Interview With the Vampire season 2 episode 2 recap and review: Welcome to the Theatres des Vampires

After that beautifully dark premiere of Interview With the Vampire season 2, I couldn't wait to continue my watch of this awesome show. Based on the Vampire Chronicles book series by the late Anne Rice, the AMC adaptation follows a vampire named Louis as he navigates his new life in New Orleans alongside lover Lestat and their child vampire Claudia. The first season ends with Louis and Claudia finally turning on Lestat, but as season 2 proves so far, they're not going to get away from him that easily.

Interview With the Vampire season 2 continues tonight with "Do You Know What It Means To Be Loved by Death," following the start of Louis and Claudia's new chapter in Paris. They traveled from the United States to Europe in search of other vampires, and they certainly get their wish in this week's episode.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Interview With the Vampire season 2 episode 2.

The second episode opens up with Louis recalling the start of their Paris stay to Daniel, with Armand chiming in to add his thoughts. According to Armand, "Paris was an awakening for Louis," but it took a little bit for him and Claudia to find their place. In the flashback scenes, we see Louis and Claudia begin to figure out their new lives together, though Claudia doesn't love Paris as much as Louis does. According to Claudia's diary, she believed Louis needed Paris, but she didn't know what she needed. She was afraid to tell Louis she wasn't happy, however, because she didn't want his feelings to be so dependent on her. So she just endured.

Armand explains that the vampires of Paris noticed Louis and Claudia and watched them for weeks, and then months, wondering when they would ever come see them. As they continued to watch the pair, Armand found them boring, rolling his eyes at aspects of their lives like Louis' new photography hobby.

Louis and Armand meet in Paris

In the flashbacks of Paris, everything changes when Louis and Armand finally meet. In a beautifully ethereal scene, Armand follows Louis in the park, and when he approaches him he notices how handsome he is. Louis, on the other hand, thinks Armand is going to kill him. (We learn their thoughts from their retelling to Daniel). It's a super romantic moment watching the two vampires meet for the first time, in the type of atmospheric scene that defines Interview With the Vampire. Armand invites Louis and Claudia to come with him to meet other vampires, giving him his card for the Theatres des Vampires. Louis and Armand remember this pivotal moment in their lives with fondness.

Excited to learn more (and probably a little nervous), Louis and Claudia attend a show at the theater. While the performers and workers at the theater are vampires, Louis finds it strange that they put such an emphasis on making it all look fake. The person collecting tickets wears very-obviously-fake vampire teeth, for instance. The show they watch is certainly strange, but entertaining, and it marks the first time Louis sees Claudia laugh in a very long time. As the show comes to an end, the final act is what really leaves the audience stunned — in both horror and mesmerization.

A woman runs out on stage saying she was taken from her hotel and the vampires are going to kill her, telling the audience they're real vampires. The audience, of course, thinks it's a joke and laughs it off. One of the vampires who is leading the show bites her before a bunch of other vampires pop up behind her and begin feeding on her, eventually, presumably, killing her. From their seats, Claudia looks amazed while Louis looks disgusted. The show closes out and everyone cheers, believing it was fake.

There's a whole coven of vampires!

After the show, Armand shows Louis and Claudia around the theater, calling their group a coven. The lead performer in the show introduces himself as Santiago, and they get to meet all the other vampires, who ask questions about America. Louis and Claudia get a little freaked out when they're asked who their maker is, and they make up a fake story. Tension only grows when Claudia spots a painting framed up on the wall and asks who the man is. Armand tells them it's their co-founder, one of the best actors to perform on their stage, Lestat! As the camera zooms in on the painting, so does Louis. That's Lestat, alright, and of course, he's got a history at the Theatres des Vampires.

In the current timeline, Daniel interrupts the interview to poke fun at the situation, comparing the whole drama to a telenovela. This means that Armand knew Lestat before Louis did, and yep, he had sex with Lestat before Louis did. Louis promises to Daniel that Lestat's history at the Theatres des Vampires does matter, just not in the way he thinks it does.

Back home after their first show at the Theatres des Vampires, Claudia expresses how excited she is. Louis, on the other hand, isn't exactly thrilled. Because the Parisian vampires know Lestat, what happens if they find out they killed him? Claudia assures him they won't find out; she read their thoughts and they had no idea. Claudia is desperate to go back, feeling proud of being a vampire for maybe the first time ever. She wants to keep feeling that pride that radiates in the theater, but Louis doesn't want to go back. Claudia challenges him, asking what he's afraid of before telling him not to ruin it all for her.

Louis needs to know if Lestat is really dead

Feeling on edge after seeing the painting of Lestat, Louis is desperate for answers. Is he really dead? Louis remembers that Lestat had money wired from Paris, so he heads to the law firm he used to do some digging. He explains to the man at the firm that he and Lestat were good friends, but they were separated during the war and he was trying to confirm whether or not he was still alive. The man tells Louis he can't confirm his death, but he hasn't heard from him since Feb. 1940 and he thinks he's probably dead. Knowing some background on Louis and Lestat's relationship, the man gives Louis a box of Lestat's belongings, including what looks to be a will letter.

Louis then sees a vision of Lestat, who says Louis is the only person he trusts and loves. He says that even though they're separated now, he is always there on the other side. Hearing this part of the story in the current timeline, Daniel interrupts and asks if Armand truly is the love of Louis' life or just the rebound from the love of his life. Louis and Armand get increasingly more and more frustrated with Daniel and read his mind, seeing memories Daniel has of his own experience in Paris. As Louis and Armand read his mind, they recall when Daniel proposed to a woman named Alice and she said no.

Daniel becomes very shaken up by Louis and Armand reading this memory, and for probably the first time in the show, he seems genuinely disturbed. Armand asks if they can continue the interview, and Daniel agrees, visibly upset by what just happened.

Louis gets back to his story, recalling the coven of vampires inviting him and Claudia for a hunt about a month after they attended their first show. Claudia is absolutely thriving being with other vampires, while Louis is cautious. He doesn't feel comfortable yet and still can't shake the ghost of Lestat. His only vampire experience is with Lestat (and Claudia, of course) and that didn't exactly turn out well. Can he trust other vampires, and how does this new dynamic work? He's understandably a little unsure about their new friends.

Louis and Claudia get a taste of their new life

The group drives out to a huge mansion, which one of the vampires says is the estate of the family De LaCroix. After killing the guards, they get a lay of the land and begin their feast on the humans inside. Louis stays outside with Armand while Claudia joins the other vampires. It's a really fun scene here as Louis and Armand flirt with total getting-to-know-your-crush energy, all while chaos is unfolding in the background. We hear humans screaming and vampires killing, but Louis and Armand can't be bothered with all of that. They only have eyes for each other.

Armand tells Louis that Claudia is good at blocking her thoughts, but Louis needs to get better at it. He offers to help Louis, explaining that he felt "trepidation" when they mentioned Lestat. Shocked, Louis acts like he doesn't know what Armand is talking about, but Armand shuts that down, telling him that the coven is "unforgiving" to liars. Whatever happened with Lestat in Louis' past, Armand is okay with not knowing yet. But he emphasizes how important it is that Louis blocks his thoughts so no one finds out. Armand also mentions Louis' trip to the law firm, telling him that going around asking questions like that will get him in trouble. Armand definitely knows Louis has skeletons in his closet, but he's on his side. He's going to be there for him.

The vampires leave, and Claudia is absolutely buzzing with excitement. This is truly the happiest we've ever seen her! Louis, on the other hand, well...he's feeling a lot of things, and I'm not sure if he can process it all yet. But as Armand says at the start of the episode, Paris was a "reawakening" for him, and I think we see a glimmer of that starting in the final scene of episode 2.

Don't miss new episodes of Interview With the Vampire season 2 on AMC and AMC+ every Sunday, and be sure to keep reading our coverage of the new installment here at Show Snob! We'll be talking about this gripping series all season long.