AMC

The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 4 Review: ‘The Devil’s Road’

The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 4 “The Devil’s Road” sees Lestat unraveling. Between the ghost of Nicolas de Lenfent continuing to haunt him after telling (a version of) his story in the previous hour, his mother abandoning him yet again, his continuing tour, and Daniel Molloy’s nonstop questioning, he’s going through a lot, ok? Even the Dark Gift can’t prevent feelings from being too powerful to handle. And Lestat’s not the only one struggling.

Louis repeatedly visits his Claudia lookalike, longing to see her in there, somewhere. Daniel and Armand are both kind of at their limits because of their…unique Maker/Fledgling connection. Oh, and also, Armand’s apparently trying to make amends with the ~~people~~ vampires he’s harmed. It’s another wild ride, another hour that makes it impossible to know where Sam Reid ends and Anne Rice’s Brat Prince begins, and from a musical standpoint, it includes both what I can only describe as “Lestat’s girly pop punk jam” and “the ballad that might just break us all.”

The series once again short-changes some of the pieces of Lestat’s story that I would’ve liked to have seen explored more in depth. In particular, ~~Gabrielle’s~~ Gabriella’s frequent comings and goings on the The Devil’s Road, as well as the uncomfortable things she’d say to Lestat about the nature of good and evil, only receive subtle hints here. These are very important to explaining why the character is like this and separating him from the version we met through Louis’ eyes. And although Reid shoulders the burden very well, he shouldn’t have to singlehandedly fill in gaps in characterization that are directly, blatantly obvious in the text that’s being adapted.

Still, with limited time and with the gift of seeing more of Jacob Anderson’s Louis, alongside Delainey Hayles‘ character who very much isn’t Claudia (and yet)—not to mention Eric Bogosian’s Daniel and Assad Zaman’s Armand living in that delicious tension and angst—I’m not sure what I’d suggest cutting from The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 4, or how to make it “better” as a reader, without losing something. This series is ambitious in a way that shouldn’t work in this era of too-short seasons and quick cancellations. And yet, Sam Reid is the recipient of the Dark Gift. So. Everything works quite well, flaws and all. Just like it does for Lestat himself.

MORE: Our review of The Vampire Lestat premiere.

“He told himself he was in control”

As Louis, Jacob Anderson has always had a way of fully embodying what it is to be an outsider, achingly lonely and longing for a certain kind of human connection—even in a crowded room. In The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 4, he does this even in a diner that’s not quite bustling, yet certainly has people coming and going. Louis’ visits to see the server Regina at the Brick & Bacon are incredibly well done. Even that very first glimpse of him, so small and isolated, a certain dark cloud hanging over him even in that bright space, is a stunner. You can barely see a speck before the camera draws us ever closer to Louis, and yet, just Anderson’s presence, the certain way he sits there, tells a story.

Hayles gets to play a character who’s totally different, yet somehow has a similar toughness to the Claudia that, at times, had the opportunity to come out to play but who was, tragically, gone too soon. The edits of Regina getting more and more frustrated with each visit—asking this stranger if he wants a menu, can she get him anything, and so forth—are great. And, as she slowly learns who this rich, mysterious stranger is and why he’s coming to see her, Hayles nails both the angry way Regina pushes Louis away and a certain sort of pity that can only be felt for someone grieving such a painful loss.

As a reminder, this is The Vampire Lestat, so we’re seeing Louis through his maker’s eyes. Anderson gets it. He’s every bit the “sufferer,” with that “grim intensity,” and “his tortured capacity to believe and not to believe, and finally to despair,” as Lestat describes him, all-too-briefly, toward the end of Rice’s novel (page 497 in my well-loved paperback). But, at the same time, there’s a light in Louis. A sort of bashful way he smiles and experiences a quiet, foreign sort of joy as Regina tells him about her life. There’s a spark in her that he recognizes as that spark in Claudia, and every time she shows it to him, Louis just delights. This, too, is something Lestat sees in his tortured fledgling.

In the places where Louis becomes self-conscious, where he worries he’s making Regina uncomfortable, Anderson is quite possibly at his best. I love how vulnerable and open he is in this hour, as he admits to this stranger he’s become enamored with that she’s “helping” because she reminds him of someone. And that long pause before he finally has her confirm she’s “asking” who he means…oof. Fantastic levels of angst.

Obviously, it’s wildly inappropriate to, effectively, stalk a stranger like this. But within the context of this world, and these vampires, the unshakeable grief Louis carries with him as he walks the Devil’s Road himself, and Anderson’s excellent portrayal of how much difficulty Louis has, just walking into that place—and how much more difficulty he has trying to stay away—it fits. All that sadness, all that grief…and yes, Lestat shares it with Louis and feels it for Louis. Otherwise, he’d never include it in his story. Especially not alongside all his own angst over his mom disappearing on him.

MORE: Louis’ memory of Claudia’s trial kinda broke us.

A tribute to Armand

Lestat de Lioncourt is a lot of things. Anyone who isn’t convinced of that by The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 4 is probably not paying attention. But one thing he’s particularly good at is becoming whoever, or whatever, he needs to be in order to harm those who’ve harmed him. Oh, is he wounded and lashing out? “Absolutely not. I know you are, but what am I?” is basically his response there. So, at a time when his mother has ghosted him yet again, when he’s revealed a little bit too much—and yet nowhere near enough—about Nicki to Daniel, a visit from Armand as he’s rising from the coffin is about as unwelcome as it gets. And he makes sure Armand knows it.

Here, Zaman is every bit the disheveled, yet enduring—and tightly forcing himself to maintain control of his responses, even as Lestat insults him over and over—version of Armand. There’s a quiet, empty sort of quality to he reads his list of ways he knows he’s harmed Lestat and at least attempts to go over what he should have done differently. But Lestat does not give a flying F***. Or, rather, he cares too much…and gives away just a wee bit too much as a result.

Because, for all his saucy, seductive self-caressing allure as he showers, for however blunt he is as he says that, yes, “it was torture” when he left Armand (and by extension Louis) without contact for the latter part of the 20th Century—not the “richness of character” Armand tries to use as a compliment—Lestat does whatever he can to avoid an in-depth conversation about a painful past. First, it’s distracting Armand with all that sexual energy as he showers. (Here, Zaman plays that guilty thirst extremely well.) Later, it’s debuting “Big Boss,” which is about Armand, when Armand attends a show.

As Lestat prances around, topless, mocking both the Great Laws and the other vampire, he’s an even more jester-like version of the character than what we saw as we learned about the founding of the Théâtre des Vampires back in Interview with the Vampire Season 2. The makeup is similar, if much more of a mess. And anything I’ve said up until this point about Reid’s range, his ability to play this complete clown while also bringing so much heart and soul to Lestat, what a blast it is to see him unbound in all his glory, applies. But it’s more here. Always, always more.

If Lestat can’t get his mommy’s love, if he can’t take back Armand’s role in Claudia’s death or even Nicki’s, then he’ll be da**ed if he can’t make Armand hurt. And what better way to do that than to mock him, endlessly, in front of God and mortals and other vampires, all while basically saying, “you can never have me again”? There isn’t one. Period.

That first point—the mommy issues—is vital here. What does Lestat do when he leaves the stage? After spending his travels extremely frustrated, dejected, outraged, and most of all hurt over another round of unanswered messages, he calls her. And he absolutely loses it. Wild-eyed, loudly and, uh…descriptively, he rubs in his crowd’s roaring applause, all that adoration, 12 minutes worth of worship. Because, see? If she won’t love him, who cares? So many others do! SO THERE. He’s not lonely and heartbroken; she obviously must be because F her, he doesn’t want her to visit again.

…except that he is. And he does.

MORE: Louis found out about Armand’s deception and Lestat’s actual role in Claudia’s trial in the Interview with the Vampire Season 2 finale.

“Let’s talk about your mother“

The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 4 reveals a little (a lot?) more about Lestat’s toxic relationship with his mother. One might think the worst of it is, you know, all the incest. But that’s only part of the story. The bigger problem for Lestat is that she always, always leaves him. Now, she’s done it again. And that gives him flashes of that oh-so-gorgeous sunset on the night he found her…gone. In the present timeline, each unanswered message and each dodged question causes him to spiral more, which means he becomes more and more bratty.

All the lies about Gabriella and “Sofia” are the perfect cover. Lestat can show some of his grief without revealing the embarrassing, bitter truth—Gabriella isn’t dead. She didn’t “stop talking almost immediately” because she couldn’t handle her transformation. Instead, as we see in flashbacks throughout The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 4, she reveled in it. But although the precious feeling of it being a vampire mother and son—who are Maker and Fledgling in reverse order, lest we forget—against the world, with endless possibilities awaiting them everywhere forever, creates some beautiful, sweet moments with Reid playing that adoration as perfectly well as everything else, it doesn’t last. It’s how he wishes it was. Even in his made-up fantasy, the truth creeps its way back in. His memories take over.

While Sam Reid (Lestat) does Sam Reid (Lestat) things, Jennifer Ehle is every bit the villain in Lestat’s story that Lestat refuses to fully see as such. There are times when he comes close to recognizing how his mom toyed with him, most obviously when he overhears her having sex with some random and bursts into her room, equal parts wounded and outraged. Overall, though, Gabriella is radiant in Lestat’s mind, laughing “more freely and easily than she ever had when she was alive” (yes, that’s from the book, not the show). Until she isn’t—until she says something that makes him uncomfortable or until she leaves him, reminding him he’ll never be good enough for her again.

Reid’s perfect as the smitten son, the mama’s boy who’s laughing it up about killing people and smiling for her benefit—because her happiness is all he cares for. That Lestat, in the past, is totally different than the self-assured, swaggering Brat Prince flaunting his powers for his bandmates and making conversations as difficult as possible for Daniel. He’s also completely different from the lonely, heartbroken soulful character who plays that acoustic guitar on the empty tour bus.

The tears in Reid’s eyes, that broken “why do you come back” that he can barely get out, and the quietly begging “why won’t you let me hate you” are all absolutely everything. And Ehle stands there, regal, mocking her son and pitying him—caring for him in a detached, yet still true, sort of way—all the while. Lestat can’t see it, but we do. It’s not that nothing he does can get her attention, not that he’s not good enough or never has been. His mother simply can’t feel the way he does. And doesn’t have much interest in trying, other than when it suits her.

MORE: In Episode 2, Lestat gave us a very watered down explanation of this mother/son relationship.

“Hi, Dad“

Lestat’s mommy issues, meet Daniel’s (vampire) daddy issues. The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 4 brings Daniel and Armand together, first when Armand materializes out of thin air and interrupts what I was originally going to mock as “that time Louis Litt went bowling on Suits” but now can’t because it’s so important, and later, after Lestat’s “Big Boss” tribute. If Lestat is a master manipulator who spends much of his immortal existence covering up his pain with sass, dramatics, and devilry (and he is!), then he and Daniel aren’t exactly different.

Both times Daniel confronts Armand, he’s all anger and insults. The entire rant in that bowling alley is a work of art. But what Bogosian does in the in-between—that’s the highlight. When Armand first says hello in that quiet way of his, Bogosian freezes. His expression, while certainly angry, also speaks of Daniel’s determination and knowing he has to endure this. The physicality as he whips around to snap at Armand and start going absolutely the F— off is priceless, and when he’s done with his insults, after a dismissive “pick up the tab, will ya, Pops?” Daniel turns away. In that moment, Bogosian drops all that righteous rage, all that snark viewers have loved since his first moments on Interview with the Vampire, and is an absolute well of angst.

Later, Daniel’s desperation for Armand to stop tormenting him bleeds through all the shouting and shoving the centuries-old vampire against a wall. That “stop it” is practically a growl, for one. And now, just as Armand had been quiet, disheveled, his own ocean of regret back at that bowling alley, he finally can’t take any of it anymore himself. When Daniel refuses to believe he can’t stop whatever this is, Zaman has his moment to unleash. That hunger below the surface that’s been buried for the entire hour, that torture, is there in the violent way he turns around and passionately reminds Daniel: “I am your maker! I cannot get into your head any longer!”

There’s a delicious tension between Bogosian and Zaman throughout. And that raw vulnerability both actors display when Daniel begs to know if Dubai was BS, and Armand promises, “it wasn’t my love for Louis, Daniel. But it was love,” is next level good.

MORE: We kinda lost it when we first confirmed that Zaman’s character was actually Armand.

More The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 4 reactions

The way he says Chipotle like “Chipottle.” Like, it’s kind of funny…but also kind of sad, in a way. Good nod to the character’s lack of education in his early years. Another example of how everything is layered.
“Cell phone footage of Yours Truly went viral, as both irrefutable proof of the Cloud Gift and a deepfake antichrist. More red meat for Reddit.” (Red-eet.)
“Where’d you go.” And then, after no answer: “WHERE DID YOU GO.”
“Nonetheless, I was in my grand Brat phase…” Girl, when were you not?
“And our bus never stopped for gas. We ran on bots. And abandonment.” We do love a self-aware vamp with abandonment issues! Also, the clips of him on stage that are peppered throughout this are great.
The Brat Prince, folks. The entire scene with all that condescension, and mockery, and direct eye contact to use the Spell Gift on that cop: Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. He’s so amused by his temporary little pet/doll/whatever. The makeup, the conspiratorial way he leans in and talks about that 35-hour week, the delight and humor he takes talking about his blood test and why the arrest would not go well…Casual, cool, collected, fake friendly, no f***s given all around.
HE IS SCRATCHING THAT GUY’S LITTLE CHINNY.
“…we were on the Devil’s Road now, hurdling towards End Times.”
“…and being in the same space with her was satisfying in a way the destruction of the vampire Bruce was not.” Everything hurts!
The way Anderson fixes his gaze, it’s like the center of the entire universe is Regina. Because it was, and always will be, Claudia.
This poor vampire having to pretend to want to take a bite of that burger. Anderson really plays that disgust up. I’m so here for it.
“…mine til I give it to ya. Burn ya mouth, you eat it now.” I love her.
“You’re gay.” “Gay, gay, gay.” Amazing.
“If vampires kill and Jesus saves, what does the vampire messiah owe the world?” Can we talk about those sashaying hips??? He is walking like he owns the world, is the vampire messiah, and wants everyone to lust after him as they worship him. “…playful handbag and a lie told well.”
“Why don’t you just use the Mind Gift?” I very much appreciate Eric Bogosian’s line reading here. Daniel tries very hard to sound anything but curious because he’s not trying to let on that he can’t do what Lestat can. But Daniel also really wants to know. Genuinely. But I’m pretty sure Lestat, with all his power, does know. See also: The humor and, like, little bit of a jab with this from Reid: “oh, telepathy takes energy, as you know, Dan…”
He looks angry and defiant when he repeats that “Wor-CHEST-er.”
“…ridiculous.”
But again…a reminder he couldn’t read before.
“Sloppy thirds for the Vampire Bourdain.” WHAT IS THAT FACE WHEN HE TURNS TO THE CAMERA. Cracked up so hard!
“…not a great love.” Ouch.
Nice deflection with that cheeky look to the camera, there, Prince. “My mother?” And then…the sadness on that “hmm” as he looks away, eyes downcast. My heart.
He worships the ground she walks on. She never deserved him.
“We will say that is our dear departed Uncle Marius, who was bored to death by our tart nephew Armand.” Ehle is so good right here. So much joy, such a sense of humor, her head laying on her son’s shoulder and grinning up at him oh, so fondly…exactly the version of her Lestat has always craved.
“And what of the other coffin, Madame?” “Hmmm. Um?” Sing-song little head tilt. Love it. “Then, we would have to kill them.” AND THE CRACKING UP. I LOVE THIS VERSION OF HIM.
“My mortal mother was vibrant. As a vampire, she was…remote. She could not function.” Welcome to two lies and a truth. She was/is remote as a vampire. The rest…
“Stop! Turn around, walk in the opposite direction until you’re halfway around the world. Once there, find a radioactive storage facility, and AS IS YOUR WAY, a**hole your way inside and see if the workers there will give you a couple of spent fuel rods to suck on. Do that for however long it takes until your eyes begin to cave in and your d*** falls off. After that, lose my number. After that, f**k off!” Everything about this delivery. Yes, thank you.
“What group would have you? The Pseudologia Pensioner F—boys for Sobriety?”
The “friendless bottom twink sociopath” of it all…even dusty, disheveled Armand looks like he’s almost going to laugh there.
There’s no way this isn’t just, like, Lestat filling in the dialogue, right? Right.
“You’re the only one watching me like I’m Netflix.” So, distracted and looking at his phone to the point where he has no idea what just happened? Seems incorrect.
But the way Louis’ face melts after being called out…all that joy just gone. Protect him!
Obsessed with the way Anderson furrows that brow as Louis works through that extreme difficulty on trying to figure out a way to explain about Claudia without having to actually discuss Claudia.
“What happened to her?” He can’t even go there.
The way we just fade into that other broken heart, in that other place, years ago after this…really nice editing.
Lestat’s boyish charm when he’s just basking in the glow of his mommy, finally all his, finally just she.
“I’m not a Vecce anymore, not marquise, not a wife, not a mother, not a woman…” Watch how Sam Reid plays Lestat’s reaction to this. All the mirth just leaves him, when they were just having such a good time. And he’s holding himself just so to try to ward off the pain of his mom just casually saying she’s not his mom anymore. So good.
But also: OUCH.
My man, just tossing that head back and forth and putting on a show.
“It was a gift. Dan. From one vampire to another. It was not for our film.” “I don’t need your gift.” Check out the look on Lestat’s face here. Like he knows he’s about to go in for the kill and is loving it before he even starts. “Missing the psychodrama of Dubai? Do you want me to play dumb like your maker and pretend you’re two steps ahead of me?” OH THAT SMIRK. HE IS THE DEVIL.
But, see, Daniel…does not play. Or, rather, he plays this “I’ll hurt you since you hurt me” game very well. Not Lestat’s match, by any means…but not exactly an amateur either. “You were 5000 feet from Louis after you dropped him. That was love, right?” THE WOUNDED LOOK IN LESTAT’S EYES EVEN AS HE KEEPS PUTTING ON THIS DEVIL ACT.
“When I killed the wolves and you…tended my wounds…we were…mother and son.” “And?” That’s it. Feed her to the fire.
Every single head tilt, every strut, every perfectly delivered line, the way he works that blood shower like he’s at a strip show…have I said yet how Sam Reid has range that most other people can’t even dream of? (Either that or Lestat as Sam Reid as Lestat does. Take your pick!)
How does he get better with every episode??? HOW.
“…I wish to read you something I’ve written from the deepest regions of my soul.” “You have no soul.”
THE HIPS.
“No. It was torture.” THE WAY HE SMOOTHS HIS HAIR. “I knew it would eat you alive and, tangentially, make Louis miserable. And that is how I chose to spend the latter half of the 20th Century.”
“Because you are a f*** cloud, Armand. It’s your nature. Be who you are, but be it on the other side of the moon. Or kill yourself.” And that dare in his eyes with the fake smile when he says this.
The stiff way Zaman just stands there as Lestat mocks him and his Great Laws.
“Here’s the money, get in my Escalade, be my dead daughter. I’ve got enough sh— in my life! I do not need more!” Such a moment for Hayles…and eerily reminiscent of Claudia in some of her most intense moments.
The prancing and seducing and holding that book above his head some kind of way!
Interview with the Vampire, as a novel…also had mixed reviews in the beginning. I like the subtle nod to that.
“And I. Am. Actually. The toxic b**ch anxiously attached show pony with a personality disorder called Lestat.” Super line reading and also…I mean, yeah? Correct?
Love the little smirk-wave. Diabolical.
Not the crowd booing when they hear Lestat and Armand are actually friends. (They were, once.)
Hips, finger pointing (“you got a lot of rules for a theatre kid”), working that crowd, parting that crowd to dance up and get in Armand’s face: Lestat knows what blood runs through Armand, and he does not give a flying F—…
When Lestat jumps off the stage, that’s totally a Dirty Dancing nod…right?
“Only the big boss gets to decide who dies and who stays aliiiiiiiiiiive!!!” Can we talk about Nicki’s actual (book canon) death yet or…
“Our vampire bond. I think.” “F***. That’s fu**ed.” “Yes, it is.”
Those discordant notes on the piano in the background when Lestat gets Gabriella’s voicemail again and just loses it…
Tag yourself. I’m an adoring fan who would like a selfie with The Vampire Lestat.
I…didn’t need a shooter. Totally unnecessary to put this here.
I do like the shot of Reid/Lestat purely mesmerized by that hole in his hand and the blood dripping out of it, though.
“You put Armand’s ghouls on stage. That was something, I guess. But it wasn’t evil.” Ehle nails the disdain on “that was something, I guess.”
…but the gorgeous lines she could be saying to discuss good and evil…
“What now, Daddy Lou?” Oh, what a stunning shot of those tears pooling in Anderson’s eyes.
Everything about Sam Reid and Lestat’s solo ballad, with those flashbacks to Lestat finding his mom’s sleeping place empty, is just pure, raw, pain and art. That sunset is gorgeous, too. Really, truly my favorite song of The Vampire Lestat’s and my favorite part of this series so far. Reid’s voice conveys so much emotion, and then there’s everything else!
“Where were you?” He. Is. In. Pain.
Let him just make his beautiful music, you b***h!
When Lestat’s voice gets thick and deep like this, everything hurts.
“…it is difficult to explain how her words disarmed me, how efficiently succinct and impenetrable her argument was…” And he interrupts himself cackling. Not Lestat quoting Louis’ comments about Lestat disarming him here…way too much to unpack with that, honestly. Let’s not.
“…you had to be there, I guess.” Ya think.