Claudia’s “I spend every fucking second of nowhere looking for her.” I cried all over again telling my gf about it.

Louis has always done unintentional damage under his idea of altruism. The alderman graphic display for "his people", pimping to give girls "room and board", sparring Lestat, saving Claudia from burning "for her",  paying Fraudia to "help her". He believes is narrative without actually thinking of the people and consequences

I think the re-casting and characterization of Claudia from IWTV S2 onward was a brilliant choice. It effectively presented to the audience that this was not in fact a child anymore but an adult who had been immortally infantalized as a fetish.

I don’t think Claudia always hated Louis. It was a love that slowly turned into hate & in her afterlife rage. She was very upset with Louis for not allowing them to burn Lestat. I do believe they could/would have repaired their relationship until she found out Louis told Armond what they did.

As a black American woman, I would say you won’t find consensus on the language used in that scene. It depends on the viewer. Some folks were upset; others weren’t.

I was most surprised by Claudia’s hatred of Louis, and I do think she hates him. But that scene gave me context for Armand’s lines in the SF fight. I never understood why he told Louis Claudia didn’t love Louis or why Louis agreed with him. That was always confusing to me b/c I thought she loved Louis. This scene made those lines make sense.

I think living Claudia loved Louis but that got worse in Paris. Dead Claudia saw Louis kill Bruce decades late, read and give her diaries to a stranger, spare and date Armand for a decade, forgive and bring Lestat back twice and both forget her companion and Louis pay a girl to pretend to be his version of her while she rots alone. Plus she learns in death Louis made her with full info given by Lestat. Whatever affection she had is gone and twisted in death because he fails her in both states. He made her, forgave Lestat in New Orleans. He choked her our and spaired Lestat. He dates a new man who threatens her and judged her for being a vampire the whole time. When has he given her something outside of his selfishness. She did love him, he did things to hate him more

I don't think louis is under any delusions that he's "doing this for claudia" when it comes to regina. he could tell himself that about the interview, about hanging her dress on the wall, about killing bruce, but not this. he KNOWS how fucked up it is from the very beginning, and i think he surprises himself with how far he is willing to go into this incredibly exploitative and uncomfortable territory. he's recognized how selfish his grief can be, but he keeps going with regina because it makes him feel better for just a second.

in episode six, when louis and lestat were talking in the bar before the seance, louis gives an almost dismissive comment about a cousin that assaulted him and gave him a dollar. i wonder if that shaped his relationship to hearing about lestat and claudia's assault, and even how sex and money was so often tied together for him.

I love how every season has a huge reveal that recontextualizes every thing before it

I remember how throughout that whole scene I really felt bad for Louis, I actually thought that Claudia pls stop you're going too far (until she mentioned Madelaine that's when I started feeling for her) but then having time to  think back on all of it I can actually do understand where she was coming from. It was just really sad and uncomfortable to watch 😢

The thought that always sticks with me is Loui's own description of how he first met Claudia. Here is this young girl burning in a building, and Loui's first thought is essentially "oh wow, I love this for me."

Man I was not expecting that Claudia scene and it shocked the hell out of me.  I was looking exact the way Louis and Lestat looked after they left.  Looking in a daze speechless.  What could you say?

For me... Louis is that friend you love but secretly nolonger take seriously because you know theyre full of shit down to the marrow of their bones. Claudia knew it.

Remember, she's actually smarter than both Louis and Lestat. She always saw Lestat as her maker/father. He challenged her. She played chess with him. A teenager always challenges the dominant parental figure. Louis was the safe submissive parent. I love that she was so cunning.

Claudia's love with Madeline breaks my heart. The way Madeline saw her, the way Claudia insured she had agency and the full consent when she recieved the dark gift. Madeline staying by her in their death so that Claudia knew that she chose her. I really hope they find eachother again. 😭😭😭

I feel like if he'd just used the pages to burn Bruce without reading them to him that would have served Claudia in the way he meant to. Having her be part of his downfall without exposing her.

I kind of feel like in the storyline that connects those two they didn’t stress enough how much Louis was doing it for himself, but when they got to this part is when you really had it revealed. She was telling him all along, especially when she found the woman in the dress shop. She knew he was being selfish.

Lestat never told Louie he was SA. He never told anybody as far as the end of season 3

Anyone who didn’t see Assad’s beauty in the first two seasons really missed out on the moment.  He served the entire time

I always thought it was very clear from the opening line where Louis tells Daniel he’s a vampire through the final scenes of season three, that Louis was working through his own trauma and that everything he did was deal with it one way or another.

I think he was overwhelmed in New Orleans and then ran after what happened with Lestat. He became a walking symbol of guilt about Claudia and who he was and vampirism in general.  

Then he met Armand and it seemed like an escape that he could take.  But after what happened in the theatre that escape just became more numbness.

And when he finally woke up to what was happening, he left and started processing again. In the show, that takes the form of him working through himself and his guilt.  So everything he did in season three was about himself for sure. But I don’t think it was meant to be implied that it was any other way.  

Claudia has always been such an interesting character. And you’re right that we don’t really get a glimpse of the true her except through her diaries. Even the experiences with her ghost in the books is told by someone else.  

Her diaries were basically The Vampire Claudia and never published. Also keep in mind that her frontal lobe never finished development and she is stuck in this emotional turmoil all the time without the ability to regulate despite growing older as a vampire. (of course the same is supposed to be true of Lestat and Louis in the books but not the show).

I absolutely loved season three. My only complaint is too few episodes.  And since I can’t get enough here, I am watching people discuss it on YouTube. 😆
Very interesting analysis. Thank you.

Oh, and editing to add that I think you’re definitely right about reading the diary. Louis had man blindness and he was reliving his own outrage and anger from when he read the diary, not reading it for the sake of Claudia.

I think Louis is just self absorbed to a certain extend. Same when he reacts to Lestat about the revenge porn. His first thought is about how it affects him. He always has been, and I’m hoping we will see a development there? I’d like him acknowledge this at a certain point.
Love Louis but omg his woe is me not looking beyond his own perspective is super annoying sometimes. I’m curious if Daniel outlines it that way in the book? Maybe not so explicitly.. I’d love for them to have a conversation much later down the line when Daniel is himself again and they can talk this over also in respect to Armand.