Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: ‘Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape’

We’re just gonna say it, Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape is perhaps the best episode this season of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire has given us, and that’s saying something since the bar has been really, really, really high this time around. But it just entered our Top 3!

And we’re not lying when we put this episode in our top 3, from the moment Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape began, we were hooked. The episode had us holding on to our seats as we went back and forth between past and present, meticulously piecing together what really happened in 1973. And oh boy, if things HAPPENED back then.

Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape delivered on every front: suspense, drama, and those jaw-dropping moments that left us gasping. The storytelling was masterful, seamlessly weaving the threads of the past with the present to create a narrative tapestry that was as intricate as it was compelling. To say that we were treated to an emotional roller coaster, with highs that had our hearts racing and lows that tugged at our heartstrings, would be an understatement.

Truly, nothing could have prepared us for the torrent of emotions we experienced. So before we begin with the recap, we want to use this space to say that every single person involved in the making of this episode deserves a standing ovation because it completely blew our minds. The performances were stellar, the direction impeccable, and the writing was top-notch, making it an episode that will be hard to forget.

Anygays, unlike in past recaps, this time we won’t divide the episode between what happens in the past vs. what happens in the present since the story is too intertwined for it to work. So instead, it’ll just be one huge recap of the entire episode. We hope this integrated approach will help us convey the complexity and brilliance of the narrative without losing any of its impact.

Having said that, we hope you’ve brought enough snacks and are ready for all the twists and turns because, as we said, Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape is one terrifyingly well-put-together roller coaster of an episode. So hold on tight, ’cause this ride is just starting.

PSA: If you haven’t caught up on the fifth episode of the second season of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire titled Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape, you might want to hit pause on this recap and come back once you’re ready. From this point forward there will be a lot of spoilers for the episode. You’ve been warned, so tread carefully.

In the Past and Present: What Really Happened in 1973 

The episode kicks off in the present, with Louis (Jacob Anderson) candidly telling Daniel (Eric Bogosian) that he and Armand (Assad Zaman) had it all figured out after the events of Episode 4, what they needed from the other. The dreamy kind of balance they were seeking. He and Armand share how happy they were back then, but it doesn’t really surprise Daniel. He’s perpetually unimpressed by these two’s “love story.”

As Louis keeps narrating his life, Daniel starts to notice the vampire’s syntax, and how he uses language as a chicken exit. When asked about it, Daniel simply says that he thinks Louis is circling something or he’s getting close to something he wants distance from. Armand intervenes and says that maybe it’s just the fact that it’s daytime and Louis is tired and can’t fight the narcoleptic pull of the sun, but Daniel isn’t buying it.

At that moment, Rashid (Bally Gill) enters the room with a young man named Malik (Elander Moore). The young man is surprised when he sees Armand and questions if this is the man who’s gonna chase him down. Armand is wearing fine clothing, so it makes sense for the boy to question his abilities. Turns out that Armand needs to hunt, and so he makes it a sport of sorts.

When Armand leaves with Malik, Louis explains that Armand rarely eats, so when he does, he prefers to hunt for it. Daniel asks if Malik knows he’s Armand’s lunch, to which Louis replies that Malik knows that if he makes it on foot to Jumeirah Mosque by evening, he’ll be paid enough crypto to buy whatever he wants. Daniel asks if someone’s ever cashed in, and Louis says their victims are usually someone carefully chosen for the harm they do the world with their chosen profession.

Louis shares that this “hunt” usually takes an hour or two. It’s cruel and barbaric and although Louis reassures Daniel that Armand’s methodology is never violent, Daniel’s not that sure. Despite the discomfort, Daniel resumes the interview, saying that according to Louis everything is in its right place before the theater burns down. But just then he starts having more flashbacks to 1973, with Armand torturing memories out of Daniel and the body wrapped in plastic being thrown onto the floor like a sack of potatoes. 

The flashback becomes more vivid, and Louis notices that there’s something strange with Daniel. Daniel asks Louis to remind him how long Armand’s lunch will last and seizes their alone time to change things up a bit. He asks Louis about what Armand meant when he said to Daniel, “this time I won’t save your life,” and Louis explains it’s because Armand saved Daniel from Louis back in 1973.

Daniel then retells what supposedly happened back then: Louis bit him, Daniel blacked out, Armand ripped Louis off Daniel, and dumped him in a drug den. But Daniel now knows that’s not all that happened. He asks Louis how often in all the 500 years that Armand’s been alive has he spared a life. Louis says that Armand could see that Louis was partial to Daniel, and insists that Armand preserves his happiness even when he [Louis] doesn’t or can’t, that Armand had a hunch that Daniel could prove fruitful in later times. Daniel again isn’t buying it but tells Louis that sure, they can go with that.

Daniel confesses that their first interview is a fog; it was the 70s, so it’s all a blur. He’s beating around the bush, so Louis asks him to just ask the question. Daniel says that the two had drinks, which Louis paid for, they cabbed to Louis’ place in Divisadero, and Louis paid for that too. Daniel asks if they did something else—if they had…sex.

In the past, we see a young Daniel (Luke Brandon Field) with Louis as they enter Louis’ apartment. Daniel seems nervous and clumsy even, he says that he likes Louis’ place, and Louis says he owns a few of them. Young Daniel wonders if Louis is a real estate mogul. The exchange has a flirty undertone, that only intensifies when Louis opens the door to his room and lets Daniel see the coffin. Louis asks him if that scares him. Daniel denies it and wonders out loud if Louis climbs in, closes the lid, and then has sex with people inside. Louis answers honestly and says that sometimes. Daniel wonders if he’s the first guy that Louis has brought back to his apartment. Louis says that he’s the fifth.

Louis opens a suitcase with drugs and offers Daniel some. As Daniel inhales cocaine, he tells Louis that all his slickness at the bar is gone. Louis wonders how he seems now, and Daniel says that Louis looks like a veteran of many wars. Daniel confesses that he prefers Louis like this—all dark and real. Daniel makes a pass at Louis and even takes off his shirt, but Louis stops him. Daniel thinks he’s fulfilling his side of the social contract, but Louis does want an interview.

Back in the present, Louis reassures Daniel that despite Daniel’s drug-induced pass at him, they didn’t have sex. Daniel confesses that he really thought they had, and Louis jokes that they can if Daniel wants to—Armand sometimes lingers when boats come into the harbor so they may have more time alone. Louis confesses that back during their first interview, Daniel offered Louis something that was off the menu.

Back in the past, after that little misunderstanding of the nature of Daniel’s visit to Louis’ apartment, Daniel resumes the interview. He starts by asking Louis if he specializes in low-end real estate. Louis says he likes predicting what product will flourish in time. Daniel asks if Louis came to San Francisco because of the liberation, but Louis says that Paris in the 40s with its permissive laissez-aller sexual atmosphere was the more formative liberation for him. Daniel doesn’t think Louis is taking this seriously, but Louis says he is. 

When Daniel realizes that he forgot to put a tape in the recorder, Louis notices that the young reporter doesn’t really believe he is, indeed, a vampire, so he tells him again what he is. Daniel says he’s interested in knowing why Louis believes that. To prove he’s not lying, Louis lunges at Daniel at full speed and snaps out his fangs, scaring the heck out of Daniel. 

After that, Daniel is visibly nervous around Louis, who reassures him to not be afraid and just start the tape. Daniel’s first question now is if Louis was always a vampire. Louis retells how he was a 33-year-old man when he became a vampire. Daniel asks him how it happened, but Louis says the answer to that is pretty simple, but he doesn’t want to give simple answers, he wants to tell the real story.

In the present, Louis comments on how nervous Daniel’s younger self was, smoking cigarette after cigarette. Louis notes that Daniel was shaking even more back then than he does now with Parkinson’s. Daniel recalls how alien Louis seemed, but also how eager he was to spill his story. There was no need for coaxing, no journalism to be done per se. Daniel says that Louis was lonely, but Louis says it was simply gratifying to tell a human who he was after mingling with so many for so long.

Daniel says that Louis wasn’t thrill-seeking, he was floundering. Louis asks where this is leading, and Daniel confesses he has lingering questions about 1973. He tells Louis that he’s made him an accessory to Malik’s fate, so all he asks for is 20 minutes to get some answers, pointing out that Louis has had 13 sessions to tell his story. Louis asks Daniel what’s the last thing he remembers from back then, and Daniel says that Louis eviscerating Lestat (Sam Reid).

As Daniel in the present-day section of the episode remembers what happened in 1973, we see Louis talking shit about Lestat, claiming that the vampire had a dark pull, a numbing effect on the senses—that he was a handsome Satan. But that if you stripped away his superficial charms, beneath his flimsy gentleman’s veneer Lestat was trivial, vapid, vulgar, maniacal, blind, sterile, and contemptible.

That Lestat, despite his love for music, played without feeling, like an automaton, plunking away at the notes with all the emotional acuity of a monster. A young, drunk, and drugged Daniel laughs, noting that despite now knowing this, Louis was still lured by Lestat, implying that he paid a biblical price for his first love. Louis acknowledges Daniel’s astuteness.

Back in the present, Louis praises young Daniel’s nimbleness despite his intoxicated state. Daniel, however, criticizes himself for not realizing how dangerous Louis was because the next thing that happened was that Louis detonated when Daniel overstepped a bit. 

In the past, Louis narrates a memory he had of sitting on a bench in Jackson Square, contemplating ending it all as he watched Claudia leave. He felt he had nothing and was considering letting the sun consume him, purify the putrid soul. At that, Daniel gets angry, questioning Louis about contemplating ending his life. He points out that humans have to carry their burdens, but Louis had a way out and almost threw it away.

Louis warns him that he’s overstepping, but Daniel continues. Clarifying that obviously Louis didn’t do it or else he wouldn’t be talking to Daniel at that moment, but that he was given the gift and Daniel has been hearing him bitch the night away about it. So Daniel asks Louis to give him the Dark Gift, believing he could be a better version of Lestat or Claudia. Naturally, Louis loses his temper, lunging at Daniel in an attempt to kill him.

Louis admits he overreacted when he attacked Daniel. Daniel agrees, but notes that he probably deserved to have his ass kicked for persistently asking “and then what.” Louis explains that the drugs in Daniel’s blood affected him when he bit him, which is likely why his memory is hazy. Daniel then reveals he has an enhanced audio file from their original interview, which he shares with Louis. The audio is from the very last tape and contains the last 9 minutes after Louis bit him. 

Listening to the audio, Louis sees himself draining Daniel’s blood before Armand intervenes, pushing Louis away and causing Daniel to crash against the wall. Daniel clarifies that the wet thud that can be heard in the tape is Armand “saving” him. In the past, Armand berates Louis for losing track of time, as it’s already morning. 

Louis admits he got carried away. Armand, who seems to have lost all his patience, reprimands Louis for his actions and says that he’s once again there with open-mindedness to clean Louis’ mess. Armand confesses that he can let some of the things Louis does go, but that revealing their nature to a journalist he met just hours ago is a no-no. It’s dangerous. Louis argues that he was in the middle of ending things when Armand interrupted.

As Armand keeps rebuking Louis for his behavior, Louis snaps, saying that their fight is boring—that Armand is boring. He even goes on to say that Armand is colorless. Armand blames Louis’ behavior on the drugs in his system, but Louis continues by saying that Armand is dull and suffocating.

The fight intensifies and the two exchange harsh words, with Louis saying his time with Daniel was more exciting than decades with Armand. Armand blames Lestat for their issues, but Louis argues their problems are not related to Lestat. Armand counters by saying that sometimes Claudia was in the mix too, but only for cover because it always circled back to Lestat.

Louis says that he loved Claudia, and Armand says that Claudia never loved Louis like Lestat or he did. Louis acknowledges this, breaking down and saying that everything from Paris is coming back to him. He says he can hear Claudia calling him and, seemingly lost, storms out of the room.

In the present, Daniel points out that at the end of the audio, he believes that the sounds they can hear are those of Louis storming out of the room followed by Armand, but that two of those slamming doors they hear come from a metal door. Daniel asks Louis about it, he wonders where Armand followed Louis since it was daytime, but Louis doesn’t remember.

To help trigger Louis’ memory, Daniel begins narrating the audio, pointing out the first door slam, the steps, the second and metallic door slam (which is followed by agonizing screams), and finally the two slams that follow after Armand calls his name. Replaying the audio, Louis has a hazy memory of him walking up the stairs, opening a metal door, stepping into the sun, and starting to burn until Armand drags him back inside just as he begins to turn to ash.

Devastated by the memory, Louis struggles to recall what happened next. Daniel presses him for details. As Louis narrates what he remembers after burning in the sun, in the past, we see him lying on a bed, writhing in pain. His skin is charred, and he describes the pain as an unbearable noise within his body. In the present, Louis cries, realizing he indeed walked into the sun to end his life. He reflects on losing important pieces of his life, but Daniel encourages him to focus on the big picture and remember what happened after.

In the past, Louis is on the bed as Armand enters the room. Louis, in agony, asks what happened. Armand explains that Louis drained a drug addict, said horrible things to him, and then ran into the sun. Louis apologizes, but Armand dismisses it, considering his words to be meaningless. When Armand mentions something about the uneven floor needing fixing before selling the place, Louis realizes that Daniel is still alive. 

Louis shows his surprise at this, but Armand, jealous of the boy and out of control, quite literally toys with Daniel’s body, sarcastically insisting that everything is “fine.”Back in the present, Daniel asks how long Armand and Louis kept him in the apartment, as he can’t remember. He recalls a few details, like a corpse wrapped in plastic on the floor. In the past, Armand continues to belittle Louis’s apologies, explaining that he had to deal with a neighbor who saw him taking out the trash, which accounts for the body.

Daniel, in the present, narrates further memories: a TV playing a commercial, sheets of plastic tarp, duct tape, and bleach. So Louis and Daniel piece together the events after Louis’s suicide attempt. Louis remembers hearing Daniel but not seeing him. Daniel recalls Armand finding the recorder, flipping the tape, and pressing play. Louis’s voice on the tape talks about Lestat while Armand controls Daniel’s body, forcing him to act against his will.

In the past, Armand listens to the tape, unable to bear hearing Louis talk about Lestat. He takes over Daniel’s body, making him rise. Daniel, terrified, says he doesn’t want to die. Armand, menacingly, introduces himself, curious about what makes Daniel so fascinating. He wonders how he managed to hold Louis’s attention and get him to confess to him his innermost secrets. Daniel admits he just wanted drugs, but that he and Louis didn’t even have sex. 

Armand notes that out of 128 boys Louis brought to the apartment, Daniel is the first he didn’t consummate and drain, making him special. Daniel, scared, confesses to being good at getting people to open up. Armand goes through Daniel’s bag, finding and destroying tapes, asking about their content. Later, Armand decides that Daniel will teach him how to be fascinating, so he starts peeking into his memories and recounting events from Daniel’s life.

After the mental torture, Armand asks if Daniel finds him boring, to which Daniel replies he doesn’t. Armand then starts to share his own story but stops abruptly, deciding that there’s nothing more to Daniel than a body to have sex with (he said hole, but you know…). He then grabs the corpse lying on the floor (effortlessly, we might add), and leaves.

In the present, Daniel recalls being in Zheleznogorsk to interview a KGB operative. Midway through his interview, he tried to go to the bathroom, but the man locked him in, turning the tables so Daniel realized he was the one being interviewed. Louis asks the point of this story, and Daniel says it’s to highlight the danger posed by Louis’ boyfriend, Armand. Louis tries to defend Armand, but Daniel suddenly remembers the name “Spiro Agnew.”

Back in the past, Daniel watches TV, seeing a reporter discuss Vice President Spiro T. Agnew potentially resigning due to ongoing investigations. In the present, Daniel connects this memory with the facts he knows from the past and realizes he was in the apartment for 3-4 days, from Tuesday to Saturday. He then recalls Armand being in a trance, he seems to be telepathically communicating with someone but Daniel struggles to remember what the man said exactly. Louis urges him to recall the details before lunch ends and Armand is back.

Daniel remembers Louis begging Armand to put him in his coffin, pleading for relief from his pain, which feels like continuous burning. When Armand enters Louis’ room, Daniel tries to make a run for it but is stopped by Armand who puts him to rest. Armand places Louis in the coffin and gives him some of his blood to drink. 

Armand confesses to Louis that he listened to all the tapes twice and all he heard was talk of Lestat and Claudia, but mainly Lestat. Louis says he only spoke poorly of Lestat, and Armand questions why, noting it wasn’t how Louis used to speak of him. Armand suggests Louis might be seeking Lestat’s attention, wanting the chaos back to escape the “prison of empathy” Armand created for him.

Hurt, Armand offers to perform one final act of service: revealing Lestat’s location to Louis. He confesses that he found his voice among the many and contacted him. And so, Armand telepathically contacts Lestat despite Louis’ objections. Armand tells Lestat he’s with Louis, who injured himself but wants to tell him something. 

Acting as a conduit, Armand relays Lestat’s questions to Louis about his health and why he did what he did. However, he hesitates to convey Lestat’s final message (that he loves Louis), despite Lestat’s insistence on it. The connection fades when Armand loses concentration and Lestat can be heard screaming Louis’ name until he fades away completely.

Louis, taking Armand’s face in his hands, says that Lestat was his maker and that’s all there is to it. Armand points out that Louis left him for dead and wonders if he will need to watch over Louis for the next thousand years to avoid another suicide attempt. Armand questions whether he has atoned for his role in Paris. When Louis doesn’t respond, Armand says he’ll finish cleaning up and closes the lid of Louis’ coffin, telling him to rest. In the present, Louis and Daniel remember Armand telling them both to “rest.” 

In the past, Daniel sees Armand whispering “rest” as he tends to his wounds. Armand is deliberately putting Daniel in a trance, speaking softly and telling him he can rest and not be afraid, detailing a bleak future for Daniel in Modesto: a boring job, an unhappy marriage, a dysfunctional family, and a life dulled by valium and alcohol. 

Armand masterfully manipulates Daniel, making him believe he’ll end his misery before it starts. As Daniel falls into the trance, his nose starts bleeding. Armand is about to drain Daniel when Louis, barely able to stand, comes out of the room and asks him to stop. Armand says he’s cleaning up the mess, but Louis says it doesn’t need cleaning. 

Armand argues that he deserves this after what Louis put him through, but Louis insists that he needs Daniel alive as a testament to their companionship. This seems to persuade Armand, who questions Louis— referring to him as maître—if he’s asking (implying it could be an order). Louis simply says he’s not asking, and Armand stops. As Armand moves away from Daniel, Louis goes and comforts the visibly scared journalist.

In the present, Daniel remembers Louis comforting his younger self and walks away from the room. He returns with one of his books and reads from page 484: “Listen as though I’m the voice of God or an angel talking to you. Telling you this room doesn’t matter, this night doesn’t matter. You’re not inconsequential or a junkie, you’re a bright young reporter with a point of view. There are stories that need to be told. If things ever get bad again these are the words you’ll hear in your mind like a tape playing over and over, like a song stuck in your brain. These words will hold you up and carry you. They’re your lifeline.”

Daniel realizes these were Louis’ words, not someone else’s. He reflects on how he ruined two marriages and relationships with his daughters but remained a journalist, never so lost that he couldn’t keep his job. Louis recalls how they gave Daniel more drugs, confused his mind, and fed him a truncated version of what happened. Daniel concludes that Armand fogged his mind and erased himself from Daniel’s memories which accounts for why he didn’t remember him, but asks Louis what accounts for his lack of memory of the real events. Louis attributes it to his disfigurement and pain, but Daniel notes that their memories both cut out at the same exact moment, suggesting a deliberate alteration by the same person.

At that moment, Armand arrives. Louis asks about lunch, and Armand, in good spirits, replies it was entertaining. He inquires about Paris, and Louis says they paused Paris to reminisce about San Francisco, starting with Daniel’s curiosity about why Armand saved him in 1973. Armand recites the same words Louis said to Daniel when asked the same question, that he preserved Louis’ happiness even when Louis didn’t or couldn’t, that he had a hunch that Daniel might prove fruitful in later times. Louis realizes that Armand is lying to his face.

We truly cannot express how much we loved this episode and how eagerly we await the next one. Despite the heartbreak of seeing Louis walk into the sun (still devastated over that, to be honest), the entire sequence leading up to that moment was masterfully played. Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape gave us many answers about what really happened in 1973, but it also left us with numerous questions about the future. 

Now that Louis knows there’s more to his story than he realized, and that Armand is behind it all, what will happen next? Since Armand’s true identity was revealed, we’ve known that Louis is no longer a reliable narrator and that Armand is sketchy at best. Now that it’s confirmed he’s a master of manipulation and deceit, we’re left wondering how things will unfold. With only three episodes left, the anticipation is high, and we have so many questions that need answers.

But anyway, while we wait for the next episode to drop, we’ll be replaying this one on a loop. It’s truly a masterclass in storytelling and acting, and we can’t wait to see how the rest of the season develops.

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The fifth episode of the second season of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire “Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape” is available to stream exclusively on AMC+. Interview With the Vampire airs every Sunday on AMC. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!

Featured Image: Courtesy of AMC. Photo Credit: Larry Horricks.