Carnies on HBO
By Elizabeth C. Holtz
A&F Staff Writer

Carnivále is the latest dramatic series to be produced by HBO. The series begins in Oklahoma during the Great Depression. The premise is that Ben Hawkins, the lead character played by Nick Stahl, ends up with a traveling carnival when the death of his mother and seizure of their farm leave him penniless and stranded.

Intercut with this storyline is the story of California preacher Justin Crowe, whose upper-class congregation is invaded by migrant workers looking for jobs. While it is unclear what the two men’s connection is, they both share the same recurring nightmare: a series of disturbing images of war, legless children, and farms. The show follows the carnival as it moves from town to town and the preacher as he attempts to build a church exclusively for migrant workers.

Carnivále is most successful in two areas: visually, it is beautiful, though strange, with sweeping shots of the dusty Midwest and seedy California clubs. It also is much more than a simple show about a few characters. This is an epic. The first episode opens with the lines, “Before the beginning, after the great war between Heaven and Hell, God created the earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called man. And to each generation was born a creature of light and a creature of darkness.”

While the setting is strongly rooted in history, with the opening credits showing various shots of FDR and folding soup kitchen lines, the show has an aura of magic. Every line and every shot leaves the feeling that something strange and terrible is happening. Scenes are often confusing, and many things are left unexplained or open to audience interpretation.

In this bizarre vein, the manager of the carnival is none other than Michael J. Anderson, the midget who masterfully tap-danced at the end of the first episode of the similarly weird Twin Peaks. His dialogue often includes prophetic utterances about fate and magic, though his “carnie” speak is often difficult to buy.

The other characters are equally weird; not surprisingly a bearded lady, a fortuneteller, Siamese twins, and other misfits round out the cast. But while these outwardly odd characters are unsettling, it is Nick Stahl’s role that is the most captivating. While he appears normal, he has the power to heal the sick and to bring back the dead. His previous life remains unknown to viewers in the first three episodes and it seems that at times he himself is unsure about the past.

Carnivále’s religious tinge also adds to the eccentric plot. HBO’s website proclaims that “…this tenuous, prosaic reality shared by humankind is actually a chessboard upon which is played the ancient conflict between Light and Darkness…” The Apocalypse, a town called Babylon, and Christian revivals are all themes in the first three episodes. The main characters, Hawkins and Crowe, are waging the last war between Heaven and Hell, though so far it is unclear in what way.

It is this epic quality that makes Carnivále so wonderful. Under the freakish characters and plots is a simple story of good and evil in the tradition of The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, and that’s what makes it worth watching.