Diary of a Carnivale virgin – Season two starts with a bang

by Bob Degon

Carnivale

(Season 2, Episode 1)

I’m on to the second (and final!?!) season of Carnivale now, somehow finding time to squeeze episodes in even though we’re in the middle of the November sweeps. So far, it seems like things are going to be kicking into high gear if the first episode is any indication. I certainly hope that’s the case because there are only twelve episodes left, and there is a whole lot of story left to tell.

“Los Moscos”

So…. is this show really all about nuclear proliferation? It was a little unclear to me what the nuclear blast that Management showed Ben meant. Is their goal to stop the creation of nuclear weapons? It certainly seemed like the explosion in the desert (with the corresponding warning horns) was a test run during the Manhattan Project. Was that it, or was it a different nuclear blast? Perhaps part of a nuclear holocaust? Or maybe it was just a metaphor and I’m over thinking it.

In any case, it was good to learn about the nature of Management. I wasn’t shocked to learn that he was, at one time, like Ben. I wasn’t expecting him to be one of the “good” guys, though. I figured that since Scudder was Ben’s father, Management would have been on the bad side, and Scudder good like Hawkins. I’m still confused as to why a woman (Linda Hunt) is voicing Management. Perhaps there’s a reason for that which will be revealed later. Perhaps not.

Things were ratcheting up for Brother Justin in this episode too. His twisted sermons began reaching a wider audience as he began preaching over the radio. In a very creepy moment, his sermons touched an inmate, Varlyn Stroud, who heard things that weren’t there, whispers from Justin himself. It seems like both Justin and Ben are going to be searching for Henry Scudder now. Justin searching him out to kill him and become the true “usher” and Ben finding him for Management. It’s going to set up an interesting wild goose chase.