Carnivàle revisited: is this HBO’s strangest show?

Carnivàle premiered on HBO in 2003 and was cancelled after only two seasons. The decision prompted protests from the show’s small but dedicated cult following — some 50,000 emails — and, as the television canon expanded and the taste for mystery-box TV waned, the series settled into a minor curio in HBO’s back catalogue.

The story follows a travelling carnival across the American dust bowl in the 1930s. Early on the troupe picks up Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl), an ex-con with a mysterious past and inexplicable powers, while a parallel plot traces Brother Justin Crowe (Clancy Brown), a preacher whose nightmarish visions convince him he is God’s messenger.

The two strands rarely meet outside shared dreams, their contrast making tangible a mythic battle between good and evil reminiscent of early Stephen King novels or Twin Peaks. The show’s otherworldly tone is welded to a traditional ensemble piece.

United States, Dust Bowl

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