Interview with the Vampire – Season 2 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start The Tape 

Episode 5 of Interview with the Vampire season 2 starts with our lovers, Louis and Armand, narrating how they spent their blissful time in Paris, unaware of the plotting around them. Molloy notes that Louis is using syntax when referring to himself and wonders if Louis is circling something. However, Armand defends his love, saying it is daytime and Louis is simply fighting the pull of the sun. He then bids eh two goodbye and goes on one of his rare hunting sprees. 

After Armand leaves, Louis explains that Armand carefully selects his victim and is very gentle, but Molloy has other things on his mind. He still can’t stop thinking about San Francisco. He keeps seeing Armand in his memories, but that doesn’t make sense. He goes off script and asks Louis to give him at least twenty minutes of his time to revisit San Francisco. Louis is agreeable and talks about how Armand preserved his happiness in San Francisco by saving Daniel.

Molloy brings up their first interview in 1973 when Louis took him to one of his apartments. There, Molloy divulged himself in all kinds of drugs and psychedelics provided by Louis. At first, he didn’t believe Louis when he said he is a vampire. However, after Louis revealed his fangs, he scared Molloy into starting the tapes and recording the interview. 

Louis then launched into his evisceration of Lestat. Man didn’t spare his past lover any kind words; he dragged him harder than anything we have seen on Real Housewives. As the interview continued, Molloy took more drugs and started getting into the story. He initially comes of as astute as he joins Louis in bashing Lestat. However, things get out of hand when he asks for the gift of vampirism. He argues he can replace Claudia and Lestat in Louis’s life.

Understandably, Louis lost it and attacked the young journalist, who was high on drugs. Thankfully, Armand arrives just in time to save him. Based on the tape, old Molloy discovers something else and makes Louis listen to it. We hear Armand saving Molloy and arguing with Louis.

Armand is pissed that he always has to clean after Louis. He is also pissed that Louis treated Molloy differently than his other boys. Louis didn’t try to sleep with Molloy. The two get into one of the most brutal verbal fights we have ever seen. Louis calls Armand boring and compares his life with him to being suffocated by the world’s softest, beigist pillow. On the other hand, Armand reprimands Louis for being reckless and revealing their nature to a journalist. He brings up Louis’s past and how he is always whining.

He then brings up how Lestat has always been an issue in their relationship. He is angry that Louis talked only about Lestat, even in an unkind way. He confronts Louis for taking his love for granted. The drugs in his system and the adrenaline from their fight push Louis off his game. He rushes to the rooftop and exposes himself to the sun. Luckily, Armand saves him before he fully burns into ashes and brings his disfigured body back inside.

After that, Armand tortures Molloy to find out what is so fascinating about him. He takes his anger on Louis out on Molloy for days. Meanwhile, Louis nurses his charred body, begging Armand not to kill Molloy. At one point, Armand reaches out to Lestat and tells him that Louis is hurt. Lestat asks him to pass his love to Louis, but Armand leaves out that part of the message. Armand then tells Louis that he is always free to leave him if he is bored by his empathy and love. 

After days of being tortured and mind manipulated, Molloy worries that Armand will kill him. However, Louis begs him not to kill the boy; He uses Armand’s slavery past to manipulate him into giving in to his wishes. He says leaving Molloy alive is a statement of their enduring love, and Armand, always a sucker for love, gives in. A deformed Louis then talks to a young Molloy, giving him words of encouragement to carry with him. The words help Molloy get through his tough times all through his life. Looking back, he understands that Louis was the person who told him those words and not a random man he once interviewed who burned himself alive.

After recalling what really happened in San Francisco, the two realise that Armand messed up their memories. They are shocked but not surprised. As they come to this realisation, Armand, our resident brain editor, walks in looking fly, but he doesn’t get a warm welcome. Louis informs him that they talked about San Francisco instead of Paris. Without breaking a sweat or eye contact, Armand explains that he saved Molloy because he always protects Louis’s happiness. 

The Episode Review

This episode was wild. The way Louis and Armand went after each other was unexpected. Louis is so mean and ruthless. Seriously, he called Armand’s loyalty and love boring and says he felt suffocated. I don’t know about you but I understand why Armand got angry at Molloy. Louis said Molloy was fascinating, twisting the knife deeper into Armand’s chest. Others would argue that a stake in the heart would have been less painful for Armand. 

We now know what happened in San Francisco, and the only question we have is why did Armand wipe out the memory from Louis’s and Molloy’s minds. Part of us understand that he had to make Molloy forget about what he saw, but why wipe out Louis’s mind, too? Did he want to protect Louis from remembering his suicide attempt? What did Louis mean when he said Claudia was calling out to him before he walked into the sun? 

We are also curious about why Lestat is keeping his distance from Louis. He and Armand communicate, but if he still loves Louis, why is he staying away? It is highly unlike the Lestat we know.

The only time Lestat gave Louis space was when he deeply hurt him during their epic free-fall fight. Does this mean Lestat did something so bad again that he is atoning by letting Louis be? Did he kill Claudia?