Nobody I know watches this show, and people here do, so I'd love to talk a little speculation with you guys based on last night's episodes and the direction of the season. I know it's dumb, but I'm really into this show, and I need an outlet! So, I want to open up the floor to discuss what people think about the season, and what you think will happen next week. I'd prefer pure speculation, so if you're going to post some info from a source, I'd appreciate a heads up. I want to be suprised.

[**if you haven't watched through this week's show, there's spoilers**]

Basically, at this point I'm not certain there's going to be a third season. At the very least, the writers are going to have to be extremely clever to think up a way that things won't get wrapped up next Sunday, and have enough for 12 more episodes. The Carnivàle is in New Canaan and they all know about Ben, who is incredibly close to Brother Justin, who has just killed Scutter. All that and the whole atmosphere at the moment makes it seem like the show has been driving toward this exact point and may finish next week.

The thing is, I wouldn't be surprised if they ended it. There was a surprising amount of backlash after the first season saying that the show was impressive, but far too slow. I for one loved the pace. It meant you had to be very patient and keep track of a lot of subtle plot developments. Well, I think the writers took this criticism to heart because to my eye, the first three episodes of season two probably contain more plot advancement than all of season one. It's still a great story and the show looks and feels as good as before, but I liked it when they took their time.

In the end, if this is the end, I think it will have been good that they kept a nice, clean, short story arc, but I think they could have taken what they have up till now and "stretched" it into three seasons by keeping the pace consistent. Still, it's one of my favorite recent shows and I'll be more than happy if they continue into another year

I'm dying to watch this show... but I don't get HBO.

I'm a big David Lynch fan, and everyone says I have to see this. Is it coming on DVD?

The first season is on DVD already. I bought it the day it came out and it's one of the most attractive sets I've ever seen (which goes along with how I feel about the show).

ps-I'm not certain about the Lynch comparison. I've only seen Mullholland Dr, and Carnivàle is far easier to understand than what I've seen and heard of Lynch's stuff. But it still requires a lot of patience, especially the first season, so maybe that's what they meant *edit* oh yeah, and the guy who plays Samson is a favorite of Lynch *edit*

(just a side note: the far-off muted trumpet sound that they play during tense moments is one of the scariest musical touches I've seen in a while)

I just watched the first 4 episodes in one foul swoop last night and am eagerly awaiting the next DVD from Netflix. Loving it so far!

Is it fell, or foul? I always thought it was fell.

Hmph... You're right. Thinking back I don't know which way I've always said it. Apparently "foul" isn't too far off as in this instance "fell" means something evil or ferocious. I love coming across the origins of phrases like that. Consider me corrected. =]

Darn, I was hoping you were just making a commentary on David Lynch.

Sometime... his arms bend back.

I finally got around to catching up to where you were, just in time for a new episode tomorrow.

I don't feel like this is the last season. For one thing, as slow as it has been, even including this season, I don't think they'd just kill off Justin in one episode with that little lead-up. At the same time, they did find and kill of Scudder pretty quickly. Regardless, I think the pace would be all wrong.

Carnivale isn't really anbout wrapping up every possible loose end, but, at the same time, there are a lot of open plot points that feel like they intend closure, and I can't believe that they'd be able to wrap them all up in one episode, even if they felt like it.

Also, they haven't even really begun to explain the connection to Alamagordo and Trinity. They've made some vague references, but I feel like there's more to it than what they've shown us. Also, they've introduced a number of plot elements awfully late into the series that I can't believe they wouldn't milk for more.

All told, while I understand where you're coming from, and that they could wrap it up in one more episode, I don't believe that they will. I feel like that Ben will not kill Justin for one reason or another, or maybe that Justin will be replaced in some way. This fight is far from over.

I got caught up two days ago, and I agree with Bitt. There's just no way they can end it right now. From the previews, we know that Sophie is going to be in a pretty tight situation, and we may even get to figure out what that whole "Omega" thing is all about. We also got a huge piece of foreshadowing before the bookworm got gutted by Scudder. There are more historical documents out there that speak about this whole business. Likewise, when Ben picked up the boon from the Management, we never really learned how much he, himself, learned. All of that could come out next season.

So, for what it's worth, my guess is that Sophie has some kind of especially large role to play that's going to (temporarily) dwarf the conflict between Justin and Ben. I also imagine more than one person is going to end up dead before it's over.

You guys raise good points, and I think you're right. I will say that they certainly haven't revealed large parts of the mythology behind the series that could lead into a new season, but I did think that they raised a few questions.

I think I'm just curious how the Carnivàle could stay the same after everything that's happened, especially after knowing what Ben can do. I guess it just seems to me that the situation seems to have moved beyond the show, and Ben doesn't need them as much as he once did. The whole season he's barely been amongst them, seemingly relying less and less upon their shelter than he once did. Now that Management is gone, what does he need from them?

I suppose a lot of this will get answered tonight. I can't wait. The one and only thing I don't like about this show is that it's so hard to wait in-between seasons of a twelve-episode-a-season show

**********WARNING SPOILERS*****************

Well, Sophie reviving Justin got me by suprise. Not a great episode, I can't say I was on the edge of my seat. I think the pace in the 2nd season, and especially this episode is too fast, it loses the creepiness/mystery with a 'relevation' every episode. I think we'll see the Carnival being hunted by Justin for most of next season.

-Zeke

That's exactly what I thought. It wasn't great, but it's still Carnivàle, and they would have to try really hard to make me dislike an episode.

Anyway, like I said I'm thrilled I'll be able to continue to enjoy this show.

*** SPOILER ***

What the hell? Jonesy!

Wow, that wasn't what I was expecting at all. Jonesy? Sophie? The healing thing? Wow. On HBO's chat board, there's all kinds of speculation as to what's going on, how inheritance of these powers work, and all that. I'm not sure how much of it corresponds to what's in the writer's head but I don't have any insight beyond what's already posted there.

Anyway, now it's the Battlestar Gallactica season finale coming up next. Yowza.

Did anyone else have reception problems during the show? For most of the first half, every 20 seconds or so the audio would cut out for about half a second. It's a pretty quiet show so it wasn't too noticeable, but it got irritating after a while, particularly when people were speaking. Once or twice the video cut out for a second too. I had thought about waiting and recording the Tuesday repeat, but I had to see it then

No audio problems on hi-def in NH via Comcast.

-Zeke

Perhaps the problem was DirecTV-specific then.

Yup, this was DirecTV HD. I'm just glad it wasn't on my end. That didn't seem likely, though, since I could replay and hear the audio cut out at the same place each time. I guess that would either mean it was DirecTV's fault, or Tivo recorded it wrong, which seems unlikely.

I had the same audio problems (with DirecTV + HD TiVo). In the past, when I've gotten such behavior, I've switched my receiver from the TiVo's digital out to its analog out. Normally, that works wonders. For Carnivale, no dice. I got the popping either way.