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WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chapelwaite Season 1, Episode 10, “The Keeper,” which aired Sunday on Epix.
While vampires have become the main evil faced in Chapelwaite, throughout the second half of the series, Jason and Peter Filardi have continually added nuance to show that the lines between humans and vampires are more complex. The series finale confirms the truth. Vampires are not inherently evil, and monstrosity is a choice. While vampires may have more of an ability to shut off their emotions, they can still choose to feel and, by extension, still choose to care about other people and humanity as a whole. This revelation paves the way for the redemption of Loa Boone and her reunion with her family.
While this reveal has been building throughout the series, the scene that reveals the vampire’s true nature occurs between Rebecca Morgan and her father, Christopher Morgan, who chose to become a vampire and to bring Jakub and his Promised cult to Maine in the first place. During the chaotic final battle, Rebecca Morgan confronts her father about his choices. She begs him to help stop the apocalypse and asks if he feels anything for her or her mother at all. In response, Christopher states, “I feel as much as I choose to.” This line is key for the characterization of the vampires throughout the entire series. Monstrosity and vampirism do not automatically go hand in hand, and a vampire’s undead nature in and of itself does not make them evil. The vampires who commit evil acts throughout the series are monstrous because they choose not to feel and they choose to hurt those around them.
The Redemption of Loa Boone
This revelation also paves the way for Loa Boone’s redemption. From the beginning of the series, Loa has felt every emotion deeply. A large part of her rift with her father was because she felt like he did not feel or show enough grief over her mother’s death. When she decides to become a vampire, Loa’s choice is driven by her emotions. She feels betrayed by Rebecca Morgan, her governess, who she fears is trying to replace her mother. Loa also discovers Rebecca’s writings, which sensationalize the Boone family’s traumas. Charles dismisses her fears, her grief and her anger. In contrast, Stephen Boone seems to listen to Loa, empathize with her mourning and validate her suspicions about her father’s deteriorating mental state.
Even after she becomes a vampire, Loa still shows that she cares about her family, even her father despite their rift. She joins Phillip and Stephen because they make her promises that she will be reunited with her mother. They also promise that they can turn her father and her siblings as well and allow them all to live together forever. When Jakub and the Promised attack Chapelwaite, Loa convinces Tane to bring her De Vermis Mysteriis, and she gives the book to Jakub, changing allegiances once more. However, this shift is still her way to try to save her family. Because she brings Jakub the book, he spares her family, at least for the night, and, as Charles confirms the next day, if she had not brought Jakub the book, they would have all died.
In Jerusalem’s Lot, Loa is welcomed with open arms to the Promised, but her unease is palpable throughout her time there, due in large part to Sirena Gulamgas’ strong performance. As she learns more about Jakub’s true plans for the book, the worm’s rise and the apocalypse, Loa still tries to bargain for her siblings’ lives. She also struggles with feeding from the unnamed leader of the Promised and later with participating in turning the Promised into battle. After Jakub begins the ritual to read from De Vermis Mysteriis and raise the worm, Loa read from the book on Jakub’s request, aiding and abetting in the worm’s rise. However, it is clear that Loa feels trapped in this role and into this alliance due to her choices.
When Charles Boone arrives to confront Jakub, Loa sees her way out. Jakub orders Loa to kill Charles, but Loa kills the unnamed leader instead, saving her father. Charles defeats Jakub by chopping off his head, and Loa screams in horror. Her scream shows that she is still a child and still horrified by gruesome acts of violence enacted in front of her, even though she is a vampire. After Charles defeats Stephen Boone and averts the apocalypse, he returns for Loa. Loa comes out of hiding a reaches for Charles, but her hand burns in the sunlight, showing that she will face the repercussions of her decision for becoming a vampire for the rest of her long life. Both Loa and Charles apologize to one another, paving the way for their full reconciliation.
Loa’s Redemption Leads to Reconciliation
When Charles asks Loa to turn him into a vampire, Loa refuses at first. She regrets her decision, and she does not want Charles to have to “live like [she] does.” He ultimately convinces her to turn him by reminding her of the danger her siblings are still in from the book. Loa’s regret and her worry about her family show hammer home the fact that she has never been beyond redemption, and she never truly turned to darkness even after she became undead.
While Loa and Charles’ reconciliation occurs easily, her relationship with her siblings is far more strained. She states, “They won’t want to see me. They’ll be scared.” Charles reassures her that her siblings will come around, but they are still wary of her when they see her again. Honor, in particular, is against Loa staying, and she angrily tells Tane that Loa is no longer one of them. While Loa’s part in turning Charles might seem to be another nail in the coffin for her relationship with her siblings, there is still hope. Honor’s anger contradicts her earlier statements. In “De Vermis Mysteriis,” Honor asked Minister Martin Burroughs whether Loa would still go to heaven. In that conversation, Honor argued in Loa’s favor, stating, “She’s good. She made a mistake.” The attack on Chapelwaite and the subsequent showdown at Jerusalem’s Lot may have strained this belief. Still, with Rebecca’s reassurance that Loa can and is choosing not to be monstrous, Honor accepts her father’s final request for her to look after Loa. Honor takes Loa’s hand after her now vampiric father departs, signaling that Loa’s place in her family will be restored.
Ultimately, Chapelwaite’s vampires are not inherently evil, and their monstrosity instead is determined by how much they choose to feel and how they treat the people around them. Loa always chooses to feel, and because of this choice, she also chooses to help her father defeat Jakub and prevent the rise of the worm. Despite Loa’s vampirism, there is hope that her bonds with her family will become strong once more now that Honor, Loa and Tane are free from the family curse and De Vermis Mysteriis.
To see how the show presents a nuanced view of vampires, all episodes of Chapelwaite are now available for streaming on EPIX.
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