Santiago's Death
He wasn’t a “good” guy by any means, but we need to start by pouring one out for Santiago, who quite literally lost his head during Louis’ rampage of madness at the top of the hour. While few could argue that Santiago didn’t deserve his punishment, Jones wishes it didn’t also mean losing Ben Daniels as an actor. In fact…
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t already start thinking about repertory theater casting in our show,” Jones tells TVLine. “[Daniels] is an incredible actor. Santiago dies in this episode, but never say never in our universe, or forget how malleable that actor is. I could write a housewife and put [Daniels] in there and I think you would forget that he was Santiago. He’s such an extraordinary instrument.”
Jones served as showrunner on Fox’s The Exorcist, which co-starred Daniels, so there was never a question of who Jones wanted to play Santiago when the time came to cast him.
“We needed the most fun cartoon villain in the world, because we weren’t doing cartoon villains for anybody else,” Jones explains. “We were like, let’s have as much fun as we can with good old Ben.”
I’m interested to see how they adapt The Vampuire Lestat novel. There’s a lot of story to tell, but it interesting that they say Armand won’t have the same amount of screen time considering his important role in the novel. I’m also interested to see who they cast as Gabrielle.
It will be interesting to see how they will adapt both “The Vampire Lestat” & “Queen of the Damned” as well as the other books in the series if it gets that far, which I think it will. Next season will feel very much like the first season of a brand-new show as the series will officially center on Lestat who will become the main character of the show from now onward. Also, looking forward to the new season of “Mayfair Witches” which comes out next year.
I’ve not read the books so I can only go by what was shown in the series, but my one open question is: If Armand planned to kill Louis (alongside Claudia), then why did Armand free Louis from the crypt and feed him his blood? Or was that also an act Armand took credit for, and it was really Lestat that freed Louis? I recall Louis saying something about recognizing the blood when he relayed the story, affirming it was Armand, but Louis was mentally not in his right mind at that time, so this is an unanswered question for me.
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Beyond that, I loved the New Orleans reunion and Lestat’s redemption. It was earned! Looking forward to Season 3 and later seasons, to see what newbie vampire Daniel does with his millions and fame (or infamy).
Overall, despite my issues with the many changes they made, this was a good adaption of “Interview with the Vampire”, however it wasn’t a great one.
Despite this, I am looking forward to seeing how they will adapt the later books for future seasons.
the finale was terrible, sadly. the use of a deus ex machina to reveal the truth of the trial was amateur-hour writing and i don’t get the choices made with daniel whatsoever. why wouldn’t you show us him becoming a vampire?
the scene between louis, armand, and lestat where louis kisses armand to punish lestat felt like something out of the vampire diaries. insulting to the maturity and complexity of these relationship dynamics as they exist in anne rice’s world.
sad to see a promising show fall off like this. i don’t think i’ll watch season three, but this had its moments.
respectfully have to disagree on the whole deus ex machina because it was not suddenly solved out of nowhere, which is the basic meaning of the phrase in film. It was a stunning twist of the continued level of manipulation that has been going on all season with Armand. And Lestat was NEVER mature in Anne’s books. In fact, she referred to him as a brat many times. There is very little TV I respect or watch but the writing and nuanced acting on this show is superb. Perfect? Maybe not.
Absolutely amazing and perfect!!!!! Cannot wait for next season!!!!!!!!!!!
Next season will feel like a brand-new show as next season will focus on the origin story Lestat & set up “Queen of the Damned.” Louie will not be a main character anymore. He is a supporting character in the later books.
This is one of the greatest shows/franchises on right now. AMC was right to sign Rolin Jones for a multi-year deal. They better not screw it up, we all know what they did to Walking Dead (even if I still can’t stop watching). Hopefully they fix Mayfair a bit and this turns out more like Breaking Bad universe. Great Season. Loads of potential for future great seasons and shows.
The big question is can Sam Reid pull off being the new main character of the show, while introducing us to new characters & situations. We will have to wait & see.
Santiago didn’t deserve that quick death. Louis should have made that last. Some justice for Claudia regarding the audience would work, too.
I have to say that the 1994 film adaption still reigns supreme as the superior adaption as it was a lot more faithful to the book & retained the gothic atmosphere of the book which this series has sorely lacked. Plus, no one can beat the charisma & magnetism of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, & Kirsten Dunst in the roles of Lestat, Louis & Claudia. These current actors are also wonderful, but for me, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, & Kirsten Dunst will always be the ultimate versions of these characters. This series has been merely good, but not great as it made too many unnecessary changes to the source material. However, I will keep watching to see how they will adapt the other books.
LOVED the season and the finale. I was not expecting the Armand betrayal. Can’t wait for Season 3. I love Lestat and this coming season has lots of room for his development.
LOVED the season and the finale. I was not expecting the Armand betrayal. Can’t wait for Season 3. I love Lestat and this coming season has lots of room for his development.
Can’t wait to see how they adapt “The Vampire Lestat” & “Queen of the Dammed” since they name dropped Akasha. Next season will look & feel like the first season of a brand-new show since it will focus on Lestat’s origin story as well as set up “Queen of the Dammed”. And it will introduce new characters like Gabrielle, Jessie, David Talbot & one of the series” ultimate villains Akasha. From what I understand, there is at least three season worth of stuff from those books that you could incorporate in the series.
Just absolutely stunning finale and season. Jacob Anderson and his performance these past two seasons absolutely elevate the show so I am slightly concerned he’ll take a backseat moving forward. But I trust these showrunners. They’re 2 for 2 in this world and I can’t wait to see what they do here next.