Carnivale (Season 2)... (1 Viewer)

[Michael Henry]

Anyone else catch what Brother Justin was drawing right before he went on the air???

HOLY COW...

Me and the wife paused it on that page and it was lots of female body parts, legs spread wide open and evil looking eyeballs (or evil sperm lol)...

CRAZY stuff...

 

[Paul Padilla]

OK...I felt a little weird so I didn't say it before, but my wife and I did exactly the same thing. Primo bathroom wall art coming from a demonic priest. Weirder and weirder. Some of them really did resemble evil sperm.

 

[MarkMel]

Yes, eyeballs. But what is the correlation with the piece of paper with eyeballs on it that Ben found in the woods? If any?

 

[Paul Padilla]

Many of the things Justin does or says seems to duplicate, or otherwise show up somewhere else in the reality of the show. Are you talking about the brown paper package Ben unwrapped with all the flies? That scene was so dark we couldn't tell what was inside.

 

[Chris]

I think maybe the doodle pad he was writing on before the show, which Iris quickly swiped as he went on the air to talk about "Salt"

 

[Jean D]

Yeah, I couldnt see anything but flies, it was extrememly dark, and I watch it in HD too. it had to have been some form of tissue for that many flies to be around it.

 

[MarkMel]

a

 

[MarkMel]

No, he was walking through the woods, after the fly package and he came upon what looked like some fur skins hanging up. He pulled a piece of paper that was sticking out and when he unfolded/unwrinkled it there were what looked like biological illustrations of eyes on the paper. I was wondering what the correlation between this piece of paper and the drawings of the minister.

 

[Quentin]

Illustrations of artificial eyes, to be exact.

 

[MarkMel]

Right! Glass eyes.

 

[Paul Padilla]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. It was starting to get frustrating...dark woods...dark carnival with the lights off.


Glass eyes? I'm bummed we deleted that episode from our DVR...I'd like to go back and see that. We're in for some repeats, so maybe I can catch it again.

What the heck would artifical/glass eyes have to do with anything!? And how could one tell from a drawing that they were supposed to be artifical in any way much less glass? (Not trying to flame anyone...just really confusing.)

I don't remember seeing the illustrations in the woods, but the ones in Justin's drawings had what would appear to be the optic nerve/muscle trailing out of the back, hence the "evil sperm" observation before.
And if it is related to Justin's bathroom wall art...were those artificial female parts as well? Was he channeling Doc Johnson from the future or something.

 

[MarkMel]

They are re-running the first three episodes tomorrow (fri) night. Keep your eyes peeled.

 

[Paul Padilla]

Good one

 

[Lew Crippen]

The economic model for HBO (and other premium cable/satellite services) is quite different than that for broadcast TV (as has already been mentioned—no advertising revenue).

Broadcast TV tries to get as large an audience as possible (and also audiences that spend a lot in target markets—think sports/beer). This means that the shows need to appeal to as many people as possible—and also not offend very many people.

HBO (at least in the US) makes their money by also attracting a large audience—in this case a large number of subscribers. But the key difference is that a single series (or show) need only attract a limited number of subscribers, who actually may not watch much else. So (potentially) Carnivale, Six Feet Under, Bill Marher, ’D Ali G Show and Angels in America might all appeal to different, but small audiences (and a different set of subscribers). So long as the subscribers don’t cancel their HBO package because of the number of ‘cocksuckers’ on Deadwood, shows that appeal to small but loyal audiences can survive (very different than broadcast TV).

Of course if a series does not generate sufficient interest, it won’t survive on HBO anymore than any other delivery method.

BTW, I left out revenue from some markets that are dependent on total viewer appeal. DVD sales are one and in some places like Australia, HBO sells their shows to broadcast outlets.

A really big difference is that HBO is pretty much immune to consumer pressure brought against advertisers. For example if a special interest group decided that Carnivale went against their view of religious ethics, a public campaign that threatened actions against the show’s advertisers won’t work.

And one more thing: this approach does not keep HBO from hitting one out of the park (e.g. The Sopranos).

 

[Jean D]

Good episode last night. unfortunately as it was starting my HD receiver stopped working, so I had to watch it in the bedroom.
Surprised that the old woman was Ben's grandma. I wonder why she thinks Henry is dead. And whats the significance that Ben's family is tied to the Klan? Do you think it was nothing more than character development for his inbred family?

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Scudder's family is one spooky bunch.

 

[Nicodemus]

Ben's grandmother seems to have been testing her relatives by trying to kill them just to see if they're avatars. She couldn't kill Ben although she tried to.

I think it's also clear by now that Sophie's going to be the mother of Justin's child. But is Justin really trying to get rid of Iris?

I loved the scene where Ben stepped up on stage at the tent and stabbed Justin. Very powerful. I guess it won't be that easy when they eventually meet each other, which should happen during this season.

 

[Matt Stone]

Yah, that was really good when Ben stabbed Justin on the stage. The Justin/Iris confrontation is one I've seen coming for a while, but great to watch regardless. I can't wait to see how that turns out.

Damn Scudder's family was creepy. I wonder if we'll see them again. If the good/evil confrontation is a generational thing, what does that make the Crone?

?? -> The Russian -> Justin
The Crone -> Scudder -> Ben

 

[MarkMel]

We now see the significance of the eyeballs in the previous episode.

 

[Chris]

I think, though, this weighs more in my belief that Management may be right, and this may flip generations.. ie, Scudder -may- have been the bad guy.. they played it out to make that entirely possible.. his father a lead dragon in the KKK, his mother a psychopath who killed all of them.. that would be fitting with him being the one to precede Justin as the evil avatar.

So, relationship wise:

Crone-Scudder-Ben
(E) (E) (G)

Management - Justin
(G) (E)

Just an idea.

Anyway, the opening sequence.. Justin fulfilling his promise to show the girl "horrible, beautiful things.." which drove her mad.

It appears from next weeks episode that Iris will be sacrificed in order to continue the growth of the ministry.. what was that she was burning? I had first thought it was the clothes of the girl, but now not so sure.

Ruthie seeing dead people all the time.. and she sees them interact with us.. Apollonia stalking Sophie.. creepy. One of the subtle creepy moments in this was Sophie getting water as Ruthie watched Apollonia hover behind her.. gah!