The Vampire Lestat Demands Your Attention In An Electrifying Interview With The Vampire Season 3

The Vampire Lestat will not be ignored. Premiering June 7 on AMC and AMC+, the third season of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire bursts onto the scene with wild, hedonistic energy. No longer narrated from Louis’ point of view, this season has Lestat telling us his side of the story. It’s frenetic, at times purposefully scattershot, rarely chronological, and impossible to look away from. The Vampire Lestat rejuvenates an already excellent series, recontextualizing its lead character and what came before in rather stunning ways.

RELATED Interview With The Vampire Season 2 Review: A Bloody, Romantic Tale Worth Sinking Your Teeth Into

It is also wildly entertaining television, delicious even, and much, much funnier than when Louis was spinning his yarn. This is in large part thanks to Sam Reid, whose performance as Lestat was already a highlight, but is now truly magnetic. The material he’s given for this season is incredible, unpacking so many of Lestat’s mysteries, but it's Reid’s performance that cracks him wide open. This series is Lestat Unplugged, exposing new sides of the enigmatic vampire while never forgetting what makes him so captivating in the first place.

 

Jacob Anderson returns as Louis, giving a lighter but no less impactful performance. He’s no longer the central focus, but Louis still has plenty of trauma to work through, not to mention figuring out his messy relationship with Lestat. Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) also returns, this time documenting Lestat’s story and rising stardom with a film capitalizing on his infamous book. Bogosian remains a total delight, with his no bullshit attitude still very much intact post-conversion. His vampire father, Armand, is here, too, and Assad Zaman continues to imbue the serene vampire with a mix of malice and mercy that makes him one of the more unsettling characters on the show.

Though, if we’re talking about unsettling characters, The Vampire Lestat introduces perhaps one of the most troubling of all in Lestat’s first fledgling and lover - his mother, Gabrielle (Jennifer Ehle). To call it a complicated relationship would be an understatement, and the exploration of the taboo coupling informs much of Lestat’s psyche. Ehle relishes the role with a performance that’s cold and detached, yet not unkind. Lestat and Gabrielle’s relationship is uncomfortable, make no mistake, but it’s deeply sad most of all, establishing the roots of Lestat’s painful past.

 

That past is what much of this season explores, looking at how Lestat came to be the dangerous, obsessive vampire we meet in 1900s New Orleans. Though, again, this is by no means a chronological retelling, and ghosts (or muses as he calls them) from Lestat’s past pop up whenever it’s the right time to divulge their connection to him. They flit in and out of scenes, often appearing to him among the crowds of his adoring fans, and adding to the already dreamlike quality of the band’s performances.

RELATED Talamasca: The Secret Order Review - Without William Fichtner's Scene-Stealing Vampire, This Supernatural Spy Thriller Would Lack Bite

Finally, let’s talk about the musical performances in the series because they are fantastic. As fictional bands go, The Vampire Lestat is among the best. And as far as I’m aware, Reid does his own singing, bringing a passion to these numbers that only ratchets his already excellent performance to another level. His bandmates are also a charming bunch, fleshing out the supporting cast and creating new human foibles for Lestat to sift through.

 

The Vampire Lestat is a breath of fresh air in a series that didn’t even need it. Interview With The Vampire’s first two seasons were already among the best AMC has to offer, and here season 3 goes and tops them both. For full disclosure, only the first six episodes of this season’s allotted seven were made available for review, so maybe all this goodwill is blown in the finale, but I can’t imagine that’s the case. The Vampire Lestat is here to stake a claim as must-watch TV, compelling us to succumb to its pleasures while still finding new ways to shock.