Draft:The Thing Lay Still

"The Thing Lay Still" is the seventh and final episode of the first season of the American gothic horror television series Interview with the Vampire, an adaptation of Anne Rice's novel of the same name. Written by series creator Rolin Jones and writer Ben Philippe, and directed by Alexis Ostrander, the episode first aired on November 13, 2022, on AMC, and received critical acclaim.

Plot
The vampires' eccentricity and agelessness have attracted increased attention, so Lestat decides they should leave New Orleans. Claudia manipulates Lestat into throwing an elaborate Mardi Gras ball before they leave. In the present, Louis explains to Daniel that there are several ways to "kill" a vampire, including starvation, decapitation, fire, and drinking the blood of the dead. At the ball, the vampires choose a handful of guests to be slaughtered and drained afterward. Claudia tells Louis that she has drugged one of them with laudanum and arsenic. As Lestat is poised to drink from the tainted man, he reveals that Antoinette, now a vampire, has warned him of their plan, but he suddenly collapses. A triumphant Claudia explains that she knew Antoinette was trailing her, and that she also poisoned Tom Anderson, from whom Lestat has already drunk. Louis slits Lestat's throat, and he and Claudia leave Lestat's corpse in a trunk to be thrown in the city dump. In the present, Daniel accuses Louis of leaving Lestat somewhere full of rats as a means to save him. Louis reveals that Rashid is actually the ancient vampire Armand and the love of his life.

Release
"The Thing Lay Still" aired on AMC, on November 13, 2022, but was released a week earlier on the network's streaming service AMC+.

Ratings
On linear television, an estimated 0.433 million viewers watched "The Thing Lay Still" during its first broadcast on AMC, with a 0.09 ratings share. This was a decrease from the previous episode, which was watched by 0.473 million viewers, with a 0.10 ratings share.

Critical reception
The episode was met with critical acclaim. It was named the best TV episode of 2022 by Mashable. Collider named it one of the "best TV episodes of 2022", while TV Insider included it in its list of "25 TV Episodes From 2022 We Can’t Stop Thinking About".