Interview With the Vampire Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: ‘I Could Not Prevent It’

If you’ve been following our Interview With The Vampire recaps, you’ll know that the finale of the last episode, Like The Light By Which God Made The World Before He Had Made Light, left us screaming in shock and anticipation. We were literally counting down the hours until I Could Not Prevent It aired. And let us tell you, nothing—absolutely nothing—could have prepared us for what this episode had in store.

This episode was a gut punch to the heart, with every scene tugging at our emotions. It was painful to watch in the best way possible, as we found ourselves deeply empathizing with every character’s plight. We were glued to our screens, our emotions in turmoil, and our hearts breaking a little more with each passing minute. The intensity of the storytelling kept us on the edge of our seats, feeling the weight of every moment.

Truly, I Could Not Prevent It delivers a massive, heartbreaking narration of the infamous show trial to which the Paris coven subjects Louis (Jacob Anderson), Claudia (Delainey Hayles), and Madeleine (Roxane Duran). The storytelling in this episode is intense, and the emotional impact is undeniable. And as has been the pattern this season, it leaves the bar incredibly high for the next and final episode.

But enough chit-chat, let’s dive into the recap of Episode 7 (or 14 according to the show’s timeline), I Could Not Prevent It! 

PSA: If you haven’t caught up on the seventh episode of the second season of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire titled I Could Not Prevent It, 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: The Trial, Tragedy, and Banishment

The episode kicks off with Louis, gagged and hurt, desperately searching for Claudia. He’s been dragged to what seems like the back of the Théâtre des Vampires. Meanwhile, in the present-day portion of the episode, Daniel (Eric Bogosian) starts a new session of the interview by asking about Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine’s current state, but leaving it open for either Louis or Armand (Assad Zaman) to fill in the blanks. 

Due to the topic at hand, both hesitate, but after a little push from Daniel, Louis finally starts sharing the story. He explains that the three were abducted, overwhelmed, and outnumbered. Cue the flashback: we see them being kicked and tortured in the theater’s wet room. 

Back in the present, Daniel accuses Armand of selling Louis out, but Louis quickly shuts him down, claiming the floor for himself. We love how Daniel is basically Armand’s number-one hater, but we digress. Louis continues, describing his desperate struggle to fight back, free himself, and ensure Claudia is still alive. In the flashback, Louis fights for his life, managing to remove the sack covering his head just in time to see the coven stuff Claudia into a rat container—yeah, that place they use to get rid of their victims.

In the present Louis shares that he heard when the rats found Claudia, but he couldn’t help her. Flashing back to the past again, Louis’s face is uncovered on stage as Santiago announces the crimes for which Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine stand accused. All three of them are drifting in and out of consciousness. In the present, Daniel notes that Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine were characters in a play, but Louis corrects him—they were props in a fully designed and rehearsed play. Only Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine had no lines to speak. 

In fact, whenever they tried to speak, the coven members acting as the jury would disorient their minds and hearing, preventing them from defending themselves. Despite the torture, Claudia manages to speak up, claiming in their defense that both Lestat (Sam Reid) and Antoinette (Maura Grace Athari) tried to kill them. 

Santiago (Ben Daniels) dismisses her, citing her own diary as a confession and reading an entry where she shares that she’s planning Lestat’s demise. The audience, mercilessly, boos her for it. And Santiago seizes the opportunity to share the diary with them, asking them to read the pages for themselves and pass it around.

Louis loses his temper at the unfairness of their situation and tries to stand, but falls flat on his face. Celeste (Suzanne Andrade), from the jury seats, screams that the accused must stay silent and seated. Turns out the coven has crippled all three of them, slashing their ankle tendons so the wounds wouldn’t heal before the curtain fell.

Louis then shares with Daniel how after falling and getting back on his seat, a growing sense of nausea overtook him, sensing a familiar presence in the theater. He describes how, despite being on trial for murder, all he could think of was that Lestat was coming. And indeed, as if on cue, Lestat makes a grand, theatrical entrance, receiving cheers and applause.

Santiago, acting as the advocate, then makes Lestat swear on one of Claudia’s diaries, the one where she used Lestat’s blood to write his final words. Lestat, of course, swears in his own blood. Santiago asks why he returned to Paris. Lestat goes off script, saying he’s back for three reasons: 1) a box at Roland-Garros for the men’s doubles, 2) a croquet madame at Brasserie Lipp, and 3) justice for the attempted murder of his being. Lestat takes a seat, declaring it’s Louis and Claudia’s turn to hurt.

In the present, Daniel points out that Lestat was back in the flesh, but Louis insists that Lestat still had the hallmarks of a hallucination, believing Lestat came to kill them. Daniel mentions how Louis’s new boyfriend sold him out to his old boyfriend, and both put him on a show trial in front of a live human audience.

In the past, Santiago asks Lestat to start from the beginning of this story of butchery. Lestat corrects him, calling it a story of love. Santiago adjusts, saying it’s a story of love, wronged. Lestat begins his narration by saying that love has always been difficult for him. His first love, Nicolas de Lenfent (Joseph Potter), had a fragile mind and was heartbreakingly beautiful but prone to corruption. 

Santiago adds that Nicky went insane and died by his own hand, but Lestat corrects him again—Nicky died with a little help from others, looking straight at Armand in the audience. In the present, Louis reveals to Daniel that it broke his heart to see Armand sitting there until he realized Sam (Christopher Geary) was blocking his exit. According to Louis, Armand was as much a captive as they were. All hail the almighty vampire Sam, who managed to subdue a 500-year-old vampire!

Anygays….Daniel asks Armand what would have happened if he hadn’t watched. Armand replies they would have killed him—it was part of his punishment. Daniel clarifies for the readers that to save his own life, Armand betrayed Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine, then watched the consequences of his actions unfold from the best seat in the house. Louis defends Armand, saying he spent the entire performance looking for a way to save him.

In the past, we see Lestat continuing his narration. He describes how after Nicki’s death, he buried himself in the dirt of Port Neuilly on the outskirts of Paris, lying there for a hundred years to mourn, surviving only on the ancient blood running through his veins. Santiago points out that Lestat awoke in 1908, but even a century couldn’t erase the pain of Nicki’s loss. So seeking a fresh start, he went to America, specifically New Orleans. 

Santiago then asks who he met there, and Lestat, acknowledging Louis for the first time, tells the audience: Louis de Pointe du Lac. Santiago states for the record that Lestat pointed at the accused. But Lestat corrects him (again), saying he only glanced at Louis and insists on accurate declarations. Telepathically, Santiago shares with the coven that he’s about to violate the Fifth Law, annoyed by Lestat’s antics. 

But anyway, Lestat continues, recalling first seeing Louis in a street brawl. Santiago explains to the audience that the accused was a troubled man, a failed sugar farmer, and a brothel keeper. Lestat adds that Louis was forced into a corner by his own race and was alienated from his desires, with American Puritanism mangling his soul. Lestat claims that Louis first approached him in a pleasure house, then appeared everywhere he went as if by happy accident, offering to be his chaperone with his eyes lingering on him. 

In his testimony, Lestat claims that Louis, a human, was hunting him, a vampire, silently saying, “come to me.” Louis snaps, asserting those were Lestat’s words. The jury intervenes, trying to disorient Louis, but he manages to say that it was Lestat who said “come to me.” Lestat, without looking at Louis, asks how he knows it wasn’t his own desires speaking, hoping he [Lestat] would come to him. 

This little deviation from the script causes Lestat to lose concentration. Telepathically, Santiago reminds him of his next line, but Lestat isn’t listening until a vampire offstage prompts him. Lestat continues, saying that after Nicki, feeling such hunger again for someone was appealing. Santiago says Louis called him from a church where he was confessing his sins to a priest. Lestat confesses he destroyed the priest and another right in front of Louis. 

Santiago describes how Lestat put his fist through the man’s skull. Lestat says he offered himself to Louis, offered him what he is, his companionship, an immortal life, in the church, at the altar. At this point, we might quip that Lestat and Louis are pretty much married if you ask us, but we digress. Santiago says that with two priests present, Louis took Lestat’s face and kissed him, accepting his gift. Lestat confirms this. 

A man from the audience shouts a homophobic slur, and Lestat reacts immediately, using his powers to confront the man face-to-face. He asks if men embracing disgusts him. The man admits it disgusts many. Using his powers, Lestat picks through the man’s memories, revealing he fought in Bastogne, often vomited in his foxhole, and never fired his rifle. Germans overran his line, and three days later, he ran off into the Belgian forest. 

His friend, who shares a matching tattoo with him, had his arm shot off. Lestat says the man tried to desert but couldn’t read his map and eventually stumbled back, claiming he got lost in the fog. Lestat notes there are 14 men who served honorably in the audience and suggests they might share the man’s disgust for love between two vampires but questions where their disgust lies now. 

Lestat reappears on stage in a blink and prompts Santiago to continue. Santiago, caught off guard, stumbles over his words, but Lestat helps, reminding him of his line that “Louis didn’t take to vampirism.” Santiago says Louis only drank from animals. Through the torture, Louis states he didn’t want to kill people, prompting the audience to laugh. Lestat continues, explaining Louis was fixated on his lost humanity, his estranged family, and the politics of his food. 

Santiago points out that Louis not only rejected vampirism but also Lestat. Lestat says Louis was always good with words and knew how to hurt him. One night, Louis told him he’d be alone forever. Santiago gives a word of context to the audience sharing with them that the single worst thing that a vampire can feel is loneliness, human looniness which gets magnified by millennia and their immortal lives.

Lestat walks among the audience, wondering how they didn’t know this. Santiago explains they couldn’t have known. Lestat grabs a man’s hand, making him feel the loneliness vampires endure. Lestat recounts how one night, one of Louis’ rare kills uproared the city, and Louis threatened him with that loneliness. The man, now sobbing, shames Louis for what he did to Lestat. Lestat shares how Louis abandoned him, leaving him engulfed in loneliness. 

But Louis came back. He came back to his and Lestat’s house because of Claudia. On stage, Santiago quotes one of Claudia’s diaries, describing the night she was transformed, how she waited for the fire to take her, praying it wouldn’t hurt too much. That’s when the black angel came: Louis.

Claudia, blaming Lestat for turning her without consent, claims she is more of a vampire than anyone else present. Lestat counters that Claudia’s writings were the words of a child, that she was recalling the events of her transformation weeks after they occurred. Lestat claims that he told Louis that Claudia, being only 14 years old, would remain a cripple forever. 

In the present, Armand tells Daniel that Lestat twisted the familiar pieces of Louis’s life into a Lestat-shaped effigy. Louis interrupts, admitting that some of it is true. He remembers being out of his body at the time, feeling like he was in both Paris and New Orleans simultaneously, guided by Lestat’s words, but now he knows things weren’t as he once said they were.

In a flashback to the night of Claudia’s transformation, Lestat warns Louis that Claudia would be a cripple forever if turned at 14. Louis, feeling guilty because Claudia’s building was set on fire due to his actions, begs Lestat to turn her. Lestat argues that the townspeople lit the fire of their own free will and tells Louis that the gift cannot be given to children. Despite Lestat’s objections, Louis insists, worried that Claudia will die in front of them.

Lestat recalls that Louis was in a terrible panic, seized by guilt. In the flashback, Louis is furious, insisting that Lestat can turn Claudia. Lestat questions what Claudia will become, suggesting a lap dog. Louis counters that she will be a daughter and promises to stay by Lestat’s side forever. In his testimony, Lestat says that despite seeing a light in Louis’s eyes he hadn’t seen in years, he resisted because he knew that pain and anxiety would be Claudia’s only birthright. 

Back in the night of Claudia’s transformation, Louis, determined, starts feeding the girl with his blood, attempting to transform her himself. Lestat tells him that for it to work, he must drain her first. In tears, Louis shares that Claudia asked if he was an angel, and despite Lestat’s warnings about Claudia’s future misery and Louis’ own regret, Louis begs and begs, forcing Lestat to complete the transformation. 

Back in the present-day theater, Lestat claims he made Claudia for Louis, breaking the second law. He asks the jury to sentence him alongside Louis and Claudia. Santiago intervenes, suggesting Lestat was manipulated. Claudia questions Louis about Lestat’s truthfulness, but Louis says the man is lying.

In the present, Louis tells Daniel that Lestat wasn’t lying, he told the truth. He did warn him about Claudia’s fate and Louis downplayed his own role in the matter. Louis suggests Daniel go with Lestat’s version of what happened that night in the book and apologizes for not recalling the events correctly. 

Back in the past, Lestat continues with his testimony, describing Claudia as an unforeseen joy, a formidable fledgling, a consummate killer, and a congenial companion. He recalls their happiness as a trio, with Louis coddling Claudia and Lestat providing her with a predator’s upbringing. However, Claudia’s age eventually led to instability. She sought attention by burning herself in the sun and went on a killing spree, exposing their lives in New Orleans before running away for seven years.

Lestat shares with the audience how in her absence, Louis became withdrawn, blaming himself for her departure, so he had to seek affection elsewhere, starting an affair with Antoinette. Claudia’s return further strained their fragile union, especially when Claudia urged Louis to abandon Lestat and join her in Europe. Lestat shares that after her return, Louis was Claudia’s again, and that led to an almost lethal confrontation between Lestat and Louis. 

Lestat narrates that the seven years of compromise and denial fueled their intense fight. In a flashback to that night in New Orleans, Lestat and Louis are seen slamming each other around their townhouse. Lestat tries to restrain himself, but Louis, consumed by the rage of Lestat’s actions, refuses to back down. Lestat pleads with Louis to stay down, not wanting to fight, but Louis demands Lestat to finish what he started. Lestat warns that the fight will end in Louis’s death.

From behind the door, Claudia begs Lestat to stop, not seeing the unfolding chaos. Inside the room, Lestat is on the floor, separated from Louis by their two coffins. Louis yells to Claudia to stay back, assuring her everything is fine. Lestat realizes Louis is leaving with her. Louis threatens to wrap his hand around Lestat’s neck and squeeze until his eyes pop, then chop off Lestat’s head and feed it to the lions in Audubon Park. This threat awakens Lestat’s vampiric self, and he launches at Louis at full speed, leading to the fight’s climax we all know.

Back in the theater timeline, Lestat admits to being burdened with his maker’s temper. Santiago interrupts, explaining that Lestat was provoked until he lashed out. Claudia argues that Lestat tried to kill Louis, but Santiago clarifies that if Lestat truly wanted to kill Louis, he would have. 

Santiago recounts how Lestat used his cloud gift to drop Louis from a height of 2 kilometers, a lethal fall for a mortal but merely a hard fall for a vampire. Santiago emphasizes Lestat’s ancient blood and godlike strength, pointing out that Lestat could have easily killed Louis but chose not to. He asks the audience to remember that vampires are monsters and dismisses the incident as a minor altercation between paramours.

Lestat, haunted by his actions, sincerely apologizes to Louis, admitting that he intentionally let go and watched him fall. In the present day, Armand explains that the projections went off sync because Lestat deviated from the script. Daniel asks how Armand knew it wasn’t part of the show, and Armand reveals that Sam was cursing beside him and hands Daniel the play’s script.

In the past, Lestat confesses that he let go of Louis to hurt him, acknowledging that Louis was broken because of him. Almost in tears, Lestat admits that he couldn’t persuade Louis to return his affections or force him to love him, so he broke him, crushing what he couldn’t own. Looking at Louis, Lestat expresses his deep regret, admitting he will always be sorry for what he did and acknowledging he was not worthy of Louis’s forgiveness. 

In the present day, Daniel remarks that Lestat’s apology was heartfelt and asks Louis if it moved him. Louis reflects on Lestat’s nature, acknowledging that Lestat crossed an ocean wanting them dead but also did something real, illustrating Lestat’s contradictory behavior. Armand adds that Lestat’s actions create confusion until you no longer know what’s true. Louis confesses that Lestat’s apology no longer worked on him, but it did move Claudia.

In the theater, Claudia stands up despite her slashed ankles and addresses Lestat with mock congratulations for his apology, sarcastically remarking that he dropped Louis like an egg from an airplane but since he apologized, now all is forgiven. She questions if she, like Lestat, is allowed to cry and apologize too. The other vampires try to bring her under control with their powers. 

Seeing Claudia being hurt, Louis questions Lestat if this spectacle is his revenge, leaving Lestat troubled. Madeleine attempts to aid Claudia but falls. Claudia, tiredly, wonders why she bothers trying to apologize to Lestat, stating he is there for Louis, not her. She reflects that the play and what’s happening at the moment is just another chapter in Louis and Lestat’s tumultuous romance. Nothing ever was about her. Madeleine, awakening from the trance Santiago had put her under, asks if they are on trial. Claudia clarifies it’s not a trial, but a stoning. 

In the present, Louis admits that after Claudia’s words, it all got less fun. Armand shares that the coven had their technicolor film to keep the play going, with Lestat fully recovered from his apology and back on mission. Louis comments that the audience was captivated by the tale of the father betrayed by his diabolical children, humiliated in his final moments, and the mistress extinguished in the courtyard oven. Armand explains that Santiago and Lestat had the mortals completely under their control. 

Louis confesses to Daniel that recalling these events is difficult, so Armand takes over the narration of the sentencing. On stage, Santiago asks the audience for the verdict for Claudia for heretical desecration of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th laws. Madame Justice halts him, wanting to know Madeleine’s crime first. 

Santiago declares Madeleine a bastard fledgling made without the coven master’s consent, thus unaware of her maker’s crimes. The jury argues that she should be offered the same choice as any vampire—join the coven or die. Santiago agrees and gives Madeleine a chance to save her life by joining the coven.

Addressing the audience, Madeleine introduces herself, saying that her coven is Claudia, choosing to share the same fate as her. The audience declares her guilty of desecrating the 1st great vampire law and sentences her to death. The same happens with Claudia, who takes center stage and is declared guilty, sentenced to death for violating four of the five great vampiric laws. 

After her sentencing, Claudia requests a final wish. Santiago initially denies it, but Lestat asks him to grant it. Claudia asks a man in the back to remove her hat and then tells the audience that she now knows all their faces and, whether there’s an afterlife or not, she will find a way to come back and kill them all. 

Louis’ sentencing is next. The audience finds him guilty of heretical desecration of the 1st, 2nd, and 4th great vampiric laws. But just as they begin to pronounce his sentence, a great power intervenes, forcing all humans to change Louis’ sentence from death to banishment. We see Armand using his power to save Louis. In the present-day conversation, Daniel questions the fact that Armand saved Louis but not Claudia. Armand explains it took almost all his strength and that he couldn’t have prevented Claudia’s fate. 

Back in the theater, Santiago reacts to the banishment sentence, acknowledging it isn’t typically applicable but accepting it as banishment can be worse than death. Santiago sentences Louis to be banished to Belgium but telepathically instructs the coven to pack Louis and take him downstairs. Despite Louis’s attempts to stay with Claudia, he is overpowered. 

In the present, Daniel asks Louis if they drove him to the Belgian border. Louis reveals they took him to their crypt, placed him in a coffin filled with rocks so he couldn’t move, and left him to starve to death in a three-by-seven-foot box. 

While Louis is being confined, Claudia is upstairs on stage. Louis defers to Armand to recount what happened next since he was there. Armand says he recalls Claudia and Madeleine standing on stage, arms around each other, whispering last words to each other while Santiago reminds the audience that what they’re about to witness is fake. Armand narrates that he tried to listen to Claudia’s words, but that his mind was with Louis.

In the past, Santiago uncovers a curtain revealing an observatory lens, perfectly timed with the sun above the theater. As the curtain opens and the sun hits, Claudia begins reciting lines from her play, when Baby Lulu falls to her death. Armand recounts that Claudia turned her back to the audience and Madeleine succumbed first. He says that he could tell from Lestat’s face that the last face she saw was that of her maker. And it’s true because Lestat’s face in the past is of sheer horror as he watches his fledgling, his daughter, turn to dust. 

Meanwhile, inside a crypt marked as Louis de Pointe du Lac, we hear Louis yelling and sobbing. As the theater empties and humans leave, Santiago walks to where Madeleine and Claudia’s ashes still lay on stage, picks up Claudia’s yellow dress, and leaves with it.

To say this episode broke us completely would be a huge understatement. We truly weren’t ready for everything that happened in I Could Not Prevent It, and we have to confess that we’re still recovering from it. What this season of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire has achieved is beyond extraordinary. We mentioned it in our Season 2 review, but it’s worth repeating—this season is a tour de force in storytelling. We have no words, just bravo. 

Buy anygays, we’ll see y’all next week for our final recap of Season 2 of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire. Until then, we’ll be in therapy trying to process this week’s episode. Bye. 

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The seventh episode of the second season of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire “I Could Not Prevent It” 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.