By Drew Dietsch
| Published
There are only a handful of shows that come around in your life that feel truly special. As if someone had finally tapped into a greater idea that you had always wanted to see executed in a long-form fashion. Carnivàle was that show for me. Airing only two seasons on HBO back in 2003, this historical horror fantasy epic managed to bring something to the television landscape that still has never been replicated at its best.
Every Prophet In His House
To describe the core story of Carnivàle wouldn’t do justice to its larger scope of characters, but the basic premise follows two men, Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl) and Justin Crowe (Clancy Brown) and their awakening into a number of supernatural abilities and events. Set during the Great Depression in the midst of the Dust Bowl, the series uses these two characters to explore an ancient battle between two magical forces and the feelings of impending apocalypse that color this dilapidated America.
Ben becomes a part of a traveling carnival and this is where the ensemble nature of the show often comes into play. Carnivàle allows for a rich and varied tapestry of characters and stories that often don’t directly tie in to the larger supernatural story at play. This is often seen as one of the key criticisms viewers have of the show, but it’s the humanity and heart of the show’s misfit troupe that gives it a lot of its power.
However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Brother Justin is one of the best roles Clancy Brown has ever played in his entire career. His story dives into depths of depravity, sin, and evil as he comes to realize his purpose for the power he wields. It’s an amazing character that should be viewed as one of TV’s true unsung great villains. Brother Justin is worth the price of admission to Carnivàle alone.
The Lingering Horror Of Carnivàle
But, I specifically called Carnivàle a horror series and that’s where I want to focus. There are a number of dreams/visions in the series and outright freaky supernatural moments. I don’t want to spoil them all for anyone who might be discovering the show for the first time, but I will say that the picture above is a moment that has stuck with me ever since I first watched the series. It’s is one of the most haunting conclusions to a story I’ve seen executed in a mainstream television series and it still chills me today.
The big bummer is that the series was canceled after its second season ends on an enormous and game-changing cliffhanger that will never be resolved. Unfortunately, it feels like Lost took a lot of steam away from Carnivàle as that series debuted in 2004 and did a better job at capturing a larger audience for a mysterious and seemingly magical epic television show.
At this point, there will never be a true conclusion to Carnivàle. Too much time has passed to film anything that could involve most of the original cast. It’s always possible a reboot series or something could happen, but there’s very little chance it would capture the specific power that the original series still conjures up. Instead, the best thing to do is stream the show on Max and celebrate what we got. It’s certainly a lot better than Lost, a show I watched the entirety of and only made me pine even harder for Carnivàle.
