Interview With The Vampire 2022 / Tropes A to H

Tropes beginning with the letters A to H for Interview with the Vampire (2022).

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#-B

• The '40s: Most of the past events in the Season 1 finale take place in 1940. The Paris scenes in Season 2 are also set in this decade.
• The '70s: One scene in the sixth episode is set in 1973. A behind-the-scenes snapshot from Season 2 posted on the official Immortal AMC Twitter account confirms that it will continue Louis and Daniel's first interview storyline in this decade.◊ Luke Brandon Field (who portrays the young Daniel) appears in the first 20-second Season 2 TV spot and the extended trailer.
• Absurdly Sharp Claws: Vampires have razor-sharp fingernails that serve as claws, and they use them to mutilate their human prey.
• Abusive Parents:
  • Lestat's father had beaten and starved him simply because he had studied religion at a monastery and wanted to become a priest.
  • Claudia mentions in her journal that her "mean old auntie" (who was her legal guardian because Claudia's mother had died in childbirth and her father had abandoned her) had beaten her.
  • Although Lestat seems fond of Claudia at first, it becomes clear that he mainly sees her as a means to an end to keep Louis by his side, and when she no longer fulfills this purpose, he doesn't feel much responsibility towards her. After the incident with Charlie in episode 4, he's through playing "Uncle Les" and doesn't hide his disdain for her, being physically rough with her and outright calling her "a mistake." In episode 6, he threatens to kill her if she runs away from home again, and in episode 7, he plans to murder her so that Lestat has no more competition for Louis' affection.
  • Louis doesn't harm Claudia for the most part, but there is one notable exception: in the Season 1 finale, he slams her against the armoire while tightly grasping her neck — which is identical to what Lestat did to her in the fifth episode.
• Adaptational Diversity:
  • In the books, Louis was white and born in France in 1766. In the show, he is a black man born in New Orleans in 1877. The TV version also makes him explicitly gay, whereas the character in the source material had feelings for a woman named Babette Freniere.
  • Claudia also becomes a black girl, while she was white originally.
  • In the novels, Armand was Caucasian and an Eastern Orthodox Christian, while his TV counterpart is Muslim and played by an actor of Bangladeshi descent. The character's exact ethnicity is not specified in Season 1, although there's a hint that he might be a Crimean Tatar.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • In the Interview with the Vampire novel, Armand's role starts in the second-half of the story, but in the TV adaptation, his opening scene is in the pilot (albeit in Human Disguise as Rashid).
  • Dr. Fareed Bhansali first appears in Prince Lestat, the eleventh installment of The Vampire Chronicles. On the show, he's introduced in episode 6, which isn't yet halfway through IWTV, the first book of the series.
  • The casting of Joseph Potter as Nicolas in Season 2 (which covers the second-half of the first novel) means that the TV character's debut is half of a book earlier than expected. His literary counterpart's sole appearance is in The Vampire Lestat, the second installment.
• Adaptational Job Change:
  • In the novel, Louis was an indigo plantation (and slave) owner, but his TV iteration was a pimp who owned several brothels and gambling dens before City Ordinance 4118 closed down Storyville.
  • The original Antoine is a musician (specifically a pianist and violinist) and composer, whereas the Gender Flipped Antoinette is a lounge singer who doesn't play any instruments or write music.
  • Although Dr. Fareed Bhansali is a medical doctor in both the books and the show, working as the personal physician to the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (and his other client definitely isn't the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac) is unique to the TV character.
  • In the source material, Madeleine is a dollmaker, whereas her TV counterpart is a dressmaker.
• Adaptational Location Change:
  • In the Interview with the Vampire novel, Lestat transforms Louis into a vampire at the latter's indigo plantation outside of New Orleans, but in the TV series, this event takes place in the city proper at St. Augustine Church.
  • The book version has Louis and Claudia dump Lestat's body into a swamp at the bayou, whereas on the show, the latter ends up in a landfill outside of New Orleans where he eats rats instead of alligators to survive.
• Adaptational Nationality:
  • In the novel, Louis was born in France and later moved to the French colony of Louisiana, and when he was turned into a vampire in 1791, it was still under French rule, so he had spent his whole human lifespan as a French citizen. In the TV adaptation, Louis is an American who was born in New Orleans in 1877.
  • The show's Antoinette Brown, the Gender Flip of her book counterpart Antoine, is American instead of French.
• Adaptation Dye-Job:
  • Because of the change to Louis' ethnicity on the show, he has brown eyes as a human, but as a nod to his book counterpart, his irises become green after his transition into a vampire.
  • The raven-haired Antoine from the books has been Gender Flipped into a blonde Antoinette for the TV adaptation.
  • Also as a consequence of Race Lift, Claudia is a brunette with brown eyes (although they gain a reddish-orange hue after she's turned) instead of a blonde with blue irises like in the novel.
  • The original Daniel is described as having ashen blond hair and violet irises, while the show's version is green-eyed and the 1973 Flashback reveals that he was a brunet when he was younger.
  • In the source material, Armand has auburn curls and dark brown eyes, whereas the TV iteration has black curls and orange irises as a vampire.
  • In the book, Santiago has black eyes, whereas the TV character has bright lime green irises.
  • The literary Madeleine is violet-eyed while her TV incarnation possesses hazel irises.
• Adaptation Expansion: This version of the story takes advantage of material from subsequent books in The Vampire Chronicles, and also adds some backstory for Daniel and how he met Louis.
• Adapted Out: Babette Freniere, a character from the Interview with the Vampire novel, has been excised from the TV series. The only detail that survives is her surname, which was transferred to Levi, Grace's husband.
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head:
  • In the second episode, after Louis joins Lestat in feeding on the blood of the tenor, Lestat tenderly holds Louis' head as a gesture of intimacy.
  • In the sixth episode, Lestat delicately runs the tips of his fingers along the top of Louis' hair as they nestle together in the latter's coffin. Because Lestat nearly killed Louis in the previous episode, he's attempting to prove to his boyfriend that he can be gentle and caring.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • In the second episode, we learn that Lestat's nickname for Louis is "Saint Louis," which is a Call-Back to the first episode where Lestat explains that he originally intended to start a new life for himself in St. Louis, but ended up staying in New Orleans because he experienced Love at First Sight when he saw Louis. He also calls Louis "mon cher" ^note the masculine form for "my dear" in French multiple times, and once Claudia joins their family, he calls her by various pet names like "ma petite" ^note the literal translation is "my little one" (feminine form), although it can used as the equivalent of "my sweetheart" and "ma chérie" ^note the feminine form of "my darling". Furthermore, in a 5-second Season 2 TV spot, the hallucination of Lestat greets Louis with "Bonjour mon amour" ^note "Hello, my love", and because this manifestation of his ex-lover is based on Louis' subconscious, it suggests that Lestat had referred to him as "mon amour" when they were together.
  • Louis likes to call Daniel "boy" because the latter is much younger than he is, and Daniel was a 20-year-old Pretty Boy when they first met at Polynesian Mary's in 1973, with his youth being appealing to Louis, who started flirting with him shortly after Daniel entered the bar. Louis came up with it ("Get the boy whatever he wants") after Daniel rejected his initial attempt to use his diminutive "Danny" like the bartender does, and Daniel accepted being addressed in this manner. However, when they see each other again in 2022, Daniel is 69 years old, and he's offended ("I'm not your fucking boy") when Louis mentions the old nickname ("I think it best we start when our boy's had a rest"). Although Louis is careful not to bring it up again when Daniel is awake, he can't resist saying it after his guest falls asleep ("I think the medication has overwhelmed our boy"), and he means it fondly because he requests that Rashid fetch a blanket to keep Daniel "warm with his dreaming."
• Age-Gap Romance:
  • Related to the Setting Update. In the novel, Lestat was born in 1760 and Louis in 1766, giving them a 6-year age gap, and they met in 1791. In the show, Louis is born in 1877, they meet in 1910... but Lestat was still born in 1760, giving them a 117-year difference. Vampires get Stronger with Age, so this means Lestat is much more powerful than Louis.
  • Lestat's mistress Antoinette (who becomes a vampire by the sixth episode) is roughly a decade younger than Louis (she seems to be about 30 years old in 1917), so the age gap between her and Lestat is even greater than the one between Louis and Lestat. The original Antoine is 82 years Lestat's junior.
  • The age difference between the show's Armand (who was born in 1508) and Louis is 369 years, which is an even larger gap than in the books (286 years).
• Age Lift:
  • Louis is 111 years younger on the show than in the novel; he was born in 1877 instead of 1766.
  • In the TV adaptation, Antoinette appears to be around 30 in 1917, so her birth year is in the late 1800s. Antoine was born in 1842 in the source material.
  • The original Claudia was born in 1789, but her TV counterpart is 114 years her junior, being born in 1903.
  • In the books, Dr. Fareed Bhansali was an adult when he received the Dark Gift in 1986, whereas his TV iteration is in his mid-to-late 30s in 2022, so the latter was born in the mid-1980s.
  • In the series, Armand is 28 years younger than the book character, as his birth year is 1508 instead of 1480.
• All Gays Love Theater:
  • The bisexual Lestat is a big fan of the opera, and he often takes his gay boyfriend Louis on dates to watch live performances. They've seen at least one play off-screen, which is A Doll's House ("They'll seat us late, and we'll miss Nora's entrance with the Christmas tree"). Lestat also used to socialize with the Women's Opera Society. The Season 2 SDCC trailer reveals that he was the co-founder of the Théâtre des Vampires, plus two other trailers and two TV spots show that he was a Performance Artist during the late 18th century.◊
  • Louis enjoys the theatre, but in episode 1, he acted dismissively and disinterested about it to his family when Lestat brings up that they attended Iolanta together — to a brief surprised expression from Lestat. Louis was firmly closeted and in denial at the time, and is deliberately trying to avoid this trope's implications. Louis and Lestat discuss it after the dinner.
    Louis: You sayin' I got shame?
    Lestat: The lie you told about leaving the opera house early. You were near weeping when the curtain fell. Why hide that from your family?
    Louis: Don't everybody need to know what I do.
    Lestat: Dishonesty breeds dishonesty.
    Louis: They sit in judgment. Paul is the only one to say it to my face, but I know my ma and Grace think it, too.
  • At the end of Season 1, the queer Armand (who hasn't explicitly identified his sexuality in Season 1, but he and Louis are in a same-sex relationship) lets Daniel know that he was once part of the Théâtre des Vampires. Armand's Season 1 promotional image features the sock and buskin (otherwise known as the comedy and tragedy masks) to showcase that he was acting as Louis' human servant in front of Daniel, when Armand is actually an ancient vampire who is far more powerful than Louis.
• All Take and No Give: Louis and Lestat's relationship overwhelmingly takes place on Lestat's terms. Louis turns into a vampire for Lestat, losing his life and his ties with his family. He moves into Lestat's house. He disengages from his Catholic faith. He tries to be a vampire after Lestat's model despite having a private distaste for it. The closest thing to a counter-example is the decision to adopt Claudia — something Louis wanted and Lestat did not. But even then, the impetus for it to actually happen — Lestat doing the turning — happened per Lestat's decision. Lestat would claim that even with all of Louis's sacrifices, he still ultimately suffered more in the relationship because he loved Louis more than he was loved in return.
• Always Identical Twins: Grace's two daughters and the MacPhail brothers are identical twins, and both pairs of siblings wear matching outfits to further accentuate their sameness.
• Ambiguously Human: In the fourth episode, Rashid says some odd things that could hint to being older than the young man seems, including "electronic mailbox" (the term "e-mail" was coined by CompuServe in 1981) and "Dubai is a child" (Dubai was founded in 1833). Daniel's notes even catch and comment on Rashid's strange choice of words. In the 1973 scene of the sixth episode, Rashid appears the same as he does in 2022, so he's definitely not a regular human. The Season 1 finale affirms that he's a 514-year-old vampire named Armand.
• Ambiguous Situation: Louis has always suspected that Lestat had a role in Paul's suicide. (Before he died, Paul did divulge to Louis that "...[Lestat is] the Devil. He's here to take souls. He told me so. He spoke to me without moving his lips.") Although Lestat vehemently denies any involvement, he's manipulative and dishonest whenever it suits him, so the jury is still out on whether he's guilty or not.
  Louis: Did you have anything to do with Paul's death?
  Lestat: No. I would never hurt your brother.
  Louis: It's just something I always—
  Lestat: Never, Louis.
• Anachronic Order: The story constantly jumps back and forth between the past and the present.
• And Starring: The end credits have "And Eric Bogosian."
• Animated Credits Opening: The Season 1 title sequence is a computer-generated animation which features the black silhouette of two cityscapes against a sunset-red sky: the top upside-down one is New Orleans (temporarily changed to San Francisco for episode 6) while the bottom right-side up one is Dubai. As the cityscapes move away from each other, the tallest buildings vaguely resemble vampire fangs.
• Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: In a Santiago-centric TV spot, he teaches Claudia that one of the vampire laws is "No vampire may ever destroy another vampire."
• Appliance Defenestration:
  • In the Season 2 First Look Scene, on the upper floor of the de la Croix mansion, a chair is thrown at a closed window (presumably by a vampire while attacking a human) and the glass shatters on impact.
  • In the Season 2 trailer, Madeleine hurls a flat-iron at her store window after a swastika is spray-painted on it.
• Art Deco: After Louis buys the Fairplay Saloon and rebrands it as the Azalea, he updates the décor to art deco style with flashy, geometric patterns, which includes the design of the front entrance◊ and the pillars.◊
• Art Nouveau: Most of the furnishing in Lestat's townhouse is in the art nouveau style with flowing, naturalistic flourishes, such as the intricate Victorian wallpapers, the light fixtures, the fireplaces, the capitals on the columns, the bed, the bedroom lamps, and the nightstands.
• Asshole Victim:
  • Louis feeds on the racist Mr. Carlo (Alderman Fenwick's assistant), which results in the latter's death, after Carlo subjects Louis to an extremely condescending case of You Are a Credit to Your Race.
  • Louis slaughters and consumes the blood of the bigoted Fenwick mostly for approving laws that destroy colored businesses in Storyville, but also for his racially prejudiced opinions on Louis.
  • Tom Anderson is homophobic because he refers to Louis and Lestat as "you and your fag pederast," plus he mockingly guffaws at them when they kiss at the Mardi Gras ball. Lestat gleefully murders Tom during the after-party feast.
  • In the Season 2 First Look Scene, Armand decides to put the de la Croix family and their guests on the menu for his hungry vampire coven because they were war profiteers during World War II, becoming prosperous dealing in the black market while the rest of their countrymen were barely surviving on ration cards. What ensues is a massacre on the de la Croix estate, and presumably no humans are left alive.
• At the Opera Tonight:
  • The first opera Louis and Lestat attend together is Iolanta. Louis is so dazzled by the performance that he was "near weeping when the curtain fell," while Lestat prefers to study the gorgeous facial features of his Love Interest despite being an opera aficionado.
  • The couple later see Don Pasquale at a more upscale, formal venue (they dress in tuxedos instead of suits) and Lestat pays for a private box, but the big downside is that black people are barred from entering unless they're a servant of a white person, so Louis must pose as Lestat's valet. Although they were impressed by the soprano Sofia Consoli, their date was marred by the tenor who portrays Ernesto, whose singing was out of tune throughout the show. Lestat decides to punish the tenor by making a meal out of him.
• Audience Surrogate: Daniel is a stand-in for the audience whenever he brings up the fact that Louis is an Unreliable Narrator (the latter even acknowledges "And you can imagine what time's inevitable hammer does to the minute details"). Daniel has doubts about the veracity of Louis' second account in 2022 because it's so dissimilar to the first interview in 1973, so viewers must also ponder if Louis is indeed painting a "more nuanced portrait" of the past, if he is being deliberately dishonest and editorializing as accused, or if the additional 49 years have further muddled his memory.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • In the first episode, Grace is so sick and tired of Louis and Paul's daily arguments at the breakfast table that she wishes she could have a quiet breakfast. She gets exactly that in the worst way possible because both of her brothers die by the end of the climax — Paul to suicide, Louis to vampirism. Being an undead vampire means that Louis can never join Grace for breakfast ever again because sunlight would destroy him.
  • In the fifth episode, Claudia wants to find other vampires and experience a romantic relationship. Unfortunately for her, the first vampire she meets aside Louis and Lestat is a creepy, violent stalker named Bruce who takes full advantage of the fact that she is, in Lestat's words, "built like a bird."
• Beneath the Mask:
  • Because Louis is a gay African American in 1910, he has to put on a different façade depending on whom he's interacting with, and having to do this on a daily basis is detrimental to his mental health. Lestat is infuriated that Louis is whittling himself away by pretending to be something he's not.
    Lestat: This primitive country has picked you clean. It has shackled you in permanent exile. Every room you enter, every hat you are forced to wear — the stern landlord, the deferential businessman, the loyal son — all these roles you conform to and none of them your true nature. What rage you must feel as you choke on your sorrow.
  • Towards the end of the honeymoon phase of their relationship, Louis was concealing from Lestat the full extent of how uncomfortable he was with vampirism.
    Louis: And I was still very much under [Lestat]'s power. We would drain the tenor for hours that night. Lestat completely enthralled. Myself, pretending to be. Afraid to disappoint. Lestat was wrong. I was never going to be a natural. I was never going to savor the aftertaste. I was a shame-ridden second, a... a fumbling, despondent killer, a botched vampire.
• Beta Couple: It's unveiled in the Season 1 finale that Louis and Armand are lovers in 2022, and according to the extended Season 2 trailer, they've been a couple for 77 years.
• Betty and Veronica: For Lestat (the "Archie"), the black-haired, dependable Louis is the "Betty" (he's basically a "Househusband" — as much as a man can be in the early 20th century in a same-sex relationship — who's happy to raise their vampire daughter Claudia, although his brooding can put a damper on Lestat's enthusiasm) while the blonde, sultry Antoinette is the "Veronica" (Lestat deems her as the fun one because "You're like me, you like to laugh"). Lestat wants to have his cake and eat it, too, so there's no reason for him to choose between them, so he cohabits with his boyfriend at his townhouse, and retains Antoinette as his mistress, whom he visits when things are difficult at home. In the Season 1 finale, Lestat decides to elevate Antoinette (who has been his lover for 23 years and is now a vampire) to his second wife while Louis will be his male Top Wife in a Vampire's Harem. Even in this scenario, Louis is marginally the "winner" because Lestat loves him a lot more than Antoinette, but Louis certainly doesn't feel like he has won because he despises his romantic rival and wishes she was dead. Louis was already conspiring with Claudia to murder Lestat for his Domestic Abuse, so the latter imposing this outrageous new family arrangement makes it even more unbearable for Louis, so to be free from Lestat's control and to protect Claudia's life (Lestat plans to do away with her to make room for Antoinette), the "Betty" kills both the "Archie" and the "Veronica."
• Big Bad: Lestat is the main villain of Season 1. He's a Domestic Abuser and an Abusive Parent, and by episode 7, his lover/vampire son Louis and his vampire daughter Claudia are captives in his Gilded Cage.
• The Big Easy: In Season 1, almost all of the Flashbacks (with the exception of the Ponchatoula hotel and the San Francisco gay bar) take place in New Orleans. In the early 20th century, it was a Vice City with brothels and gambling dens. Jackson Square is featured prominently, gumbo is served for dinner at the de Pointe du Lac mansion, Lestat's townhouse is located in the French Quarter, there's a jazz funeral, a couple of scenes are set in the bayou, and of course, there is a Mardi Gras ball. It's an ideal place for a vampire, according to Lestat.
  Lestat: The life of a vampire has its challenges and its rewards, but I think New Orléans, with its music, culture, cuisine, shipping yards, conventioneers, thrill-seeking tourists far-flung from their homes, the laissez-faire attitude of the local police force... (chuckles) Oh, yes, the perfect setting for a vampire home, a vampire romance.
• Bilingual Bonus: The following are translations of non-English words/lines of dialogue where Reality Has No Subtitles (or the on-screen caption is misspelled, mistranslated, or isn't in English).
  • In the pilot, Louis threatens Paul with "I'll bleed ya like a cochon ^note misspelled as "kochon" in the official English subtitles," which is French for "pig."
  • In the second episode, after Louis says "Fuck you" to Lestat, the Frenchman's reply is "Va te faire foutre aussi!", which means "Go fuck yourself, too!"
  • Damek asks Daniel in Russian, "So, are you new to Dubai? Been here before?"
  • In the fourth episode, Louis pleads with Lestat to turn a dying Claudia into a vampire because "She's only a kid," and Lestat utters, "C'est impossible. Elle est trop jeune." ("It's impossible. She is too young.")
  • Rashid ends his Muslim prayer with "Asr namozi," which is Uzbek for "Afternoon prayer."
  • Lestat curses "Putain de merde" ("Fucking hell") while teaching a reckless Claudia how to drive.
  • Near the beginning of episode 5, Lestat speaks a few French words that aren't translated into English.
    • "Bon." ("Well.")
    • "Ça suffit!" ^note The "Ça" is misspelled as "Ca" in the official English-language subtitles. ("That's enough!")
    • "Voilà, comme j'ai dit." ^note The "j'ai" (used for past tense) is incorrectly listed as "je" (used for present tense) in the official English-language subtitles, and Lestat clearly says "j'ai" (not to mention that "dit" is the past tense conjugation). ("There, like I said.")
  • Later, Lestat is so fed up with Louis harping about Claudia that he cusses, "Bordel de merde. Il me chie dans la malle jusqu'au cadenas!" ^note The expression is normally "Il a chié dans ma malle jusqu'au cadenas!", but this old-fashioned phrase had already fallen into disuse by the turn of the 20th century, so it seems that Lestat has put a slightly different spin on it. ("For fuck's sake. He shits me in the trunk up to the padlock!")
  • In the sixth episode, Louis and Dr. Fareed Bhansali exchange their farewells in Hindi, which translates as:
    Louis: Goodbye, Dr. Bhansali.
    Bhansali: Until we call again.
  • It's extremely difficult to discern Lestat's explosive rant because his voice is drowned out by the radio at maximum volume, so this is the best guess: "Comme enfant, comme adulte, comme toujours, c'est de ta faute, Louis! C'est le résultat du compromis!" ("As a child, as an adult, as always, it's your fault, Louis! This is the result of compromise!")
  • Rashid's Latin phrase is "Trubidis rebus ad infinitum." ("With things that are noisy to infinity.")
  • In the Season 1 finale, just before Louis slices Lestat's throat, the latter tells his beloved, "I'm happy it was you, here with me... à la fin." ("at the end.")
  • In the Season 2 First Look Scene, "We own dominion" is not the correct translation of Armand's "Elle est à nous la propriété." What he said was, "The property is ours."
• Bisexual Love Triangle: Lestat is bisexual and he has both a husband-in-all-but-name and a mistress. He's happy to keep both of them, so conflict arises between Louis and Antoinette, who are jealous of each other. Louis wants Lestat to kill Antoinette, while she hopes that Lestat will abandon Louis and go with her to another city. Lestat does neither because he only cares about his own selfish desires. In the Season 1 finale, Lestat decides to form his own Vampire's Harem by upgrading Antoinette (who is now a vampire) to his second wife and Louis has the dubious privilege of being his Gender-Inverted Top Wife. Antoinette is amenable to this new arrangement because she'll get to live with Lestat and become a member of his family, but this is an even worse hell for Louis, who is already tormented by Lestat's oppressive Domestic Abuse and is trapped in a Gilded Cage. Desperate to escape from Lestat's tyranny, Louis murders both his lover and Antoinette.
• Blatant Lies: Has its own page.
• Bookworm:
  • Louis often reads books, which is his sole pastime. When he's severely depressed in the fifth episode, reading is his only source of comfort because he buries himself (both literally and figuratively) in French literature. By 2022, he has followed Daniel's journalistic career for the past 49 years, which includes reading the latter's autobiography.
  • As a fledgling vampire, Claudia loves reading so much that she sometimes "talks to books" (i.e. writes in her diary) because she regards them as her friends. When she's older, she travels to numerous university libraries for seven years to do extensive research on the origin of vampires. In the sixth episode, she studies the European cities that she plans to visit while in her coffin.
• Boy Meets Ghoul:
  • Lestat, a handsome vampire, falls madly in love with Louis, a human, and the former courts the latter for a few months before they share their First Kiss and Their First Time. A few weeks later, Lestat proclaims his love for Louis and he proposes that they enter a Common Law Marriage of Eternal Love. Louis expresses his assent by kissing Lestat, their Official Kiss being their final intimate act before Lestat turns Louis into a vampire.
  • The cute vampire Claudia becomes enamoured with a young mortal man named Charlie. He gives her a bouquet of chrysanthemums, they eat ice cream sundaes on their first (and only) date, and then they canoodle in his carriage. Their romance is short-lived because Claudia has a voracious appetite and never learned moderation, so she consumes all of Charlie's blood until he dies.
• Bridal Carry:
  • In the second episode, a same-sex variation occurs when Lestat carries an injured Louis bridal-style up the stairs of what is now their home (the townhouse is owned by Lestat, but Louis becomes its second resident after Lestat transforms him into a vampire). The bridal carry obviously symbolizes that they're essentially married, as much as two men can be in 1910.
  • In the Season 2 trailer, Lestat carries a dead man in this manner during the late 18th century.
• British Brevity: Season 1 consists of a mere seven episodes, while Season 2 is planned to contain eight.
• But Not Too Gay: Downplayed Trope. Although the story is a Queer Romance and the Official Couple Louis and Lestat share two sex scenes while naked in Season 1, they're far fewer in number, shorter in length and tamer than the heterosexual sex scenes in the other AMC Immortal Universe show Mayfair Witches. In the latter, there's thrusting when Rowan is having sexual intercourse with her male lovers, but there's no thrusting with Louis and Lestat, so the penetration during anal sex is merely implied. It's very plain when comparing the two series that the bigwigs at AMC are far less comfortable with depicting sex between two men than between a woman and a man.

C-D

• Call a Human a "Meatbag":
  • The vampire Lestat's designation for humans is "the meat" because he hunts them every night, so naturally he views them as his "savory inferiors." He also compares human prey to red wine grapes (he occasionally serves human blood in wine glasses), and his descriptions of them are meat-like:
    Lestat: A young Tempranillo, fleshy and tart. A Primitivo, hints of iron, rather plain otherwise. A pair of oak-aged Cabernet [Sauvignon], thick-skinned and chewy.
  • After draining Father Matthias to death, Lestat belittles him as a mere "pig vessel."
  • Lestat dubs the human thief that he has incapacitated in an alleyway as a "criminal biscuit."
  • As a young fledgling vampire, Claudia refers to human blood as "kill juice" with her Uncle Les' encouragement, and she notes that "You suck 'em like frog legs."
• Calling Parents by Their Name: Starting from the final scene of the fifth episode, Claudia addresses Louis only by his given name instead of "Daddy Lou" because she wants to be treated like his sister (and they are technically vampire siblings because Lestat is their maker) instead of his daughter. However, it's Zig-Zagged when she interacts with Lestat because she switches between using his name and "Uncle Les."
• Camera Abuse:
  • In the pilot, Lestat pounces on a lamplighter and his prey's blood splashes on the camera below.
  • Later during the climax, after Lestat murders a priest by punching right through the latter's head at high speed, some of his victim's blood and brain matter land on the camera lens.
  • In the Season 1 finale, as Claudia raises her head after she's done feeding, some of the dead man's blood hits the right side of the screen.
• Canon Foreigner: Season 1 characters that are unique to the TV adaptation include Finn O'Shea, Doris, Alderman Fenwick, Bricktop Williams, Father Matthias, Miss Carol, Tom Anderson, Jelly Roll Morton, Lily, Levi Freniere, Mr. Carlo, Damek, Jonah Macon, Charlie, Chief Bardeen, and Deputy Habersham.
• Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them:
  • In episode 2, Lestat tells Louis that he's very difficult to live with and it drives him nuts, but he wouldn't change a single thing about his lover.
    Lestat: No one as angry, as stubborn, as unaccommodating, as maddening—
    Louis: Sound like trash to me.
    Lestat: As loving, as dedicated, as thoughtful, as imperfectly perfect as you've become. You're a challenge every sunset, Saint Louis, and I'd have it no other way.
  • In episode 6, Louis ultimately takes Lestat back six years after the latter savagely attacked him, acknowledging that despite the pain his boyfriend had caused him, their "vampire bond" is difficult to break. In episode 7, Louis lampshades his love-hate relationship with Lestat:
    Louis: I wanted him dead. I wanted him all to myself.
  • A Season 1 Loustat promo invokes this trope with the caption "When you love your partner, but also want to kill him."
• Captain Obvious:
  • In the second episode, just after Louis pukes as he adjusts to his new vampire body, Lestat unnecessarily adds, "And then there's the retching."
  • Invoked by Jonah in the third episode after Louis notices his military uniform.
    Louis: You're enlisted?
    Jonah: Ain't you good at noticing what's plain?
  • In the fifth episode, after Daniel is attacked by Louis' People Puppets skill because he wouldn't back down about the missing pages in Claudia's diary, Rashid elucidates why Louis reacted the way he did, as if Daniel didn't already know.
    Rashid: Mr. du Lac occasionally finds it difficult to talk about Claudia.
    Daniel: (has a "No shit, Sherlock" expression as he glares at Rashid) Got that.
• The Caretaker:
  • Louis is responsible for his mentally ill younger brother Paul after promising their dying father he would look after him.
  • In episode 6, Claudia takes care of her older vampire brother Louis (she no longer wants to be treated as his adoptive daughter, and they are siblings in vampire terms) after he's thrashed to a pulp by Lestat. She even develops a vampire form of physical therapy to help Louis regain his mobility.
    Louis: A few shattered vertebrae, a punctured lung... blind in one eye for five weeks. Two months, was it? [...] Excruciating pain was the proof I was still alive. [...] [Claudia] dedicated all her energy to my rehabilitation.
• Carpet-Rolled Corpse:
  • In the second episode, after Louis is done feeding on the tractor salesman, Lestat rolls up the dead man inside a red carpet rug that he'll later discard as he ponders on a replacement.
    Lestat: For our next carpet, I'm thinking Persian. Arabesque maybe. Certainly need a more efficient way of ridding the waste.
  • Lampshaded by Louis in the seventh episode when Daniel inquires as to how he and Claudia disposed of Lestat's body.
    Daniel: So what did you do with it?
    Louis: We wrapped him in a carpet. We threw him in a trunk, and left him out with the garbage.
• Cast Full of Gay: By the Season 1 finale, only one of the five ^note Assad Zaman was given a Promotion to Opening Titles in episode 7 main characters is obviously heterosexual (Claudia). Louis is gay, Lestat is bisexual, Armand is queer (his sexual identity isn't spelled out in Season 1, but he and Louis are a same-sex couple) and Daniel is Ambiguously Bi. Both Armand and Daniel are explicitly bi in the books.
• Casual Kink:
  • Downplayed Trope in episode 2. When Louis uses his Super-Strength to push his lover Lestat away from him, the latter flies across the room and hits the wall. Lestat lets out a pleased, surprised gasp and is midly aroused by his newborn fledgling exerting his vampiric force against him, which hints that Lestat is into BDSM. It foreshadows what occurs four episodes later...
  • In episode 6, Lestat is revealed to be a masochist when it specifically comes to his boyfriend Louis because he's extremely turned on when Louis is physically aggressive towards him — with Lestat being naked and Louis is fully dressed — and injures him during sex. This thoroughly goes against Lestat's predatory, sadistic and domineering nature, so it proves how much he loves Louis that he feels sexual pleasure when Louis "claims" his body by inflicting wounds and humiliating him — Louis is after all hate-fucking Lestat in the home of Lestat's mistress!
• Chroma Key: The film production company Folks created the visual effects for Season 1, and this video demonstrates some of the digital work it did to remove the green screens and replace them with other images.
• Cigar Chomper: Tom Anderson is frequently seen smoking a cigar, which denotes his status as an affluent, but sleazy businessman who later becomes a politician who accepts bribes.
• Cigarette of Anxiety:
  • In the second episode, at the bar of the opera house, Louis is apprehensive while puffing on a cigarette as he watches Lestat lavish fake praise on the tenor. Louis dislikes killing humans, so he dreads the outcome that Lestat will eat the man for dinner later that night.
  • In the sixth episode, Lestat is noticeably agitated while smoking in the Ponchatoula hotel room, as he finds it difficult to deal with Claudia sniping at him and Louis' perpetual brooding.
• Climactic Music: The score was composed by Daniel Hart.
  • In The Climax of the series premiere, the unsettling notes of "Permanent Exile" echo Louis being very disturbed when Lestat unveils his true vampire nature for the first time; the latter butchers and exsanguinates Father Matthias with his fangs, and then he slaughters a second priest by ramming his fist at Super-Speed through the man's skull.
  • "Laudanum and Arsenic" is the Background Music in the second-half of the Season 1 finale climax, and it's a dramatic track that builds tension in a scene where two pairs of vampires face off against each other: Louis & Claudia vs. Lestat & Antoinette.
• Closet Gay:
  • Louis had to stay closeted in 1910 New Orleans, and notes how while you could be many things openly then, a gay black man wasn't one of them.
    Louis: My business and my raised religion were at odds, and the, uh... latencies within me, well, I beat those back with a lie I told myself about myself — that I was a red-blooded son of the South, seeking ass before absolution.
    Daniel: And you maintained this delusion how exactly?
    Louis: A particular woman who worked for the competition.
  • Unlike Louis, the bisexual Lestat isn't ashamed of his attraction to men, but he too must be cautious about not appearing too lovey-dovey around Louis to avoid scrutiny. He courts Louis as a friend, and later deflects Paul's homophobic insinuation about their relationship with a lie. While waiting for the Don Pasquale performance to start, Lestat's pinky finger discreetly caresses Louis' in lieu of actually Holding Hands; that brief moment of physical contact is the upper limit of what Lestat dares to do with his boyfriend in terms of public displays of affection. After Deputy Habersham warns them that "crimes against nature" carry a five-year prison sentence, it's Lestat who tells Louis that they should lay low while they're under suspicion. At Jackson Square, Lestat silently mouths the words "I love you" to Louis because it's too risky to even whisper it, let alone say it out loud.
  • The homosexual Jonah must keep his fondness for Louis under wraps when they're in front of others. They greet each other as old friends, not as former lovers, which contrasts Lestat openly necking his mistress Antoinette. When Louis asks Jonah, "You ever think about those old days when we were kids?", Jonah visibly becomes tense and stays silent because he knows that Louis isn't just talking about when they were innocent children, but also when they had a romantic/sexual relationship as teenagers. They later go to the bayou for a tryst because it's secluded and very dark at night (and thus it's unlikely they'd be spotted by prying eyes — well, other than Lestat's), and it's hinted that it was routine for the adolescent Jonah and Louis to come here to have sex.
• Color-Coded Characters:
  • In 2022, Louis' wardrobe consists exclusively of black and grey apparel.
  • In 2022, Rashid is only ever seen in black clothing.
• Common Law Marriage: Both homosexuality and interracial marriages were unlawful in the early 20th century Louisiana, so no legal options were available to Lestat and Louis to formalize their union. They make do with an impromptu Metaphorical Marriage, consummate it, and then Louis moves into Lestat's townhouse (during The Edwardian Era, it was typical for a newlywed woman to leave her family home to settle in with her new husband) where they live together like a married couple. Although they're in a committed relationship and acknowledge that they're a family, they never refer to each other as either "husband" or "spouse" in Season 1.
• Compartment Shot:
  • In the first scene of the series, the camera is inside Daniel's mailbox when he unlocks it to take out the package that Louis had shipped to him.
  • In Season 1, there are a few shots which are from within the incinerator, such as when Lestat opens the lid in episode 2 just before he and Louis toss Mr. Carlo's corpse inside, in episode 4 when Lestat forces Claudia to stay put and observe Charlie's body being charred by the flames, and in episode 5 when the police inspect its contents.
• Content Warnings:
  • The first episode ends with a list of suicide prevention resources because of the scene where Paul purposefully falls to his death.
  • The sixth episode opens with a content advisory for domestic violence; in an odd case, it wasn't so much for the content of that episode but the one prior to it which caused a great deal of controversy for not including a warning due to Lestat brutally pummeling Louis in the climax.
• Continuity Nod:
  • In the second episode, the scar tissue on Louis' left hand means that it still hasn't fully healed from his Self-Mutilation Demonstration to Daniel in the previous episode.
  • Finn's arm is in a sling because Lestat had injured it in the series premiere after the former prevented the latter from harassing Louis in the funeral procession. Lestat smugly inquires, "Is it healing properly? You might need a proper doctor, my friend."
  • In the seventh episode, Tom Anderson has an X-shaped scar on the left side of his face because Lestat had scratched it there with his vampire fingernail in the fifth episode when he stopped time at the speakeasy.
• Coordinated Clothes: Because of institutionalized homophobia, Lestat and Louis can't be too blatant about the fact that they're a couple in public, but Lestat subtly defies society's restrictions by having identical tuxedos made for himself and Louis, so any observant spectator at the Don Pasquale opera or passerby on Rue Royale during 1939's New Year's Eve celebration can easily deduce that the two men are together based on their matching attire.
• Couldn't Find a Pen:
  • In the second episode, Lestat scratches his own index finger and uses his own blood to mark the places on his Don Pasquale music sheets where the tenor sings off-key.
  • In the Season 1 finale, Claudia jots down in her journal Lestat's final words ("Mets-moi dans mon cercueil, Louis, Louis" ^note French for "Put me in my coffin, Louis, Louis") with his blood by dipping her pen into a wound on his neck.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Lestat has been infatuated with Louis from the instant he felt Love at First Sight, and this leads him to be obsessive and possessive of his lover, as he goes to extreme lengths to try to either keep him or win him back.
  • Lestat murders Lily after Louis avoids him for an extended period of time in order to isolate him emotionally, therefore making a vulnerable Louis more receptive to the idea of becoming Lestat's immortal companion.
  • Lestat is insanely jealous of Jonah, an Old Flame of Louis whom the latter continues to harbour some feelings for based on Lestat's observation while he was stalking them, "I HEARD YOUR HEARTS DANCING!!" (Probably the only reason why Lestat didn't Murder the Hypotenuse is because he knows Jonah will be shipped off to France for World War I soon, so he figures Jonah will likely die there.)
  • The sheer intensity of Lestat's love for Louis is unhealthy, and this quote from the third episode sums up the former's mindset.
    Lestat: I did it for Louis. I do everything for Louis.
  • Although Lestat initially refuses Louis' request to transform Claudia into a vampire because "Elle est trop jeune" ("She is too young"), he does the wrong thing anyway (not to mention that she didn't consent to it) because he realizes that creating a daughter is the only way to ensure that Louis — who was about to abandon Lestat — will stay with him.
  • When Claudia announces that she has returned home after a 7-year absence just so that she can take Louis with her to Europe, Lestat — who is now also a Jealous Parent — is boiling with rage because he feels that she's stealing Louis from him, so he strangles her. When Louis comes to her defense, Lestat totally loses control because it's solid proof that Louis loves Claudia more than him. Lestat then beats the crap out of Louis for not loving him enough, and since nothing else he has tried has worked, a desperate Lestat resorts to a horrific level of violence to scare Louis into submission.
  • Considering that Lestat is the definition of Evil Is Petty, it's quite remarkable that even after he finds out about Louis and Claudia's plot to murder him, he still desires to keep Louis as his lover. Lestat is so head-over-heels in love that he'll never willingly let Louis go even when his boyfriend wants to kill him, so Lestat directs all of his vindictive fury at Claudia, placing the blame squarely on her for the disintegration of his romance with Louis. Lestat conspires to bump off Claudia not just to punish her for her betrayal, but also so that Louis will love him and only him (at least according to Lestat's warped sense of logic). Regardless of how Louis feels, if Lestat's scheme had succeeded, it would be impossible for Louis to escape his clutches because Antoinette — who is now a vampire and can read Louis' thoughts — can alert Lestat to anything and everything Louis is thinking.
• Creepy Jazz Music: In a Season 2 promo with close-ups of Claudia, Louis and Lestat, "Ballet in the Attic" by Mel Wesson & NineOneOne sounds like a distorted version of the type of jazz/ragtime music that Jelly Roll Morton played at the Azalea. It's a reminder to viewers that although Louis and Claudia have freed themselves from Lestat's Gilded Cage to travel across Europe, they're nonetheless haunted (whether literally or figuratively) by what occurred in New Orleans during Season 1, plus it's a nod to the show's Southern Gothic roots.
• Crucified Hero Shot: Inverted Trope because Lestat was a villain in Season 1. In the first 30-second TV spot for Season 2, Louis (a lapsed Catholic) sees a deceased Lestat lying on the ground with his arms outstretched and his legs extended while close together, which imitates the crucifixion pose. Lestat abruptly comes back to life (which alludes to Christ's Resurrection) and then stands in front of Louis.◊
• Cultural Posturing:
  • In the series premiere, the Frenchman Lestat outright calls America a "primitive country." He regards his homeland to be more civilized, cultured and sophisticated because (by European reckoning) it's far older than the New World. The Kingdom of France was founded in the year 987 ^note although one can go back even further to the establishment of West Francia in 843 as the birth of the French nation, while the USA became an independent country in 1776, plus France was still a colonial power in 1910, whereas America wouldn't attain superpower status until after World War II.
  • In the second episode, it's Played With when Lestat brings up that he used to despise the English language, but he later became enamoured with it.
    Lestat: When I first started learning English, I abhorred it. Every word felt like a doorknob falling out of my mouth. Chapeau is a hat, étoile was a star... But when I started dreaming in English, that's when I embraced it. And now, I have English consonants to thank for this astonishing jawline.
  • Later, Lestat — who is a great admirer of European classical music and opera — has a mocking facial expression when he tells Florence (an African American) "I see you have a banjo band in your front yard," so he considers banjo music (the banjo was invented by African Americans) to be inferior.
  • In the third episode, while reading a newspaper article at Jackson Square, Lestat idealizes New Orleans when it was under French rule, but Louis, a black Creole, points out to his boyfriend that France was just as terrible as the USA in terms of how slaves were treated.
    Lestat: There's a column in here about the history of this lovely square. It says that the man who designed it did so after the Place de Vosges in Paris. I can see that. Used to be called the Place d'Armes. I prefer that, don't you? The Louisiana Purchase was signed here. Penny-wise, franc-foolish.
    Louis: Say anything about how they used to take runaway slaves, cut their heads off, and pike 'em on the iron gates as a warning?
    (Dramatic Pause)
    Lestat: I'm only halfway through, let's see.
• Daywalking Vampire: Vampires who are several centuries old develop immunity to sunlight, with Armand being the prime example.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Hardly a scene passes where Daniel isn't dropping caustic remarks, especially when he's taunting Louis.
  • Lestat has a witty remark for every occasion, particularly in regards to Louis and his angst about his new vampiric nature.
• Deal with the Devil: Multiple mortals believe that Louis, Lestat and Claudia must have made one due to their immortality and eternal youth. Some even ask for details on how it works.
  Tom Anderson: Where do you meet the Devil, and what are the terms of the agreement?
• Death Glare:
  • In the fourth episode, Lestat gives the undertaker a sinister "I'm going to kill you" look before exsanguinating him to death.
  • In the fifth episode, after Louis is Bitch Slapped by Daniel, the former scowls at the latter while barely restraining his homicidal instincts, as he doesn't want a repeat of their first interview where Louis nearly took Daniel's life in a fit of (unjustified) rage.
  • Later, there's an ominous close-up of Lestat shooting daggers from his eyes when he sees Louis and Claudia hugging after she returns home after seven years away. Lestat is both a Crazy Jealous Guy and a Jealous Parent, so he hates it that Louis is very affectionate towards their vampire daughter, but his boyfriend has withheld love and sex while she was gone.
  • At the end of episode 5, Claudia has a rather fierce "If looks could kill" expression when she glares at Lestat for nearly killing Louis.
  • In the sixth episode, after Lestat notices the voodoo doll inside the circle of brick dust in front of his doorstep, he glowers menacingly at two women who are walking across the street while assessing if they're a potential threat to him and his family. One of the ladies is so spooked that she warns her friend, "Don't look [at him], Eunice."
  • In the seventh episode, there's a murderous glint in Lestat's eyes when Tom Anderson cracks up at the idea of Lestat wanting to be Raj, the King of Mardi Gras.
• Decapitation Presentation:
  • Lampshaded by Louis in episode 3 when he asks Lestat if the newspaper article he's reading mentions that the heads of executed slaves were piked on the iron gates of St. Louis Cathedral.
  • In the sixth episode, Lestat holds up the severed head of the train conductor he has just murdered so that Claudia can see it.
• Decapitation Required: In the seventh episode, Louis discloses to Daniel that Lestat had once confided to him on a blood-drunken night in Baton Rouge that decapitation is a surefire method to kill vampires.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: In Louisiana during the early 20th century, there is institutionalized racism and homophobia in the form of racial segregation, anti-miscegenation and anti-homosexuality laws. Louis is an African American, and as a second-class citizen, his options are very limited — the only section of New Orleans where he's permitted to own and operate his own business is in Storyville, but he loses that in 1917 when City Ordinance 4118 shuts down all colored businesses, and to add insult to injury, he's prohibited from buying property in the French Quarter because of his race. The French Opera House on Bourbon and Toulouse forbids non-Caucasians on its premises with the exception of servants, so Louis can only gain entry by acting as a valet to Lestat, a white man. While talking with Jonah, a fellow black man, Louis mentions that they live in a country which makes them use the side entrance. In a streetcar, Louis and Claudia (a black woman) must sit in the back. Louis and his boyfriend Lestat are a same-sex and interracial couple, so their romance is felonious twice over, so this forces them to remain in the closet. Deputy Habersham attempts to intimidate the pair when he informs them that they could spend five years behind bars for "crimes against nature" after he notices that there's only one bed in their master bedroom.
• Destructive Romance: Daniel describes Louis and Lestat's romance as an abusive one, labelling it as "classic Stockholm [Syndrome]." Lestat is a classic example of a Domestic Abuser, and Louis is a victim of intimate partner violence who still loves his abuser. The last few episodes of Season 1 play out the "cycle of abuse" — tension culminating in an incident of abuse (Lestat almost killing Louis), followed by apologies (Lestat is thrown out until he grovels and is allowed back home), reconciliation, a calm "honeymoon" phase, until tension starts to mount again. There's an uncomfortable scene in episode 6 where Louis is Unfocused During Intimacy because he doesn't actually want to have sex, but he's so frightened that Lestat will punish him again for not loving him enough that Louis simply lies on their bed and lets Lestat have his way with his body. Louis later has a bout of suicidal ideation when he imagines himself as a pile of ash because he dreads returning to the "crypt" of the "undeserving Lestat." By episode 7, Lestat has enclosed Louis in a Gilded Cage and keeps his lover on such a tight leash that the only escape route that's available to Louis is to murder his boyfriend. Louis almost does, but his love for Lestat is stronger than his hate, so he's unable to perform the final step, which is to burn Lestat's body. Louis flees to Europe, but Lestat is Not Quite Dead.
  Daniel: You took Lestat back.
  Louis: The vampire bond. There is no human equivalent.
  Daniel: Lover, murderer, maker. [incredulous] invokedYou took him back.
  Louis: It's a bond that can never fully be severed. A bond like that makes you believe there are only two of you on the planet.
• Disappointed in You:
  • During their second chess match in episode 6, Lestat (who taught Claudia how to play the game) is unimpressed by her strategy.
    Lestat: The Dutch Defense. Stonewalling again. You've become quite predictable, my sister, disappointment.
  • Louis is Lestat's protégé in vampirism, and the latter is exasperated by his fledgling's refusal to embrace his vampire nature, which includes not consuming a sufficient amount of human blood as part of his daily diet. The following exchange in from episode 7.
    (Lestat is about to refill Louis' empty wine glass with human blood from a decanter)
    Louis: I've had my fill.
    Lestat: (scoffs) Louis has never honored the blood as he should. (tersely) Blame the teacher, not the student.
• Disapproving Look:
  • In the first shot of the dinner scene in the series premiere, Paul glowers◊ at Lestat when he observes him smiling at Louis. The homophobic Paul suspects that Lestat's affection for his brother goes far beyond mere friendship (and his instincts are spot-on — Lestat intends to seduce Louis after the dinner).
  • In the second episode, Florence has a displeased facial expression because she doesn't like how Louis presents himself, as she believes it's a telltale sign that he's gay.
    Florence: (in her mind) Look at his nails. He's getting his fingernails done. And the glasses? Some fashion certain men like him do. Lord. (sighs out loud)
  • Later, at the posh opera venue where black people aren't permitted inside unless they're a servant, an elderly white couple look down (both literally and figuratively) on Louis from the upper floor because they're racist and don't like seeing non-Caucasians in their midst.
  • In the third episode, Louis scowls at Lestat and Antoinette fooling around because he's understandably resentful that his insensitive boyfriend is seducing a woman right in front of him.
  • At the beginning of episode 5, Daniel is visibly annoyed that Louis is performing a Kiss of the Vampire on Rashid (who's enjoying it thoroughly) with slurping sounds because he understands they're engaged in a vampiric sex act, and they're essentially forcing him to be a voyeur. It's distracting Daniel from his meal (he has a plate of food and a nearly empty mug of tea) and his study of Claudia's journals, so he glares at Louis and Rashid, hoping they get the hint to stop.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • In 1973, Louis nearly killed Daniel after the latter merely asked to be turned into a vampire (apparently he was under the influence of drugs at the time, which Louis himself had provided), and Daniel was saved only because of Armand's intervention. 49 years later, Louis is still pissed off about it because he becomes irate after listening to the cassette recording of their argument and the subsequent attack, and he accuses Daniel of being insolent — as if that somehow justifies his homicidal outburst.
    Louis: (hostile tone) You were disrespectful.
    Daniel: I was high.
  • Lestat murders an Italian opera singer simply because he sang poorly, and humiliates him first to boot, which Louis dislikes.
• Disrupting the Theater:
  • In the fourth episode, Lestat, Claudia and Louis are laughing their heads off while watching Nosferatu (which is not a comedy), irritating the other people in the theater.
  • In the seventh episode, Lestat and Claudia rudely chat in their normal voices during a Newsreel screening at the cinema. An annoyed moviegoer shushes them twice, so Lestat activates his People Puppets ability to force the man to slap himself silly. Claudia giggles in amusement.
• Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Alderman Fenwick is a pipe smoker (as seen in episode 3), which differentiates him from Cigar Chomper Tom Anderson, because Fenwick is older, more serious, and wields more political power than anyone else at the informal Smoky Gentlemen's Club.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Has its own page.
• Domestic Abuse:
  • In episode 5, Claudia attempts to persuade Louis to leave Lestat and go with her to look for other vampires. In anger at what he sees as her taking his love away from him, Lestat grabs Claudia by the neck, causing Louis to tackle Lestat and the two men fight. After smashing Louis against the walls of their home, Lestat gains the upper hand, and he sits on top of Louis, punching him repeatedly. Lestat then drags Louis outside by his chin with only his sharp vampire fingernails, and flies with Louis into the air. After asking Louis to say he'll never love him, Louis just yells for Lestat to let him go. Lestat does so, and Louis suffers a long and agonizing fall. Taking away all the fantasy/vampire elements, the entire scene is basically an abusive husband/boyfriend assaulting his partner within an inch of his life. What makes this situation even more frightening is that Lestat claims that he had restrained his violent impulses in the past, which means that he wanted to beat Louis many times before.
    Lestat: (to Louis) I fought myself a million times, fought my nature, controlled my temper. I never once harmed you.
  • Overall, throughout the show, Lestat is very emotionally abusive and manipulative, isolating Louis from his friends and family, cheating on him, love-bombing him, and stalking/watching him without his consent. Claudia has observed that Lestat keeps Louis on a tight leash.
    Claudia: (telepathically to Louis) His love is a small box he keeps you in. Don't stay in it.
  • Lestat is also abusive towards his mistress Antoinette. In episode 6, while they're in a Ponchatoula hotel room, his fangs have left behind two large puncture wounds on her neck, but he doesn't heal them with his vampire blood, so he's treating her worse than Louis after Their First Time (where Lestat put in the effort to mend the injury he caused). After Antoinette asks, "How am I supposed to make a career here?", Lestat abruptly puts his hand around her throat and replies, "I seek refuge from complaints when I visit you, dear." He somehow persuaded her to cut off her finger so that he can fake her death in order to win back Louis — who is Antoinette's romantic adversary — and for her trouble, she now has a maimed right hand that she must conceal with a glove ("That's what gloves are for," as he callously tells her). She then meekly says to Lestat, "I didn't mean to make you mad," which sadly illustrates that Antoinette is thoroughly under his thumb.
• Double Entendre:
  • In the second episode, Lestat informs Louis on the latter's first day as a fledgling vampire that he needs to rest during the daytime, but there's only one coffin in the townhouse. Louis initially refuses to do so, but then Lestat strips naked and allows Louis to get an eyeful of his body before entering the coffin. Just before Lestat lies down, he adds, "It's okay. You can be on top."
  • Later, Louis is surprised to learn that vampires are telepathic, so he asks Lestat in a playful tone, "And you gonna sit on that skill for how long? You gonna make me beg?" The naughty smirk on Lestat's lips indicates that he's imagining Louis begging him in their boudoir for a different type of skill (they're in a Lover and Beloved relationship after all, with Louis as the subordinate partner).
  • In the seventh episode, after Claudia elaborates on how they will trap their would-be prey inside their home after the Mardi Gras ball, Lestat's left hand grabs Louis' butt and pulls his boyfriend closer to his chair. While glancing hungrily up at Louis, Lestat utters in a seductive tone, "And let the flesh instruct the mind." Lestat is ostensibly telling Claudia that they'll let their thirst for human blood dictate their actions during the feast, but it's also plain that he's ravenous for Louis' body and wishes to take him to their bed.
  • Later in the Season 1 finale, a blood-starved Lestat is attired as a French king at the Mardi Gras ball, and when he's introduced to the MacPhail twins, he expresses his literal hunger with "The king finds himself suddenly famished," only to turn around and see Louis in his French duke costume for the first time. Lestat is gaping at his gorgeous lover as if he's tempted to "devour" Louis right there and then.
• Double Meaning:
  • Lestat tells Louis and Lily that he disembarked in New Orleans because of the music and dancing, "but then there was food." While the local cuisine was served at this public gathering, as a vampire, Lestat would've eaten a couple of humans that night for his meal.
  • Because of the homophobia which existed in 1910, Lestat can't overtly flirt with Louis during their first meeting, but he still conveys his interest in roundabout ways. Lestat is outright leering at Louis and speaking with a sultry voice while recounting how he had "sampled" many New Orleans women, including those with "cinnamon" skin tones. Lestat is subtly expressing his desire to "taste" Louis because the latter is a "cinnamon" Creole. Later, when Lestat says that he and Louis are "Destined to be very good friends," what he really means is that they're "Destined to be lovers."
  • While reminiscing about a young violinist he once knew, Lestat describes him as "a boy of infinite beauty and sensitivity" as he looks Louis straight in the eye and hands him a drink. It's apparent that Lestat deems Louis to be equally beautiful and sensitive as the violinist.
  • Whenever Lestat and the topic of home (e.g. "I said to myself, 'Lestat, unpack your trunks, you're home'"; "Yes, I feel quite at home here") or New Orleans (e.g. "[Lestat] was in love with my city and wanted to know everything he could about it"; "There's no place for me other than New Orleans") are mentioned together, it indirectly points to Louis — not New Orleans — being Lestat's beloved home. Episode 7 features Lestat soulfully monologuing about New Orleans to Louis on the balcony, its connotation being that Louis is the product of the environment he grew up in, and Lestat finds him beautiful because of it.
    Lestat: There's not an inch of this city that wasn't built from the fierce wilderness that surrounds it. Hurricanes, floods, fevers. The damp climate on every painted sign, every stone facade. High windows, through which enameled bits of civilization glitter. Silhouettes emerging, wandering out to catch a silent flash of lightning. The silky warmth of summer rain. Desperately alive... and desperately fragile.
  • In the sixth episode, Lestat is looking at a dog when he says, "Back in your cage, sweetheart," but the person he's truly addressing is Claudia, who is a stowaway on a train heading to New York. He won't allow her to leave New Orleans because he's concerned about Louis' deteriorating mental and physical state, so he has boarded the baggage car to forcibly take her back home.
  • In the seventh episode, Louis quips, "The king's hair (heir) has betrayed the king" when he spots Lestat's discarded powdered wig, who is garbed as a French king at the Mardi Gras ball. Louis can be regarded as Lestat's heir because he's Lestat's vampire son (the French monarchy had practiced Salic law, so women were excluded from inheriting the throne), and Louis is indeed conspiring to murder his despotic maker during the after-party feast.
• Dramatic Pause:
  • In the first episode, the dinner conversation at the de Pointe du Lac mansion comes to a halt after Paul demands to know what Lestat's intentions are towards his brother Louis. As Lestat struggles to think of a reply that would diffuse Paul's homophobic intimation, the only sound that can be heard is the faint chirping of the crickets outside.
  • In the first scene of the third episode, both the Background Music and the dialogue stop for two seconds after Louis informs Lestat that Jackson Square used to be the site where runaway slaves were decapitated and their heads were placed on the iron gates as a warning.
  • In the fifth episode, the Background Music becomes quiet after Claudia blurts out that Lestat is cheating on Louis with Antoinette, and no words are exchanged for several seconds.
• Dramatic Shattering:
  • In the sixth episode, Louis confronts Lestat about the song the latter wrote as a Valentine's Day present because he's so offended that Lestat's mistress Antoinette sings it. Louis drops the record in front of them to demonstrate his hatred of it and the disc shatters. (Please note that this is not an example of Vinyl Shatters because the scene takes place over a decade before large-diameter vinyl records were mass-produced, so the phonograph record is made of shellac.)
  • In the first 20-second Season 2 TV spot, part of the bookshelf in the library of the Dubai penthouse is destroyed, and numerous shards of glass land on Daniel.
• Driven to Suicide:
  • In the pilot, Paul commits suicide by jumping off the roof of the family mansion on the morning after Grace's wedding.
  • In the sixth episode, Lestat recounts to Louis and Claudia that his maker Magnus had died by throwing himself into a fire.
• Due to the Dead:
  • In the first episode, the de Pointe du Lac family arrange a jazz funeral (which is traditional in New Orleans) for Paul, and the procession walk along the streets of the city until they reach the St. Augustine Church cemetery, where Paul's body will be interred in the family mausoleum. It's followed by a wake, although this is not shown on-screen.
  • In the fourth episode, Grace and Levi host Florence's wake at the de Pointe du Lac mansion. There's a funeral scheduled the next day, but the audience never sees it.
• Dying Candle:
  • Implied Trope in the set of "Countdown to Season 1 Premiere" promos when Claudia, Lestat and Louis blow out their individual candles. As vampires, they eat humans, so many people will be killed throughout the series because of their blood-drinking.
  • In the climax of the Season 1 finale, the flames of all the candles in the candelabrum are snuffed out when Lestat leaps over the table to attack Tom Anderson, which signifies that all the humans inside the townhouse will soon die at the hands (or more accurately the fangs) of Lestat, Louis and Claudia.

E-F

• Eating the Eye Candy: There are plenty of moments when Lestat is mentally undressing Louis with his eyes. Lestat is bisexual and licentious, so he often throws lustful glances to whomever he finds attractive.
• Eat the Rich:
  • In the seventh episode, most of the guests that the vampire family invite to their Mardi Gras ball are the elite of New Orleans, and several human prey are selected for the after-party feast, where Lestat, Louis and Claudia literally eat the rich.
    Lestat: Well, this idea of yours, what kind of a party did you imagine?
    Claudia: A ball. A lavish, decadent ball.
    Lestat: To what end?
    Claudia: We invite the most beautiful, the most gluttonous, seduce a choice few for a feast to remember.
  • In the Season 2 First Look Scene, Armand targets the wealthy de la Croix family and their guests as food for his vampire coven because of their war profiteering during World War II.
    Armand: The estate of the family de la Croix. Whilst their countrymen clutch ration cards, they've made quite a killing manipulating the black markets.
• The Edwardian Era: The Flashback scenes of the first episode are set in 1910, while the second episode covers 1910-1916 ("Here I was, six years [Lestat's] pupil"), with the last two years overlapping with World War I.
• Eiffel Tower Effect:
  • The San Francisco scene in episode 6 begins with Daniel lighting a cigarette in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.
  • In the first 15-second TV spot for Season 2, an illuminated Eiffel Tower is in the background just after Louis says "Paris."
• Ending Theme: A shortened version of Daniel Hart's "In Throes of Increasing Wonder" plays during the end credits of the first four episodes (plus episode 7 for the televised broadcast), which is one of the Love Themes for Louis and Lestat. (For some odd reason, the one for episode 2 has a different key signature — i.e. a different pitch — than the others.) It's notable that this show's 73-second closing theme is much more substantial than its 23-second opening Theme Tune because the former is connected to Season 1's Official Couple and is 50 seconds longer, whereas the latter is the sound of an orchestra tuning up (and therefore not directly linked to the main characters).
• Episode Code Number: The Episode Title Cards feature sequential numbering: Episode 1, Episode 2, etc.
• Episode Tagline:
  • In the second episode, Louis says "He had a way about him" thrice to underline to Daniel how he was very much under Lestat's power in their Lover and Beloved romance.
  • The sixth episode features the word "endure" no less than six times.
    Lestat: I have a capacity for enduring.
    Claudia: I'm enduring.
    Louis: And so I endured my way home.
    Lestat: We endure each other for Louis' happiness.
    Louis: You threaten a life which will endure 'til the end of the world.
    Claudia: I am done enduring.
• Episode Title Card: Each episode is preceded by its title in red font over a black background.
• Eternal Love:
  • Lestat desires to have Louis as his eternal companion, and the latter accepts to be turned so that they can be together forever. However, their vampire romance comes to a bloody end after 29 years (late 1910 until Feb. 6, 1940).
  • Because Lestat has a high libido and enjoys "a little variety," he transforms Antoinette (who was his mistress for 23 years) into a vampire so that he can have a second immortal lover, with the aim of founding his own Vampire's Harem. However, Louis is thoroughly fed up with Lestat's Domestic Abuse and infidelity, plus he has zero interest in becoming Lestat's "Top Wife" and having to share his boyfriend with a woman he detests, so Louis (with Claudia's help) kills both Lestat and Antoinette.
  • By 2022, Louis and Armand (an ancient vampire) have been in a committed relationship for 77 years, and the former even calls the latter "the love of my life."
• Ethereal Choir: In a Season 2 promo with close-ups of Louis, Lestat and Armand, the Background Music is "Forever Crossing Over" by Mel Wesson & NineOneOne, and the eerie-sounding choir underscores the otherworldly nature of all three vampires.
• Europeans Are Kinky:
  • By the standards of 1910s America, Lestat (a Frenchman) being a bisexual libertine would be regarded as kinky, and he identifies his sexuality as "Non-discriminating." He lives in a Transparent Closet with Louis (a black Creole), and being a same-sex and interracial couple was scandalous at a time when homosexuality was a crime and interracial marriage was illegal in most states, including Louisiana. Not surprisingly, people gossip about Louis' "pale lover" and "the weird goings-on at their Sodomite townhouse" behind their backs.
  • It's lampshaded by Jonah, a gay African American, who has heard that Europeans display more liberal attitudes towards sex.
    Jonah: And most of why I signed up is I kept hearing something about something they call "European sensibilities." They care less what you look like or who you're lookin' at.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Lestat is a malevolent vampire who cherishes his mother, his First Love Nicolas and his Second Love Louis.
  • The sadistic vampire Claudia genuinely loves her adoptive father Louis, as well as her maker Lestat before his extremely harsh Tough Love parenting destroyed the bond they once shared. Claudia also seems to want to find and form relationships with more vampires.
• Even the Guys Want Him:
  • The bisexual Lestat is enthralled by Louis and praises his good looks, telling him that he's "a handsome man" with "such a pretty head" and a "beautiful face."
  • Lestat describes Nicolas as having "infinite beauty."
• Event Title: Interview with the Vampire is Exactly What It Says on the Tin; journalist Daniel Molloy interviews the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac.
• Everybody Smokes:
  • Because most of the past scenes are set in the early 20th century, the main characters Louis and Lestat are heavy smokers, alongside supporting characters like Tom Anderson, Alderman Fenwick, and Antoinette, plus countless background extras. Doris works as a cigarette girl at the Azalea in episodes 2 and 3, and Tom boasts about the high pile of money he made supplying the military camps with cigarettes.
  • In 1973, a 20-year-old Daniel lights up a cigarette in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the gay bar Polynesian Mary's is very smoky because many of its patrons are puffing for their nicotine fix (and presumably marijuana as well — Daniel did say it was a good place to score drugs).
  • In the Season 2 SDCC trailer and the First Look Scene, Armand smokes in the 1940s.
• Everyone Looks Sexier if French: How do you make an alluring vampire even sexier? Make him a French vampire, bien sûr ^note of course! Lestat is a Frenchman who speaks English with a French accent, which imbues his baritone voice with a seductive quality, and he occasionally includes French words and sentences (Lily remarks that Lestat's French "sure sounds nice"). He also embodies the French stereotype of being extremely romantic and debauched, so this magnifies his sex appeal. In Season 1, Lestat is the most overtly sexualized character because he has the most nude and Shirtless Scenes.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry:
  • Lestat frequently adorns his fingers with large, ostentatious rings because he enjoys being flashy and flaunting his old world affluence.
  • Grace, Florence and Claudia are often seen with earrings, which are standard fashion accessories for upper-class women in the early 20th century.
  • In the fourth episode, because Claudia is the daughter of a moneyed vampire couple, she wears an ornate floral-patterned gold headband studded with pearls for her 17th birthday party, and Lestat's gift to her is an emerald necklace that once belonged to a marquis. She's wowed by it, but the chain is too long for her, so Louis assures her that they'll find one in her size.
  • In the sixth episode, after Claudia tosses Antoinette's scorched finger into the fireplace, she slips on the dead woman's silver ring which features a big flower design (petals, stem and leaves) embedded with red gems on to her own thumb and admires its beauty.
  • In the seventh episode, while performing on the Krewe of Raj float, Lestat sports a shimmering tiara and necklace as part of his Marie-Antoinette Drag Queen getup in order to appear more queenly.
• Evil Is Petty: Lestat says he gives death "to those deserving," but in truth, he kills people over what he perceives as slights against him or things that don't warrant such an extreme reaction, such as humiliating and killing an opera singer for having a subpar voice. Claudia uses this against him in the first season finale, poisoning Tom Anderson's blood as she knew Lestat would murder him personally for making a rude comment towards him.
  Claudia: Always the petty slights with you, Uncle Les.
• Exact Words: In the sixth episode, both Louis and Claudia insist that Lestat has to "Kill Antoinette" if he wishes to live with them again. We learn in the next episode that Lestat did indeed murder his mistress, but only so that he can turn her into a vampire.
• Extremely Short Intro Sequence: It's only about 23 seconds in length.
• Eyebrow Waggle:
  • In the series premiere, Lestat wiggles his eyebrows after he psychically asks Louis, "And do you think two pair will win the hour?" It's his playful way of letting his Love Interest know that he'll help Louis win money from the racist jerks at the poker table by Fixing the Game with his Time Stands Still powers.
  • In Santiago's character teaser, he raises his eyebrows while looking at the audience, which hints that he's a mischievous Performance Artist while onstage at the Théâtre des Vampires.
• Eye Colour Change: When a human becomes a vampire, their eyes may change during the transition. Louis and Claudia's eyes were brown when they were mortal, but their vampiric irises are green and reddish-orange, respectively. However, this isn't a universal phenomenon because Antoinette retains her blue eyes (they're just a more vibrant shade of blue) after she's turned.
• Fade to Black: The unedited version of the "Family Portrait" promo (it's in full color instead of sepia-toned, there are no close-ups, and there is no Background Music) Dissolves into a black screen at the end to differentiate it from the two edited versions which Fade to White.
• Fade to White: Both "Family Portrait" promos end with a white screen to represent the camera flash.
• Faking the Dead:
  • After Bruce became a vampire, he pretended to be dead so that he could return to the United States from Copenhagen and avoid being scorched by sunlight.
    Bruce: Faked my own death. Shipped back on a boat in a coffin. Got to hear my own funeral. Only a couple dozen people showed up, most didn't have much to say. Started talking about the weather a few minutes in. Almost got myself buried alive. Poor fella diggin' my grave lies restin' in the family plot.
  • In the sixth episode, Lestat brings home a local New Orleans newspaper with the headline "Singer falls asleep smoking, found dead in her home" with a picture of Antoinette beneath it, and wrapped inside is her bloodied, singed, severed finger. He offers these items as proof to Louis and Claudia that he has fulfilled their stipulation that he murder his mistress if he wishes to be part of their family again. However, because Claudia has a habit of stalking Lestat and doesn't trust him, she convinces Louis to accompany her after Lestat leaves to go hunting (or so he claims). They both find out that it was all a ruse because Antoinette is still alive, and Lestat has secretly stashed her away in a Ponchatoula hotel where he continues to visit her on some nights.
• Family Drama: Episodes 4-7 center on a dysfunctional vampire family which consists of the couple Louis and Lestat, and their adoptive daughter Claudia. Claudia is subjected to parental abuse from Lestat (and Louis is guilty of this on one occasion), Lestat almost kills Louis in an incident of intimate partner violence, Lestat plots to murder his fledgling Claudia, plus Louis and Claudia attempt to commit Patricide against their maker Lestat.
• Fangs Are Evil: Vampires use their fangs to bite and/or tear into the neck of their human victims, and they typically exsanguinate their prey to death.
• Fantastic Drug: Vampire blood has drug-like qualities. In the second episode, Louis vividly elucidates to Daniel (a former substance abuser) the sensations he felt on his first night as a vampire with his maker's blood coursing through his veins.
  Louis: Lestat's blood was giggling inside me, teasing my senses, illuminating the district with overwhelming detail, as if I had walked my entire life as a dead man, and now dead, could finally receive the secrets of existence.
  Daniel: You were fucking loaded.
  Louis: Beyond articulation.
• Feeling Your Heartbeat:
  • In the series premiere, after Lestat heals the wounds on Louis' neck from his Kiss of the Vampire, Louis slowly moves Lestat's hand across his bare chest until it rests over his heart. Combined with their Held Gaze, having Lestat feel Louis' heart beating enhances the tenderness shared between them after Their First Time.
  • In the fourth episode, Lestat briefly rests his hand on Louis' chest where the latter's heart is during Claudia's birthday party. It's a simple gesture that helps Lestat feel close to his boyfriend.
• Female Gaze:
  • Lestat and Louis are subject to this whenever they're shirtless or nude, the most notable example being the first time they have sex where the camera is quite close to their naked bodies as it moves.
  • While in Human Disguise as "Rashid", Armand often wore shirts with a deep V-neck that exposed part of his well-toned chest. Considering that he was pretending to be Louis' personal assistant, this display of skin is gratuitous, and its sole purpose is to provide eye candy to viewers who find men attractive. In a 30-second Season 2 TV spot, we see more of Armand's pecs when he and Louis are engaged in foreplay — the former is standing directly in front of the camera while being undressed.
• Fingore:
  • Lampshaded by Jonah in the third episode when he recounts to Louis that he had witnessed his co-worker lose three digits in a workplace accident.
    Jonah: A gunpowder mill in Delaware. Fella working next to me blew off three fingers. I saw enough.
  • In the sixth episode, Lestat has his mistress Antoinette cut off a finger to fake her death, as Claudia and Louis demanded her demise in exchange for Lestat being allowed to come home.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: Lampshaded by Daniel in the extended Season 2 trailer when he asks Louis and Armand, "Are you two going to finish each other's sentences for the whole session?"
• First Love:
  • While not explicitly stated, it's very likely that Louis and Jonah, Childhood Friends who developed a Childhood Friend Romance during their late adolescence, are each other's first love, especially when one factors in the racism and the homophobia of the late 19th century. Although their paths diverged for many years, their feelings for each other are still apparent when they meet again in 1917 when Louis is nearly middle-aged, which demonstrates how intense their emotional attachment was during their youth because they're both still carrying a torch at least two decades later.
  • Charlie is Claudia's first boyfriend and the first guy she has fallen in love with.
  • Claudia refers to Nicki (a diminutive for Nicolas) as Lestat's first love.
• Five-Finger Discount: In the Season 2 Sneak Peek Clip, Claudia steals a man's wallet from his coat pocket without him noticing.
• Flash Step: Part of the basket of vampiric powers. In the second episode, from the perspective of the tractor salesman, Lestat appears to teleport from the living room to the front door, which blocks the salesman's path. He tries to punch Lestat, but his fist ends up hitting the door because Lestat has instantaneously moved to the staircase. Unbeknownst to the salesman, Lestat is a vampire with Super-Speed.
• Flashback Cut:
  • In the sixth episode, there are two snippets from episode 5 when Louis recalls Lestat dropping him from the sky while he and Daniel discuss the cloud gift.
  • Later, Claudia is in her coffin psychically conversing with Louis when she remembers the moment her assailant Bruce stood over her just before an Implied Rape, which occurred in the previous episode.
  • In the Season 1 finale, a brief clip of Lily from episode 1 is seen when when Daniel concludes that he's a Replacement Goldfish for her because Louis is once again "paying a whore to sit in a room and talk with you."
• Fleur-de-lis:
  • Lestat's Season 1 character teaser and "One Week" promo feature the fleur-de-lis in the corners of the border to indicate that he's from France (and if the series adheres to book canon, it also alludes that he's a French aristocrat). Moreover, combining the thumbnails of two Lestat-themed Instagram posts from the official Immortal AMC account forms a fleur-de-lis design◊ on the ornamental fence.
  • A fleur-de-lis motif serves as the background for the titles and captions of the show's TV spots and trailers because a few characters and the story have a connection to France: Louis is a Creole with French ancestry and a native of New Orleans (which was colonized by France), Lestat is a Frenchman, Armand was The Leader of the Parisian vampire coven, and most of the Season 2 Flashbacks are set in Paris.
• Flipping the Table: In the extended Season 2 trailer, a murderous Louis flips over his table where he and Daniel are conducting the interview in 1973, which knocks over the latter's portable tape recorder and a few beer bottles.
• Flirtatious Smack on the Ass:
  • In the fourth episode, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss moment when Lestat briefly performs the finger-brushing variant on Louis' bum just as he approaches his boyfriend from behind in the second coffin room scene. Lestat is signaling to Louis that he would like to have sex as soon as Claudia has settled into her coffin, and Louis smiling at the touch means that he feels the same way.
  • In the seventh episode, as the vampire family delineate their plan to lure their would-be victims to their home for the after-party feast, Lestat does a variation on pinching by abruptly squeezing Louis' derrière and then tugging his lover next to him. Lestat's hand remains clasped on Louis' rump for the rest of the scene, and he's making it crystal clear to his beloved that he's fantasizing about doing something much more intimate with Louis when he murmurs huskily, "And let the flesh instruct the mind."
• Flowers of Femininity:
  • Claudia's Season 1 character teaser, "Two Weeks" promo, and all three of her "Dear Diary" promos have a flower in the corners of the border to denote that she's the sole female member of the main cast.
  • Invoked twice by Lestat in the pilot when he equates the prostitute Lily with flowers.
    Louis: We met already.
    Lestat: In front of a florist, wasn't it? We both wanted the last bouquet of lilies. ^note It's a euphemism for Louis and Lestat's first meeting at the Fairplay Saloon (a brothel) where they bid for Lily's time.
    • Later, Lestat invites Louis to come into his home for a nightcap, and his hospitality also includes a "present."
      Lestat: I bought you a gift.
      Louis: A gift?
      Lestat: A flower. (glances up at Lily standing on his balcony)
• Foil: Daniel has been married twice, and so has Louis (metaphorically speaking). Daniel has two daughters who don't speak to him — they're lost to him. Louis has one daughter whom he has also lost. The details of their biographies seem broadly similar. However, Daniel is reasonably upfront about his life and seems to have processed it, while Louis is a tangled up mess of denial about his.
• Forbidden Love: Homosexuality and interracial marriages were against the law in the early 20th century Louisiana, so Louis (a black Creole) and Lestat (a Caucasian) must keep their same-sex romance a secret, and they behave platonically while in public. Their immense wealth does provide them with some degree of protection from the authorities, although Deputy Habersham threatens them with a five-year jail term after he discovers that there's only one bed in their boudoir.
• Forced Sleep:
  • In the pilot, while in a threesome with Louis and Lily, Lestat uses his vampire powers to put Lily to sleep so that he can have Louis all to himself.
  • In the extended Season 2 trailer, Armand has the ability to make everyone sitting at the dining table lose consciousness with his Psychic Powers.
• Foreign Cuss Word: There are a few French expletives courtesy of Lestat.
  • "Va te faire foutre aussi!" ("Go fuck yourself, too!")
  • "Putain de merde!" ("Fucking hell!")
  • "Bordel de merde. Il me chie dans la malle jusqu'au cadenas!" ("For fuck's sake. He shits me in the trunk up to the padlock!")
• Foreign-Language Tirade:
  • In the series premiere, when Paul inadvertently sets off the staunch atheist Lestat's Berserk Button by inquiring about the latter's Christian background, Lestat's diatribe eventually switches to French as an indicator of just how pissed off the Frenchman is, although Louis interrupts him before Lestat can finish his sentence.
    Lestat: J'espère que cela satisfera les oiseaux perchés dans le cage de votre es[prit]—! ^note The direct translation is "I hope this will satisfy the birds perched in the cage of your mind!", although the on-screen caption has "I hope that satisfies the birds perching in your mind's cage!"
  • In the sixth episode, Lestat reverts to his native tongue when he blusters at Claudia for not wanting to finish their chess match.
    Lestat: COMME ENFANT, COMME ADULTE, COMME TOUJOURS, C'EST DE TA FAUTE, LOUIS!! C'EST LE RÉSULTAT DU COMPROMIS!! ^note "As a child, as an adult, as always, it's your fault, Louis! This is the result of compromise!"
• Foreshadowing: Has its own page.
• Framing Device: The outer story involves Daniel interviewing Louis for the second time in 2022, with Rashid as the latter's personal assistant. The inner story is a Flashback of Louis' life in the 20th century, focusing mainly on his interactions with his lover Lestat and their vampire daughter Claudia.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • In the fourth episode, the first of Claudia's diaries that Daniel picks up has a tiny sneak peek for Season 2:
    Paris, November 14, 1945: We've arrived in Paris, what a relief! My whole dead self feels revitalized head to toe. We might be outsiders to both humans and Parisian life, but I do appreciate both now with such fervor! Granted, I've never hated my body [unclear]
  • In the fifth episode, the raccoon that was rummaging through the townhouse's Mess of Woe later ends up dead.◊ Louis, a Vegetarian Vampire, presumably drained the animal to death.
  • Later, Claudia's journal entry◊ offers viewers a glimpse into her mindset before she heads back home.
    Dear Diary, I'm going back to the house. I've decided I'm ready for whatever Lestat has to say. And I can leave right away and take Louis with me. Wouldn't that be wonderful? I am excited to see him again. And I realize I was a handful all those years. But will Louis even travel with me? I don't know if he even wants to leave Lestat even though he causes him great pain. I just know he and I would have so much fun together. And anything I learn about vampires I want to share with him. He has been sheltered by Lestat for so long! I want to open his eyes! We can learn about our kind together and maybe find some.
  • The title sequence for episode 6 is slightly different than the others because it includes an upside-down Golden Gate Bridge◊ to indicate that there's a scene which takes place in San Francisco.
  • In the seventh episode, eagle-eyed viewers can spot Antoinette in the streetcar◊ two seats ahead of Lestat in her Sweet Polly Oliver ensemble.
  • Later, two pages from◊ Claudia's journal◊ contain a small preview for Season 2:
    Left page: Dear Diary, I have been planning the trip out in my head. When we get to Europe, we aren't going to look at any of the touristy sights. We are instead going straight to the Black Sea and then on to the Carpathian Mountains. Those are the places I've been reading about in the books I've brought with me. We had to leave so much behind, but I brought those books. Louis doesn't care much about what he calls [unclear] for old [unclear]
    Right page: Friday: Louis has been increasingly anxious and morose because of what we did. He says he's never known fear like that in his life, like he felt before we left, the vulnerability, the sheer terror. And he says, there's no relief from it now that we're on our way. Even though he's miles away from Lestat, whose body is bled dry and rotting in a garbage dump. Sometimes, Louis can't break free from his grasp. I can practically see Lestat in front of me, hanging in the doorway, because he's the subject of all Louis' thoughts.
• French Accordion: The "Loving Lestat" promo is set to accordion music to enhance the fact that the character is French.
• Furnace Body Disposal: In Season 1, Lestat, Louis and Claudia routinely dispose of their victims by tossing the corpses into the incinerator, which cremates the remains, and the resulting ash makes it easy for the vampire family to get rid of the evidence of their crimes.

G-H

• Gay Euphemism:
  • In the second episode, the homophobic Florence has inferred that her son Louis is in a Transparent Closet with Lestat, and she derides the latter's style while barely tolerating his presence.
    Louis: You remember Lestat.
    Lestat: Madame de Pointe du Lac, all the kindness for the invitation.
    Florence: I don't remember inviting him, but please, take your overdressed self and have a fine time.
  • She's also judgemental about Louis' appearance.
    Florence: (in her mind) Look at his nails. He's getting his fingernails done. And the glasses? Some fashion certain men like him do. Lord. (sighs out loud)
• Get Out!:
  • In the third episode, Grace yells this after she and her two daughters are almost hit by the front door when Louis kicks it open with his vampiric Super-Strength.
  • In the fourth episode, after Claudia gets her own bedroom, she becomes very territorial about it (as is the case for most teenagers), so when Lestat passes through her open door and leans against the doorway, Claudia exclaims irately, "You have to knock first! Out! Out! Out!", and she even throws an object at him.
  • In the fifth episode, while rebelling against her vampire dads, Claudia shrieks at the top of her lungs "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!" at a Glass-Shattering Sound level.
  • In the sixth episode, Louis orders Antoinette to "get the fuck out" of her own home so that he and Lestat can have sex in her bedroom. She turns to her lover Lestat for support, but his eyes are transfixed on Louis, and since his love for his boyfriend far outweighs what he feels for his mistress, Lestat also commands her to "Leave."
• Gilded Cage: By the Season 1 finale, Lestat's sumptuous and comfortable townhouse is a suffocating prison for both Louis and Claudia. Lestat rules his household with an iron fist, and he doesn't permit either his boyfriend or his vampire daughter to depart without his approval, under the threat of excessive violence for Louis and death for Claudia ("I'll turn your bones to dust"). In the previous episode, when Lestat intercepts Claudia as she was attempting to flee to New York by train, he even refers to their home as a cage: "Back in your cage, sweetheart."
  Louis: Add to the toxic air a new ever-present paranoia. [...] We were compelled to sleep in the same chamber together again. [Lestat] would have it no other way. We would spend our hours enduring, with little pretense of getting along, locked together in hatred. He would have it no other way.
• A Glass of Chianti:
  • In the second episode, Lestat slits the tenor's wrist while holding a gold-rimmed wine glass underneath it to collect the dripping blood, and then he takes a sip like he's savoring a Luxurious Liquor.
  • In the seventh episode, Lestat drains the blood of an encyclopedia salesman into a decanter, and then pours it in crystal wine glasses for himself, Louis and Claudia in their opulent dining room, a Vampires Are Rich version of a family dinner. They generally don't drink blood in a fancy setting (they typically go out to hunt), but the pretty glassware in this scene accentuates how Louis and Claudia are confined in Lestat's Gilded Cage.
• Good-Looking Privates:
  • At the beginning of the third episode, Lestat is briefly distracted from the newspaper article he was reading when two soldiers walk by, and he stares at them appreciatively.
  • Louis admires his Old Flame Jonah in military garb: "Good fit, this uniform."
  • Lestat, who had stalked Louis and Jonah and heard the abovementioned line, expresses his jealousy the following evening by inviting a few dozen soldiers to their home. (Lestat's attitude towards Louis in this scene can be summarized as, "So you like men in uniform? Now you have more than you can handle!")
    Louis: (angry) What are you thinking?
    Lestat: Well, I thought we could have an orgy. You can fuck them, and I can eat them.
    Louis: Get 'em out of here.
    Lestat: Well, now that I know you have a type, I thought you'd be pleased.
• Gothic Horror: Season 1 is a gothic romance which centers around the twisted love story between two vampires.
• Gratuitous French:
  • As a Frenchman, Lestat sometimes peppers his English with French words and sentences. Louis, a Creole, does as well, albeit rarely.
  • In the seventh episode, Claudia has one line of dialogue in French: "[La] Musique française pour les mains françaises." ("French music for French hands.")
  • In the Season 2 First Look Scene, the Parisian vampire Armand converses with Louis mostly in English except for when he responds to a compliment with "Merci." In the Season 2 trailer, Armand instructs Louis to "bring the petite ^note the feminine form of "little" beauty."
• The Great Depression: This is the setting of the Flashback scenes in the second-half of the fifth episode (1930) and all of the sixth episode (1930-1939).
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Lestat is extremely possessive of his lover Louis, and he's brimming with jealousy whenever he suspects Louis loves someone more than him. In the fifth episode, it becomes increasingly clear to Lestat that their vampire daughter Claudia is first and foremost in Louis' heart, and Lestat goes ballistic when she's determined to have Louis accompany her to Europe. In retaliation for what Lestat interprets as Claudia robbing him of his beloved, he attempts to asphyxiate her, and when Louis intervenes, Lestat brutally assaults his boyfriend. In the Season 1 finale, Lestat decides to eliminate Claudia once and for all because in his twisted mind, she's the source of all the problems he's experiencing with Louis. After she's gone, Lestat believes Louis will finally give him all of his love.
  • A jealous Louis — who appropriately has green irises — has loathed Antoinette from the get-go because she's sleeping (and later falls in love) with Lestat. In the third episode, Louis is hoping that it's her corpse inside the incinerator ("She burn quick?"), and he's very disappointed to learn that the victim is a dentist from Tallahassee ("So you didn't kill her"). In the fifth episode, Lestat is well-aware that Louis wants Antoinette dead because he attempts to appease his boyfriend with "I'll kill her soon" after Louis discovers that she has been Lestat's mistress for the past six years. In the sixth episode, "Kill Antoinette" is one of the conditions that Louis imposes on Lestat if the latter wishes to cohabit with him again. In the Season 1 finale, Claudia incapacitates Antoinette, and Louis then puts her inert body into the incinerator. They're both calm as they watch a shrieking Antoinette (who has suddenly regained consciousness) being burned alive.
• Guyliner:
  • In the seventh episode, Lestat and Louis both sport eye makeup at the Mardi Gras ball to add authenticity to their 18th-century French period costumes and powdered wigs.
  • In the Season 2 SDCC trailer, the male actors and musicians at the Théâtre des Vampires wear eyeliner while performing on stage.
  • Similarly, in various Season 2 promotional materials, Lestat's eyes are rimmed with eyeliner while acting in a play at a French theatre during the late 18th century.
  • In a Santiago-centric TV spot, he has blue eye makeup during Louis and Claudia's trial.
• Hair-Contrast Duo: Louis has black hair whereas his boyfriend Lestat is blond; the former has a more docile and restrained temperament, while the latter is more assertive and flamboyant.
• Hallucinations: In the extended Season 2 trailer, Louis hallucinates Lestat, and he tells the latter, "You're not here, I'm just fucked in the head." In a 20-second Season 2 TV spot, Daniel outright asks Louis if he's schizophrenic due to these visions.
• Has a Type:
  • Louis is enticed by men with curly hair: he has fallen in love with Jonah, Lestat, and Armand, plus he flirted with Daniel in 1973.
  • When it comes to men, Lestat has a weakness for those of "infinite beauty and sensitivity," which applies to both his First Love Nicolas and his Second Love Louis.
• Hates Being Alone:
  • In the pilot, Lestat reacts very poorly when Louis ignores him after the first time they make love. Lestat inappropriately brings up a lover's spat during a funeral procession for Louis' brother of all people, being totally inconsiderate of the fact that Louis is in mourning, so the last thing the latter wants is to deal with Lestat complaining about feeling neglected.
    Lestat: I wait on my balcony every night. You've been avoiding me. [...] And I don't take kindly to being avoided.
  • In the second episode, Lestat opens up to Louis about how terrified he is of being alone over long stretches of time.
    Lestat: There is one thing about being a vampire that I most fear above all else... And that is loneliness. You can't imagine the emptiness... A void stretching out for decades at a time. You take this feeling away from me, Louis. We must stay together and take precaution, and never part.
  • It's taken to a violent extreme in the fifth episode when Lestat's volatile mind snaps after Claudia declares that she only came back home to bring Louis on her trip to Europe. Lestat then brutalizes Louis and drains part of his blood to weaken his lover even further so that Louis can't physically go anywhere.
  • In the sixth episode, Lestat discloses to Louis and Claudia that after Magnus had turned him, he had to figure out vampirism on his own because his maker had committed suicide, and it contributed to his abandonment issues.
    Lestat: No grand history of vampiric origins or physiology, no rules, no counsel. Just a sweeping hand to a pile of money and the sight of him throwing himself into a fire. And then I was alone. [...] It's why I don't particularly like being abandoned.
• Hates Their Parent:
  • Lestat detests his father, whom he characterizes as a vulgar man with a temper, for beating and starving him when he was a boy in order to dissuade him from joining the clergy.
  • In episode 5, Claudia has grown to loathe her vampire dads for giving her the Dark Gift and reading her journals without her permission. She lashes out at them with "I hate you both!" and later runs away from home.
  • It's hinted in episode 7 that Daniel's daughters hate him because they refuse to have any contact with their father.
• Headbutt of Love:
  • In the first episode, Louis and Lestat press their foreheads together immediately after their First Kiss to maintain physical contact since their mouths are no longer touching. Although they're engaging in foreplay, this affectionate gesture stems from emotional intimacy, so it's understood that they're in love in addition to lusting after each other.
  • In the second episode, in the wide shot of Louis and Lestat exsanguinating the tenor together, Lestat leans towards his lover so that their foreheads are touching, and he reinforces their physical closeness by cradling the back of Louis' head. They're doing the vampire equivalent of Sweetheart Sipping, so Lestat is reassuring Louis that he adores him in spite of their bickering earlier.
• Healing Factor:
  • In the second episode, when the vampire Lestat is bare-chested, we can see that his back is perfectly healed (there isn't any scarring) from the multiple stab wounds that were inflicted on him by Louis a few hours earlier.
  • In the final moments of her mortal existence, Claudia is covered with life-threatening burns to her body, but after her Emergency Transformation into a vampire, the scorches on her skin are mostly gone by the time she explores Lestat's townhouse. There's only some scar tissue on the left side of her face.
  • Discussed in episode 4 when Lestat cautions Claudia about her careless driving; even though vampires live forever, acute injuries require months to heal.
    Lestat: Putain de merde ^note French for "Fucking hell", steer, steer.
    Claudia: Ugh, but we're immortal!
    Lestat: You can still smash your pretty little head and then take long, dull months to recover. Eyes on the road.
• Heartbeat Soundtrack:
  • In the second episode, the newly fledged vampire Louis is famished for human blood, so as he's staring at the tractor salesman's neck at the bar, his Super-Hearing becomes fixated on his prey's pulsing heart rate.
  • In the third episode, Louis begins to listen closely to Alderman Fenwick's erratic heart rate after the latter deprecatingly says, "And your pale lover, with his seemingly endless supply of capital." The sound continues for the rest of the scene, and the rhythm varies depending on how the fearful Fenwick is reacting to Louis.
    Louis: Why is your heart beatin' so fast?
  • In the seventh episode during the tram ride scene, as Claudia psychically tells Louis, "You spend an hour alone with [Lestat] and you're breathing in sync together," the sound of heartbeats becomes mingled with the dialogue, although it's not made clear whose it belongs to. It may be Lestat listening in on Louis or vice versa, or it could be Louis and Lestat's hearts thumping together as one because they're vampires in love.
  • When Louis and Claudia enter the venue for the Mardi Gras ball, they are overwhelmed by the heartbeats of the guests because they had starved themselves of human blood for three consecutive nights before the event.
    Louis: The blood was everywhere. The veins and arteries of a few hundred hearts ringing out like air raid sirens, drowning out the rhythm section of the hired band.
• Held Gaze:
  • After their first bout of lovemaking, Lestat and Louis stare deeply into each other's eyes, which conveys that they both felt a profound emotional bond beyond the physical act. The pupils of Lestat's vampire eyes are blown wide, and he's gaping at Louis with pure, unadulterated awe, as if Louis was the most beautiful creature who has ever walked the Earth.
  • The couple share another gaze as they dance together at the Masquerade Ball in episode 7, which culminates in Louis kissing Lestat.
• Hemo Erotic:
  • Downplayed with Lestat because he usually doesn't derive sexual pleasure from drinking blood, but the one big exception is when he feeds on Louis, whom he's in love with. It's evident from Lestat's soft moans that tasting Louis' blood is a very sensual experience for him. Furthermore, when Louis consumes Lestat's blood as part of his transformation into a vampire, Lestat appears aroused (orgasmic, even) with a slack jaw while panting, his gaze fixed on Louis. Lestat clearly enjoys both the sensation and the sight of Louis sucking on his blood. Lestat then collapses on to the floor while still breathing heavily in a manner which resembles a Post-Coital Collapse.
  • The same applies to his fledgling Claudia, who is only turned on when she's exsanguinating her boyfriend Charlie, as demonstrated by her pleased moans while they're making out in his carriage. However, because she lacks self-control, she ends up killing him unintentionally.
  • In the Season 2 SDCC trailer, Santiago seems to be moaning in pleasure when Claudia drinks blood from his wrist. The other members of the Théâtre des Vampires participate in a blood-sharing orgy.
• Hide Your Otherness:
  • Louis doesn't want his family to know that he's a vampire, so he dons sunglasses when he visits them at the mansion to conceal his green vampire eyes (they were brown when he was human).
  • While posing as the human Rashid, the vampire Armand wears brown contact lenses and gloves to cover up his vampiric features, specifically his orange irises and razor-sharp nails.
• Hiding Behind the Language Barrier:
  • During Lestat's (a Frenchman) first meeting with Louis (a Creole who knows French), he speaks a few sentences in French which are for Louis' ears only, so Lily doesn't understand the parts of the conversation that Lestat wants to keep private between himself and his new Love Interest. Lily asks Louis for a translation, but he refuses.
  • In the fourth episode, Lestat and Louis argue in French so that Claudia doesn't know exactly what they're discussing about her. She scribbles in her diary that "Fighting sounds funny in French."
• Historical Domain Character: Jelly Roll Morton was a ragtime/jazz pianist and composer (one of the songs he wrote was the "Wolverine Blues"). He's a background character in the series premiere (he's playing the piano at the Fairplay Saloon just before Louis meets Lestat for the first time). In the third episode, he works for Louis at the Azalea, and Morton gets into a disagreement with Lestat in front of the audience after the latter criticizes his piano playing for being repetitive.
• Holding Hands:
  • Averted in the second episode when Lestat is unable to join hands with Louis at the opera even though he really wants to, but the rampant homophobia in 1916 means that all he can do is brush his pinky finger against Louis' for a few seconds.
  • In the Season 1 finale, Louis and Lestat walk hand-in-hand from the balcony to the ballroom of the crowded Mardi Gras ball venue because they're coming out of their Transparent Closet.
  • Later, Louis and Claudia hold hands in solidarity as a screeching Antoinette is being consumed by the incinerator's fire. They both wanted her dead for a long time, so this gesture is their unspoken "We finally did it."
  • At the end of Season 1, Louis and Armand clasp each other's hands in front of Daniel to make it clear to him that they're a couple.
• Hollywood Kiss: Most of the first season smooches between Louis and Lestat are closed-mouth, and their Big Damn Kiss in episode 7 is especially neat, pretty and romantic, but there's one major exception that averts the Hollywood standard. For the couple's Slap-Slap-Kiss / Reunion Kiss in episode 6, Louis sticks his tongue into Lestat's mouth before locking their lips together◊ (so their actors Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid actually performed a French kiss on set). Because this scene is about the Interplay of Sex and Violence, Louis and Lestat's kiss is meant to be filthy, desperate and lustful.
• Horror Hunger: Louis is pretty repulsed after being turned and drinking blood. He's especially appalled at nearly having fed on his infant nephew due to his thirst.
• Hotter and Sexier: In the source material, vampires have metaphorical sex. On the show, they have literal sex. Part of this is probably a Pragmatic Adaptation, because while metaphorical sex works in a book, it's much harder to convey on-screen. Another likely reason for the change is Sex Sells.
• Househusband: Louis is the "feminine" partner in the Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple dynamic that he has with his boyfriend Lestat, so his role within their household is fairly similar to a traditional housewife. Louis is extremely devoted to their vampire daughter Claudia, with a doting parenting style that could be described as "motherly," and raising her is the greatest joy in his life. The fifth episode suggests that their townhouse becomes a Mess of Woe after Claudia abandons them because Louis is too depressed to do any housework ("...ignoring all other duties of the role Claudia once mocked me for — the unhappy housewife"). In the seventh episode, after Lestat kills a man with blood cancer, he orders Louis to tidy up ("Clean up the mess and come to coffin").
• Hypocrite:
  • In Daniel's Practicum commercial, his lesson to his journalism students is "Your sources are your Sherpas. Your editor is your priest." Later in Dubai, he's antagonistic towards his interview subject Louis, and he admits that he lied to his editor about his location ("He thinks I'm in Praskoveyevka").
  • In the second episode, a bloodstained Lestat lampshades this after he butchered two priests: "I recognize the hypocrite I am, emphasizing cleanliness after I overindulged."
  • Later, Lestat denigrates humans for their primitive mindset: "Every human thought boils down to three things... I want food, I want sex, I want to go home. [...] Dull, monotonous [...] the petty musings of meat." However, Lestat himself is engrossed by food (he enjoys hunting, torturing and eating humans in an "extravagant" manner), sex (he's so lecherous that he's habitually banging someone, whether it's his boyfriend Louis, his mistress Antoinette, prostitutes, or a member of the Women's Opera Society) and home (which he equates with Louis, whom he's besotted with and always longs to return to him) on a daily basis. As a vampire, Lestat is higher up on the food chain, but his psychology is just as simplistic as his "savory inferiors."
  • In the third episode, Lestat is having an affair with Antoinette and admits that he likes "a little variety." Louis is angry and hurt ("Aren't I enough?") by his boyfriend's promiscuity, and he clearly prefers to be in a monogamous relationship, but he's willing to accept this arrangement as long as he can sleep with others as well. Lestat reluctantly agrees (it's obvious from his facial expression that he's NOT okay with it), so Louis has a sexual interlude with Jonah, his Old Flame. The next day, an infuriated Louis discovers that Lestat had followed them and watched them be intimate. Lestat then confesses that he doesn't like sharing and pathetically attempts to defend his own infidelity with "It's different. I don't have feelings for her." Lestat tries to depict Louis being with Jonah as intolerable because they still share some emotional connection, and he's hysterical when he shouts, "I HEARD YOUR HEARTS DANCING!!", but the fact of the matter is that Lestat doesn't want anyone to go near Louis.
  • In the fourth episode, Lestat insists that there are no secrets within their family, yet he becomes crotchety whenever Claudia inquires about his past or the history of vampires. She confides to Louis that it bothers her that Lestat keeps a lot of information hidden from them.
    Claudia: Uncle Les got secrets.
    Louis: How you figure?
    Claudia: He don't give good answers to questions, sits on the truth like it's his chair or somethin'. I thought we weren't supposed to keep secrets.

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