Interview With The Vampire Fans Got An Eerie Feeling About Armand In The Finale
"Interview With the Vampire" has definitely taken some liberties with the original story written by Anne Rice. AMC's new take on the classic tales of "The Vampire Chronicles" has explored racism by changing Louis' (Jacob Anderson) and Claudia's (Bailey Bass) race, has shifted the modern-day elements from New Orleans to Dubai, and has made the titular interview the second of its kind between Daniel (Eric Bogosian) and Louis.
Still, with Rice and her son Christopher involved in the development of the series, it seems possible that the creator herself signed off on or endorsed the changes. Even so, there was one new element in "Interview With the Vampire" that capped off the first season of the series with a shocking twist: Louis' companion Rashid (Assad Zaman) was revealed to actually be the vampire Armand. However, as fans still find themselves reeling from the revelation of Rashid's true identity, some are beginning to think that Armand may be weaving a spell over Louis to control his thoughts and actions.
Fans think Armand could be controlling Louis in some way
On the r/InterviewVampire subreddit, fans speculated on what the Armand reveal means for "Interview With the Vampire" and its characters. Though Armand has not hidden his disdain for Daniel and Louis' interview or his dislike of the writer, his threats against Daniel, and Louis' subsequent declaration of love for Armand, definitely had an air of menace to them, as many viewers noted.
"Am I the only one who got an ominous feeling with Armand and Louis at the end?" asked u/OGChocolateThunder. The user described the situation as something akin to a hostage situation as well. U/msephron was quick to agree, noting how Louis often seems shocked or confused by the changes to his memories and comments from the original interview. "To me, it feels like Louis genuinely doesn't realize his memories are wrong," they noted.
In "The Vampire Chronicles," Armand is the first elder vampire that readers meet, having had the Dark Gift for roughly 500 years. This means he's far more powerful than Louis, Claudia, or Lestat (Sam Reid), and that it's possible he is messing with Louis' mind or his memories. Also, as Daniel noted, many pages from the diaries seem to have been carefully removed, suggesting that Armand could be behind this deception as well.
While this could all be Armand's way of trying to keep Louis happy in the present, it could also be something far more sinister. Either way, fans will have to wait until Season 2 of "Interview With the Vampire" to find out more about Armand's plans and motivations.