The Vampire Lestat plays with fire in “Toledo,” balancing gross Gothic horror, rock tour satire, and peak petty vampire divorce court.
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE VAMPIRE LESTAT EPISODE 2 AHEAD
The Vampire Lestat Episode 2, “Toledo,” is probably going to be one of the most divisive episodes this show has ever done.
And honestly? I kind of loved it.
Now, before anyone clips that sentence out of context, let me be very clear: the Lestat and Gabriella stuff is gross. It is uncomfortable. It is mother-son vampire weirdness taken to a level where, yeah, I completely understand anyone who checks out. I watched this with someone else was not having it at all. And I don’t blame her. This show has always been sexy, dangerous, toxic, romantic, theatrical, and messed up, but this episode goes, “Cool, let’s see how much of that audience goodwill we can set on fire.”
But that is also kind of why I admired it.
What worked for me is that the show is not pretending this is normal. It is so hyper aware of what it’s doing. The episode basically opens by going, “Yes, yes, we know. Freudian storms. Mother stuff. You’re all thinking it.” Lestat’s narration is so ridiculous and self-aware that it almost feels like he’s arguing with the audience before the audience even gets a chance to argue back.
That’s where I think the episode either wins you over or completely loses you.
For me, I was able to watch it through the lens of, this is Lestat’s memory. This is Lestat mythologizing his own trauma. This is not a clean, objective flashback of “here’s what happened.” This is how an artist, a narcissist, a vampire, a romantic disaster, and a drama queen remembers his life. Everything is heightened. Everything is eroticized. Everything is tragic and funny and disgusting and beautiful all at once because that’s how Lestat processes existence.
The opening backstory in France really worked for me. Seeing Lestat as this stuttering, humiliated, sensitive kid trapped in this dead, rotten aristocratic family was fascinating. His father and brothers are useless. His family is collapsing. He wants theater, imagination, art, escape. And then Gabriella is sitting there like this cold, brilliant, terrifying force who understands him but also weaponizes him.
The wolf sequence is great because it gives us that classic mythic Lestat origin moment. He goes out there, kills the wolves, loses the horse, loses the dog, gains the scar, and becomes this local legend. But what I liked is that the show doesn’t play it like a clean heroic triumph. It’s almost suicidal. It’s like Gabriella dared him into becoming something because she would rather see him die dramatically than rot slowly in that house.
And then when we cut back to the present-day tour stuff, that might be my favorite part of this season so far. I love Lestat having to deal with a band who suddenly realizes, “Oh, this isn’t rock star eccentricity. This dude is literally a vampire.” The band meeting was so funny because Lestat still cannot stop being Lestat for five seconds. He’s explaining murder, blood-draining, vampire politics, Akasha, all this insane lore, and he’s still somehow making it about his music, his genius, and his control over the band.
That is the part of this show that absolutely clicks for me.
Lestat is terrifying, but perhaps not the sharpest tool in the shed in the most entertaining way.. He’s threatening people’s lives while being offended that someone might not understand the artistry of his confessional vampire rock album. That’s the balancing act Sam Reid keeps nailing. He can be seductive, pathetic, hilarious, dangerous, and emotionally wounded within the same breath.
The Louis scene was probably the highlight of the episode for me.
That whole hotel/legal meeting turning into basically centuries-old vampire divorce court was so damn funny. Louis showing up not apologetic, not ashamed, not begging for forgiveness, but instead using the book and the hotel situation as leverage over Lestat? BRILLIANT. I did not expect Louis to come into this season with that kind of power over him, and I love that turn.
Because Lestat held so much power over Louis for so long. Now, Louis has found a way to be calm, collected, rich, petty, and fully aware of how much he can get under Lestat’s skin. Their scene is loaded with jealousy, resentment, flirtation, business negotiation, and pure pettiness. That is the stuff I eat up with this show.
Then you have Daniel still being Daniel, which I love. He’s not just reacting to the madness anymore. He’s working the room. He’s clocking people. He sees Gabriella, and immediately knows there’s a story there. Daniel being older, sharper, and more plugged into this vampire world gives the season a whole different energy.
And the ending with Bruce/Killer? That got me. About time this guy (hopefully) gets his comeuppance.
Because the episode spends so much time in the absurdity of Lestat and Gabriella, and then suddenly it pulls Claudia’s ghost right back into the room. The second they reveal that the Detroit coven leader used to be Bruce, the entire tone shifts. Now it’s not just vampire tour chaos. Now it’s Louis being emotionally baited into a mission because Claudia’s trauma is still sitting there, unresolved, radioactive, waiting to explode.
That is what this show does really well. It can be campy and horny and ridiculous and then suddenly remind you, “Oh yeah, underneath all of this is actual pain.”
Now, the Gabriella stuff.
I am not going to sit here and pretend it’s not a huge ask. It is. It’s probably one of the biggest asks this franchise has made from the audience. I completely get anyone who says, “Nope, this is where I’m out.” For some, I can imagine it ruining the episode. For me, I didn’t have that reaction, but I understood it.
I think the reason I was able to go with it is because the show has already trained me to watch these vampires as beings who have lived outside normal human morality for centuries. That doesn’t make it okay. I’m not saying, “Actually, vampire incest is fine.” Please do not make that the pull quote. In real life incest, obviously, vomit inducing. But within this heightened Gothic horror world, I bought that Lestat’s relationship with Gabriella would be this tangled, codependent, monstrous thing where the lines of mother, maker, child, lover, and mirror all collapse into one nightmare.
And that is interesting to me as horror.
Not sexy, necessarily. Not something I’m rooting for. But INTERESTING.
If anything, I think the episode is less saying, “Isn’t this hot?” and more saying, “Isn’t Lestat a complete psychological disaster?” Which, yes. He is. That’s the show.
This episode is messy, funny, gross, gorgeous, and insane. I loved the confidence of it. I loved the performances. I loved the way it kept moving between Gothic origin story, rock tour satire, vampire family therapy, and supernatural crime setup. I loved how much the show is willing to commit to a choice that it knows will make people uncomfortable.
Do I want the whole season to be Lestat and Gabriella making eyes & swapping tongue? No. God, no. I think there’s a point where this could become too much, and I do think the show is playing with fire here.
But as one episode? I thought “Toledo” was fantastic.
Deeply uncomfortable. Very funny. Really well acted. Wildly self-aware. And probably the first episode this season where I went, “Okay, this show is not playing it safe at all.”
And for better or worse, I respect the hell out of that.
About The Vampire Lestat
In the new rock and roll centric season, the Vampire Lestat (Reid) goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.
In addition to Reid, The Vampire Lestat stars Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle and is executive produced by award-winning producer Mark Johnson, creator, writer and showrunner Rolin Jones, Hannah Moscovitch, along with Christopher Rice and the late Anne Rice.
Starring Sam Reid, the wild and captivating next chapter in Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe premiered Sunday, June 7 at 9pm ET/PT on AMC and AMC+.
