Random Review
On the heels of the skirmish man foolishly called The War to End All Wars, the dark one sought to elude his destiny, and live as a mortal. So he fled across the ocean to the empire called America. But by his mere presence, a cancer corrupted the spirit of the land. People were rendered mute by fools who spoke many words but said nothing... for whom oppression and cowardice were virtues... and freedom, an obscenity. And into this dark heartland, a prophet stalked his enemy. Until, dimished by his wounds, he turned to the next in the ancient line of light. And so it was that the fate of mankind came to rest on the trembling shoulders of the most reluctant of saviors...
~swoon~
So, since Lee was very cruel and gave me the First Season of Carnivàle, I needed to go out and buy the Second (and sadly the last ~cries~) Season.
It continues pretty much where the first season ended (minus a few of the minor Characters from the Carnivale itself) and the first two Episodes are both a recap of the previous season and the launching point of the second seasons plot arcs. It continues the theme of each two episodes being a “Chapter” and the second season spends more time on Brother Justin and his world than the first season did.
And that kinda left me lost for the first several episodes since the first season had done such an amazing job of building up the strengths on the characters of the Carnival, the you miss them when they are not on screen. But what starts off slow and awkwardly, builds quickly enough, and by the end of the fourth Episode things are cooking with gas with time more equally split between the Canivale and New Canaan.
Again, as a gamer you watch the strings being pulled, plot arcs being followed and ignored, until they build to a satisfying boil. Masterfully well done story telling and fine performances from actors that are masters of emoting rather than just repeating lines…and really, that is one of the great things to watch in the show, the little tells and emotes that are just such a part of being human that you get what is going on without the plot being jammed down your throat per regular American Dramas. And that is the thing that I kind of picked up, that in many ways it is not your normal American TV Drama, and that in the way that it is presented it is a lot like an Anime series where things do not need to be explained or logical, they just are.
The second season brings more knowledge and understanding to the Protagonist Ben Hawkins through the Manipulations of him by the Management. Brother Justin’s power continues to build and the dynamics between him and his sister Iris continues on its path of craziness and evil. A new addition in the second season is John Carroll Lynch as the hulking, menacing, sociopath Varlyn Stroud…a character that John Barns or Lee could aspire to for shear creepiness. Really, Lynch should have won an Emmy for that performance, he made you want to hide under a blanket every time he was on screen, and it was quite shocking to see him play this character since the last time I had seen him on TV was on the Drew Carey
Show.
Also, there was more for Adreinne Barbeau to do this season because of the big end of the plot Arc from the first season. This season it was more of her coming to grips with what is happening to her and not being sure of what it is….and any one familiar with Amber and Amber Ghosts will be able to figure it out quite quickly. And you get the idea that it was not the first time that this has happened to her and that Ben’s father did the same thing.
Much more good bits from the Dreifuss family, with Libby becoming more of an important character, and you could see that if the series had gone its proposed 6 years, she (and the Driefuss Family) would have been a major focal point. Jonesy Would have also been part of that with what I could see as a third setting/plot arc to the current Carnivale, New Canaan ones.
And again, the Second season ends with a Cliff Hanger…or…well…several of them, with every plot arc just hanging there in mid air and leaving you wanting to know what was next, what is going to happen and GRRRRR…what do you mean that HBO didn’t renew it like they didn’t renew Deadwood.
One minor quibble for me is that they had Buzzards/Condors in Wyoming…When it should have been Ravens since they are far more abundant scavengers, but I guess Californians are just more familiar with Buzzards/Condors so that is what the went with.
Rating: a solid A.
Commentary: Only three eps have it, but this time they time they added Clea DuVall (who did the best job of the actors), Nick Stahl, and Clancy Brown to the mix. The three they did were a lot of fun and worth listening to.
The Extras: Some behind the scenes bits and a Interview Con thing with all the major players of the show, worth watching for little hints of what was to be if the show had continued.
It will be on the exchange table next time at the Consortium.