AMC’s daring adaptation of Interview with the Vampire has been bringing thrilling new dimension to Anne Rice’s 1976 novel, with plenty of its own dramatic changes. But astute fans watching Season 2 have been picking up on how showrunner Rolin Jones’ version has been weaving in bits from other books in the late gothic horror author’s 13-book Vampire Chronicles series, including revelations made in the first novel’s sequel, The Vampire Lestat, and the sixth book, The Vampire Armand. With episode 10 (the third of Season 2), Jones and his team have teased a jolting new possibility that could bring into the fold one of the series’ strangest adventures: The Tale of the Body Thief (book four in the series).
This allusion begins when “No Pain” opens with ornery interviewer Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) on a lunch break at a sushi restaurant, where the fish is so fresh it’s served still gasping for air. (“I’m partial to the non-wriggling items. I should have said that,” Daniel quips, urging the chef to silently chop off the head of the entrée.) That’s when a curious new character butts into the conversation.
Sitting a few seats away at the sushi bar, a smirking, bespectacled white man (Justin Kirk) in a business suit declares, “The perils of omakase. We cede power to the chef. Submit to his whims, to his eye the fish market. A series of risks.” But this is no small talker. This is a new wrinkle for Daniel. And his name is Raglan James.
Who is Raglan James?
Sam Reid is Lestat.
Credit: Larry Horricks / AMC
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