\u2019\u201d he says of that powerful scene of closure. \u201cShe was way harder on Louis in the s\u00e9ance than she was on Lestat. I think she was like, \u2018You know what’ll really fuck up Lestat? Silence.\u2019 That she doesn’t give a shit anymore seemed like the last grace note of Claudia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones remembers that they almost lost out on Magnus actor Atkins because he was booked on a big theater job, but they worked it out. \u201cAnd I wanted Joey Chestnut to be there, eating the shit out of his soul,\u201d the showrunner laughs.<\/p>\n
‘It was way weirder in its early stages.’ -showrunner Rolin Jones
\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\nYes, Joey Chestnut<\/u>, the competitive eater and 18-time winner of the Mustard Yellow Belt, was name-checked by Lestat this season, and Jones says he wanted an actual cameo at the table. \u201cWe kept trying to call his manager and tell her what it was, and they just kept laughing us off. So there was more Joey Chestnut in this season than what is in there.\u201d<\/p>\nThe Devil in the Details<\/h2>\n
Jones says Lestat\u2019s \u201cmaddening, defense-ridden, pop-culture referenced narration\u201d in the first couple of episodes this season is preparation for the intensity and density of this finale. \u201cHe’s got the journey of \u2018The Failures\u2019 to go from \u2018I may have a little <\/em>something to do with it\u2019 to \u2018It was all my fault,\u2019\u201d Jones says of Lestat owning his choices. This in turn leads to the startling cliffhanger ending.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
While Lestat is in his dream-like state facing his accusers, Jones and the series editors revisit every era of the vampire\u2019s existence in specifically crafted montages, or as remixed memories which force the vampire to face his perceived failures anew. \u201cIt’s actually reframing not only alternative takes, but actually where the take is, or where Lestat’s head is, and literally manipulating both shots to make them go on top of each other,\u201d Jones says of the complexity of what they edited together. \u201cThere was a lot of work there, and it takes a lot of risk for my lovely creative suits at AMC, and even the actors, to [accept], \u2018Hey, we’re going to build part of this storytelling in the edit, and you’re going to have to trust us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Jones says Lestat\u2019s regrets are what led those supercuts, so each of them reveal a lot about the vampire. He points out a moment when Lestat is looking at Nikki which elicits a series of memories until they hold on Louis walking past. \u201cThat was actually the moment where [Lestat] had been caught in the Antoinette of it all,\u201d Jones pinpoints. \u201cAnd that moment out of everything lives in his death and dying moments as a way<\/em> larger moment than hurling him from the sky, or anything like that. These are betrayals that are there. And later on, there is a one-second breath, which is 24 frames that are very specifically thought about, [in terms of] what are those [memories] coming back? For the detectives out there, there’s a lot.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat About Lestat\u2019s Future?<\/h2>\n A timer brings Lestat closer and closer to the end of his internal meditation\u2026 and eventual acceptance of himself. One last person emerges to speak with Lestat, and it\u2019s Louis\u2019 brother Paul de Pointe du Lac (Steven G. Norfleet), who committed suicide in the very first episode, “In Throes of Increasing Wonder…”<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was Louis for the longest time,\u201d Jones reveals about who that person was in the first drafts. \u201cBut every time something felt well-made this year, it felt wrong like you just hadn’t done the work, or you hadn’t found that extra level.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\u201cThere’s so much self-loathing in this season, and so much in this episode,\u201d Jones continues, pointing out what Louis thinks he\u2019s hearing from those who mean so much to him. \u201cThose people don’t necessarily feel that way about you, dude. That is you<\/em> and such a projection. And so, who would be the messenger that says, \u2018It’s okay. You’re not all bad. You have done something beautiful and there is some beauty inside you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\nEven though Paul may not have approved of Louis\u2019 life choices, he knew how to read his brother even while wrestling with his own demons. \u201cI think there’s a lot of damage to get through with Lestat, and so much of it is self-made,\u201d Jones offers. \u201cBut there are germs of great beauty within him, and [Paul] seemed like the only person that could have come out with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turns out that Paul is also a harbinger of what\u2019s to come. Jones acknowledges, \u201cWhen he looks up, he says something from the books. There is an energy that’s about to come in that is female rage, writ large,\u201d he says, teasing the world-changing events in Anne Rice\u2019s book Queen of the Damned. \u201cIn my own universe, living in a matriarchal world, I think that’s right.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘The design for a potential Season 4 and a potential Season 5 started pretty deep into the shooting of Season 2.’
\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\nAsked if he expects a potential Season 4 to finish Lestat\u2019s story, or to shift perspective to Akasha in Queen of the Damned, Jones says, \u201cThe savvy of this year was that title change which comes from marketing, so God bless them. I have no control over these things. I’m still just a typing monkey,\u201d he jokes. \u201cWhat I would say is, the design for a potential Season 4 and a potential Season 5 started pretty deep into the shooting of Season 2 with me and [executive producer] Hannah [Moscovitch]<\/u> walking around Prague, just talking \u2013 as we were going from editing to the stage \u2013 about, how would we do it?\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledges that plenty of important things happened off screen this year, which was by design, not by accident as some fans may think. \u201cIt’s not just the concert,\u201d he says of the unseen Great Conversion. \u201cThere’s a lot of stuff to revisit. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if you know Queen of the Damned really well, it is a series of chapters of strict point of views. So, get ready, folks! This is part two,\u201d he says of what remains untold. \u201cAnd if there’s stuff that might have frustrated you this year, relax. Everyone will want to comment on that last shot of Montreal, but it ain’t just that. A lot of shit went down this year. And there’s a couple of guys sitting in an auction room,\u201d he recalls about the opening scene of this season. \u201cThey are not going at each other’s throats. The puzzle will all come together given there’s a Season 4.\u201d<\/p>\n
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