(Season 2, Episodes 6-7)
It’s so nice during slow times in the normal television schedule to have something in the DVD player. In my case, that continues to be Carnivale, even though I’m running out of episodes quickly. These were a couple of big episodes, marking the half way point in the season, as well as closing out one of the major storylines on the show since day one. The show is really beginning to kick things into another gear.
“The Road to Damascus”
Among other things, this episode was a fun look into Carnie culture, as the Carnivale gang met up with another carnival on the road. It was also a nice way to introduce a couple new additions to the carnival, as the Scorpion Lady (Samson’s ex-wife) and her new husband left with Carnivale. I think they are going to make for some interesting dynamics moving forward and hopefully act as a breath of fresh air for the carnival.
The big headline from this episode was Sofie’s departure. I’m not quite sure why everyone is so in love with her (including Jonesy, Ben, Libby et al). To date, I’ve only seen a whiny and annoying girl. Perhaps a little trip to find herself will actual help her grow and make her deserving of the attention from all her admirers.
For a while there I thought that Brother Justin was definitely going to give up Iris for burning down the church. I should have known better. It made for a great dramatic moment when Justin’s set up of Tommy Dolan came to fruition.
“Damascus, NE”
I was half expecting the search for Scudder to take up the entire season, but it all came to a head in this episode. Ben found his father and brought him back to Management. This led to a crazy brawl as Management attacked Scudder and then Ben attacked Management, presumably killing him. Of course, everything was up in the air as this episode ended. Management lunged up from his pool of blue blood after being stabbed multiple times to strangle Ben, while Scudder was possibly laying dead in the corner. It was hard not to start the next episode and watch it right away.
There were other things going on in this episode too. Brother Justin had some truly disturbing dreams/visions and some really graphic projectile vomiting thanks to Ben. I did love his tirade during mass, ripping up the “approved” sermon from the other priests. It’s going to be interesting to see if everyone begins to see the incredible darkness in the man before all is said and done.
No sign of Sofie since she fled the carnival… and I can’t say I really missed her.
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Dec 16, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
