Interview With the Vampire season 2 episode 4 recap and review: Problems arise in Paris and power dynamics shift

Louis and Armand are in hot water with the coven in Interview With the Vampire season 2 episode 4, and Claudia starts to realize that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. We're halfway through the sophomore season now and I'm absolutely loving the new episodes each week. Though episode 4, "I Want You More Than Anything In The World," is a bit of a slower one, it's still gripping to watch how the characters' relationships evolve in the flashbacks.

I probably say it every week, but Jacob Anderson is so incredible! He's such a great actor and he deserves to win an award for this show. Louis is by far my favorite character in Interview With the Vampire because of his stellar performance. Below, we recap "I Want You More Than Anything In The World" and break down all the biggest moments.

WARNING: Major spoilers for Interview With the Vampire season 2 episode 4 below.

Louis and Armand's interview continues in episode 4 as they remember Claudia's big show at the Theatres des Vampires. In the flashback scenes, we see her portray a young girl character, singing and performing theatrical high jinx. In the current timeline, it doesn't take long for Daniel to raise his eyebrows, asking the duo how Claudia felt about being infantilized. Louis admits she had her issues with it.

Claudia becomes bored with the coven

Louis attends the theater to watch Claudia perform, and he's not exactly impressed with the play. Though he's happy for Claudia, he seems surprised that this is what she wants to do. The play ends up becoming incredibly successful for the theater, so much so that they're able to sell souvenirs and the audience wears costumes, which makes the coven bitter. Though the play is a hit, Claudia isn't enthused.

By her 500th performance, Claudia becomes very bored and unmotivated. When confronted by Armand about it, she tells him she struggles with being reminded each night that she's an adult stuck in a child's body. She's lost her passion for the stage and wants to work backstage again. Armand, however, doesn't care. He punishes her by making her wear the costume 24/7 to live in the character.

Though Louis and Armand are getting closer, Louis still doesn't think they're part of a "companionship," a.k.a. a romantic relationship. In bed one night, Armand basically initiates the "what are we?" talk, and Louis says they are whatever Armand wants them to be. This isn't true, however, as it seems Armand is a little bit more committed. Louis thinks what they've been doing is easy and he doesn't want to ruin that, but Armand corrects him. It hasn't been easy for Armand. Louis continues to see the vision of Lestat who interrupts their conversation. Louis agrees to come around more to make Armand happy and tells him he loves him. Armand says it back, which causes the vision of Lestat to burst out laughing with condescension.

In the current timeline, Daniel questions Louis about the vision he saw of Lestat, asking if he's schizophrenic. Louis denies this and explains how it felt to keep continually seeing Lestat. This seems to make Armand jealous. Daniel then asks about the fire at the theater, questioning if they were the only two survivors. This alarms Armand, who says they didn't give him any information about a fire. Of course, Daniel learned about the fire in the newspaper clipping he was sent, but he lies and tells him his researchers found an article about it. Without getting his answer, Daniel asks the pair to continue telling him about Claudia.

We then get flashbacks of what Claudia does next. In one scene at the theater, she gets caught writing in her journal by Santiago who reminds her that one of the great laws is that vampires are not allowed to write the history of vampires. She tells him that she's not writing the history of vampires; she's simply jotting down random thoughts. He warns her against not following the rules. Out on the street, Claudia sees the woman working at the boutique she encountered a few episodes prior, and she walks up to her, handing her a flyer for the theater.

It's Louis vs. Santiago this week

Later, Louis attends a dinner with the coven which is where things go south. Santiago pokes fun at Louis and tells him he doesn't think his voice sounds like he's from Chicago — where Louis and Claudia pretend they are from — and instead thinks his accent sounds like he's from New Orleans. Their fangs come out and Louis runs over to Santiago with vampire speed and grabs hold of his tongue. He threatens him until Armand demands them to stop, leaving Louis to storm out of the restaurant.

Louis continues to pursue photography in Paris but grows frustrated when he shows off his art to an expert for review and he doesn't get the response he was hoping for. In the current timeline, Daniel looks through a folder of photographs and tells Louis they're not bad, finding himself impressed with a couple of them. Louis is then surprised to realize the photographs aren't actually his; they were taken by other artists. He grows angry and asks Armand how they could've gotten in the folder, feeling embarrassed that Daniel might think he was trying to pass them off as his work.

Armand continues to get into Daniel's head, and Daniel begins seeing an image of a man in a body bag. Is this Armand's memory or Daniel's? I'm super curious about this!

Claudia and Madeleine grow close

Back in Paris, the woman who works at the boutique, whose name is Madeleine, comes to see Claudia's show at the theater. Afterward, they talk outside momentarily and Claudia asks if she needs a ride home. They hang out at Madeleine's shop as Madeleine fits Claudia for a dress. They get to know each other a little bit, with Madeleine explaining that she's an orphan after her family was all killed by TB (tuberculosis).

Madeline brings up the fact that Claudia looks the same as she did two years ago, and Claudia explains it by saying the war changed people, including stunting her. She opens up about her trauma without going into specifics, telling Madeleine that "something is broken in me."

Armand goes to see Louis with flowers in hand, asking to go on a walk. Trying to make it up to Louis after yelling at him at the restaurant, Armand takes him to a museum after hours and opens up about who he is and where he came from.

They stop at a painting and Armand points out a boy in the artwork, saying his name is Amadeo, a teenager who was rescued from a brothel as a teenager. This is, of course, Armand. Originally named Arun, he thinks, his parents sold him into slavery before his maker purchased the brothel and eventually turned him into a vampire. The coven gave him the name Armand when he was sent to France. It's an emotional moment between the two as Louis learns how much Armand has been put through, and how long of a life he's truly lived already. But before they dive into it more, one of the vampires calls to Armand telepathically.

Claudia notices blood running down Madeleine's leg and her fangs come out, feeling tempted. Armand shows up and takes her back to the theater, telling her to get back to work. Claudia tells him she made a friend, something she doesn't feel she can do at the coven. In a surprising move, Armand pins Claudia up against the wall and insinuates he knows what she and Louis did to Lestat. He tells her she has to do more than the bare minimum on and off stage, and that she's not allowed to see the new friend she made anymore.

Claudia feels like Louis' second choice again

Claudia comes home and tells Louis that Armand knows about Lestat, and is surprised to learn that Louis already knows. Claudia asks what's happened to them, and Louis explains that he hasn't wanted to ruin her happiness in Paris by telling her that Armand found out. She tells Louis that Armand threatened her and Louis doesn't believe it, saying that doesn't sound like something he would do. This angers Claudia, telling him that love makes him "stupid," feeling like he's picked another over her again. Louis accuses her of picking the coven over her first.

Louis' vision of Lestat shows up and declares: "The wildness of our daughter." A photo of Armand that Louis took begins to burn before Louis puts it out, perhaps signaling that Armand isn't as perfect as Louis believed, but that won't stop him from trying to make their relationship work.

Louis invites his vision of Lestat to go out on a hunt, and they end up in the park. Meanwhile, Santiago and two of the other vampires break into Louis and Claudia's apartment. At the park, Louis and Lestat sit down together on a bench as it's raining and Louis summons Armand. Lestat realizes there isn't going to be a hunt, and that Louis has something else planned. He asks why he's wearing the specific suit he is, and Louis says it's his favorite on him. Lestat begins to tell him that he had Louis' initials embroidered on the suit as Louis closes their umbrella and Lestat begins to fade away.

Armand walks over and tells Louis that a mutiny in the coven is growing and advises Louis to consider leaving Paris. Louis tells him that he's going to stay with him, and that while he's not an artist or an expert on theater, he has experience running things. He advises Armand to give Santiago the job as the coven leader to let him fail, but Armand says no. Louis then suggests at least making Santiago believe he's Armand's heir, and everyone will eventually see him for what he is.

While Louis and Armand's conversation is happening, we cut back to Santiago at the apartment, who is reading Claudia's journals. The other vampires begin calling Santiago "Matire," and there's a shift in the power dynamics between Louis and Armand, too. Louis begins calling him Arun, and Armand calls Louis Matire.

Daniel looks to the past

The fourth episode concludes in the current timeline, as Louis and Armand fight over the photographs. Daniel listens to them argue as he looks through more of the files that were dropped on his computer, remembering the first time he met Louis in San Francisco. He finds a list of known and suspected victims and hovers over the name Kathryn Mitchell. Daniel then searches for his own name and finds surveillance photos of him and Louis in the '70s, along with audio of their prior interview. He listens as someone is attacked and Louis and Armand argue.

The ending of this episode of Interview With the Vampire ends on a very ambiguous note, which is not the norm for this show. What is Daniel realizing as he's remembering his first interview with Louis, and how will this impact his current one? I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to know more!

New episodes of Interview With the Vampire season 2 are released every Sunday on AMC and AMC+. Keep reading our coverage on Show Snob all season long!