Interview with the Vampire (2022–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Episode #1.3 - full transcript
As a fledgling vampire, I
did not take to killing.
You really have
earned your 15%.
You truly are an
exceptional Negro.
I had powers now, and
decades of rage to process.
I wanna buy the
Fair Play Saloon.
That's a mighty tall ladder
you're climbing, Mr. du Lac.
Never gon' have a
family of my own, am I?
I no longer kill.
You don't have to humiliate him.
Embrace what you are!
You are a killer, Louis!
No, sir.
There's a column in here
about the history of
this lovely square.
It says that the
man who designed it
did so after the Place
de Vosges in Paris.
I can see that.
Used to be called
the Place d'Armes.
I prefer that. Don't you?
Mm-hmm.
The Louisiana Purchase
was signed here.
Penny wise, franc foolish.
Say anything about how they
used to take runaway slaves,
cut their heads off,
and pike 'em on the
iron gates as a warning?
I'm only half way
through. Let's see.
Do you ever think that we...
That's to say, our kind...
Were put on Earth
for a larger purpose?
I put you on this earth.
Your purpose is
to enjoy yourself.
That can't be all there is.
I know you don't believe that.
Well, tell me what
I believe, Louis.
Excavate the hoarded
thoughts buried
beneath my damned soul.
We can eat animals and be okay.
Rats, cats, cattle.
Is "okay" what
you desire, Louis?
Shall we walk the night
as the gods of easily
attainable dreams?
I desire blood as
much as you do.
But I wonder, should
we be more selective?
What, only eat
red-heads? The humanists?
Define your terms.
The worst of 'em.
And how would we go
about determining that?
We use our powers,
read their minds.
Hunting is pure instinct.
Reason is a set of leg irons.
The ones you admire...
The poets, composers,
the thoughtful man
who designed this park
you love so much...
Shouldn't we spare them the
randomness of our killing?
Every one of them is
capable of abomination,
even the ones worthy
of admiration.
Shakespeare, Brahms, this
naturalist that fogs your mind.
Got it off your bookshelf.
Thrust them into circumstance,
whisper to them their
Lord, God and Savior
is not listening,
and you will see
all kinds of depravity.
They came from apes.
We came from them.
We should be better
than they are.
You refer to them as "they"
to get on my better side.
Try something for me, mon cher.
Say we come upon a murderer
planting a flowerbed,
thinking only of flowers.
How long do we wait
before his bloody deeds
reveal themselves?
As long as it takes.
You haven't thought
this through, Louis.
You said you would try.
Just gotta hold it
in. Only another mile.
So inebriated, he's worried
he'll urinate all over himself.
He's just a drunk.
$18 in the dresser.
She ain't never gon' miss it.
Stealing from his
mother for a new suit.
Petty larceny.
Starts with a suit.
Soon, he'll be
knocking over banks.
You gon' take the
serious or not?
Wait.
What's that I hear? Ah, yes.
It's the angel of
salvation passing over us.
All these stupid
people. Everybody's so stupid.
Him.
He steals from unfortunates,
breaks into tenements
and robs them of their
meager possessions.
And does that meet
your satisfaction?
Don't mind the shaking.
I've snapped his spine.
It's merely his nerves spasming.
Well, go on. Here's
your criminal biscuit.
See how it tastes.
Eat before your reason
or his heart fails us.
New singer.
She says she heard about the
Azalea all the way in Atlanta.
They talkin' about
this place in Atlanta.
You're angry.
I'm pondering.
Pondering what?
Your night had nothing to do
with ridding the
world of criminals
or finding some morality
to buoy your existence.
You're ashamed of what we are.
Maybe I'm just
pondering what I am.
For the infinitesimal
time, you're a vampire.
Could you not use the word
in my place of business?
Place of business.
A cover, an illusion to throw
off the scent of the dogs.
This illusion is frontin'
a dozen businesses
up and down
Claiborne. Yes, yes.
For every 20 people he kills,
he makes one small
businessman's dreams come true.
Louis de Pointe du Lac, the
Dark Prince of Iberville.
Antoinette Brown, and I
will be here all night long.
I don't wanna kill
people anymore.
There it is.
A fish that doesn't swim.
A bird refusing to fly.
You're going to struggle.
I fear for the feline
population of New Orleans.
Mm.
Your pianist has
lost his passion.
What? Mr. Morton,
you have played
the same melody,
the very same way,
for two weeks now.
Your talent is immense,
but your mind is elsewhere.
Think you could do better, Jack?
Well, I'm not being
paid a small fortune
on top of that tip
jar to perform.
My skills are irrelevant.
People didn't come to hear
you jabber, Mr. Lioncourt.
Well, they didn't come here
to hear you play either.
Otherwise, you'd be
in a concert hall
and there'd be
fewer prostitutes.
Shut the hell
up and let him play.
This ain't your kinda music.
You can pretend
you're a vegetarian.
I can pretend the fool.
There he goes.
Be my guest. Thank you.
For our boys being shipped off
to Europe, know your enemy.
What's wrong
with that man?
Oh, hell no!
Oh, didn't that get
your dick wet, gents?
Rate your limits, Mr. Morton.
What you hear is genius.
All I hear is a man who's
never gotten his dick wet.
Actually, the man had 20
children in his lifetime,
and you're sort of stuck on
that wet-dick zinger, Ferdinand.
It's like your left
hand on the piano,
little walking
patterns, isn't it?
He admitted later
there was nothing wrong
with Jelly Roll's playing,
only something he overheard
in an alleyway... a steady
gig for the band in Chicago.
Jelly was going to leave me
high and dry in a few days,
and Lestat took umbrage.
If I'm not mistaken,
he improved the melody
for what would later become
the "Wolverine Blues".
Wai... wait.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on there.
You're saying Lestat wrote
the "Wolverine Blues"?
I can't be definitive.
So much of that year was a blur.
And you can imagine what
time's inevitable hammer
does to the minute details.
This?
Yes, that's it.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, you know, I-I gotta say,
it's not so much the
minute details, Louis,
rather the total rewrite
that's giving me pause here.
I mean, 1973.
He was a sow's ear,
out of which nothing
fine could be made.
I was his complete superior,
and I had been sadly cheated
in having him for a teacher.
2022.
It was a cold winter that year,
and Lestat was my coal fire.
And I found myself, for
the very first time,
to anyone other than Paul,
confiding my struggles
to another man.
San Francisco.
He appeared frail
and stupid to me,
a man made of dried twigs
with a thin, carping voice.
Dubai.
I never allowed myself to feel
emotionally close to anyone,
much less a man.
Lestat had surrounded me.
The version we speak of now
is the more nuanced portrait.
Hmm. Or the more rehearsed.
Perhaps I was mistaken
about the "Wolverine Blues".
Fuck the "Wolverine Blues".
Ken Burns can choke
on the footnotes.
It's the abused-abuser
psychological relationship
I'm talking about.
I do not consider myself abused.
I mean, usually when you're
a little too close to it,
the abused still
loves the abuser,
but you flipped it
completely on its head.
I'm not a victim.
50 years later, you talk like
he was your soul
mate, li... like...
Like you were locked in some
fucked up gothic romance.
Why?
"I am in my Buick, staring
in the rearview mirror
at my daughter in the car seat,
an hour after I gave Derek,
a guy I don't know, the
last 30 bucks I had.
My editor reminds me,
it's seven years before
car seats are mandatory.
My ex-wife reminds me,
I never owned a Buick.
This is the odyssey
of recollection."
The tapes are an
admitted performance.
This is the premise
of our interview.
Half a century later,
allow me my odyssey.
Now who's performing?
You were the prince
of your district.
Lestat chased an American icon
outta town because he loved you.
1917 doesn't sound like
it was such a bad year.
Rigged to burn, Daniel.
A silent bridge for your
voice to float along.
You talk like you
play, Mr. Lioncourt.
Lestat filled in
for Jelly the next night.
He and Miss Brown
dazzled the waiting johns
and invited their admirers
back to the Rue Royale.
So, the last one to
leave never left?
No.
He would do his killing
away from me now,
out of respect, he said,
for the choice I had made.
'Round the back.
The frolicking
repeated itself
every night for two weeks.
They would add another
song to their set
and work on another at night,
while I tried to
adapt to my new diet.
I barely had the energy
to hold up a book.
My libido was not
what it had been.
Hey!
I understood the indulgence.
I let it happen.
Mr. Louis, you have
to convince Lestat
to keep playin'.
Got a better chance makin'
the Mississippi run north.
We had a good run, but
I did it for Louis.
I do everything for Louis.
Yeah, I heard that
about you two.
Oh? Well, what have you heard?
I'm not a gossip.
But I am.
Well, people at the
Azalea, they say...
You're confusing me.
Oh, come now.
I don't bite.
What do the employees
of the Azalea say
about Louis and Lestat?
I'll answer with a question.
Mm-hmm.
Are there two beds
upstairs or one?
Do you want to find out?
No one goes
upstairs, Miss Brown.
Well, there's my answer.
Still, what do you imagine
confines us to a single note?
Why not a chord?
Why not a cluster?
Oh, see, I'm the same.
I like all sorts.
I like soft hands.
I like burnished complexions.
I like men called Daddy.
Oh, your blouse is
soaked in champagne.
Bad Daddy.
I was beginning to wonder
about your manners.
I'm hungry.
Think I'm gon' get
something to eat.
Is the animal market still open?
Enjoy yourselves. It's
the purpose of livin'.
He gets that way
when he's hungry.
She burn quick?
See for yourself.
A dentist from Tallahassee.
There's a dentistry
convention in town.
Sinister talk of molars and
bicuspids around every corner.
So, you didn't kill her.
No.
She has talents.
Aren't I enough?
D-Don't...
Don't laugh.
Louis.
Don't laugh. Louis.
Louis.
You have some
squirrel on your...
No, don't.
We'll be together
10,000, nights, 100,000.
What we're doing is hard.
Anything that
wards off the dungs
of the everlasting road we walk,
the pleasures of the flesh,
the pleasures of
the kill, for me.
Pleasures of the Good
Book by the fire for you.
I can smell her on you.
From time to time, I
like a little variety.
There. I said it.
We're communicating so
much better now, no?
So, I can fuck whoever I want?
Of course.
Of course.
Of course.
As long as you come home to me.
Of course.
While the domestic
front simmered on diet
and sanctioned infidelity,
the Western Front started
receiving American troops.
New Orleans was the
last stop before France
for many young men.
And City Ordinance 4118
tried to ensure Uncle Sam's
money went into the right hands.
Ordinance 4118.
I could Google it,
or you could...
A hastily composed
attempt by the city
to segregate Storyville.
It required that all prostitutes
of colored or Black race
move their business
across Canal Street.
This was the heart
of my business,
what the Azalea was known for.
The very men who signed
the ordinance into law
were some of my best clients.
It was an absurdity, an
affront to a Creole man
who had outpaced his
fair-skinned competitors.
How'd you manage it?
I gave five percent of
the business to my girls,
made 'em all owners.
How's that help you?
Lawyer said if they were
owners, we can file a writ,
saying 4118 was a...
How you put it, Bricks?
Deprives us the
use of our property
without due process of law,
denying us equal protection
under the Constitution
of these United States.
Sounds like some kind of
Russian Bolshevik scheme.
You diddled the man's money,
and he bought himself
an end-around.
It's pure capitalism,
Mr. Fenwick.
Thank you, Tom.
Unorthodox business mind
under that hat, Louis.
No security guard on the door,
lets a woman count his coin.
No offense, Miss Williams.
Been called a cunny, a cow,
and a bitch that ate
a thousand dicks.
You wanna apologize
for callin' me a woman?
Whoo, leave your wife.
I'll make you a happy
man, Mr. Anderson.
Bricks don't take
wooden nickels,
and I'm the only security
this place needs.
Christ on a cracker.
We're writing another ordinance.
You know that, don't you?
The council is not
your problem, Louis.
It's Woodrow Wilson, this
war he's backed us all into.
You think you're
printin' money here?
Them hay pennies compared
to what the build up's
brought the city here.
Just ask Mr. Anderson here.
Not as colorful
as club ownership,
but you'd be amazed
at the high pile
made supplying
the military camps
with cigarettes, chocolates,
and prophylactics.
Well, I'm doing my part to
see them jimmy hats get used.
Son, I can tell you, the
Navy doesn't see it that way.
You got 400 men over in charity
gettin' treatment for the clap.
I got pristine pussies
walkin' my floor.
Now I'm offended.
Washington's making
us choose, Louis.
It's either win the
war or fuck the whore.
Well, just, Council's just
stallin' for time, chasin' race.
Don't feel like a stall.
Feel a little beside the point.
Feel like a boot on my neck.
He's one man on a
council of 17, Louis.
Well, maybe he's still sideways
'cause I turned down his 15%.
Yeah, I'll admit,
I prefer the days
you let us win on occasion,
days of deference.
What is it?
There's a gentleman asking
for you, Mr. du Lac.
A man in uniform.
What I say, Mr. Anderson?
The war's come a-knockin'.
Cash me out.
Good Lord.
Jonah?
Louis de Pointe du Lac.
Jonah Macon.
How long's it been?
A day and forever.
Told Grace you
wouldn't remember me.
'Course I remem...
You're enlisted?
Ain't you good at
noticing what's plain?
You seen Grace?
Saw her this mornin',
getting the yard ready
for a birthday party.
Oh, yeah, right. Twins.
She got twin girls.
Could barely keep
her head straight,
all those kids runnin'
round, tuggin' at her dress.
So, you a big-shot
businessman now.
Heard about Paul.
Yeah.
Paul.
Where you been, Jonah?
Philadelphia for a
spell, hotel work.
Then, a gunpowder
mill in Delaware.
Fella working next to me
blew off three fingers.
I saw enough. Hell.
Thought this might be a way
to rise through the ranks,
and... and all that.
Look like you already rose
up, and by a fair amount.
I done all right.
Done all right?
You own all this.
Sign me up for "done all right".
You ever think
about those old days
when we were kids?
How long you here for?
Couple of nights. In
the boat over the ocean.
Me and a couple thousand
other fellas wearin'
this same costume.
You think this is nice?
Wait till you see my
pretty automobile.
Louis de Pointe du Lac.
Nothin' much
changed here, I see.
Crickets and katydids.
You gon' ruin those
sharp shoes in this mud.
I got another pair back at home.
I'll bet you do.
Easy livin' Louis.
There's nothing easy about
my life, I'll tell you that.
Well, you've been blessed.
Ain't aged a day
since I seen you last.
That's the moonlight
lyin' is all.
You worried about
goin' over there?
Some nights.
I mean, my squad's all colored,
so we mostly gon'
be in the rear,
supply lines and shit.
Better than gettin'
shot at for a country
makes you use the side entrance.
And most of why I signed
up is I kept hearing
something about
something they call
"European sensibilities".
They care less what you look
like or who you're lookin' at.
Yeah, I got someone.
I figured as much. No
ring on your finger?
Not a woman.
Well, what's he like?
He's... a lot.
It's not perfect.
Mm-hmm.
But we kind of have
this agreement.
One of those "you can
drive out to the bayou"
kind of agreements?
Good fit, this, uh, uniform.
Well, it's the moonlight.
Hello. Hello.
How was your night?
Fine. Yours?
Fine.
He found me, you know.
Went to my old
house on Esplanade.
Grace told him where to find me.
An old love.
We had a few early fumbles.
He was 16. I was... older.
We both knew, even then,
we were a little different.
Hmm.
How's Antoinette?
Tedious.
No, I don't see that
happening again.
These affairs always flame out.
Shall we have a
night out tomorrow?
I was gonna go see Grace and
the kids, keep up appearances.
How 'bout after?
Fine.
Lock us in, would you?
Many streets
in New Orleans
weren't paved at the time.
The mud on his boots could
have come from anywhere.
Was it raining that night?
Yeah, I got someone.
I figured as much. No
ring on your finger?
Not a woman.
Did it rain?
Yeah, I got someone.
I figured as much. No
ring on your finger?
Not a woman.
I don't remember now.
It could have been dry on the
bayou and wet in the Quarter.
It's Louisiana.
The odyssey of recollection.
Hmm.
I would meet Jonah
decades later.
You're lingering, Rashid.
Apologies, Mr. du Lac.
What did he say when
he met you again,
when you were young
and he wasn't?
What they all eventually say
in one articulation or another.
Here comes the ghost!
Hurry! He's gonna get us!
The party was this afternoon.
Seem my invitation
got lost in the mail.
You wanna come around,
you come around when
people are awake.
It's barely dinnertime, Ma.
I don't wanna make a fuss.
Six months and you just show up!
You're not welcome in this home!
I own this home.
I'm the executor in charge,
so welcome don't matter.
The Devil walks at night.
What? What did you say?
What's goin' on out here?
I got your girls
some paper dolls.
Go back inside, son.
Son? I'm your son.
Let me handle
this, Mamaw du Lac.
Don't.
Comin' off a little hot, now.
I ain't come here to see you.
I didn't come here to see you.
Louis. Came here to see Grace
and give the girls
some paper dolls!
Children, go to your room, now.
What did I tell y'all?
There he is.
There he is.
Grace.
Grace. Get out!
What are you thinking?
Well, I thought we
could have an orgy.
You can fuck them,
and I can eat them.
What about the coffin room?
Well, that would require
curiosity and intelligence.
All these murderous
slobs want is more wine
and a German on their bayonets!
Kill the Hans! Kill the Hans!
I brought them back after
they cut the electricity
at the Azalea. What?
Miss Bricktop wanted
you to have this.
I think she's on to us.
Get 'em out of here.
Well, now that I
know you have a type,
I thought you'd be pleased.
Lestat!
Not funny.
What can I say?
I'm a lot.
I'm not perfect.
I knew it. I
knew you were there.
Yes. You're jealous?
Yes. I don't like sharing.
What about Antoinette?
It's different.
I don't have feelings for her.
He did me some face,
and I drove him home.
I heard your hearts dancing!
You watched the whole
thing like some creeper!
And then, I watched you
pull over and drain a dog
and run down an alleyway
for two more rats!
This is not a life!
That's 'cause you took my life!
I got nothing! I
lost everything!
I lost my brother.
I lost my family.
'Bout to lose the last
fucking thing I care about.
How am I supposed to
get bodies in the door
without hookers,
hooch, or cards?
Hey, you were given a
courtesy, and you ignored it.
Finn O'Shea, a man who
used to work for me,
got a dirty house
across the street.
City ain't shut off his lights.
Finn O'Shea serves
sandwiches at his bar.
That makes him a supper club.
In time, Mr. O'Shea
will move his business
Riverside Basin Street,
along with everyone else.
Oh, so you just startin' with
the colored businesses, then?
It does appear businesses run
by white gentlemen are thriving.
Look, I-I tried to
persuade the city council.
They said it was
short-sighted at best.
Mm, this
tedious Negro,
still clinging to his Creole
heritage like a life raft.
We're all hurtin'.
It's these damn
teetotalin' types, too.
As if we're supposed to turn
New Orleans into Topeka,
or God help us, Salt Lake City.
Might I suggest, Mr. du
Lac, that you move your
operation to the Quarter?
Just keep your girls
out the windows.
Who do you suggest gon' sell
me a property in the Quarter?
Make Mr. Lioncourt
here the public face
of your operations.
This is Louis' hobby, not mine.
Well, there's, shall we
say, a clannish majority
amongst the property
holders in the court.
Well, maybe old Tom
here had it right.
Maybe in the end, Louis,
you're a dumb pimp
who got robbed blind years ago.
It's bend or break, I'm afraid.
Did you sell me the
Azalea 'cause you knew
this day was comin', Tom?
You put a "sir" on
the end of that.
And he sold you the Fairplay
for a price you set.
You ain't answer
my question, Tom.
Now, we're all in this
together, Mr. du Lac.
I'll be happy to buy the
property back from you.
Say...
15 cents on the dollar.
When your mother sees
the Devil in your eyes,
it's a hard
assessment to abandon.
Am I from the Devil?
Is my very nature
that of the Devil?
I had hedged against
the question,
but now, it completely
overwhelmed me.
We don't
need the money.
It's not about that.
You think I'm gon' let that
snake bite me and my people?
You have your investments
on the Claiborne Avenue.
What, hats, little
grocery stores?
Nickels, dimes, quarters.
So, it is about the money.
What is it?
I'm gon' speak for the girls
and say, as minority owners,
that's a stupid
fucking business plan.
The state I was in,
I was what... I was manic.
You put up a sign like
that, you're inviting chaos.
And the hubris on
display caused me to
neglect my thirst.
This cease and
desist order is granted
by the New Orleans
Council of Aldermen
for the final infractions...
And in neglect,
my thirst grew harder,
my temples throbbed,
and finally,
I could not stand it any longer.
Broken? What broken windows?
And I was through struggling.
Illicit activity
and thuggish behavior
will not be tolerated.
We have families and
service members nearby,
and it's for their
concern, we remind...
Rats, cats, dogs
would no longer suffice.
And Baton Rouge
supports the actions
of the City Council, as well.
Take a Black man in
America, make him a vampire,
fuck with that vampire,
and see what comes of it.
Breakin' into my
home is one thing.
Making me drop my Atherton,
now that's a new low.
You're here to
threaten me, I suppose.
You think I have a
vendetta against you,
against your race.
Well, think that if you must.
Storyville is a sinking ship,
and naturally, you are
the first to drown.
But that's your problem,
Louis, always has been.
You're arrogant.
You haven't accepted
your place in this world.
And your pale lover,
with his seemingly
endless supply of capital,
and the weird goings-on
in your Sodomite townhouse
won't change the fact
that you're a tiny man
flying too close to the sun.
And that's what I
am, Louis... the sun.
Walk away.
Why is your heart
beatin' so fast?
Everything that's
been done is legal
under the City of
New Orleans charter.
And again, I'm merely one
alderman on that council.
There's a harder
way of doing this.
You're thinking about your
wife and your two daughters
and how fortunate it is
that they're away
in your winter home.
It is fortunate.
I'll let you reload.
You said I'm arrogant?
Maybe I am arrogant!
What... What are you?
I'm a vampire.
I must confess, I'm
very proud of you, Louis.
It goes against
much of my teaching,
but you managed to execute
it with such aplomb.
I didn't do it for me.
I did it for my city, my people.
Destroy our businesses and
buy the land for cheaper.
I know what they doing!
So, that torturous death
was for your people?
That garish display of his body,
like some public art
piece, was for your people?
I didn't see this coming.
Save that lie for yourself.
Did you not smile
when he begged?
Did you not feel pleasure
as you carved him up?
Maybe you saw it comin'
and didn't stop me.
Maybe you went quiet on purpose.
You did what you did because
it gave you pleasure.
Companion of the
dark gift, finally.
We should make this
our anniversary.
Anniversary?
That out there, that's on me.
Well, yes. Yes, you merely
provided them the excuse.
It's as I say... Toss
them into circumstance,
they go for the throat.
And that's why you and
me ain't never gon' work.
That's why you're
always gonna be alone.
I ran from the
Quarter that night,
ran to where the violence
spread most wild.
I stumbled through the streets
like an irrational child
who had tested his
strength on the small bird
and now asked, "Can I
make it whole again?"
Can I help you?
Please let me help.
Don't help, just run.
Their faces raced past me
like snow in a terrible wind,
unaware it was I who had
brought this retribution.
It was I who should
pay for this sin.
And then...
Help me!
One of those
inconceivable moments
where who you were before
and who you would be forever
after is marked in time.
Help!
A rooming house,
now a fire trap.
I could not save the Azalea.
I could not save Storyville.
I could not save the aunt on
the wrong side of the wall,
but I could save her.
My light.
My Claudia.
My redemption.
The Black angel
took me to a fine house
The white angel, he bit me,
And I realized what
I thought were angels
were really hell demons.
We're a family?
You're a vampire now.
So is this what you always
do for a first date?
Do you think are the
right people to adopt?
For a killing machine,
I kind of like her.
Do you ever think that we...
That's to say our kind...
Were put on Earth
for a larger purpose?
Episode 3, "Is My Very
Nature that of the Devil"...
This is all about
vampire identity.
That's what Louis is dealing
with in this episode.
Who am I? How am I going to be
a different kind of
vampire than Lestat?
Is it possible?
I desire blood as
much as you do.
But I wonder, should
we be more selective?
What if we just ate the
worst people in the world?
What if we have some sort
of moral architecture
around our killing?
Him.
He steals from unfortunates,
breaks into tenements,
and robs them
of their meager possessions.
And does that meet
your satisfaction?
It's a pretty chippy thing
he does at the beginning,
which is say, "Let's go
kill the worst people,"
then we find one of
the worst people,
and even then, he
doesn't want to do it.
Well, go on. Here's
your criminal biscuit.
See how he tastes.
So he eats a cat.
That's sort of a horseshitty
thing to pull off.
What are you really after here?
Oh, you're ashamed.
Okay, fine.
Maybe I'm just
pondering what I am.
You're a vampire.
In New Orleans, he's never
even said he's a vampire yet.
Won't even say the word.
I don't want to
kill people anymore.
There it is.
A fish that doesn't swim.
The fraught complexities of
what happens when you are with
the right/wrong person?
The Azalea is his last
little bit of humanity,
but these blue
laws are coming in.
There was a call from
Washington to kinda say,
"Eh, we need to move
this back underground."
The cutting away of everything
you thought was your life.
I am being removed
from my family.
Storyville's
beginning to crumble.
Maybe I am a vampire.
And here is a person
who has decided
to fuck with me directly.
And I'm gonna take
it all out on him.
A little bit like
Lestat in the church,
he lets these
predatory instincts
get the way better of him.
He is in a mania when
that is happening.
Why is your heart
beating so fast?
And if the club is the
last thing that he had,
the last bit of humanity,
and that's about to be
taken away from him,
who is he?
He unleashes all that
rage that's inside him.
You said I'm arrogant?
He does finally come to a
very tortured conclusion.
What are you?
I'm a vampire.
When he finally lets it loose,
great reverberations
come back from it...
that lead to a lot of pain
and anguish for his city.
And it rolls back on people
that he formerly would have said
were his people in this world.
And he's wandering around
in a very, very dark,
near-suicidal place.
And then there's this
meeting that happens,
and there is a chance
for some new thing
to pour the best parts
of yourself into.
My light. My Claudia.
My redemption.
did not take to killing.
You really have
earned your 15%.
You truly are an
exceptional Negro.
I had powers now, and
decades of rage to process.
I wanna buy the
Fair Play Saloon.
That's a mighty tall ladder
you're climbing, Mr. du Lac.
Never gon' have a
family of my own, am I?
I no longer kill.
You don't have to humiliate him.
Embrace what you are!
You are a killer, Louis!
No, sir.
There's a column in here
about the history of
this lovely square.
It says that the
man who designed it
did so after the Place
de Vosges in Paris.
I can see that.
Used to be called
the Place d'Armes.
I prefer that. Don't you?
Mm-hmm.
The Louisiana Purchase
was signed here.
Penny wise, franc foolish.
Say anything about how they
used to take runaway slaves,
cut their heads off,
and pike 'em on the
iron gates as a warning?
I'm only half way
through. Let's see.
Do you ever think that we...
That's to say, our kind...
Were put on Earth
for a larger purpose?
I put you on this earth.
Your purpose is
to enjoy yourself.
That can't be all there is.
I know you don't believe that.
Well, tell me what
I believe, Louis.
Excavate the hoarded
thoughts buried
beneath my damned soul.
We can eat animals and be okay.
Rats, cats, cattle.
Is "okay" what
you desire, Louis?
Shall we walk the night
as the gods of easily
attainable dreams?
I desire blood as
much as you do.
But I wonder, should
we be more selective?
What, only eat
red-heads? The humanists?
Define your terms.
The worst of 'em.
And how would we go
about determining that?
We use our powers,
read their minds.
Hunting is pure instinct.
Reason is a set of leg irons.
The ones you admire...
The poets, composers,
the thoughtful man
who designed this park
you love so much...
Shouldn't we spare them the
randomness of our killing?
Every one of them is
capable of abomination,
even the ones worthy
of admiration.
Shakespeare, Brahms, this
naturalist that fogs your mind.
Got it off your bookshelf.
Thrust them into circumstance,
whisper to them their
Lord, God and Savior
is not listening,
and you will see
all kinds of depravity.
They came from apes.
We came from them.
We should be better
than they are.
You refer to them as "they"
to get on my better side.
Try something for me, mon cher.
Say we come upon a murderer
planting a flowerbed,
thinking only of flowers.
How long do we wait
before his bloody deeds
reveal themselves?
As long as it takes.
You haven't thought
this through, Louis.
You said you would try.
Just gotta hold it
in. Only another mile.
So inebriated, he's worried
he'll urinate all over himself.
He's just a drunk.
$18 in the dresser.
She ain't never gon' miss it.
Stealing from his
mother for a new suit.
Petty larceny.
Starts with a suit.
Soon, he'll be
knocking over banks.
You gon' take the
serious or not?
Wait.
What's that I hear? Ah, yes.
It's the angel of
salvation passing over us.
All these stupid
people. Everybody's so stupid.
Him.
He steals from unfortunates,
breaks into tenements
and robs them of their
meager possessions.
And does that meet
your satisfaction?
Don't mind the shaking.
I've snapped his spine.
It's merely his nerves spasming.
Well, go on. Here's
your criminal biscuit.
See how it tastes.
Eat before your reason
or his heart fails us.
New singer.
She says she heard about the
Azalea all the way in Atlanta.
They talkin' about
this place in Atlanta.
You're angry.
I'm pondering.
Pondering what?
Your night had nothing to do
with ridding the
world of criminals
or finding some morality
to buoy your existence.
You're ashamed of what we are.
Maybe I'm just
pondering what I am.
For the infinitesimal
time, you're a vampire.
Could you not use the word
in my place of business?
Place of business.
A cover, an illusion to throw
off the scent of the dogs.
This illusion is frontin'
a dozen businesses
up and down
Claiborne. Yes, yes.
For every 20 people he kills,
he makes one small
businessman's dreams come true.
Louis de Pointe du Lac, the
Dark Prince of Iberville.
Antoinette Brown, and I
will be here all night long.
I don't wanna kill
people anymore.
There it is.
A fish that doesn't swim.
A bird refusing to fly.
You're going to struggle.
I fear for the feline
population of New Orleans.
Mm.
Your pianist has
lost his passion.
What? Mr. Morton,
you have played
the same melody,
the very same way,
for two weeks now.
Your talent is immense,
but your mind is elsewhere.
Think you could do better, Jack?
Well, I'm not being
paid a small fortune
on top of that tip
jar to perform.
My skills are irrelevant.
People didn't come to hear
you jabber, Mr. Lioncourt.
Well, they didn't come here
to hear you play either.
Otherwise, you'd be
in a concert hall
and there'd be
fewer prostitutes.
Shut the hell
up and let him play.
This ain't your kinda music.
You can pretend
you're a vegetarian.
I can pretend the fool.
There he goes.
Be my guest. Thank you.
For our boys being shipped off
to Europe, know your enemy.
What's wrong
with that man?
Oh, hell no!
Oh, didn't that get
your dick wet, gents?
Rate your limits, Mr. Morton.
What you hear is genius.
All I hear is a man who's
never gotten his dick wet.
Actually, the man had 20
children in his lifetime,
and you're sort of stuck on
that wet-dick zinger, Ferdinand.
It's like your left
hand on the piano,
little walking
patterns, isn't it?
He admitted later
there was nothing wrong
with Jelly Roll's playing,
only something he overheard
in an alleyway... a steady
gig for the band in Chicago.
Jelly was going to leave me
high and dry in a few days,
and Lestat took umbrage.
If I'm not mistaken,
he improved the melody
for what would later become
the "Wolverine Blues".
Wai... wait.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on there.
You're saying Lestat wrote
the "Wolverine Blues"?
I can't be definitive.
So much of that year was a blur.
And you can imagine what
time's inevitable hammer
does to the minute details.
This?
Yes, that's it.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, you know, I-I gotta say,
it's not so much the
minute details, Louis,
rather the total rewrite
that's giving me pause here.
I mean, 1973.
He was a sow's ear,
out of which nothing
fine could be made.
I was his complete superior,
and I had been sadly cheated
in having him for a teacher.
2022.
It was a cold winter that year,
and Lestat was my coal fire.
And I found myself, for
the very first time,
to anyone other than Paul,
confiding my struggles
to another man.
San Francisco.
He appeared frail
and stupid to me,
a man made of dried twigs
with a thin, carping voice.
Dubai.
I never allowed myself to feel
emotionally close to anyone,
much less a man.
Lestat had surrounded me.
The version we speak of now
is the more nuanced portrait.
Hmm. Or the more rehearsed.
Perhaps I was mistaken
about the "Wolverine Blues".
Fuck the "Wolverine Blues".
Ken Burns can choke
on the footnotes.
It's the abused-abuser
psychological relationship
I'm talking about.
I do not consider myself abused.
I mean, usually when you're
a little too close to it,
the abused still
loves the abuser,
but you flipped it
completely on its head.
I'm not a victim.
50 years later, you talk like
he was your soul
mate, li... like...
Like you were locked in some
fucked up gothic romance.
Why?
"I am in my Buick, staring
in the rearview mirror
at my daughter in the car seat,
an hour after I gave Derek,
a guy I don't know, the
last 30 bucks I had.
My editor reminds me,
it's seven years before
car seats are mandatory.
My ex-wife reminds me,
I never owned a Buick.
This is the odyssey
of recollection."
The tapes are an
admitted performance.
This is the premise
of our interview.
Half a century later,
allow me my odyssey.
Now who's performing?
You were the prince
of your district.
Lestat chased an American icon
outta town because he loved you.
1917 doesn't sound like
it was such a bad year.
Rigged to burn, Daniel.
A silent bridge for your
voice to float along.
You talk like you
play, Mr. Lioncourt.
Lestat filled in
for Jelly the next night.
He and Miss Brown
dazzled the waiting johns
and invited their admirers
back to the Rue Royale.
So, the last one to
leave never left?
No.
He would do his killing
away from me now,
out of respect, he said,
for the choice I had made.
'Round the back.
The frolicking
repeated itself
every night for two weeks.
They would add another
song to their set
and work on another at night,
while I tried to
adapt to my new diet.
I barely had the energy
to hold up a book.
My libido was not
what it had been.
Hey!
I understood the indulgence.
I let it happen.
Mr. Louis, you have
to convince Lestat
to keep playin'.
Got a better chance makin'
the Mississippi run north.
We had a good run, but
I did it for Louis.
I do everything for Louis.
Yeah, I heard that
about you two.
Oh? Well, what have you heard?
I'm not a gossip.
But I am.
Well, people at the
Azalea, they say...
You're confusing me.
Oh, come now.
I don't bite.
What do the employees
of the Azalea say
about Louis and Lestat?
I'll answer with a question.
Mm-hmm.
Are there two beds
upstairs or one?
Do you want to find out?
No one goes
upstairs, Miss Brown.
Well, there's my answer.
Still, what do you imagine
confines us to a single note?
Why not a chord?
Why not a cluster?
Oh, see, I'm the same.
I like all sorts.
I like soft hands.
I like burnished complexions.
I like men called Daddy.
Oh, your blouse is
soaked in champagne.
Bad Daddy.
I was beginning to wonder
about your manners.
I'm hungry.
Think I'm gon' get
something to eat.
Is the animal market still open?
Enjoy yourselves. It's
the purpose of livin'.
He gets that way
when he's hungry.
She burn quick?
See for yourself.
A dentist from Tallahassee.
There's a dentistry
convention in town.
Sinister talk of molars and
bicuspids around every corner.
So, you didn't kill her.
No.
She has talents.
Aren't I enough?
D-Don't...
Don't laugh.
Louis.
Don't laugh. Louis.
Louis.
You have some
squirrel on your...
No, don't.
We'll be together
10,000, nights, 100,000.
What we're doing is hard.
Anything that
wards off the dungs
of the everlasting road we walk,
the pleasures of the flesh,
the pleasures of
the kill, for me.
Pleasures of the Good
Book by the fire for you.
I can smell her on you.
From time to time, I
like a little variety.
There. I said it.
We're communicating so
much better now, no?
So, I can fuck whoever I want?
Of course.
Of course.
Of course.
As long as you come home to me.
Of course.
While the domestic
front simmered on diet
and sanctioned infidelity,
the Western Front started
receiving American troops.
New Orleans was the
last stop before France
for many young men.
And City Ordinance 4118
tried to ensure Uncle Sam's
money went into the right hands.
Ordinance 4118.
I could Google it,
or you could...
A hastily composed
attempt by the city
to segregate Storyville.
It required that all prostitutes
of colored or Black race
move their business
across Canal Street.
This was the heart
of my business,
what the Azalea was known for.
The very men who signed
the ordinance into law
were some of my best clients.
It was an absurdity, an
affront to a Creole man
who had outpaced his
fair-skinned competitors.
How'd you manage it?
I gave five percent of
the business to my girls,
made 'em all owners.
How's that help you?
Lawyer said if they were
owners, we can file a writ,
saying 4118 was a...
How you put it, Bricks?
Deprives us the
use of our property
without due process of law,
denying us equal protection
under the Constitution
of these United States.
Sounds like some kind of
Russian Bolshevik scheme.
You diddled the man's money,
and he bought himself
an end-around.
It's pure capitalism,
Mr. Fenwick.
Thank you, Tom.
Unorthodox business mind
under that hat, Louis.
No security guard on the door,
lets a woman count his coin.
No offense, Miss Williams.
Been called a cunny, a cow,
and a bitch that ate
a thousand dicks.
You wanna apologize
for callin' me a woman?
Whoo, leave your wife.
I'll make you a happy
man, Mr. Anderson.
Bricks don't take
wooden nickels,
and I'm the only security
this place needs.
Christ on a cracker.
We're writing another ordinance.
You know that, don't you?
The council is not
your problem, Louis.
It's Woodrow Wilson, this
war he's backed us all into.
You think you're
printin' money here?
Them hay pennies compared
to what the build up's
brought the city here.
Just ask Mr. Anderson here.
Not as colorful
as club ownership,
but you'd be amazed
at the high pile
made supplying
the military camps
with cigarettes, chocolates,
and prophylactics.
Well, I'm doing my part to
see them jimmy hats get used.
Son, I can tell you, the
Navy doesn't see it that way.
You got 400 men over in charity
gettin' treatment for the clap.
I got pristine pussies
walkin' my floor.
Now I'm offended.
Washington's making
us choose, Louis.
It's either win the
war or fuck the whore.
Well, just, Council's just
stallin' for time, chasin' race.
Don't feel like a stall.
Feel a little beside the point.
Feel like a boot on my neck.
He's one man on a
council of 17, Louis.
Well, maybe he's still sideways
'cause I turned down his 15%.
Yeah, I'll admit,
I prefer the days
you let us win on occasion,
days of deference.
What is it?
There's a gentleman asking
for you, Mr. du Lac.
A man in uniform.
What I say, Mr. Anderson?
The war's come a-knockin'.
Cash me out.
Good Lord.
Jonah?
Louis de Pointe du Lac.
Jonah Macon.
How long's it been?
A day and forever.
Told Grace you
wouldn't remember me.
'Course I remem...
You're enlisted?
Ain't you good at
noticing what's plain?
You seen Grace?
Saw her this mornin',
getting the yard ready
for a birthday party.
Oh, yeah, right. Twins.
She got twin girls.
Could barely keep
her head straight,
all those kids runnin'
round, tuggin' at her dress.
So, you a big-shot
businessman now.
Heard about Paul.
Yeah.
Paul.
Where you been, Jonah?
Philadelphia for a
spell, hotel work.
Then, a gunpowder
mill in Delaware.
Fella working next to me
blew off three fingers.
I saw enough. Hell.
Thought this might be a way
to rise through the ranks,
and... and all that.
Look like you already rose
up, and by a fair amount.
I done all right.
Done all right?
You own all this.
Sign me up for "done all right".
You ever think
about those old days
when we were kids?
How long you here for?
Couple of nights. In
the boat over the ocean.
Me and a couple thousand
other fellas wearin'
this same costume.
You think this is nice?
Wait till you see my
pretty automobile.
Louis de Pointe du Lac.
Nothin' much
changed here, I see.
Crickets and katydids.
You gon' ruin those
sharp shoes in this mud.
I got another pair back at home.
I'll bet you do.
Easy livin' Louis.
There's nothing easy about
my life, I'll tell you that.
Well, you've been blessed.
Ain't aged a day
since I seen you last.
That's the moonlight
lyin' is all.
You worried about
goin' over there?
Some nights.
I mean, my squad's all colored,
so we mostly gon'
be in the rear,
supply lines and shit.
Better than gettin'
shot at for a country
makes you use the side entrance.
And most of why I signed
up is I kept hearing
something about
something they call
"European sensibilities".
They care less what you look
like or who you're lookin' at.
Yeah, I got someone.
I figured as much. No
ring on your finger?
Not a woman.
Well, what's he like?
He's... a lot.
It's not perfect.
Mm-hmm.
But we kind of have
this agreement.
One of those "you can
drive out to the bayou"
kind of agreements?
Good fit, this, uh, uniform.
Well, it's the moonlight.
Hello. Hello.
How was your night?
Fine. Yours?
Fine.
He found me, you know.
Went to my old
house on Esplanade.
Grace told him where to find me.
An old love.
We had a few early fumbles.
He was 16. I was... older.
We both knew, even then,
we were a little different.
Hmm.
How's Antoinette?
Tedious.
No, I don't see that
happening again.
These affairs always flame out.
Shall we have a
night out tomorrow?
I was gonna go see Grace and
the kids, keep up appearances.
How 'bout after?
Fine.
Lock us in, would you?
Many streets
in New Orleans
weren't paved at the time.
The mud on his boots could
have come from anywhere.
Was it raining that night?
Yeah, I got someone.
I figured as much. No
ring on your finger?
Not a woman.
Did it rain?
Yeah, I got someone.
I figured as much. No
ring on your finger?
Not a woman.
I don't remember now.
It could have been dry on the
bayou and wet in the Quarter.
It's Louisiana.
The odyssey of recollection.
Hmm.
I would meet Jonah
decades later.
You're lingering, Rashid.
Apologies, Mr. du Lac.
What did he say when
he met you again,
when you were young
and he wasn't?
What they all eventually say
in one articulation or another.
Here comes the ghost!
Hurry! He's gonna get us!
The party was this afternoon.
Seem my invitation
got lost in the mail.
You wanna come around,
you come around when
people are awake.
It's barely dinnertime, Ma.
I don't wanna make a fuss.
Six months and you just show up!
You're not welcome in this home!
I own this home.
I'm the executor in charge,
so welcome don't matter.
The Devil walks at night.
What? What did you say?
What's goin' on out here?
I got your girls
some paper dolls.
Go back inside, son.
Son? I'm your son.
Let me handle
this, Mamaw du Lac.
Don't.
Comin' off a little hot, now.
I ain't come here to see you.
I didn't come here to see you.
Louis. Came here to see Grace
and give the girls
some paper dolls!
Children, go to your room, now.
What did I tell y'all?
There he is.
There he is.
Grace.
Grace. Get out!
What are you thinking?
Well, I thought we
could have an orgy.
You can fuck them,
and I can eat them.
What about the coffin room?
Well, that would require
curiosity and intelligence.
All these murderous
slobs want is more wine
and a German on their bayonets!
Kill the Hans! Kill the Hans!
I brought them back after
they cut the electricity
at the Azalea. What?
Miss Bricktop wanted
you to have this.
I think she's on to us.
Get 'em out of here.
Well, now that I
know you have a type,
I thought you'd be pleased.
Lestat!
Not funny.
What can I say?
I'm a lot.
I'm not perfect.
I knew it. I
knew you were there.
Yes. You're jealous?
Yes. I don't like sharing.
What about Antoinette?
It's different.
I don't have feelings for her.
He did me some face,
and I drove him home.
I heard your hearts dancing!
You watched the whole
thing like some creeper!
And then, I watched you
pull over and drain a dog
and run down an alleyway
for two more rats!
This is not a life!
That's 'cause you took my life!
I got nothing! I
lost everything!
I lost my brother.
I lost my family.
'Bout to lose the last
fucking thing I care about.
How am I supposed to
get bodies in the door
without hookers,
hooch, or cards?
Hey, you were given a
courtesy, and you ignored it.
Finn O'Shea, a man who
used to work for me,
got a dirty house
across the street.
City ain't shut off his lights.
Finn O'Shea serves
sandwiches at his bar.
That makes him a supper club.
In time, Mr. O'Shea
will move his business
Riverside Basin Street,
along with everyone else.
Oh, so you just startin' with
the colored businesses, then?
It does appear businesses run
by white gentlemen are thriving.
Look, I-I tried to
persuade the city council.
They said it was
short-sighted at best.
Mm, this
tedious Negro,
still clinging to his Creole
heritage like a life raft.
We're all hurtin'.
It's these damn
teetotalin' types, too.
As if we're supposed to turn
New Orleans into Topeka,
or God help us, Salt Lake City.
Might I suggest, Mr. du
Lac, that you move your
operation to the Quarter?
Just keep your girls
out the windows.
Who do you suggest gon' sell
me a property in the Quarter?
Make Mr. Lioncourt
here the public face
of your operations.
This is Louis' hobby, not mine.
Well, there's, shall we
say, a clannish majority
amongst the property
holders in the court.
Well, maybe old Tom
here had it right.
Maybe in the end, Louis,
you're a dumb pimp
who got robbed blind years ago.
It's bend or break, I'm afraid.
Did you sell me the
Azalea 'cause you knew
this day was comin', Tom?
You put a "sir" on
the end of that.
And he sold you the Fairplay
for a price you set.
You ain't answer
my question, Tom.
Now, we're all in this
together, Mr. du Lac.
I'll be happy to buy the
property back from you.
Say...
15 cents on the dollar.
When your mother sees
the Devil in your eyes,
it's a hard
assessment to abandon.
Am I from the Devil?
Is my very nature
that of the Devil?
I had hedged against
the question,
but now, it completely
overwhelmed me.
We don't
need the money.
It's not about that.
You think I'm gon' let that
snake bite me and my people?
You have your investments
on the Claiborne Avenue.
What, hats, little
grocery stores?
Nickels, dimes, quarters.
So, it is about the money.
What is it?
I'm gon' speak for the girls
and say, as minority owners,
that's a stupid
fucking business plan.
The state I was in,
I was what... I was manic.
You put up a sign like
that, you're inviting chaos.
And the hubris on
display caused me to
neglect my thirst.
This cease and
desist order is granted
by the New Orleans
Council of Aldermen
for the final infractions...
And in neglect,
my thirst grew harder,
my temples throbbed,
and finally,
I could not stand it any longer.
Broken? What broken windows?
And I was through struggling.
Illicit activity
and thuggish behavior
will not be tolerated.
We have families and
service members nearby,
and it's for their
concern, we remind...
Rats, cats, dogs
would no longer suffice.
And Baton Rouge
supports the actions
of the City Council, as well.
Take a Black man in
America, make him a vampire,
fuck with that vampire,
and see what comes of it.
Breakin' into my
home is one thing.
Making me drop my Atherton,
now that's a new low.
You're here to
threaten me, I suppose.
You think I have a
vendetta against you,
against your race.
Well, think that if you must.
Storyville is a sinking ship,
and naturally, you are
the first to drown.
But that's your problem,
Louis, always has been.
You're arrogant.
You haven't accepted
your place in this world.
And your pale lover,
with his seemingly
endless supply of capital,
and the weird goings-on
in your Sodomite townhouse
won't change the fact
that you're a tiny man
flying too close to the sun.
And that's what I
am, Louis... the sun.
Walk away.
Why is your heart
beatin' so fast?
Everything that's
been done is legal
under the City of
New Orleans charter.
And again, I'm merely one
alderman on that council.
There's a harder
way of doing this.
You're thinking about your
wife and your two daughters
and how fortunate it is
that they're away
in your winter home.
It is fortunate.
I'll let you reload.
You said I'm arrogant?
Maybe I am arrogant!
What... What are you?
I'm a vampire.
I must confess, I'm
very proud of you, Louis.
It goes against
much of my teaching,
but you managed to execute
it with such aplomb.
I didn't do it for me.
I did it for my city, my people.
Destroy our businesses and
buy the land for cheaper.
I know what they doing!
So, that torturous death
was for your people?
That garish display of his body,
like some public art
piece, was for your people?
I didn't see this coming.
Save that lie for yourself.
Did you not smile
when he begged?
Did you not feel pleasure
as you carved him up?
Maybe you saw it comin'
and didn't stop me.
Maybe you went quiet on purpose.
You did what you did because
it gave you pleasure.
Companion of the
dark gift, finally.
We should make this
our anniversary.
Anniversary?
That out there, that's on me.
Well, yes. Yes, you merely
provided them the excuse.
It's as I say... Toss
them into circumstance,
they go for the throat.
And that's why you and
me ain't never gon' work.
That's why you're
always gonna be alone.
I ran from the
Quarter that night,
ran to where the violence
spread most wild.
I stumbled through the streets
like an irrational child
who had tested his
strength on the small bird
and now asked, "Can I
make it whole again?"
Can I help you?
Please let me help.
Don't help, just run.
Their faces raced past me
like snow in a terrible wind,
unaware it was I who had
brought this retribution.
It was I who should
pay for this sin.
And then...
Help me!
One of those
inconceivable moments
where who you were before
and who you would be forever
after is marked in time.
Help!
A rooming house,
now a fire trap.
I could not save the Azalea.
I could not save Storyville.
I could not save the aunt on
the wrong side of the wall,
but I could save her.
My light.
My Claudia.
My redemption.
The Black angel
took me to a fine house
The white angel, he bit me,
And I realized what
I thought were angels
were really hell demons.
We're a family?
You're a vampire now.
So is this what you always
do for a first date?
Do you think are the
right people to adopt?
For a killing machine,
I kind of like her.
Do you ever think that we...
That's to say our kind...
Were put on Earth
for a larger purpose?
Episode 3, "Is My Very
Nature that of the Devil"...
This is all about
vampire identity.
That's what Louis is dealing
with in this episode.
Who am I? How am I going to be
a different kind of
vampire than Lestat?
Is it possible?
I desire blood as
much as you do.
But I wonder, should
we be more selective?
What if we just ate the
worst people in the world?
What if we have some sort
of moral architecture
around our killing?
Him.
He steals from unfortunates,
breaks into tenements,
and robs them
of their meager possessions.
And does that meet
your satisfaction?
It's a pretty chippy thing
he does at the beginning,
which is say, "Let's go
kill the worst people,"
then we find one of
the worst people,
and even then, he
doesn't want to do it.
Well, go on. Here's
your criminal biscuit.
See how he tastes.
So he eats a cat.
That's sort of a horseshitty
thing to pull off.
What are you really after here?
Oh, you're ashamed.
Okay, fine.
Maybe I'm just
pondering what I am.
You're a vampire.
In New Orleans, he's never
even said he's a vampire yet.
Won't even say the word.
I don't want to
kill people anymore.
There it is.
A fish that doesn't swim.
The fraught complexities of
what happens when you are with
the right/wrong person?
The Azalea is his last
little bit of humanity,
but these blue
laws are coming in.
There was a call from
Washington to kinda say,
"Eh, we need to move
this back underground."
The cutting away of everything
you thought was your life.
I am being removed
from my family.
Storyville's
beginning to crumble.
Maybe I am a vampire.
And here is a person
who has decided
to fuck with me directly.
And I'm gonna take
it all out on him.
A little bit like
Lestat in the church,
he lets these
predatory instincts
get the way better of him.
He is in a mania when
that is happening.
Why is your heart
beating so fast?
And if the club is the
last thing that he had,
the last bit of humanity,
and that's about to be
taken away from him,
who is he?
He unleashes all that
rage that's inside him.
You said I'm arrogant?
He does finally come to a
very tortured conclusion.
What are you?
I'm a vampire.
When he finally lets it loose,
great reverberations
come back from it...
that lead to a lot of pain
and anguish for his city.
And it rolls back on people
that he formerly would have said
were his people in this world.
And he's wandering around
in a very, very dark,
near-suicidal place.
And then there's this
meeting that happens,
and there is a chance
for some new thing
to pour the best parts
of yourself into.
My light. My Claudia.
My redemption.