HBO's "Carnivale" (SPOILERS!) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Sophie knew the guy was married, but was disappointed that he lied to her about it.

 

[Rob Speicher]

I'm starting to believe that Management is just a being too. I think the fetus opening its eyes was just Management watching Ben - the shed was probably its creation also.

Anyway, good ep last night.

 

[Scott DeToffol]

I want to like this show, but it seems to be moving so slow. Obviously there is a bunch of character build-up that is necessary, but there needs to be more of the main plot exposed.

 

[todd stone]

what were the coming attractions about next weeks episode about? I missed them

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I've pretty much lost interest in the show although I think it's well acted..

 

[Patrick Sun]

The only thing I remember about the previews is:

Sophie asks one of the dancers (the one playing Carla on "Undeclared a few seasons ago) "How do you know if you're pregnant?"

 

[Ivan Lindenfeld]

I also would like to see more of the plot exposed each week than is happening. I also don't see Ben growing as a person. He's completely resistant to any decision that complicates any moment of his life. Has been and remains so.

I understand his resistance for human contact in light of his gift, but let his character grow a little.

It has also crossed my mind that the baby in the jar was "management" but I have seen no actual evidence pointing that way.

I can appreciate a slowly building story. This one is novelic in exposition. However, if next week is this slow, I will start to lose my patience. More meat, less potatoes, ya know?

My wife keeps telling me I am wrong, that a lot of story was revealed in this episode. I think that lot of back-story was revealed but actual plot? No.

Iris is aging. Is there a Lot's wife parable playing out? Pillar of salt, dehydration causing wrinkles? Hell I am reaching and I don't even know if I have the story right, it's been years.

 

[Scott DeToffol]

On the topic of which is good and which is evil, I happend to see a TV preacher recently say that the devil has been "known" to appear to people as an angel of light, giving people orders that they thought were from God. The preacher could be getting bad advice from the downtown team.

 

[Ike]

I think the most telling shot was near the beginning. Samson is in the Management's trailer, putting on after shave, when he looks in the mirror and says, "Handsome devil." He turns away, and the curtains to Management's bunk shake.

Then, in the previews for next week, we see talk that leads me to think that we may continue down this road. Next week's episode looks really good from the previews.

 

[Everlasting Gobstopper]

I think this was the best episode of the show so far. No, we don't learn much about Ben, the overall story doesn't advance very far (though Brother Justin's story jumps by leaps and bounds) but the whole piece established an extremely unsettling mood, with the stories Justin tells about the children, Samson's visit to the local prostitute, and Sophie's tryst with the cafe owner. Very effective examination of sex and exploitation.

 

[RobertW]

i think "management" is hack scudder. not as he was when he was human, but whatever it is he has become now. this explains his interest in ben, and how the whole carnival has completely changd its course since ben joined them. they went off their traditional circuit, headed south instead of north, and are now on their way to babylon. management has something in mind for ben.

i really liked this episode. seeing sampson get jealous over the hooker was fun. i know not a lot seems to happen, but this series gives me a really good feeling while watching it; there's a sense of dread or suspense hanging over the entire thing, even when nothing, or even simple routine events are happening. it's that same feeling of suspense that i got from the best episodes of x-files, or the profiler stories that dealt with jack of all trades. once they caught him, the series was never the same, the thing that gave the series its mystery and creepiness was gone. carnivale has that creepiness, even if most of it is subtext.

 

[Ivan Lindenfeld]

Episode 5 (edited). Hmmm, ok, this series is artful, but I am not that entertained. Is this going to be one of those shows where the viewer needs to bring with them cultural context from literature, the bible, etc? Because I am getting the feeling I should bone up on my Old Testament. I am also getting increasingly more lost as to where the show is headed in a plot sense.

Specifically, I really didn't care about the girl who died, since the exploitation of children by their parents is a pet peeve of mine and here we have not only exploitation but interfamily touching. I think they are all scum and reprehensible. Plus I didn't know her well enough to care too much whether she lived or died. And what was going to get "puss-y" as in puss?


Ben is being held captive by SCudder/Scudder's spirit? Or something like that?

And am I growing to respect Adrienne Barbeau as an actress? She was just eye candy in the 70's and 80's but she's a respectable actress here.

I don't ride rides at traveling carnivals or fairs anyways after a bad experience in 1994, but I sure as hell won't be now!

 

[Michael Reuben]

Episode 4.

If you're referring to the episode entitled "Babylon", it's episode 5.

M.

 

[Ivan Lindenfeld]

Michael thanks for the correction. I'll edit my post.

Any comments on the show?

 

[Steve Elias]

Am I the only one who was immediately reminded of Luke Skywalker in the cave by Ben's predicament? To stretch it even further the blind man may be waiting for Ben in Yoda-like fashion, although I'm more inclined to see the blind man as dangerous rather than beneficial. This was certainly the darkest episode.
-Steve

 

[Ted Lee]

i'm done. this show goes nowhere...

however, my girlfriend is willing to give it one more try, so we'll see how next week's episode turns out.

 

[Matt Stone]

i'm done. this show goes nowhere...

Well, you can't tell the whole arc in 5 episodes

I sympathize with your plight though, but I like the show.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Annoyance is the word that describes my feelings about this latest episode. I'm going to lower my viewing priority of future recordings of this show because of the glacier pace this show is moving at for the past 3-4 episodes.

 

[Scott DeToffol]

This last episode was terrible. The pace really needs to pick up.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Yeah I kinda wish I could've stayed with it, but I lost interest with the show. I don't Know I think I'm losing interest with TV in General, recording on my TV is very light this year. I have'nt picked up many new shows at all, I did finally watch the Pilot for Karen Sisko and I thought it was pretty Decent so I'm gonna season Pass it, but other than that now with Boomtown gone I have about 4 shows getting recorded:

Enterprise
NYPD Blue
Smallville
At the Movies

Of course there'll be a few more once 24 comes about and the Shield and Dead zone come back.