DVD | Carnivale

Carnivale is a period drama for people like me how don’t like period drama. It’s dark and brooding. It’s a tale of good and evil, darkness and light. But it never lets you know which is which. It keeps you on your toes.

Superbly filmed, acted and thought out, it’s one of the most original TV series I have seen in a while. Though it’s based around the lives of a travelling Carnivale (hence the name) it’s really about two people – one a young man trying to come to terms with his supernatural ability to heal, who takes a job in the Carnivale after his mother dies. The other is a preacher who gets a very clear mandate from God, but to fulfil this mandate, people start to die.

Both it seems are on a journey of discovery, and it’s unlikely that they will meet, at least in this the first season. But it’s a journey that’s both compelling and sad. The Carnivale is a place where the weird and wonderful find solace in their own company – who make money by having people come gawk at them, A strong subplot is the way prejudice was rampant, and how these people are treated as outcasts, just because they are not the societal norm.

The twist is that the preacher’s (played with an air of sinisterness by Shawshank’s most hated guard, Clancy Brown) mandate is to another group of outcasts, immigrant workers. So we’re left rooting for both sides of this eternal conflict. Only time will tell which side we should to cheering on. For the time being I’m going to enjoy the ride.