Interview With the Vampire 1X03: “Is My Very Nature That of a Devil”

The third episode of Interview With The Vampire kicks off with a bang. “Is My Very Nature That of a Devil” begins with Louis (Jacob Anderson) trying to convince Lestat (Sam Reid) that perhaps vampires were put on this earth to serve a larger purpose. He suggests that maybe, just maybe, they should eat animals instead of humans. 

If not animals, then maybe just the ‘bad’ humans, because after all, they can read the minds of those around them, which would ultimately allow them to make these selections if they wanted to. Louis is trying desperately to hold onto his humanity, even though it’s long gone. Lestat knows that, but it’s taking Louis a little longer than necessary to catch up. 

In a conversation about their shared vampirism, Lestat accuses Louis of being ashamed of what they are. And he’s right. The crux of “Is My Very Nature That of a Devil” is centered around Louis doing everything he can to put off accepting that he is a vampire. 

“A fish that doesn’t swim”

After dancing around the issue, Louis comes out and directly tells Lestat that he doesn’t want to kill people anymore. Lestat is very much not on board with this decision. He compares Louis to a fish that doesn’t swim, a bird that doesn’t fly, and Lestat’s anger gets the better of him. 

This idea of vegetarianism has long been explored in vampire lore throughout history. It’s almost always connected to souls and humanity, and vampires that opt into the carnivore lifestyle are depicted as soulless beasts, whereas the vampires who don’t eat people are depicted as seemingly able to hang onto their humanity. This juxtaposition between Louis and Lestat in this episode is crystal clear.

However, Lestat is no chump, and he is determined to ensure Louis understands that he is a primal hunter at his core. 

In “Is My Very Nature That of a Devil” viewers are exposed to further character development with Louis, and it’s obvious that the man is not easily persuaded. He rebuffs Lestat’s advances to trigger his instincts and embarks on a diet of animals only. Lestat parades around in front of Louis, flirting with others and engaging in sexual escapades that don’t include his lover, including with women. It’s clear that this is done with the intention of awakening Louis’ primal instincts within, but Louis is a stubborn man. 

It does make him jealous though, which is probably the most humane thing about them both. 

Louis decides that if Lestat is going to diddle around, then he should be allowed to as well. And so he does. 

Toxic traits and controlling spouses

Louis’ long-lost friend strolls into town with the military and it’s pretty clear that they are cut off the same cloth. Not the vampire cloth, but that other cloth that is so prevalent in this show. *coughs – the gay one – coughs* After catching up, Louis leads them off into the woods where they engage in acts of sexytime.

Lestat is doing it, so why can’t Louis? 

Except Lestat is the epitome of controlling and follows them into the woods. He watches and hears everything that transpires between Louis and his friend. 

And transpire, things do! 

Sex is definitely connected to the bloodlust that lives inside vampires. In this scene, in an effort to maintain his vegetarianism, when Louis nears climax, instead of biting his lover, he bits himself. 

Lestat’s controlling nature is on full display in “Is My Very Nature That of a Devil”. If this were real life, we’d be utterly mortified that Lestat followed Louis and his date into the woods. But because it’s Lestat and it’s this show, we died laughing. The underlying humor in Interview With The Vampire is so unexpected, and it adds another layer of perfection to the whole thing. 

Lestat, however, is not laughing at this moment. He sees Louis chomping down on his own arm, and it doesn’t sit well with him at all. When he turned Louis, it’s clear that he didn’t expect Louis to resist their true nature quite as much as he has. It’s driving Lestat absolutely bananas, y’all – and the man is already pretty bananas anyway. 

Louis’ breaking point

The white guy with all the racist comments comes for Louis’ business and succeeds in effectively shutting it down. Louis, always angry and worked up in his efforts to suppress his vampirism these days, pays him a visit in the middle of the night and lashes out, killing the man. 

He hangs his body on a fence post in the middle of town with his guts coming out everywhere. Everyone in town seems to understand that Louis is responsible and they set fire to his business and every other black-owned business in town. 

It’s in this process of completing this act that Louis finally, finally succumbs to his instincts and admits to himself that he is a vampire. 

As he is walking through the destruction being enacted on the black community of New Orleans, Louis realizes that this was all his doing. His impulsivity, his instinctual nature – it caused this. 

Then he finds Claudia (Bailey Bass) among the burning flames of a building and decides that she is his redemption. Even though vampires are not supposed to turn children – it’s the law, spoken and unspoken, Louis selfishly decides to take her for himself. 

Well, for himself and Lestat. He convinces himself that he is giving her a second chance at life, but we all know what happens when you take the soul of a child…

This adaptation has enough differences from the original source material that we’re hilariously curious as to how batshit crazy Lestat and Louis are going to go about the task of parenting this demon child. We don’t know about you, but we’re expecting Lestat to lose his damn mind when Louis walks into the house with a daughter. 

And when Lestat is angry, he’s delightfully funny so we’re very enthusiastic to see how this debacle turns out. 

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You can stream Interview With The Vampire now on the AMC Plus app, or wait for it to go live every Sunday night on AMC through your local cable provider. Read our review for Interview With The Vampire 1X02 “…After The Phantoms of Your Former Self,” here. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff.