Welcome back, my fellow creatures of the night. We begin “Is My Very Nature That of a Devil†on a park bench in 1917, where Lestat is boring Louis with fun facts about New Orleans from his newspaper. But Louis is, as ever, preoccupied with finding a morally sound principle on which to live as a vampire. Would it be possible to kill only the truly evil people — which, if you think about it, might actually be doing the world a service? In the end, Louis lands on eating white folks which, fair enough. But, even that plan backfires, and Louis is overwhelmed with guilt again (like a true Catholic). I worry we may be in for a long season of self-loathing from Louis, you guys. It’s not like this was a bad episode… it’s just that it’s a lot of ground we already covered a week ago.
While in this state of existential dread, this episode Louis attempts to beat back segregation with the power of socialism, convince his mother and nieces that there is no devil in his eyes, and navigate a distinctly unethical non-monogamous relationship. Meanwhile Lestat is just here for the yuks. Louis tries to argue that he’s good for the community because his club the Azalea is a job creator. Lestat releases a zinger: “For every 20 people he kills he makes one small businessman’s dreams come true. Louis de Pointe du Lac, the Dark Prince of Iberville.†They’re having drinks at the club and Lestat starts heckling the pianist — who I guess is supposed to be Jelly Roll Morton — and improvises the melody for “Wolverine Blues.†Sure, why not.
Many of Lestat’s jokes are mean, and sometimes Lestat does mean things for fun, because Lestat is not a very nice guy. It’s causing some serious problems in the relationship, actually. Louis, sitting hangrily in a corner, is not having a good time watching Lestat sex up his singer friend Miss Brown, for instance. “I like men called Daddy,†says Miss Brown. “Bad Daddy,†quips Lestat as he dumps champagne down her shirt. This is when Louis decides to bail. Confronting Lestat later through sobs, he asks, “Aren’t I enough?†And Lestat, confirmed dick, cracks up. He just wants a little “variety†on occasion. So Louis has permission to have sex with whoever he wants, too? But of course! (Side note: I want to make clear to all readers that this is not a good way to begin an open relationship. Okay, as you were.)
Conveniently, Louis’ old childhood sweetheart, Jonah, has just arrived in town, as his unit is about to get shipped out for World War I. Louis has to literally drink his own blood from the wrist to keep himself from eating Jonah mid-blowie, but he does get a blowie. Too bad it all has to end in tragedy. Tragedy for Jonah, because he has to go fight in WWI. And, tragedy for Louis, because he has to go home to find out exactly why this is a bad way to open a relationship. Surprise! Lestat is no longer quite so chill about non-monogamy, and as revenge, he has invited a whole gaggle of soldiers into their shared bedroom. Orgy, anyone?
“What can I say? I’m a lot.†says Lestat, revealing that not only did Lestat hear Louis call him “a lot†when he was watching the hookup from the shadows like a creep, but he also “HEARD THEIR HEARTS DANCING!†Boo hoo, Lestat. You’re the one who wanted to make this an open thing!
Even if Louis did want to sit down and talk it out and maybe discuss love languages and ground rules, he’s pretty occupied with some other issues. Principally, the poker-playing, cigar-puffing, mustache-twirling sons of the Confederacy on the city council who are determined to force Louis and his club into the segregated part of town. First, Louis plays by the rules. If the city ordinance says that all Black and brown sex workers have to do business in the segretated section, Louis’ legal workaround is to make all of his girls part-owners of the Azalea, and the government can’t force them to give up a business they own. A socialist king! But mustache-twirler in chief, the N-word using john from episode one, is not so easily deterred. He manages to secure a temporary closure on the Azalea via ordinance banning, in Louis’ words, “hookers, hooch, and cards.†But apparently this law only applies to the Black-owned businesses. Curious.
The whites have officially whited too far for Louis. Or, in Molloy’s devastatingly witty phrasing, “Take a Black man in America, make him a vampire, fuck with that vampire, and see what comes of it.†First, Louis puts a sign on the Azalea’s door reading “Coloreds Only,†which rules. Obviously the whites start throwing bricks through the window but, there is good news. Louis has finally found a dude so odious he feels no compunction in killing and eating him.
Colonel Mustache returns home one night to find Louis sitting quietly in his office. Oh buddy, you’re about to find out, now. Mustache throws out some standard issue racisms, calling Louis “arrogant†because he hasn’t “accepted your place in this world.†For good measure, he adds a line about the “weird goings on in your sodomite townhouse.†Bro, you don’t even know. Louis knows Mustache is actually terrified, because of the mind-reading, and here comes the good vampire shit we’re here for. Mustache shoots a pistol, Louis doesn’t move, and says coolly, “I’ll let you reload.†But before he can, Louis has speed-racered behind him and slashed… something. “You think that I’m arrogant!†And he slaps that bitch right in the face. “Maybe I am arrogant!†Louis sticks a hand somewhere into Mustache Racist’s chest-cavity, says he’s a vampire, and the screen cuts to black. In the morning, Mustache has been strung up on the gates of city hall, entrails spilling out of his stomach, with a big ole Whites Only sign.
Lestat is proud, of course, but Louis hasn’t considered the inevitable response. Terrorists set his club and the whole neighborhood on fire in retribution. He thought he was just doing this for his people! Perhaps he should have listened to Mamaw when she told him she sees a demon in him. Maybe she was right not to let him into the house to see his nieces, who are already terrified of him. (It doesn’t help that he then blew open the front door of the house in anger.) So, right back to square one conscience-wise, Louis is stumbling around in the burning neighborhood when he hears a cry for help. He may not be able to save anyone else, but he can save this girl. “My light. My redemption. My Claudia.â€