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Of all the female characters in kindred Lillie is, without question my favourite. It has very little to do with liking her, but she is absolutely the most fantastic bad guy! The character has everything; looks, power, ruthless ambition. And despite everything she still remains eminently understandable in her motivation. On the surface Lillie has everything, but beneath her glamorous facade she is insecure and fragile. Julian not only encompasses passion in her eyes but also security. In Kindred we see very little of the Toreador clan which suggests to me that they don't have a particularly strong power base in San Francisco. Perhaps Lillie was only chosen as Primogen due to her strong ties to Julian and the Ventrue clan in which case her actions are even more understandable. With egos such as the Zane's to contend with there are likely to be many wannabes snapping at her heels.
In the pilot episode Julian and Lillie appear to have a strong and loving relationship. They live together, share business interests and when disciplining Cash, Lillie backs Julian giving the impression of a self assured matriarch who is used to being in control. They are archetypical society power couple with the world at their feet. However when Julian is informed of August Octavio's death it is clear that he hasn't told Lillie everything about his life before they met. Most importantly his wife and son John, whose presence begin to chip away at Lillie's confidence in their relationship.
It's the arrival of Julian's ex, Alexandra Serris that seems to be the beginning of Lillie's problems. Her intuitions tells her that Julian still has strong feelings for Alexander despite his reassurances to the contrary.
Her
alliance with the Brujah, specifically Eddie Fiori, seems to me to be
more about survival than revenge. What if Alexandra had taken Julian up
on his offer of sanctuary, where would that have left Lillie? She is far
from stupid, and must have explored the ramifications thoroughly before
embarking on such a dangerous course of action. With Stevie-Ray dead and
the Gangrel and Brujah clans warring Lillie's options would be seriously
limited if Julian should cast her out of their home in favour of
Alexandra, or worse, if Julian were ousted from his position as Prince
due to his protection of his childe. Her choice is to ally herself with
the next strongest clan in the city, and thereby ensure her and her
clan's position should the worst occur. To further protect herself, and
perhaps Julian, she votes for Alexandra's death in accordance with the
Kindred law against breaking the Masquerade. The
declaration of a Blood Hunt for Alexandra has been blamed solely on
Lillie, but I'm not so sure that the Toreador needed to ask Eddie to
support her vote in order to secure the decision. I suspect had Archon
and Cash been forced to vote they would both have gone with Kindred law
as breaking the Masquerade is one of the worst crimes they can commit. I
also believe Eddie would have voted for the Blood Hunt merely to spite
Julian, regardless of any deal made with Lillie. After
Alexandra's death Lillie's position seems secure again, up to the
arrival of Caitlin Byrne. Initially Lillie seems to
find Caitlin more of an amusement than a threat, and actively encourages
Julian to pursue the human. At this point it seems like a game to her,
but she soon realises that Caitlin is more of a threat than Alexandra
could ever be. She can see Julian falling in love, and knows that
somehow she has to stop it. Lillie uses everything in
her power to deal with the situation, and walks a fine line between the
cities warring factions. It is this power-play, political and emotional,
that kept me hooked throughout the series. Lillie is clearly obsessed
with Julian, right from the first bedroom scene they share together it's
blatantly clear. She wants to be the only one he desires. The sadness in
the character is that before she became insecure Lillie had everything
she wanted. Clearly Julian never got over his wife's death, but it is
Lillie he goes back to, and her he is not only attracted to but
entranced by. The two may not have the passion of two new lovers, but
they have the love, friendship and trust of a married couple. Lillie
becomes the victim of her own paranoia. Her
relationships with the other characters are equally interesting. With
Archon there is clearly tension. She was Julian's lover during his time
as Archon's enforcer, and therefore it stands to reason that she saw
what he went through after Manzanita. Maybe that's where the conflict
comes from, or perhaps it's something totally different. Either way they
don't like each other much, but they do respect each other. With
Cash Lillie pulls rank in an almost motherly way. She chastises him when
he answers back to Julian (Pilot) but later protects him from Archon's
temper (Cabin). She also takes Sasha under her wing and nurtures the
budding relationship between the Gangrel Primogen and the Prince's Niece
and argues their case to be together with Julian even when he makes his
feelings on the matter abundantly clear. As with so many mother's and
daughters they later become rivals when Zane hits the scene, though in
this case Lillie doesn't appear to bear Sasha any hostility for her
involvement with her childe. Frank and Lillie share an
interesting few scenes in the series (too few). Lillie alternately tries
to intimidate and flirt with the human cop, and he plays along with her
while seeming not to fall for her games. Sonny, on the other hand, seems
to realise just how dangerous she can be and doesn't attempt to stand up
to her when she threatens Franks' safety (Nightstalker). One of the most
interesting scenes, which perhaps gives a deeper glimpse into the
Toreador's psyche, is when she tries to justify Zane's embrace of young
girls. She tells Frank that artists want their creations to last
forever, and maybe that's the reason she originally embraced the eminently
unsuitable rock star. Lillie and Daedalus are good
friends, though he more than anyone sees her as she really is, both good
and bad. Daedalus is the one character Lillie seems able to confide in
and be vulnerable with. When she believes Julian to have been
assassinated at Eddie's hand, and with her involvement (Rise), it is to
Daedalus' haven she goes. Rewatching the scene I wonder if she went
expecting the Nosferatu to slash her throat, rather than his painting.
Ultimately her guilt or her desire to cover her tracks, depending on
your perspective, compels her to kill Eddie. Personally I believe
Lillie's feelings towards Julian to be genuine and the impulse came from
the complex mix of emotions she must have been flooded when she realised
Julian was alive. Whatever her motives Lillie's
perspective changed. Killing Julian wasn't what she wanted...which left
killing Caitlin instead. With the reappearance of Goth she realised she
could dispose of Caitlin without attracting attention to herself. She
grabbed the chance with both hands, drugging and implanting in Caitlin
the suggestion to go to Goth and Camilla's haven and thereby ensuring
her death. Once again her plans are thwarted, and instead of getting
Julian back she pushes him and Caitlin closer together. For
Lillie the final episode poses more questions than gives answers. By getting
a glimpse of Julian's past we see some of what the couple must have
shared, but their future is unsure. With the appearance of Cameron the
balance shifts again; the new Brujah Primogen makes it clear he's
interested in taking the Prince's woman along with his crown. Lillie
doesn't seem to mind the attention, though I feel she is humoring
Cameron rather than showing any genuine interest. At the same time
Julian has realised that he and Caitlin can't be together, and in the
final scene seems to already be distancing himself from her emotionally
in much the same way as he did with Lillie in early episodes. The
unfilmed script of The Skull, planned as the first episode of the second
season, apparently had Julian returning to Lillie, but whether out of
genuine love or just by default remains unclear. I
would really have liked to see Julian and Lillie reunited, as I believe
the love they share to be real. Neither character strikes me as the type
to put up with a partner they weren't passionate about and having lasted
for a hundred years, and survived Julian's passion for Alexandra, I
think it would take more than a few murder plots and indiscretions to
break them apart. Lillie is just the most fantastic
character, and is wonderfully portrayed by Stacy Haiduk. She is so
multi-faceted and however unpleasant her actions, and irrational her
emotions, Lillie is always a joy to watch. She's a cross between Mata
Hari and Alexis Carrington. I would have loved to see more of her transgressions
through season two, specifically in relation to Cameron and Frank.
Whether either man would have been manipulated by her will just have to
remain a mystery.
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