“Interview With the Vampire” has returned, and it remains a supernatural gem. The AMC series is as good as it was in season 1, as it continues to capture the despair, the anarchy, and the raw power of being immortal. The vampires on the show, most notably Jacob Anderson’s Louis, don’t die, and they drink blood to survive; but in so many ways they are as human as the rest of us. They get jealous, they brood, they compete, they love, they hate. The focus is no longer strictly on the explosive relationship between Louis and Lestat (Sam Reid, who appears this season despite having been ended at the end of season 1). Now journalist Daniel (Eric Bogosian) gets to hear about Louis’s life with Claudia (now played by Delainey Hayles) after Lestat, as Louis describes how the pair went to Europe to seek out other vampires and wound up in Paris with the Theatre des Vampires. Daniel also hears about Armand (Assad Zaman), the vampire Louis met through the Theatre and now loves, with Armand in the room.
The scripts are elegant and, at times, moving, as they capture the sometimes grandiose and sometimes sophisticated language of beings that have lived through many eras. And the acting is uniformly excellent. There’s more room to take in all the characters, now that Lestat is no longer always pulling focus, with Anderson still a strong lead in his quieter way. He gives us a tragic, relatable vampire who survives and loves, but who can’t stop fighting his own nature.
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Hayles takes over the role of Claudia, and gives her a touch of maturity, without missing a step. Zaman is effectively mysterious as the more ancient of the couple. New addition Ben Daniels is a compelling trip as the lead performer at the Theatre, and Bogosian continues to shine as a human who’s fully aware of his disadvantages in the room with nighttime killers. This season, as Daniel recalls the first interview with Louis in the 1970s, new facts emerge that make him part of the story. The world of the show gets bigger in season 2, and he is part of that appealing expansion.
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at matthew.gilbert@globe.com. Follow him @MatthewGilbert.