RECAP: ‘The Vampire Lestat’ Episode 7 – “The Failures”

After the slow-simmering boil of tension in the previous episode, which ended in that head-rolling cliffhanger, The Vampire Lestat Episode 7, “The Failures,” carried a promise of frenetic energy. What else could one expect when The Brat Prince, who has been positioned as a figurehead of the impending Great Conversion by his mother, is now left counting down the time until his inevitable final sleep post-beheading? This episode was positioned to be great, but as a finale? It greatly underwhelms and doesn’t live up to its promise of destruction.

As an overarching exploration of character work and arcs coming to fruition, The Vampire Lestat Episode 7 excels. However, a lot happens in the episode’s 50-some odd minutes. And with Lestat (Sam Reid) and Louis (Jacob Anderson) separated for much of the episode, each goes on an entirely different journey of reckoning, self-discovery, and enlightenment as they battle not just to live but for their very souls. 

Lestat’s journey in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7 is more cerebral than that of his fledgling Louis. Post-beheading, his mind slips into a dream. He is in a forest. The sun is shining, and he should be burning. Instead, he is listening to and recording the sounds of the birds he has so often fantasized about, but the sounds fade, and soon he is following a procession of waiters, one of whom is Dee (Amaka Umeh). “No falling behind,” they say before he is led to a table with incarnations of himself seated along with the priest who raised him.

From the bright open expanse of a meadow in the forest to the dark, familiar, traumatizing space of Magnus’s home, Lestat is transported, table in tow, but now everyone fills the seats. Magnus (Damien Atkins) is at the head, and one by one, we are reminded of all of whom Lestat has changed: Nicky (Joseph Potter), Louis, Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle), Antoinette (Maura Grace Athari), and TC (Sarah Swire). Notably absent is Claudia (Delainey Hayles), but as Magnus points out and as the audience already knows, Claudia has already said her piece.

Lestat comes face-to-face with his failures, but it’s not all wallowing.

As Lestat realizes he’s dying, and these vampires are more a reflection of his surroundings and perhaps his subconscious as a whole, what transpires is a further extension of the existential path he’s been weaving all throughout this season.

“So, you’re all here to judge me,” Lestat states, and Magnus corrects, “We are the failure finders.” Lestat tries to reject the reality he’s in, but his soul is wavering in this in-between space while his head is being carted off by Daniel (Eric Bogosian) in a bowling bag. His body? In a butcher shop.

It is a verbal back-and-forth between these various vampires within Lestat’s subconscious, with his defiance against Magnus, who has the dismissive zinger of “Consent is a twentieth-century construction” as a rebuttal against Lestat’s rage. Lestat points out he has two makers. Rather than having Magnus, he’d prefer his mother in the chair. With the change in chairmanship, Magnus mostly disappears, with Gabriella taking the seat. The room transforms into an eighteenth-century dining room, and Gabriella’s attire matches in kind.

They resume the verbal debate over Lestat’s action, but get interrupted. An awkwardly funny moment, more due to the execution of it than not, is when Daniel looks into the bowling bag with Lestat’s head. As he continues to talk smack about the vampire, his head looms over Lestat’s subconscious world, an intruder in this liminal space. It’s the only time he feels like a god, and the visual imagery replicates this feeling. It just looks uncanny, making it rather odd to perceive.

“There is a lot coming at you, mon cher,” Gabriella says, which is an understatement for this episode. Everyone seems to be gunning for Lestat if you believe his subconscious. With the clock ticking down the time for his soul’s departure in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7, his overwhelm is understandable. With the criticisms and mockery from his fledglings and subsequent victims, memories flash through Lestat’s mind, centering around his mother, who almost seems to relish seeing her son picked apart. 

Lestat’s mind turns to a memory that has long been teased throughout The Vampire Lestat. Here, in Episode 7, we finally see the witch burning that has seared itself into his mind all these centuries later. Gabriella wanted him to see who the people of his village were, to find the courage to escape where she could not.

As the scene introduces each “witch” and their crime, Gabriella is there with the child Lestat, explaining what is really happening. Escape or burn, that is what Gabriella desires him to learn, but the lesson is cruel and haunting.

It breaks Lestat’s mind, if but for a moment, and he moans at a steady pitch while the vampires in his subconscious argue over whether or not these things he’s remembering are relevant. For Lestat, the memory is a reminder of how he passed on the same trauma to Claudia, forcing her to watch a boy the same age as her burn in New Orleans. Like mother, like son, that was always the intent, at least in Gabriella’s teachings, but the cost has mounted over time.

As if Lestat needed more verbal castration in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7, Marius de Romanus (Christopher Heyerdahl) suddenly appears, a reminder of his failure with Akasha. Frankly, though, Marius’s presence seemed rather unnecessary in this particular segment, especially since this was more dedicated to Lestat’s fledglings and original maker than not. But, if one were to take into account Magnus’s earlier mention of “failure finders,” then perhaps Marius here would qualify since he found Lestat to watch Akasha (and failed in doing so).

Lestat sits there listening, taking it all in as memories flash back. Their mockery energizes him, “the soul” as they so keep repeating, almost like a chant. Everything is building to a crescendo. “Does failure finally begin to fail to find him? No,” remarks Magnus. Yet the memory Lestat keeps returning to is of himself on a bench in Montreal, sitting next to Louis as they’ve finally hit a good point in their relationship, and Lestat laughs.

The Vampire Lestat Episode 7 is a great lesson in character work, but not in how to end a season.

The vampires around him list all of his negative attributes, one after the other, as memories continue to flit through. It’s the final moments of the soul crying out, a life lived, multiple even if you consider the time, and Lestat laughs. His mother, his lovers, his makers, all calling him a failure, repeating the innermost thoughts that have carried with him all the way until this very end. Then, the timer goes off. What next? Is this the end?

No, in fact, with the hit of snooze, a new countdown begins, and Lestat is reinvigorated. The setting transitions to a long table-like stage as if to simulate a performance. Familiar faces emerge in this, as he greets his past victims, fledglings, and more, in one final moment onstage. One of his victims, Enzo, sparks remorse in him, yet he turns and greets the others. We see the face behind the song “Black Licorice,” who is also holding the phone, counting down the time to his final death.  

Even as he starts losing control of his faculties, Lestat has to get some final things off his chest. After enduring what seems like hours of ridicule from those he loves the most, he declares, “I think I was pretty great. But if I failed, then that means I actually attempted something.” Honestly, more people should take this quote to heart because it is very true in a world that seems bent on instant gratification and perfectionism at the expense of effort and trying to learn.

Just as he’s getting super hyped up, Lestat starts fading. The energy is draining, and he marvels at how much of his blood he’s wasted. It’s a fantastic soliloquy, as he starts to devolve. He apologizes to Enzo once more, and he’s left to sit in the dark as everything starts to fade. But there’s one more ghost that needs to emerge, and that is Paul (Steven G. Norfleet), Louis’s brother, who thanks Lestat for loving his brother, even if he’d much rather Lestat be a woman than a man. 

A bright light shines over Lestat, and Paul remarks that it’s not all that once he gets there. A silent speaker is communicating with Paul as Lestat is distracted by the silver threads he sees through that light. Paul picks up the phone, looks at Lestat, and the scene cuts away.

As for Louis, he has been sequestered by Armand (Assad Zaman) within a butcher shop on Shabbos in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7. To say he’s being tortured is an understatement. With his head loosely connected with medical equipment in some form of livestream experimentation, Louis is trapped while Armand finally unleashes the chaos gremlin within. He admits to the manipulation and deceit that had kept Louis by his side prior to Daniel’s disruptive reappearance in their lives. This is Armand, arguably, at his most sadistic.

He is also at his most self-aware and honest with himself. “I think I might be a room without walls, floors, a ceiling. An infinite nothing.” Yet, despite this, this infinite nothing desires something from Louis. He wants Louis to admit his own wrongdoings, just as he has. It’s a seemingly sudden revenge quest until you remember that Armand is an incredibly damaged, albeit also petty, person. Introduce a centuries-old vampire to therapy, and of course, this would be the natural result.

It also makes one wonder how much Armand is using the pretense of halting the Great Conversion through the beheading and subsequent kidnappings of Louis and Lestat in order to fulfill this quest for righteous amends here in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7. For a man in search of meaning, this fits. He wants, craves, for Louis to repent just as he has, and yet, Louis fights it every step of the way, repeating the phrase, “Don’t care,” in only the way he can.

Lestat and Louis’s love for one another is the tether that saves them.

It is here in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7 that we learn how entrenched Armand has been in everything and everyone since the start of this season. Using Alex (Seamus Patterson) and Dr. Fareed Bhansali (Gopal Divan) as his eyes within the tour bus, with Fareed’s interest still being in the observation and study of vampires. The doctor is monitoring Louis’s vitals and making adjustments where he can during this torture session. It is also Armand who put Regina in Louis’s way to mess with his mind even further. 

We’ve known that Armand is constantly manipulating behind the scenes, so all of these revelations after his repentance act over the course of the season make more sense. However, the revelation of his involvement with Regina is too much, too far. Not so much in the action, but the suspension of disbelief required to believe he has puppet-mastered this much seems implausible, even despite this being a show with vampires, demons, and spirits alike. And yet, it seems Armand is fully committed to the mustache-twirling villain act in these scenes.

Pushing this feeling further in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7 is the reveal that Armand has had Regina brought to convince Louis to finally repent. Assad Zaman’s line delivery in repeating Regina’s lines verbatim with an East Side accent, and the ease with which he slips between the different accents, is remarkable. Delainey Hayles plays Regina rightfully hysterical and weak, considering Armand’s threat to decapitate her if Louis doesn’t comply.

As his vitals begin to wane, Louis starts shutting everyone in the room out. Armand waxes on about wasted time before demonstrating his power to Louis to draw his focus. He bids one of his followers “rest,” which forces the follower to kill himself. Then Armand draws his attention to Regina, prompting her to “rest” as well, knowing that this might break Louis into doing what he wants. And it does.

Yet, the answers he gives are not what Armand wants. Just as Armand commands Regina to rest once more, Louis explains what he is sorry for. “Love of my life was him,” he says, Lestat’s presence still hanging between the former lovers in the room.

That’s not the answer Armand wants, and Regina slits her arm. Unfortunately, Louis may not be able to answer more as his motor functions deteriorate, as shown by his eyes slipping out of focus, and Jacob Anderson’s voice cracks with the loss of Louis’s synapses.

Knowing time is of the essence at this point in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7, Armand bids Louis to communicate via telepathy, and he’ll verbalize his thoughts for the audience they’re livestreaming to. It is through this telepathy that Louis is at his most honest and kind to Armand.

“I know what it’s like to build a house. A cathedral on top of a lie. Live that lie so fully that it might as well be true,” Louis shares. And Louis understands why Armand is so enraged, pointing out Armand’s origins, his history of enslavement and servitude. 

As things become more personal, Armand shuts off the livestream. Louis continues, reflecting on how young Armand was. How he was only 12 when he was forced into a life that would ultimately break down his walls, producing the vampire we’ve all experienced leading up to this moment in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7. As Louis continues to talk, Armand’s face crumbles. Assad Zaman, who is truly phenomenal in this episode, lets us into the now-vulnerable, raw vampire, beautifully reflecting those cracks in his facial expressions.

“You need a love that’ll cradle you. You should have that, and I was never that for you, and I’m sorry. My coldness, my denial, drove you to this,” remarks Louis, and it’s the breakthrough we’ve been working towards for the vampire all season long. This honesty with himself, but ultimately with someone he’s spent time with, is where his arc needed to go, and it pays off so well. Ultimately, this is exactly what Armand needed to hear, and he heals Regina and frees her from the shop.

Assad Zaman finally gets his moment in The Vampire Lestat and unleashes Armand’s true self.

As it’s clear that Louis has reached the end of his rope, Fareed says he’s not sure the head can be reattached properly. Armand is not paying attention, instead marking his initial on Louis’s chest in one final act of reclamation before departing. From this point on in The Vampire Lestat Episode 7, Louis’s fate remains up in the air until the episode’s final five minutes.

Bringing the two vampires together, heads and on, is Raglan James (Justin Kirk), the resident rep of the Talamasca this season. While Lestat and Louis are undergoing their psychological reflection, Raglan approaches Daniel and Alex at the bowling alley, where they’re holding Lestat’s head. The most surprising revelation from this conversation is that the Talamasca, or at least Raglan, is interested in seeing the Great Conversion through. 

The reasoning, although still quite confusing, pertains to the soul. As we’ve seen across The Vampire Lestat Episode 7, Lestat’s soul is fighting, and there is proof that vampires still maintain their souls even after they’ve been turned.

Raglan insists on taking Lestat’s head to reunite it with his body, mentioning to Daniel that he has Rashid outside the butcher shop waiting to extract the remaining pieces of the vampires. We leave off this scene with Daniel baring his fangs, ready to fight, but we never get to see what happens.

Instead, we have a rather rushed epilogue, where both Lestat and Louis have little memory of what happened after they were beheaded, but the concert is running late. The fans, both human and vampiric, are impatient, and Lestat insists he won’t perform. Things grow tense between him and his mother, and in a much-needed act of rebellion, Lestat screams at her, calling her a monster while Louis looks on. And then, that’s that. 

With the entire season hinting at this apocalyptic concert where Lestat ushered in the end days, The Vampire Lestat Episode 7 shows nothing. It’s anticlimactic and frustrating, especially since with everything that happens in this episode, it still feels like there should be one more episode left. Instead, the concert is treated as a bookend before we pivot to the end of “The Failures” recording and witness a very much alive Lestat in his Montreal apartment, recording the dialogue we’ve been hearing this entire time.

The closest we get to witnessing what might have happened is when Lestat walks to his balcony, and we look out to the desolate venue, crumbled in disrepair. The sun is still cracking through the crowds, but Lestat doesn’t burn. And we’re treated to yet another teaser of Akasha, the infamous destruction, and left wanting. As a finale goes, the final five minutes undo a lot of goodwill after a season of edging. The thing about edging is that there’s only so much one can take before the delayed gratification proves not worth the patience expended. 

As a finale, The Vampire Lestat Episode 7 doesn’t work. Part of this is due to how the major plot point – the concert – has been teased throughout the entire season, and left to rot somewhere on a computer in an unpublished eighth episode. With all the activity that takes place, the episode is plenty busy enough, which makes the omission understandable, but the ending is ultimately weaker for it because we’re forced to be told what happened rather than shown yet again.

With so much material left to cover and so little time, The Vampire Lestat Episode 7 had to make cuts where needed. If it weren’t the finale, it could stand on its own due to the fine character work and arcs we see come full circle in this otherwise existentially chaotic season. However, as a season-ender, it is disappointing for the promises it could not keep, despite the many whispers planted throughout the way. And for that, it’s a dang shame. Hopefully, there is a new season so we can see what chaos truly lies ahead, rather than be told.

All episodes of The Vampire Lestat are streaming now on AMC+ and AMC.

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