Carnivale: A Lost Gem
Nick Stahl’s character is a young fugitive named Ben Hawkins and Clancy Brown plays Brother Justin Crowe. Both characters have dangerous secrets and at first the audience doesn’t know who is good and who is evil. The whole premise of the show is that in each generation there is born a creature of light and a creature of darkness. They must then do battle in the eternal battle of good vs evil.
Carinvale may seem slow and repetitive to people who have only seen the first few episodes. But as the show progresses you see that it is one of the most unique shows on television. It doesn’t follow trends and cliches that ruin many popular television shows.
The production values are top notch. Carnivale successfully draws you into the dust filled period of the Great Depression. The acting is also superb. Nick Stahl and Clancy Brown do great jobs as the leads. Clancy Brown in particular does a great job as the Reverend Justin Crowe.
He gives depth to his character and as the show progesses you see how Justin Crowe becomes more and more evil. Nick Stahl also does a wonderful job as Ben Hawkins who is a young fugitive who just lost his mother and joins a traveling carnival as a result of losing his home.
The supporting cast is also great. One of the great things about Carnivale is all the odd but likeable supporting characters that are part of the traveling carinval. There are the typical freak show characters like conjoined twins, bearded lady, and an overweight stripper just to name a few.
Carnivale features a whole array of freaks but each of there characters are well layered and believeable instead of being comical and goofy. Michael J. Anderson in particular does a great job as Samson who is a dwarf that runs the daily operations of the carnival. Anderson may be small but he has commanding presence as the leader.
Many who watch the show complain that it is too slow and boring. The first few episodes are a little slow because they spend time developing all the characters on the show. The character development is needed to have the story progress.
Eventually the show begins to take off as the audience waits to see the inevitable showdown between Ben Hawkins and Justin Crowe. Carnivale had everything going for it except an audience. One of the reasons HBO cancelled Carnivale was because they said the audience for Carnivale was too small to warrant a third season.
Many fans were very upset by this news because of how the second season ended. The second season ended with a big cliffhanger and fans will never know the answer to the many questions that were risen during the two seasons Carnivale ran.
If Carnivale sounds like a interesting show then I defiently recommend that you rent the the first season on DVD. The second season will be released on DVD sometime in the fall. It really is an amazing show and it is a shame that there will be no more new episodes.
Fans are hoping for a Family Guy type situation where DVD sales would help bring the show back. Unfortuanately that will probably not be the case with Carnivale. The Carnivale DVD set costs about $90. Not many people are going to be willing to pay that much for a TV show unless they really like it.
Another thing going against Carnivale is that it only appeals to a very select audience. Not everyone will get this show. It’s not like most shows on television. It has great cinematography and top-tier acting along with supernatural themes. Carnivale needs to be watched in order because every episode build upon the previous one. If you’re fan of unique and original shows like Twin Peaks then you should definitely check out Carnivale because you won’t be disappointed.
