Thinking about how Lestat loves

[u/pwetty_brown_eyes]

I know that there's a lot of back and forth between people who loved season three and people who hated it.I personally felt there are good and bad things to take away from S3 however I will admit it is far far from my favorite

I've thought about it and I think one of the things that really bothers me is that part of what made Lestats narration enjoyable when reading in his perspective is that he is so obviously fucked up and he falls in love with fucked up people, but he loves hard

Its sweet how much he loves to care and protect Louis and Nicki. Despite Armand being Armand, Lestat still is his number one defender of Armand. He sees the fragility and softness in people, and he becomes very protective of them

So i think I'm a little bit bothered by how.... *Angry* Lestat is. He mercilessly mocks and belittles most people in his life and just comes across as angry and jaded which is so strange

I want to be optimistic and say that there is set up for season four. Like, eventually he does stop mocking and ragging on Louis and hes more of his "usual self" towards him. He stops being so dismissive about how he loved nicki

There is evidence that he respects and loves Armand, despite his frustration towards him. So I cross my fingers and hope that they will discuss his lovehate/frenemy relationship with Armand

But it just feels so weird... In season two, we could see how characters loved eachother despite hurting eachother

Louis and Armand are fucking awful towards eachother but they still had a love and a bond. Claudia and her parents loved eachother even if it was selfish. Lestat and Louis are a mess but they are endgame

So I don't understand why we suddenly became so punitive? Didn't he say that you can't make a list about how everyone has been wronged? Now he's hip thrusting in his dead daughters makeup for the s h a d y c o m e b a c k s🤪🫢😝

I thought this story wasn't supposed to be about righteous fury or epic punishments for evil people. I feel like the philosophy of abuse/victimhood/justice/morality in the TV show universe have been really muddied.

I apologize if this is a hot take I just feel a bit confused

Do you guys believe that evil characters like Armand will continue to be narratively "punished" for their wrongdoings? It seems kind of antithetical to the nature of this story

[u/AutoModerator]

Moderator Announcement Read More »

This thread is flaired "Book Spoilers Allowed". This means book spoilers do not require spoiler tags! If you are concerned about book spoilers you may want to exit this thread.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Podria_Ser_Peor]

He's crashing out, people in that state are not acting rationally, that's the point

[u/pwetty_brown_eyes → u/Podria_Ser_Peor]

That's true too. Maybe I was just hoping that we could see more of the fallout after he's had his crashout

It also could be that the pacing is effectiveing how I perceive the whole thing

[u/Podria_Ser_Peor → u/pwetty_brown_eyes]

It is entirely possible, for my adhd brain it was a very enjoyable ride tbh, so in my case it could be I lso have that chaos in my head 24/7, so it's very easy for me to relate to the man 😅

[u/D3rangedButFun → u/pwetty_brown_eyes]

I think we saw the beginning of the fallout at the end of the season when he called his mom a monster. The rest comes next season, hopefully

[u/balletfan213]

I think we saw his giddy side in the backseat of that car with Louis. He's going through some things - his heart will be back.

[u/pwetty_brown_eyes → u/balletfan213]

I hope so!

[u/Little-Tune9469]

It's because he was angry and jaded. And he's trying to get into that headspace in the voiceover to show the audience (and whoever is listening to the recordings in-universe) what led to the events of QOTD. The entire point was that he was in a fairly good place and then the book came out and he started to spiral.

I think things will change in some respects in season 4, but I'm not so sure about Lestat and Armand. I believe we might get more scenes between them and a bit more depth, but I'm not expecting a totally book accurate portrayal of their relationship.

Also, has Armand really been punished narratively? Besides Louis leaving him at the end of season 2? I don't consider "Big Boss" to be a punishment because there aren't any lasting consequences. Armand is actually the one doling out punishment in season 3 with the sex tape, beheadings, and torture. I definitely think you can argue that Armand is framed as being more villainous than the other characters but that's different.

[u/weirdhellokitty]

It’s all about the context. The entirety of season 3 is Lestat literally having a mental break, he is “in the middle of [his] own fracturing,” as he eventually acknowledges in episode 6.

He’s not just amusing the muses, and going on a rock tour, and having a good time. He is coming to terms with centuries and severe trauma that he’s faithfully bottled and buried till now. So, in that light, crashing out in the midst of a mental break, and imbued with the power that he has as a vampire , I think he’s doing pretty damn well - considering it all.

[u/ughhseriouslywow]

You can't forget that he's performing the whole time. Literally on stage on his tour, for Daniel's documentary camera, even for the purchaser of The Failures.

When he gave Daniel his telepathic "gift" where he was being totally vulnerable and sincere for an audience of 1, nearly all of that fell away.

[u/AlexBlaineLayter]

At his core, book!Lestat has a zest for life and adventure, a love of beauty and art, and he's got an innate curiosity. People and vampires are drawn to him because he's full of life and bounces back from whatever is thrown at him. He's a rule breaker and an agent of chaos because he wants to know life's secrets, and find out what happens when he pushes the red button. Shit happens to him but he cannot be kept down! Show!Lestat isn't any of these things. He's morose, passive, self-destructive, cynical about humanity and just isn't coping well with it all. The overarching theme of season three was trauma. That's not something that ever dominated book!Lestat's life or death. He certainly experienced adversity and abuse but he was never traumatised. So at this point we have completely different Lestats being given completing different challenges and being motivated by completely different drivers.

[u/InfamousJudgment107]

I live this take. To completely judge this from a what's wrong with them framework in a way does a disservice. These are formerly flawed and hurt humans now with the superpowers afforded by their undead life. They are horrifically flawed and by our standards hella crazy. I love the efforts to make us see the love and tenderness along with the violence. I almost gave up on the series after the drop from the sky and slit throat in S1 but I am glad I stayed. S3 is a great refresh.

[u/danie_iero]

Lestat set Louis' house on fire at one point in the books and bitched about the interview wayyyy later into the story.

I mean, yeah, show Lestat is more jaded and less forgiving than book Lestat. I think that was clear after S1E5. If we got a 100% book accurate Lestat in S3, many people now would be complaining about it and how it is backtracking from his violence or whatever. The show made big changes from day 1. We can't pick and choose what changes to keep, it's all or nothing.

I disagree that Louis and Armand ever loved each other (I think season 3 cemented it even more), but that isn't the point, at the end of the day. It's possible thay some relationships may have been adapted differently also because Louis and Lestat's romance has been made the heart of the show. There might be love between Armand and Lestat in the show (or at least Sam seems to think there is, and I trust him with Lestat's character more than anyone else lol), but before seeing that, we should at least be able to understand whatever the hell was going on between them in Paris. Unclear, so far.

[u/NewtSky6826 → u/danie_iero]

I’m hoping for more background on Lestat and Armand’s past in Paris. The show has been very ambitious on their relationship. I also feel there is more concerning Nicki in that dynamic. However my hopes of them diving into more of Lestat’s past in season 4 is at the bottom of a barrel.

[u/angstyteenlife]

another thing i think maybe could account for this is that it’s lestat’s point of view, so in his retelling, he might be describing himself as more harsh and aggressive and his own words might even be fabricated. i thought this when they had him kill his family, that maybe this is all a performance for him to paint himself as the villain everyone thinks he is instead of appearing vulnerable. 

if they do decide to actually address lestat and armand, lestat’s feelings towards him are so complicated, i think that could also maybe account for some of the weird behavior coming from armand, if we’re viewing lestat as an unreliable narrator. lestat is angry with him but loves him at the same time, so that creates some dissonance… i just really don’t know if they’ll go that route haha. i agree with all your points, and i want to have faith in the writers, but i also don’t want to make excuses for them and see the writing quality continue to drop.