In Throes of Increasing Wonder is the first episode of the first season of Interview with the Vampire and the first episode of the series overall. It aired on October 2, 2022, on AMC, but began streaming through AMC+ on September 29, 2022.
Synopsis[]
Almost 50 years have passed since Daniel Molloy first interviewed Louis de Pointe du Lac. Times, technology, and Molloy have all changed. Louis sends a letter asking Molloy to meet at a place of Louis' choosing.
Plot[]
Daniel sits on the couch, watching his own journalism MasterClass before heading to his mailbox, where he recovers a package addressed to him from Louis de Pointe du Lac. Inside the package is a letter and several cassette tapes that capture Daniel and Louis' initial interview from many years ago, though the resurfacing memories seem to anger Daniel, who proceeds to read the letter, in which Louis congratulates Daniel on all his success and offers him another chance at the interview of a lifetime, 49 years and thousands of miles removed from the room they shared in San Francisco.
Daniel accepts Louis' offer and flies out to him a week later. Louis couldn't help but notice that Daniel's book made no mention of him before inquiring about the old man's health, already aware that Daniel has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, which appears to strike a nerve with Daniel, who reveals that only his family and doctor knows he's sick. Daniel then does a bit of inquiring himself, asking Louis where's his coffin, given that he and Louis are meeting in his apartment during the day in spite of vampires' vulnerability to sunlight. Louis replies that they're standing in it, revealing that the windows of his penthouse shielded him from the harmful UV rays of the sun.
Daniel recalls how poorly their last interview ended, replaying the final moments after Daniel asked Louis to turn him into a vampire, and in return, Louis lashed out, seemingly biting Daniel. Louis cut off the recorder and tells Daniel that he wasn't worthy of his story then, to which Daniel retorts that perhaps Louis' story wasn't worth telling. In their previous interview, Daniel admittedly asked all the wrong questions, never checked Louis about the contradictions in his story, and the few good ones he did manage to get out, Louis steamrolled over them. This time around, they're hoping for a different exchange. As they prepare to conduct the interview, Daniel tells Louis that anything he can't verify, he'll send to his researcher, a notion that Rashid, Louis' servant, rejects, reminding Daniel of the terms of their initial agreement, however, Daniel isn't concerned with Rashid's objections. Furthermore, he's ready to conduct the interview without outside interference.
Daniel kicks off the interview by introducing himself on the day of June 14, 2022, in the penthouse apartment of the Al Sharaf Towers with Louis, who proceeds to explain just how long he's been dead. Louis recalls the year being 1910: five years removed from his father's passing and ascension to patriarch of the de Pointe du Lac family trust. The only place in New Orleans, where a black man such as Louis could conduct a righteous business was in the red-light district neighborhood known as Storyville. Louis was many things at the time, but mostly a businessman and a pimp, by Daniel's account. Admittedly, Louis was a less kind man during this time in his life, though Liberty Street was no place for the weak, he insisted, hurling insults at both Finn and Peg-Leg Doris, who informed him that they had a problem.
Louis entered the whorehouse to discover that one of his girls, Bricktop, severely wounded Alderman Fenwick after he became unruly. As Louis saw to Fenwick's wounds, he exclaimed "Get your hands off me, ni**er," still a bit dazed and confused from his encounter with Bricktop. Realizing who Louis was, Fenwick apologized for his harsh words. However, Louis' troubles were only just beginning, as Finn informed him that his brother was back and harassing the girls with the word of God. Louis followed Finn outside to find Paul preaching to one of his working girls. Paul insisted that the lord was in his head like a family of birds, telling him to save them. Not only refusing to leave, Paul also punched Louis, who in turn pulled a blade from his cane and warned Paul to go home, unaware that he was being watched.
The following morning, the de Pointe du Lucs have breakfast as a family, during which point, Paul recalled his fight with Louis from the night before, which their mother, Florence, overlooked and instead consumed herself with preparations for Grace's wedding. Back on the subject of Louis' business ventures, Florence insisted that it was merely temporary until he could find more respectable business. With Grace's wedding just a month away, Paul expressed his disapproval of her fiancé Levi, who was a Baptist, whilst they were Christians.
After breakfast, Louis and Paul made their daily stroll to St. Augustine, where they were greeted by Father Matthias, who thanked Louis for the money he donated to the church. As Paul awaited confession with the priest, he told Louis that he was also welcome at the church if ever he were in need.
Lestat leaving with Lily
That night, Louis headed over to the Fair Play Saloon, where he frequently visited a particular working girl named Lily. However, upon his arrival, he discovered Lily in the company of a French white man, who introduced himself as Lestat de Lioncourt and thanked Louis for convincing him to settle to in New Orleans. After sharing a passionate kiss with Lily, which infuriated Louis, Lestat explained just how he ended up in town. Louis was frozen, his body seized with weakness and immobilized as Lestat's hands wandered the seams of Lily's dress while noting all the attractions of New Orleans, but it wasn't until he saw Louis pull a blade on his own brother that Lestat realized that not only was New Orleans his new home, but that he and Louis were destined for each other, though for the night, Lestat seemed to have his eyes on Lily, as did Louis, resulting in two-man bidding war, ultimately won by Lestat. In this, he felt emasculated but also admired Lestat, Louis explains to Daniel.
Later that night, Lestat fed on and killed a lamplighter as he turned off the streetlights.
Louis at the poker game
That Friday, Louis attended a private poker game hosted by Tom Anderson, as he, Lestat, and Alderman Fenwick discussed the recent outbreak that had already killed so many, leaving the unfortunate victims with small wounds to the body, devoid of blood, leading some to suspect that a new kind of rat had come ashore. As the night progressed, Tom revealed that Fenwick had recently purchased the title and deed to the Horton rooming house on Villere Street. He believed it could be made into a sporting house and recommended Louis as a managing partner, suggesting that Louis would do it for 10%, referring to him as the labor, a sentiment that Lestat did not share. Flaunting his vampiric abilities, Lestat seemed to momentarily freeze time while simultaneously holding a telepathic conversation with Louis, explaining that he found it appalling that men of Louis' color were treated as less than human. Lestat believed that New Orleans offered him a number of opportunities, but to seize it, he would need Louis' help. And so, as a show of good faith, with those around them frozen, Lestat handed Louis a winning hand.
Louis and Lestat spent many days together in the following weeks, though Louis, at the time, was unaware of Lestat's vampire nature. Louis assisted Lestat with getting accommodated, during which point, Louis found himself confiding his troubles for the first time to another man other than his brother, all the while unaware that he was being hunted and seduced.
Grace telling Louis to bring Lestat to dinner
Grace inquired about Lestat, whom she learned that Louis had become closer to over time. She suggested that her brother invite him over for dinner. The two of them then noticed Paul talking to himself on the patio, leading Louis to confess that Paul crawled into his bed the night before and wept for nearly an hour, upset by Grace's marriage to a Baptist. Grace suggested they send Paul to some medical facility in Gretna that Levi had previously mentioned to her, but Louis refused, fearing that Paul would just come out worse than before. Rather than worrying about Paul, Louis advised Grace to worry about herself, gifting her passage all over Europe for her honeymoon.
Lestat at dinner with Louis' family
As suggested by Grace, Louis invited Lestat over for dinner. However, Paul was still perturbed over Grace and Levi's upcoming union. Then turning his attention to Lestat after he mentioned taking Louis to the opera, Paul inquired about the nature of Louis and Lestat relationship, to which Lestat replied that they were potential business partners. Paul claimed that the birds told him to ask that. They also wondered if Lestat was one with Christ. Lestat came to know Christ in a Monastery. He wanted to be a priest and came to memorize both testaments, the writings of Assisi, Aquinas, Erasmus, all the saints and scholars. However, his father didn't think much of his education and conspired with Lestat's bothers to lock him away, where in between the beatings and starvation, Lestat faith in Christ dewindle due to his failure to intervene.
Lestat inviting Louis upstairs
After dinner, Lestat questioned why Louis lied about his time at the opera house, explaining that dishonesty breeds more dishonesty. While Paul may have been the only one out spoken enough to say it, Louis knew that his mother and sister believed the same of his business ventures. His father ran a sugarcane business, but they were four months from going bankrupt if Louis hadn't taken over. Having arrived home, Lestat invited Louis inside, where Lily awaited. Upstairs, Lily got undressed and joined Louis on the couch, the two of them sitting opposite of Lestat, who eventually joined them. After Lily passed out, Louis and Lestat proceeded to kiss. Unclothed, Louis turned his back to Lestat's front, during which point, they two of them floated above the ground as Lestat fed from Louis.
Present day, Louis explains to Daniel how he didn't view himself as a homosexual man at the time, though he has since embraced his sexuality, which comes as no surprise to Daniel, as the two of them met at a gay bar, though Daniel claims he was simply there to score drugs. He'd been married twice since then. When Daniel was using drugs, Louis asks if he remembers the best high he's ever had, which he does. Louis instructs him to multiply it by miles, to the rings of Saturn and back, in an effort to explain the euphoric high he felt during that first sexual encounter with Lestat.
Lestat had taken from Louis what he called "un petit coup," or "the little drink." Not enough to kill Louis, but just enough to keep Lestat fit. After feeding on Louis, Lestat cut the tips of his finger and rubbed the blood on the puncture holes in Louis' neck, healing him within seconds. This experience for Louis was unsettling. Not only was the physical toll significant, a feeling of intimacy awakened within Louis that night. He had never allowed himself to feel emotionally close to anyone, much less a man. He could be a lot of things in New Orleans, but an openly gay black man was not one of them. And so, Louis vowed never to return again and shut that night out of his mind.
Grace and Levi getting married
The day of Grace's wedding had finally arrived, and all their friends and family were in attendance, though Paul was more so a reluctant guest. With their father having passed and unable to dance with Grace, she figured the best way to honor him was to have her brothers dance in his place, recalling how Louis and Paul used to shuffle for pennies on Sunday.
As the wedding came to an end, Louis and Paul climbed onto the roof, where Paul revealed that they'd been at the house for 9,517 days. He then asked if Louis remembered the day Paul grew and was taller than Louis, though only for a month. Paul believed that Louis should be getting married next, though Louis didn't appear particularly eager. After learning that he was no longer in business with Lestat, Paul claimed that Lestat was the devil and that Lestat told Paul himself that he came to take souls, doing so without moving his lips. Paul then asked if Louis truly believed that Levi loved Grace the way she needed to be loved. After Louis assured Paul that he believed as much, Paul told Louis that he loved him before walking to the edge of the roof and stepping off, falling to his death.
That was the last sun rise Louis ever saw, he explains to Daniel, though he doesn't miss the sun, nor the reminders it carries. Night time now, Daniel joins Louis on the balcony. While everyone around him dies, Louis is cursed with immortality, to live forever by himself.
Stricken with grief, Florence blamed Louis for Paul's death, suspecting that he must've said something that led Paul to jump off the roof. She was reminded that those who killed themselves didn't make it into heaven's gates, meaning that Paul was in Hell because of Louis.
Louis at Paul's funeral
As the de Pointe du Lacs followed the carriage carrying Paul's body through Storyville, Louis was approached by Lestat, who didn't appreciate that Louis had been avoiding him, though Lestat's feelings were the least of Louis' concerns. However, Louis became exceptionally upset when Lestat remarked that Paul longed for death, forcing Finn to intervene and attempt to escort Lestat away, only for Lestat to attack Finn.
Lestat's ambushed had disoriented Louis, leaving him distracted during Paul's burial. Florence refused Louis' offer to escort her home, though Grace insisted that she didn't mean the hurtful things she had been saying and that her anger was merely misplaced. Rather than joining his family at the wake, a drunk Louis, ignoring Lestat calls to him, made his way over to the Fair Play, where he learned from Miss Carroll that Lily died two weeks ago, allegedly to the fevers, but Louis suspected that Lestat was the actual culprit.
Lestat after killing a priest
Unable to get Lestat out of his head, Louis sought out refuge from the church and Father Matthias. Louis confessed that he had sinned, and in more ways than one. Not only a drunk, liar, and thief, Louis had shamed his father's legacy and lost his family's trust. Most alarmingly, Louis believed that he laid down with the devil and pleaded for help. While not the God he was praying to, his prayers were answered by Lestat, who drained Father Matthias of his blood. Louis attempted to help, stabbing Lestat repeatedly in the back with his sword cane, which proved ineffective against Lestat, who admittedly killed Lily, as well as many others, explaining that he gave death to those deserving and admitting that he was the "fever" plaguing New Orleans. As the remaining priest attempted to flee, Lestat chased after him and killed him as well, punching through the back of the priest head and completely obliterating his face.
Lestat turning Louis
Now, only the two of them remained. Lestat could stand by no longer as Louis conformed to so many roles other than those of his true nature. The first time he laid eyes on Louis, Lestat saw that sorrow, and was now offering to take it away; he could swap Louis' life of shame for a dark gift and power he couldn't imagine. Louis completely forgot himself in the barbaric scene that surrounded him and for the first time, he felt seen. And so, when Lestat offered him the opportunity to be his immortal companion, Louis accepted. After sharing a kiss, Lestat drained Louis to the threshold of death, at which point, he fed Louis his blood, initiating his transition to vampire. Afterwards, they sat there for some time in droves of increasing wonder as a single bloody tear ran down Louis face from having to recount this to Daniel.
Cast[]
Starring[]
Guest Starring[]
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Trivia[]
- The episode title, In Throes of Increasing Wonder, is a direct quote from page 9 of the Interview with the Vampire novel.
Gallery[]
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Episode guide[]
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