A big reason Anne Rice’s writing about the undead strikes a chord is the excruciating detail in which she explores the prolonged relationships between immortals. And she did it decades before vampires became the poster children for tortured teen love triangles. Unlike humans, the connections between these characters don’t die when they do. In fact, the feelings heighten—whether it’s love, hate, longing, rage, or a combination of it all, as seen in this week’s The Vampire Lestat. “The Devil’s Road” doesn’t just give us more important context for Lestat’s abandonment issues—thanks for that, Gabriella!—but it also zeroes in on Louis’ inability to move on from his dead daughter and Daniel’s fury toward his maker. Let’s just say that everyone in this show is suffering deeply right now, except for Lestat’s coke-addled bandmates. That The Vampire Lestat somehow makes it so much fun to watch their agony is quite an achievement.
The strongest aspect of “The Devil’s Road” is Jonathan Ceniceroz’s fairly comical script—it’s hysterical enough that I had to write down whole chunks of Daniel’s monologues and Lestat’s one-liners. Speaking of the former—or “The Vampire Bourdain,” as Lestat calls him in a way that made me chuckle—I understand his anger toward Armand, but the show’s weak spot is not digging into their connection prior to their reunion in this episode. Season three hasn’t put in the work, so when Armand pops into the band’s latest stop in Albany and says things like it wasn’t his love for Louis (but Danny?) that drove his decisions in Dubai, it lacks emotional depth.
We haven’t seen or heard his side of the story yet, or Daniel’s, for that matter. How and why did Armand turn Daniel 22 days after Louis left them in Dubai at the end of season two? What went down during those three weeks is as much of a mystery as the plane ride back to the U.S., when Armand finally turned the journalist and promptly left him to his own devices to figure out his brand new vampire life. Daniel has been wearing his anger like armor since then, wondering why his “father” isn’t around to teach him about any powers he might possess.
So now, when Armand arrives on an apology tour, Daniel isn’t pleased. He doesn’t even let Armand get a word in before his rage takes over. Let’s read his dismissal in full: “Stop. Turn around, walk in the opposite direction ’til you’re halfway around the world. Once there, find a radioactive storage facility and, as is your way, asshole your way inside and see if the workers will give you a couple of spent fuel rods to suck on. Do that for however long it takes until your eyes begin to cave in and your dick falls off. After that, lose my number. After that, fuck off.”
