Interview with the Vampire Season 2

[kingstoken]

I just finished IWTV season 2, and god damn it's good! I will say if you've been considering watching it at all please give it a chance. I usually don't like vampire stories, but there is something so damn compelling about this one. It's urban fantasy, but at its core its about unhealthy and toxic relationships, but also weirdly about love and friendship. I think the changes they've made from the books are very interesting. Also, they take what is a minor character from the movie and books (to my understanding) Daniel and give him so much more depth. He is my favourite character.

I've seen some discussion online that says they thought it was a little rushed at the end and maybe it was, but I assume we're going to come back to some of what happened in the intervening time next season.

I am disappointed that we didn't get to see how Daniel got turned, I'm really hoping they come back to that next season, because I need to know! It looks like a lot of fan theories got jossed, so it will very interesting to see how or if they incorporate any of the Devil's Minion story. Obviously Armand changing Daniel because he was dying is out the window, unless that was part of something we didn't see.

Also, I've being seeing all these comments on twitter/tumblr calling Daniel nepobaby vampire or nepovampire, because he clearly already has abilities beyond other vamps like the ability to change his eyes and the ability to find Louis' thoughts through all the noise and over long distances, and i find them hilarious.

I think I enjoyed season 2 more than season 1, not to say that season 1 isn't great, it was, but season 2 worked for me. **chef's kiss**

Comments

[tribble_of_tarth]

OMG, I love the show too! It's so well done and so exciting! I read the first three novels 20ish years ago (O.O), so I have very little memory of them, but I was obsessed with the 1993 film at the same time, and I still have a good memory of that. It's been amazing to watch this adaptation because I felt like I both did and didn't know what was going to happen, and it was so great!

I agree, Daniel's characterization and portrayal by Eric Bogosian is so so good. Ben Daniels as Santiago was also a glow-up, in my opinion, from previous versions. And Sam Reid as Lestat: OMG. I was never a huge Lestat fan, but Sam Reid has made me love this version of him. Honestly, I could on about how wonderful all of the actors are, but I probably shouldn't just sit here and list all the characters one by one lol! XD

[kingstoken]

It's so good to find another fan of the show! Daniel is so good, I could gush about him all day. And yes, Ben Daniels' Santiago was fantastic, he was so scheming and power hungry, he's very memorable, and I can't even remember Santiago from the film. I don't know if you saw it but there was an interview with Ben Daniels after the finale and he said the showrunner told him they were going to play Santiago as straight, but Ben Daniels said he just couldn't do it, to him it felt like Santiago was a little bit in love with Armand and jealous of Louis, that there was this thin line between hate and love!
I will admit at first I wasn't sold on Sam Reid as Lestat, but this season, even though we got so little of him being himself, it really sold me on Lestat, and made me appreciate Sam Reid's performance more.

[delphi]

I really enjoyed the finale! The ending did pack a lot in and skip around a lot, but I think it did a good job of trying to hit that "not yet renewed for a season 3" balance. Like you say, in a show with a conceit like this, there's plenty of opportunity for flashbacks in the next season. In my (speculative) opinion, the episode also feels like a good bridge between the melodrama and tragedy of this season with what might be a little more glam and camp next season.

As a fellow Daniel fan, I'm particularly crossing my fingers that we get to come back to how Daniel got turned. My two main (overlapping) theories on the 'why' are currently that 1) since Louis said in 1973 that he needed Daniel to live as a testament to his and Armand's companionship, Armand made Daniel immortal to signal that he'll always be waiting if Louis wants to come back, and/or 2) Armand and Daniel had their own conversations and connection after Louis left, whether because Daniel stayed in Dubai or because Armand tracked him down after he left, and things were in some way genuinely intimate between them before Armand ran off post-transformation. I like that Daniel calling him an asshole could equally be about Armand turning him or just being salty that he woke up alone the morning after a life-changing one night stand.

And ha, I hadn't see those comments about Daniel being a nepobaby vampire, but that is funny. I like the idea that he got some fancy gifts from being sired by an ancient vampire, and maybe also because he was Armand's first. But I can also imagine Daniel - who was already eyeing the whole [insert noun here] gift thing critically during the interview - being willing to just experiment since he didn't have a maker around giving him ideas about what he could and couldn't do.

[kingstoken]

since Louis said in 1973 that he needed Daniel to live as a testament to his and Armand's companionship, Armand made Daniel immortal to signal that he'll always be waiting if Louis wants to come back

Wow! I never thought of that, but that makes complete sense. Although, I am hoping it is a more than that. Also, Armand doing a turn 'em, love 'em, and leave 'em also works great.

I love nepobaby vamp Daniel having special powers because he is Armand's first (and only at this point), but that is a great point about Daniel not having anyone to put limits on him so he maybe pushes the envelope of what's possible without even realizing it. I'm so excited for next season! It's going to be a long wait.

[tinkaton]

This season was soooo good, I think this show is such a good example of an adaptation really elevating the source material. And what a fantastic cast!! I hope they all come back for season 3, I know they want to adapt the The Vampire Lestat but I'm hoping they also weave in the stuff left hanging from season 2 (like what happened with Armand and Daniel).

[kingstoken]

Yes, season 2 was fantastic. It will be so interesting to see how they weave together the next books in the series, because to my understanding they are much more focused on Lestat, but it seems like they have to have Louis still around as one of the main characters, plus how are they working in Armand and Daniel, and the devil's minion stuff? They have done a great job with adapting the source material so far, and I completely agree with you about them elevating the source material and making it better.

[tinkaton]

Yeah I'm hoping they pull more from the later books because (as much as I would love it) I highly doubt they're going to keep the show going for 8 seasons or whatever. So hopefully they include the endgame Louis/Lestat stuff and Armand/Daniel stuff sooner rather than later... I love Lestat so I don't mind the next season focusing on him haha but they better keep the threads from the last season going!!