RECAP: ‘The Vampire Lestat’ Episode 3 — “Toronto”

The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 is where we finally start making headway. Not just with exploring the depths of Lestat’s history, but with what the episode sets up surrounding Louis, Daniel, and even Armand. It is in this episode that we meet two key figures from Lestat’s past who have shaped who he is today: Nicki (Joseph Potter) and Magnus (Damien Atkins).

Unfortunately, the series is struggling with the pace at which it introduces these past memories of Lestat, in contrast to the slow-burning revelations of previous seasons, but this episode does make great use of how the past haunts him and how trauma resurfaces no matter how much one detaches.

The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 opens with a hilariously scathing description of the Toronto skyline – those touring condos are an eyesore – before Lestat (Sam Reid) turns his venom (and fangs) on a recently married couple. As Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle) consumes the bride, Christine  (Jeanine Serralles) calls Lestat to ask where he is. “Where are any of us really?” Lestat answers, giving insight into his state of mind that never quite lifts throughout the episode. The interview session he has with Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) after his meal punctuates this. 

A decent chunk of The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 is spent on Lestat’s interview with Daniel, with the latter sadistically reveling, at least initially, in being able to crack through Lestat’s walls. Daniel, for his part, is dealing with the rejection sensitivity of a fledgling lost in a new world.

His rapidly growing inferiority complex doesn’t help matters. He’s someone who has fought his way up the ladder to some semblance of superiority, only to be cast back down again now as a newborn vampire abandoned by his maker, fumbling through life. And this documentary is arguably the only thing making him feel like he has any relevance.

Daniel is struggling as a fledgling, and Lestat is the one who keeps picking at that wound.

It’s no wonder then that Daniel keeps fixating on Lestat’s past weakness – stuttering. This topic continues to surface in Daniel’s interview questions, with the hope of exploiting the metaphorical pea that keeps Lestat awake at night, à la The Princess and the Pea.

When Lestat finally sits down for the interview, with Gabriella watching, the question of whether or not the vampire will be broken lingers in the air. And the answer is yes, but Lestat has no problem embarrassing Daniel in the process before the proverbial wave of trauma renders Lestat senseless.

This interview is a battle of minds between the older vampire and the fledgling, with Daniel believing he has the upper hand and poking fun at Lestat’s lyricism, stutter, and how little people care about Lestat now.  The dialogue in The Vampire Lestat Episode 3, coupled with the performances by Sam Reid and Eric Bogosian, explores the nuances of psychological blows amid the verbal volleying.

Reid, however, has more to convey materially, as the interview takes his Lestat back in time, back to where Lestat was young, vulnerable, and, eventually, emotionally devastated. This devastation comes with the arrival of Nicki and then Magnus, his maker.

After recalling the impact of witnessing women being burned at the stake for witchcraft, the question turns to Lestat’s recollection of being 29. This marks the introduction to Lestat’s first non-incestuous love, Nicolas “Nicki” de Lenfent. Lestat arrives in Paris and finds Nicki in the street playing the violin, and the two reacquaint themselves after years of separation. At this point in his life, Lestat has given up his family name, going by the surname de Valois. The relationship between the two soon develops, but quickly becomes fraught with tension.

Nicki highlights the tragedies that often fall upon fledglings, with madness taking hold.

Nicki bears resentment for how little money he has to pursue music. He is hyperaware of his station in life and seems trapped in his own inadequacy: “I play like a tailor’s son.” Lestat points out in the interview that Nicki was likely bipolar, which the vampirism would later amplify, and that Lestat takes responsibility for destroying Nicki. The seriousness of the discussion is broken by a rather loud hookup session between Gabriella and Lestat’s hired doppelganger, giving Lestat a moment to collect himself.

Daniel pivots to discussing Magnus. Lestat treats the subject with a particular detached fashion, almost dismissing the impact the vampire had on him. This presents itself in the initial face-to-face introduction of Magnus in The Vampire Lestat Episode 3.

In his flashback, Lestat is framed in golden light, with Magnus lurking like a besotted fan in the shadows. Damien Atkins’ Magnus lip-syncing the lyrics to Lestat’s song and acting like a teenage girl paints the scene as more loosely comical than it really is.

Yet, this recollection from Lestat is what some survivors of abuse do. It’s a way to protect the mind from the realities of what happened, and painting Magnus like a deranged fanboy is one way to do this. Lestat deflects just enough before the conversation turns back to Nicki, his inevitable vampiric conversion, and Armand’s (Assad Zaman) influence on these events. Unfortunately, Nicki’s mind can’t take being a vampire, culminating in a heartbreaking final scene between Lestat and Nicki, with Armand as witness to the relationship’s destruction.

The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 introduces Magnus and the many layers behind the recollection of abuse.

Another witness, at least to this period of Lestat’s life, is his mother, Gabriella. This revelation surprises Daniel, who believes Louis told him everything he needed to know. Yet, in The Vampire Lestat Episode 3, we see that there is much more to Gabriella and Lestat’s story outside of his stating that she died. In flashbacks, we see how Gabriella warned Lestat of Nicki’s mental illness, predicting his doom. Similarly, we see how she aggravates Armand with her questions, which hint at her inevitable separation from Lestat. 

She is mocking and hurtful, more so to Nicki than to Armand, who is clearly the older and stronger of Lestat’s lovers. Armand treats her as if she’s not there, beneath him like an ant is to the heel of a boot. Yet, at Nicki’s insanity and self-harm, she laughs.

Regardless of how much her son’s hurting in the moment, she laughs at the destruction and the ridiculousness of the collapse. It’s an extension of the personality we saw of her from Episode 2, but with the addition of the power imbalance between maker and fledgling, it becomes more pointed.

The interview ends with Lestat slowly crying blood tears, vulnerable as he recalls his lover and the impact of his lover’s death. It is one of many poignant moments of acting from Sam Reid in the episode, which arguably is his strongest episode to date, given the peaks and valleys the character goes through emotionally in The Vampire Lestat Episode 3. Lestat quickly wraps things up, pointing out to Daniel that he’s not delusional and that the tour is taking its toll on him and his ego. 

Everything comes crashing down for Lestat post-interview, and it is exquisite in its pain.

Lestat is barely holding together by the time he escapes the interview. His mother tries to follow, but he shrugs her off before driving off. It is what happens in this car ride for Lestat in The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 that paints a picture of the complexities of an abuse survivor’s processing of events.

In the interview, he was detached, painting a rosier picture of his conversion at Magnus’s hands than it was. The spirit of Magnus, appearing in Lestat’s car, pulls those rose colored glasses off, and Lestat’s breakdown shows the stark reality instead.

The thing about trauma is that it has a way of lingering. Even if you think you’ve addressed and buried it, the memories imprint themselves on the mind, the body, and potentially everything around you. No matter how much Lestat tries to believe that what happened to him was good, his vampirism was done against his will. And there’s no sugarcoating how rough Magnus was to Lestat. No matter how many prayers Lestat utters to ward off the memories, no matter how much music he writes to avail himself of these ghosts of memory. Nothing.

Again, during this breakdown, Sam Reid is fantastic. He peels back the layers of Lestat to his most vulnerable self. Left with himself and the ghost of Magnus and the bodies left behind, Lestat has nowhere to turn, nowhere to hide.

All that’s left is wanton destruction, a quick jerk of a steering wheel and perhaps the promise of relief that death can bring. Unfortunately, he’s immortal. Lestat carries the blood of Akasha, and when he does crash the car, he walks free from the scene, with the memory of Magnus and all those he’s left behind smoldering temporarily in the ash.

Jacob Anderson commands the screen with his heartbreaking read of Claudia’s diary.

While much of The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 focuses rightfully on Lestat, Louis (Jacob Anderson) has a mission of his own. Tasked by the Talamasca to take out the Detroit coven that tried to take out Lestat last episode, Louis moves with nonchalance as he quickly massacres the coven members. The question on his lips? “Where’s Bruce?” The vampire who brutalized Claudia all those years ago is the leader and, as luck would have it, the guy who was going to marry the groupie who drugged Lestat in the first episode.

Once Bruce and the said groupie return to the coven’s home, they are met with a bloody scene. Louis is patiently waiting and, to no surprise, quickly subdues Bruce (Damon Daunno). This leads to one of the best monologues delivered this season.

Jacob Anderson eloquently captures the roaring undercurrent of rage and regret as Louis reads through Claudia’s recounting of her time with Bruce. The timely editing juxtaposes Claudia’s own experience of being brutalized with Lestat’s flashbacks with his maker, making it clear once more how similar the two characters were.

It’s been known throughout the series how similar Lestat and Claudia were. Lestat saw himself in Claudia, and the decision to edit in visuals of his forced turning, with Louis’s description of what Bruce did to Claudia, punctuates this.

Their experiences with assault at the hands of vampires are similar, and that feeling of powerlessness that both have felt in the grips of their own immortality. And with no easy way to escape from the traumatic memories, in the case of Lestat, it’s a waking hell.

The return of Armand (as Arun) at the end of The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 promises future chaos.

The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 ends with Lestat arriving at the next venue, giving his all to his rendition of “Loneliness.” He welcomes the muses, postulating that music will make him worse before it makes him better. As he sings, the scene shifts to Daniel hunting by himself in an alley, alone and figuring things out for himself.

It shifts then to the groupie, sobbing over the remains of Bruce and once again rendered alone. Back at the club, Gabriella and the ghosts of Nicki and Magnus watch as Lestat performs, before leaving one by one. 

The episode ends with Louis revisiting Claudia’s doppelganger in a diner and the return of Armand (going by Arun) at the AAA meeting that Alex (Seamus Patterson), the former rhythm guitarist of Lestat’s band, is attending. Both of these scenes lay down the groundwork for future chaos. With Lestat in an emotionally vulnerable place post-interview, things are likely to get worse before they get better for the vampire. But if you’ve read the source material, you may already know that. 

The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 features the strongest performances to date from its ensemble cast, with Sam Reid exploring every emotional inch of Lestat in the process. The forays into the past still read a bit like a speedrun, but the lingering on Lestat’s final moments with Nicki and the revisitation of what actually happened between Lestat and Magnus give the emotional impact room to breathe, settle, and horrify. And now we can see how that horror continues to shape the vampire and his path towards future destruction.

The Vampire Lestat Episode 3 is streaming now on AMC+ with new episodes airing every Sunday on AMC.

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