Carnivàle (2003-2005)

Slightly overrated. Just a very interesting series that unfortunately was never finished.
I think comparisons to Twin Peaks are unfair and too easy, perhaps because Carnivale dates back to a time when surrealistic elements were still rare on TV.

Translated from Dutch · View original

Better than Twin Peaks, but it also shares its flaws.

Carnivàle is often compared to Twin Peaks, and rightly so. Like Twin Peaks, Carnivàle has a mysterious and foreboding atmosphere at its best with plenty of suspense that makes for some fantastic scenes (Justin's monologues are particularly memorable). Slowly but surely you discover the deeper roles of the characters in the "battle of good and evil", and that development is interesting to follow, especially in the more subtle and less clichéd first season.

But as with Twin Peaks, the "main storyline" is only a small part of the series. For a large part of the series you follow the series' fringe characters, each less captivating than the other. They are provincial types, who carry on boring dialogues while dealing with their everyday worries, such as some "romantic" adventures that lead to tension. It also doesn't help that the main character, Ben, is a peasant type who tries hard all season to do nothing. Understandable, but boring.

And in the second season, the series' weaknesses only come to the fore. The series becomes more explicit, less mysterious, and the characters lose their complexity. Sofie's development is captivating, but the other characters are fighting over who fits best.

So Carnivàle is not as good as I hoped. It has some very atmospheric scenes, some nice characters and a pretty fascinating main story, but like Twin Peaks, the series spends way too much time on the forgettable entanglements of uninteresting characters, making real highlights scarce. A lot of people complain that the series ended prematurely, but I especially think it's a shame that the two seasons it had weren't better spent. More focus and less filler would have done the series well. 3.25*

Translated from Dutch · View original