Characters of the Week: The Vampire Lestat Shattered Our Souls, Ride or Die Healed Them

The best television makes you feel things. And the best television characters make you feel everything.

Hell, The Vampire Lestat alone has risen to the occasion, delivering characters so complex and performances so remarkable that we’re on the third consecutive year of wondering why this adaptation doesn’t get the award recognition it deserves.

But let’s dive into our Characters of the Week below!

Gigi -The Five-Star Weekend

It’s often challenging to feel anything but hatred for the other woman, but Gemma Chan made me feel for Gigi in The Five-Star Weekend.

While Gigi shouldn’t have slept with Matthew, seeing the flashbacks highlighted how much she yearned for love and connection.

Gigi wasn’t merely curious about Matthew’s wife. She still craved connection. Since she never had female friends, and it became messier once she realized she actually cared about Hollis.

She wanted to confess the truth, but that would destroy everything. I never thought I’d feel sorry for her as Hollis’s friends kept harassing her with questions.

They were a loyal bunch who wanted answers, but I thought it should have remained between Gigi and Hollis.

Gigi wasn’t a monster. She was human, and she made a mistake, which spiraled out of control.

Layla Keating – All American

Layla may have returned home with her confidence shaken, but by the end of the All American Season premiere, she showed why she’s fierce and in charge.

It’s difficult for any couple to reconnect after six months apart, so kudos to Layla for speaking her mind.

She was frustrated that it seemed like everyone moved on with their lives. That frustration helped her confront Khalil’s mom when she implied that Layla wasn’t his family.

Layla has nurtured him and been there, which activated her fierce mama bear as she threw Khalil’s mom out of the Baker home.

I’ve never been prouder as I watched her protect Khalil. Layla takes care of those she loves.

Claudia – The Vampire Lestat

Week in and out, The Vampire Lestat has delivered a masterclass in emotionally layered, deeply nuanced performances.

Sam Reid has been a continued revelation as the complicated vampire Lestat, while Jacob Anderson devours every scene he’s in with style, as Louis battles the sins of his past.

With the two of them back together during The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 6, the hour is electric, with glimmers of whimsy, heartbreak, and perhaps the most utterly raw scene of the season.

Yet, extraordinary as Reid and Anderson are, the episode ultimately belongs to the phenomenal Delainey Hayles, whose Claudia emerges from the Afterlife to give her two vampire fathers the dressing down of the century.

Claudia’s rage comes out in bursts, and Hayles commands the screen in a way that’s visceral and powerful. You can’t take your eyes off her as Claudia speaks, clad in the yellow dress she died in, issuing insults and hard truths in equal measure.

It’s a captivating scene made all the better by Hayles’ inspired performance. She doesn’t just command the scene, but she haunts it long after the screen fades to black.

Debbie and Judith – Ride or Die

If you haven’t streamed it already, Ride or Die is one of the year’s most delightful binges.

But we expected nothing less from pairing Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer, whose fantastic performances are elevated by funny, heartfelt, and reflective writing that beautifully captures the nuance and complexity of “women of a certain age.”

Maybe it’s the action and spy-thrills that initially lure you in, but this is a love story, about a profound one at that, not just for these two best friends and what they mean to each other, but self-love, too.

Your heart aches for Judith’s vulnerability. Beneath all the badassery is a woman who never truly understood love until she met the bright light that is her best friend, Debbie.

And it’s through Debbie that Judith learns how to love herself fully, realizes that there’s a life so much bigger and brighter than the bleak one she fell into as an assassin.

Her journey is deeply rewarding to watch and genuinely inspiring, reminding us that it’s never too late to evolve.

Similarly, Debbie has a transformative arc of her own. We see this beautiful, brilliant woman whose light was dimmed in her husband’s shadow, even though she’s the person who fully propped him up.

Debbie’s journey becomes a deeply resonant exploration of identity and rediscovering herself.

It’s through their friendship that Debbie embraces a fearless quality that was buried deep, steps into her own, and recenters herself, seeing the beauty and the breadth of who she is and what she has to offer to herself and others.

Judith breathes life into Debbie in a way she lost sight of, and her transformation is one of the most satisfying arcs of the series.

Who is your Character of the Week? Let’s hear it below!