Interview with the Vampire – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

A Vile Hunger for Your Hammering Heart

Episode 5 of Interview with the Vampire begins with Daniel reading through Claudia’s journal, which includes her “kill list”, which records the final thoughts/words of Claudia’s victims. Rashid, the man whom Louis is feeding on, tells Daniel not to judge others and the two entire a heated debate. That is, until Louis breaks things up by getting into Daniel’s head.

The story continues where we left off though, with Claudia staying inside her coffin and going on a hunger strike… or is she? Well, Louis and Lestat burst in and find the coffin empty. Not only that, but they also find her journal. So much for Claudia’s hunger strike; Claudia is out feasting down on various victims and sneaking back in at night. It’s like an all you can eat buffet for her!

When Claudia heads back home Lestat and Louis blindside her and question just what she’s been doing. They’re not happy with her haphazard nature, and doubly so when they realize Claudia has been burying her victims out of town in a place called Chalmette. It’s three feet below the river line, which means that heavy rainfall is going to be a problem. And lo and behold it is – all the bodies wash up on the dock.

This news spreads across town, with each corpse missing a piece of them. They’re all from Quarter too, meaning that police are likely to come sniffing around. And that’s precisely what they do. Unfortunately, they find Lestat and Louis’ incinerator outside, along with Claudia drunk in the living room. It’s not a good look. In fact, Claudia happens to have hidden all those pieces of her victims too, including a body in her wardrobe.

Although they manage to stave off the police, it’s not for the want of suspicion and the police admit they don’t like what they’ve seen. As for Claudia, she’s clearly gone off the deep end following what happened to Charlie. In fact, Claudia drops the bombshell that Lestat has been hiding secrets from the pair, believing that he’s grown bored of them. It’s Antionette whom Lestat has been seeing, and he promises to kill her soon.

When Louis catches up with Claudia, she questions why he chose to save her and bring her back from the brink. She’s not happy and eventually walks out, questioning her own purpose in the world and needing to find her own way of living.

With Claudia gone, Lestat and Louis decide to go underground for 7 years, trying to keep a low profile. Louis misses Claudia, sending out telepathic messages for her in every direction but she doesn’t respond. “Claudia come home” Louis pleads, but his words are lost in the great Depression of the 20’s sweeping the nation.

While Claudia finds some less-than-desirable company in a fellow vampire called Bruce, Louis decides to barricade himself inside the walls of 1132 Rue Royale, educating himself in the library and constantly reading.

Claudia’s encounters with Bruce don’t end well. She colloquially calls him a killer, while Bruce admits that he’s been watching her for a while. He suggests burying the bodies in a shallow grave rather than dumping them. As he gets a little close for comfort, Daniel points out that the pages have been ripped out from the diary. It’s pretty clear by this point that Bruce sexually abused Claudia, but Louis refuses to talk about it. He stays surprisingly calm through it all, ignoring Daniel’s taunts.

Continuing the story, Louis is crushed when he learns that the family have essentially abandoned him. At the cemetery, he finds his own name underneath Florence De Pointe Du Lac’s. This is the way it has to be and although he’s crushed by the revelation, there’s nothing else for it. Interestingly, Claudia happens to be watching from afar, staying in the shadows, and finally understanding Louis’ sorrow and why he saved her.

Claudia returns home. Louis hugs and thanks her, while Lestat is less accepting. He doesn’t accept her apology and as a result, Claudia lashes out at him. She’s not there to stay, she just stopped by to see Louis.

Claudia certainly hasn’t shown up for Lestat though. Louis is stuck in the middle of all this, torn between leaving with Claudia and staying with Lestat. When Lestat grabs Claudia round the throat, Louis pounces and the two vampires fight across the house. Eventually it ends with Lestat draining Louis’ blood. Lestat deplores Louis’ lack of love for him. “Let go of me!” Louis pleads, while elevated high up in the air by this vampire. And Lestat does just that, releasing Louis and letting him fall with a thud back in their family home again. As he lies crumpled and beaten, motionless on the floor, Claudia sobs. When Lestat descends, Claudia looks at him with murderous contempt.

The Episode Review

Everything falls apart between Louis and Lestat, and it comes about as a result of Claudia’s inclusion in the family. The fight at the end is a really good way of symbolising this, with the camera sweeping effortlessly around in a pretty slick motion to capture this from Claudia’s perspective.

Quite whether Lestat and Louis will be the same again is anyone’s guess, but it’s clear that Louis and Claudia are now going to be together with Lestat potentially slinking back into the shadows, maybe in Europe for all we know! There are hints already that this is where season 2 will go. Either way though, the ending certainly leaves everything wide open for where the next may go.