Our Interview with the Vampire Season 2 recaps continue with episode 4, “I Want You More Than Anything In The World.” Catch up on our previous recaps for the first three episodes right here. Beware: spoilers below!
Claudia (Delainey Hayles) makes her stage debut at the Théâtre des Vampires, playing a baby who is suicidally sure she can fly. It’s a huge hit, and Claudia’s initially thrilled, but she gets very bored by the 500th performance.
Claudia finally protests about having to perform as a child, since it’s bad enough she’s a grown vampire in an adolescent body. Armand (Assad Zaman) orders her to stay in the baby costume, onstage and off, until she rediscovers her passion for performing. But then Santiago (Ben Daniels) and the other Théâtre vampires complain that everything has been going downhill since Armand allowed Louis (Jacob Anderson) to abstain from coven membership.
When Louis and Armand are in private, Armand shares he is in danger with the coven for keeping Louis’ secret. Louis envisions Lestat (Sam Reid) mocking them, which makes him so angry that he telekinetically lights a candle.
In the present, Louis says he could feel Lestat’s physical presence. Armand says, at the time, he was unaware Louis was experiencing this. Then, interviewer Daniel (Eric Bogosian) asks if Louis and Armand were the only survivors of the fire at the theatre. Armand is surprised, as Daniel wasn’t provided any information about the fire. The vampires try to read Daniel’s thoughts, but he blocks them, explaining that one of his researchers, who thinks he’s researching the post-war reconstruction of Paris, found records of the fire.
Claudia is still journaling, performing, and working the wet room. Santiago finds Claudia and reminds her that writing a history of the vampires is against one of the great laws. She says she’s just writing about the theatre. Santiago says he won’t reveal her secret.
Claudia also has to pass out leaflets in costume while wearing a sandwich board. She encounters the dressmaker Madeleine (Roxane Duran).
At a restaurant dinner, Louis is waxing enthusiastic to Claudia about all the new modern art forms blooming in Paris. Santiago mimics him and realizes that Louis’ pronunciation doesn’t sound like he’s from Chicago, as he claims to be. Santiago wants Louis to say, “New Orleans.”
Louis responds by leaping the length of the table and grabbing Santiago by the tongue. Armand bangs the table and all the other vamps promptly pass out; the mortals all freeze. “If you want to act like fledglings, do it in darkness!” he commands. Louis lets go of Santiago’s tongue, the other vamps awaken and the humans proceed as if nothing has happened.
Louis shows his photography to a dealer. The dealer thinks Armand looks fragile in his photo – Louis says the man is anything but fragile. The dealer observes that Louis has captured Armand’s soul in the picture. Nevertheless, the dealer winds up belittling Louis’ work overall. Insulted, Louis almost bites the dealer, then leaves.
In the present, the work of other, more successful photographers is intermingled with Louis’ pictures when Daniel examines them. Louis demands to know how this has happened. Armand says maybe Rashid mistakenly put the photos all together. Louis says he’s embarrassed and doesn’t want Daniel to think he was trying to pass the more celebrated photos off as his own. The readers should know that Louis was an adequate amateur. Daniel requests some medication for a migraine.
Madeleine comes to the theatre and sees Claudia’s performance. Claudia offers Madeleine a ride home.
Louis imagines Lestat critiquing his photos, giving him good advice.
Madeleine pins up a dress on Claudia as they talk. Madeleine lost her family to disease. She slept with a German soldier who fed her, and now she’s branded a traitor and a slut.
Armand and Louis visit an art gallery. Armand’s maker, Marius, was the patron for some of the art. There is a painting of Armand as a youth as well – his parents sold him into slavery; after that, he was sold to a brothel. Marius rescued him and did not want to turn him. But Marius sometimes still loaned him out to guests.
The Roman coven set fire to the studio and Marius, and adopted Armand. Armand wants to know if he is his history, if he is his job. Louis imagines Lestat is there, mocking Armand’s distress. Then, one of the coven members contacts Armand telepathically.
Claudia gives Madeleine a very abbreviated version of her history, sans the vampirism. Put that way, it sounds a lot like bipolar depression. Madeleine basically tells her to get used to this existence. Then Claudia has to run because Madeleine is menstruating and the temptation is severe.
Armand grabs Claudia outside. She left the “sacrifice” on the wet room floor instead of disposing of it properly. Armand insinuates that he knows Claudia and Louis killed their maker, Lestat, and orders her not to see Madeleine again. When Claudia leaves, Armand hauls the eavesdropping Santiago out of the shadows and scolds him as well.
Louis is burning his photos as imaginary Lestat watches. Claudia bursts in with the news that Armand knows that they killed Lestat, which, of course, is not news to Louis. Claudia is furious that Louis didn’t tell her that Armand has known the whole time. Louis says he hadn’t told her because she seemed so happy with the coven that he didn’t want to ruin it for her. Claudia says that Louis has abandoned her – again – this time for Armand. Louis says that Claudia abandoned him for the coven.
Louis tries to break up with imaginary Lestat. Then Louis summons Armand, saying he felt Armand’s panic. Armand senses mutiny brewing in the coven.
Santiago spies on Claudia. Louis tells Armand he’s going to stay in Paris and help him. Louis doesn’t know much about theatre, but he knows how to run things. He counsels Armand to let Santiago think he’s Armand’s heir apparent, and then let the others watch Santiago mess up. Armand can then decide if he wants to continue to lead the theatre. Armand tells Louis, “I want you more than anything in the world.”
Meanwhile, Santiago’s mutiny has progressed further than Armand has guessed, with Santiago telling his disciples to stagger their arrivals at the theatre.
In the present, Louis and Armand are having a shouting match about which of them placed the other photos with Louis’ work. Daniel can hear it distantly through the walls. Daniel listens to the recording of his original 1973 interview with Louis. Then he sees Talamasca surveillance footage of himself from the original interview and hears a recording of what certainly sounds like Louis attacking Daniel back in the day.
As far as drama goes, “I Want You More Than Anything in the World” has lots of sizzle but practically no action regarding major character moves or vamp violence. Yes, Santiago is fomenting rebellion, but it hasn’t quite come to fruition yet. It’s unclear what, if anything, will come of Louis’ attempts to break it off with Lestat’s phantom.
It is nice to see Claudia confide in a fellow woman, even one who doesn’t know her true vampire nature.
Oddly, Armand and Louis assume Daniel didn’t know about the fire at the theatre. Until now, the audience has been given reason to believe that Anne Rice’s original book Interview With The Vampire is essentially the substance of Daniel’s original interview/book. But the fire looms huge in that material. If the fire isn’t supposed to be in the book, then what are we supposed to infer Daniel already knows, and what is purged from the record?
We know that the TV series updates Louis’ whole origin story from 1791 to the early 20th century, with significant changes to Louis and Claudia. Still, the major events have so far been similar. Now, the meta mystery is looming as large as those within the narrative. We’ll just have to watch and find out what remains from the book, what supposedly wasn’t in the book but really is, what supposedly was but really wasn’t, and what’s altogether new. (No wonder Daniel had a migraine!)
Watch new episodes of the Interview with the Vampire TV series every Sunday on AMC & AMC+. For more, catch up on our Interview with the Vampire episode recaps.
