Draft:What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned

"What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned" is the second-season premiere episode of the American gothic horror television series Interview with the Vampire, an adaptation of Anne Rice's novel of the same name. Written by Hannah Moscovitch and directed by Craig Zisk, the episode first aired on May 12, 2024, on AMC.

In the United States, the episode garnered a viewership of nearly 0.3 million during its premiere night on linear television alone and received highly positive reviews.

Plot
Louis and Claudia travel to Europe at the end of World War II, searching for fellow vampires. Louis is tormented by a ghostly imagining of Lestat in his head, while Claudia remains emotionally distant. In Romania, while searching for evidence of Vlad the Impaler, the pair are taken in by a refugee community who seem as terrified of vampires as they are of the Soviet occupiers. They eventually encounter a grotesque, feral vampire and its maker, the weary and mysterious Daciana. Instead of going with them back to America, Daciana throws herself into fire. After having heard on the radio that it has been liberated from the Nazis, they go to Paris, the "mother of New Orleans". In the present, Armand resists engaging with Molloy, who gets back at him by constantly engaging the real Rashid in conversation. Molloy's questions jog Louis's memory. Armand officially becomes a participant in the interview.

Ratings
On linear television, an estimated 0.282 million viewers watched "What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned" during its first broadcast on AMC, with a 0.04 ratings share. This was a decrease from the first season premiere, which gained a viewership of 0.622 million, with a 0.15 ratings share.

Critical response
The episode was met with highly positive critical reviews. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 100% based on nine reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10.