AMC has really upped their game for opening credits. The Vampire Lestat’s flashy 70’s glam rock inspired credits are fun, excessive, and the perfect prelude to the first season of Lestat (Sam Reid) telling his story, his way.
The opening scene is much more somber. A high -end auction in a room filled with clearly very rich people. And some familiar faces: Armand (Assad Zaman), Louis (Jacob Anderson), and the Talamasca’s Raglan James (Justin Kirk).
Setting The Stage For The Season
Up for auction is a prized antique sideboard. Inside is a record player, a dozen unique recordings made by Lestat called “The Failures”, a vintage bottle of expensive wine, and a bottle of Lestat’s blood. Raglan, Louis, and Armand get into a bidding war for the item.
Who won isn’t revealed, but Lestat’s voice begins narrating. “The Failures” are the door to the story of the rise and presumed fall of Lestat the Rock Star, and unspecified “global catastrophes” that resulted from it.
As the narration fades the scene shifts to Lestat, on stage with his band in Detroit. He sings “Long Face” to a raucous crowd and the more love they give him, the more dramatic the performance gets. If you haven’t watched it yet, go back and watch just to watch Sam Reid’s incredible performances.
Lestat narrates over documentary film footage shot by Daniel Malloy (Eric Bogosian) who is making a documentary film about the tour. After the first show in Detroit, Lestat and Malloy take turns taking sarcastic shots at each other while Malloy attempts to interview Lestat on the tour bus.
Lestat is texting someone. Malloy asks if it’s Louis, who won’t speak to Daniel anymore. It doesn’t seem to be Louis though. Daniel asks Lestat if it’s true that the band was formed on Halloween, and the scene shifts to Halloween night in Montreal more than a year ago.
Interview With The Vampire
Lestat is on Facetime with Louis, working on music. There is a band practicing in the house across the street. As he and Louis are chatting an alert pops up for Lestat about the publication of Daniel’s book telling Louis’ story. Lestat is blindsided, and pissed. Louis defends himself by saying he didn’t know that Daniel was able to save the material after Louis destroyed his laptop.
Lestat rushes to a bookstore, and gets extremely irritated by the shop clerks talking about the book, Armand, and Lestat. They’re not fans of Lestat because of how the book is written.
That, of course, infuriates Lestat. Even though Lestat loves attention he hates losing control of his own narrative. The publication of a book filled with what he says are lies about him is too much for him to take.
Satan’s Night Out
At home, Lestat goes through the book angrily making notes, editing, and trying to rewrite Daniel’s account. His disagreement with the story is the catalyst for the tour film. He wants to make Daniel tell his story the way Lestat wants it told.
As Lestat is pacing and going through the book, children are ringing the doorbell because it’s Halloween. The band practicing in the house across the street, called Satan’s Night Out, gets louder.
Lestat snaps. He angrily runs across the street, flings open their door, runs upstairs, picks up a guitar and shows them how to get the sound they’ve been trying to get. Lestat and his band have found each other.
The Beautiful Unwell And The Undead
In the next scene Lestat is in a hotel room in Detroit with companion Dee (Amaka Umeh) looking out the window, playing guitar, and watching the city lights. As he strums softly he listens to the telepathic conversations of other vampires discussing him.
A couple voices say that he’s broken one of the Great Laws by revealing vampires exist to mortals. But others say his songs and music reflect their experiences and they like what he’s doing. The vampire community is divided on what Lestat is doing. Some think he should be killed.
The lights go out. Lestat stops playing and texts the mystery person he was texting on the bus. He says he’s struggling and asks them to come to him. There’s no response.
Enter The Muses
At Lestat’s second’s show in Detroit, Baby Jenks (Ella Ballantine) pops several different drugs as Lestat feverishly plays the violin on stage and the band plays rock music behind him. Lestat has an ecstatic epiphany that it’s not his band that is mediocre, it’s him. He needs to lean into his vampire nature.
But to do that, he needs to confront some of his baggage from the past. He needs to dig deep into his past to find his future path. And he’s going to need help from significant people in his past to do it.
As he and the band reach a frenzied crescendo, Baby Jenks jumps on stage. Lestat feeds on her, and unknowingly gets a huge hit of the drugs she consumed. After nearly losing Baby Jenks to an overdose backstage, there’s a record scratch and Lestat picks up the narration again.
Lestat’s Outed As A Real Vampire
The scene cuts to Lestat, bloody, sick, and barely able to stand in a cheap motel room in Windsor. Lestat’s narration launches into the story of how he got there. After the second show in Detroit, the hotel the band was staying in was having a Grand Opening celebration.
The band walked the red carpet and participated in the event for the publicity. There was DJ and other festivities.
Lestat still high from the drugs in Baby Jenks blood. The band, Lestat, Baby Jenks, and Daniel Malloy are hanging out in the VIP lounge. Lestat excuses himself to the men’s room.
While there, two members of the Detroit “Fang Gang” as they call themselves join him. They invite him to their coven house, but he declines.
Lestat returns to the party. He sees other vampires in the crowd, other Fang Gang members. Lestat isn’t worried. He decides to go upstairs with Baby Jenks and Dee. They have sex in the elevator. When the elevator opens on their floor, members of the Fang Gang are waiting to ambush Lestat.
He manages to kill several of them, but they overpower him. If Daniel Malloy hadn’t come off the elevator and leapt into the fray, Lestat would have been in trouble. They defeat the Fang Gang.
But the fight spills into the hotel room, and Lestat’s band members see that he’s an actual vampire. They are terrified that Lestat will kill them too. Lestat breaks through a window in their 8th floor hotel room and flies off to the cheap motel in Windsor to regroup.
Gabriella
Sick, hurt, and reeling at the hotel in Windsor, Lestat once again reached out to the mysterious person he’s been asking texting. He asks them to come and says he needs them. They text back that they are here.
The door opens and closes, he looks up, and Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle), his mother is standing there. They kiss passionately, and Lestat’s narrates that Gabriella is his fledgling, his love, and his mother.
The Takeaway From The Vampire Lestat Episode 1
Episode 1 establishes that The Vampire Lestat is a complex story about fame, identity, memory, and the consequences of turning yourself into a global spectacle. With Gabriella now entering the picture and Lestat preparing to confront his past, “Detroit” sets the stage for what promises to be a wild season.