Since the budget seems to be a big excuse reason as to why the TVL season wasn’t as strong as 1 and 2 (according to actors and/or showrunners etc) let’s take a look at where it was misspent and misused. I know I know here we go again complaining about TVL- there’s too much to bitch about to let it go, okay?
These things either are too expensive and the purpose of the scene can be established via a different scene, or it has no narrative or character purpose and is a waste of time and money. I’ll also explain why I chose the scenes as a waste of time and/or money:
• Concert #1 w/Lestat sloshing his pants:
The purpose of this concert is to establish the new feel of the show, the genre switch (it is a sub-genre switch) and to introduce the band members. But these things could have been accomplished another way. Not only is the feel of the season unpalatable, the band could have been introduced when Lestat barged in on their practice. Think of the scenes in terms of an itemized invoice.
There is the set design, materials + labor, sound labor, wardrobe materials + labor etc
The venue or “setting”, which is either built with materials +/or rent + labor/maintenance + on call safety
Crowd extras, with maybe a few dozen at any given time. Yes, they could throw in some crew to fill in the space, but crew is needed for other things. Extras cost money.
The actors, during the first concert alone is SR, 4 band members, EB, manager actress, and BJ EB. Possibly the other two vampires as well.
• Baby Jenks + Elevator + OD
By the end of the season it is clear that Baby Jenks only served 1 purpose, and that purpose could have been given to another character. She was meant to distract/dose Lestat so he could be attacked by the CoD. We have several scenes with her where that time could have been given to Daniel, Armand, or Louis.
Baby Jenks in the crowd + onstage to be drained. Time is money, sets and settings and film is money + labor.
OD scene is unnecessary and has no narrative use. She warns Lestat in a sense, but this warning is not needed as the season does not pay off this warning from her soul/ghost. The Failures do not need to be pre-cognitively spoken to us or Lestat. There is no moment later on when her warning feels like a proper foreshadowing.
Elevator sex scene: You have several actors, a new set design, a new camera set up, and likely the need of an intimacy coordinator. RJ specifically noting that he brought the bell boy in before AMC could say no feels like a pathetic ploy for LGBTQ+ points in a show that is already respected in that demographic. There is no reason for this elevator foursome.
The role of Baby Jenks could have easily been given to Dee. Dee could have drugged Lestat, could have been distracting him at the party etc.
• Hotel Hall Vampire Fight
I’m confident stating that this scene could have been rewritten to be a more isolated, maybe 2 on 2 altercation. Or 3 on 1 until Daniel arrives. But the real take away here is that the scene accomplished nothing that can’t be handled another way. Lestat fleeing to reunite with Gabriella could have been done via him fleeing to the tour bus alone, while Gabriella waits for him. Why does he flee? Because he’s an emotional basket case and he’s lonely and miserable and missing Louis and his mom. It’s not that complicated to let character motives lead the way.
Hallway fight is another set which means more materials + labor. There are also several actors, along with stunt doubles and action coordinators. Special effects are also used here.
The window flight, even with green screen, is more labor + equipment for flight.
• Gabriella and Lestat: Strip Club & Flight
We already know Lestat can fly, so we once again are wasting money on equipment and coordinators, when this time and money can be put in better, more narratively fleshed out scenes. We did not get the tower fight or the carriage being destroyed, but we got this and the strip club? This choice feels like poor planning, writing, and tbh poor money management. What purpose does the strip club serve, except to show us that Gabriella wants the GC and is attracted to women? This can be accomplished on the tour bus, without the need to build more sets, film on locations, or pay for more unnecessary labor. Since I’ve been repeating a lot of the same cost breakdowns, I’m not going to do it every time. But the big one is always that time is labor, and labor is always ALWAYS a huge cost that most companies want to cut.
I suppose this scene is liked well enough because it gives us some levity. But my argument against this scene is that 1- it’s not telling us anything about Lestat we don’t already know (he lies and hides and doesn’t talk about his past) and 2 - it’s not building Magnus up as a character so much as it’s making light of his predatory obsession with Lestat. Which isn’t a bad thing, but it should MEAN something to justify the signed check for bringing such an unnecessary scene to life, and it simply does not meet the criteria that would make it so.
• Lestat crashing the car
I don’t think this needs to be elaborated on much. The scene was shot using practical effects, which can be costly with materials and, again, that word that companies hate: LABOR. Lestat very well could have trashed the tour bus. He could have played a real life rock star and destroyed a hotel room. We didn’t need this scene. We already know Lestat is about to break down via the previous scene re: Nicki’s death.
No payoff, no purpose. What is he addicted to? We are not given any subtext to go off of. I suppose we could call the stalking a form of addiction, but the correlation to a need for AA isn’t there. We are not presented with the stalking as a thing that is hurtful to Armand. It is presented as romantic. Therefore, what exactly is Armand addicted to? We also could assume the only purpose of the AA meeting is for Armand to meet and use Alex for his plans. However, once again costs should contribute to this decision. Another set, more crew, more film, more hours. Armand could have met Alex any other way.
• Lestat and Armand tour bus bullshit
I hate this scene because it tells us nothing we don’t already figure out by the time we get to the concert and the big boss song. Luckily this time, the tour bus is already there. The shower is already there. But! Now we need possibly another intimacy coordinator session for Lestat’s nudity. We need time and crew and the scene gives us nothing for character development either. We learn nothing new that matters later. Armand warning Lestat about the GC and the other vampires means nothing by the time we get to episode 7.
The scene itself isn’t exactly a waste, but it becomes a waste because of the trash dialogue. The implications and outright “confirmation” re: Daniel’s turning are highly suspect here, as this is from Lestat’s POV. IMO, we didn’t need bowling as part of the season either way. It’s silly and unnecessary.
• More concerts because a few weren’t enough…?
This is more a general thing because we truly did not need this many concerts. As stated before re: Lestat’s first concert- it’s expensive, and narratively gives us nothing new we didn’t already know.
• Lestat burning in the sun repeatedly for…?
This is scene makes no sense because we spend the season with Lestat not showing how much he loves music. Suddenly he wants to hurt himself to get one thing in one song right, according to his standards. Costly, unnecessary, silly.
• Regina. Just everything Regina.
As much as people love Delainey, the Regina character was absolutely unnecessary with how things turned out. Her purpose being only to torment Louis per Armand- this doesn’t fit with anything else in the season or previous ones. Not to mention a lot of her dialogue is awful chat gpt trash. They could have made her into a vampire by the end, and give her an original plot that involves the next season QOTD. I mean, she is a woman, she has been jerked around by two male vampires- is there any reason for her to not be on Akasha’s side? She could’ve served a purpose, but what they did with her feels like an ass pull in the worst ways.
Not only is this scene horrendous for all the reasons many of us have already spoken of, but for budget reasons it is also unjustified. What do we find out here that even matters? That Armand was 12 when he was sold? That’s it. That’s the only new thing we actually need from this scene. Yes, I believe Louis and Armand needed to have it out about everything, but this doesn’t qualify or meet those expectations or needs. There is no build up to this scene, Louis and Armand don’t show any lingering resentment or hurt re: their companionship ending, and we don’t see them before this scene even hint at a desire to at least fight things out between them. They have SO MUCH to discuss. They don’t owe each other anything, but they were together for almost 80 gd years. This scene doesn’t come close to the weight their relationship actually holds to each of them. The set, the time, the reshoots, the labor- it all adds up and for not much use or purpose.
Now these are just the ones I cared to talk about right now, but there are definitely more than this. I’ve only rewatched the episodes once each so I’m undoubtedly forgetting stuff. Either way, every single one of these scenes could have been combined with something else, eliminated entirely, or rewritten to fit the budget better. I’d love to hear about them if anyone takes the time to read this and have any other scenes to add!
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