Carnivàle: Encyclopedia - Carnivàle

Carnivàle

Carnivàle is an American dramatic television series produced by HBO. Created by Daniel Knauf, it stars Nick Stahl and Clancy Brown. The shown ran from 2003-2005.

The series is a period drama set in the United States during the Great Depression. It has an overarching story about the battle between good and evil as well as the struggle between free will and destiny.

Carnivàle - Overview

At the beginning of the first episode, the carnival's manager (a dwarf named Samson) says:

This quotation offers a glimpse into the show's subject matter and framework.

The show consists of two plot lines that are slowly converging. The first involves a young man named Ben Hawkins, the "creature of light," who joins a travelling carnival when it passes near his Dust Bowl home. The carnival consists mainly of a freak show and a strip show (known as the "cootch show"), but it also has a few rides such as a Tilt-A-Whirl and Ferris wheel.

Ben has quickly come to learn that his nemesis must be stopped by any means, and is learning the full extent of his powers to stop the nuclear holocaust he keeps seeing in his mind if his nemesis succeeds.

The second plot line revolves around a Methodist minister named Brother Justin Crowe, the "creature of darkness", who, along with the guidance of his sister Iris in their fictional town of Mintern, California, is also learning the extent of his powers, and his visions regarding the farm boy he keeps seeing, who is his nemesis. He has gathered a strong following of Okies who have flocked to hear him and his Father Coughlin-like (minus the anti-Semitism) sermons going out over the airwaves.

As the story progresses, the carnival travels west toward California and a confrontation seems inevitable. The westward movement parallels the movement of the Okies from Oklahoma to California during the Dust Bowl years.

Hawkins and Crowe are linked by mysterious events in the past (specifically during World War I, involving their fathers), and they have been appearing in each other's dreams regularly from the first season onward, finally confronting each other at the end of the second season. The show mixes much Christian theology and Gnostic lore together with concepts of classical Greek mythology and Masonic lore, particularly that of the Knights Templar.

Carnivàle - Cancellation

While ratings began agreeably, by the end of the first season they were down significantly. During the second season, the ratings slowly rose toward the end; however, the show became increasingly expensive to produce at the same time. Many fans suspected that, due to HBO's tradition of carrying shows through to an end, and Daniel Knauf's six-year-plan, the show would be renewed, but in May 2005, it was leaked that the series would not be returning for another season. HBO confirmed that the show had been cancelled on May 11, 2005.

The show's ending after its second season and leaving so many plotlines unfinished has outraged many viewers. Some of them organized petitions and mailing drives to HBO to get the shows renewed. According to HBO's president this generated 50,000 emails in one weekend to the network.

Had the series continued, several things would have occurred, according to Knauf. The series would have been composed of three "books", with two seasons per book, spanning several years. (Thus the first book was completed.) It would also have been revealed that neither Brother Justin nor Jonesy had died at the conclusion of the second season. As there is no indication of whether the show or its storyline will continue in any form, Knauf's intentions behind mentioning these points, and whether or not they would have any bearing on the already aired episodes or painted a different picture of events, are unknown.

Carnivàle - Cast

• Nick Stahl as Ben Krohn Hawkins, an Okie; Son of Henry "Hack" Scudder; Avatar of Light
• Clancy Brown as Brother Justin Crowe (Alexi Belyakov) {Deceased - Ben Krohn Hawkins} a corrupt Methodist minister; Son of Lucius Belyakov; Younger brother of Iris Crowe; Sofie Agnesh Bojakshiya's father; Avatar of Darkness; Usher of Destruction
• Amy Madigan as Iris Crowe (Irina Belyakov), Brother Justin Crowe's older sister; Daughter of Lucius Belyakov; Sofie Agnesh Bojakshiya's aunt
• John Carroll Lynch as Varlyn "Bird Dog" Stroud, an escaped convict; Brother Justin Crowe's searcher for and finder of Henry "Hack" Scudder
• Ralph Waite as Reverend Norman Balthus (Deceased - Brother Justin Crowe), Brother Justin Crowe's righteous Methodist mentor and former adoptive father; Crippled stroke victim
• Robert Knepper as Tommy Dolan, successful radio host who launched Brother Justin Crowe's "Church of the Air"; Under arrest for arson and murder
• K Callan as Eleanor McGill (Deceased - Iris Crowe), an Okie; Devoted follower of Brother Justin Crowe
• Time Winters as Wilfred Talbot Smith (Deceased - Henry "Hack" Scudder), occult advisor to Brother Justin Crowe
• Glenn Shadix as Val Templeton, a councilman in Mintern, California; Brother Justin Crowe's candidate for congress
  • Matt McCoy as Ned Munson, another councilman in Mintern California; Assistant to Val Templeton
• John Savage as Henry "Hack" Scudder (Deceased - Justin Crowe), previous generation's Avatar of Darkness; Formerly the "Gentleman Geek" of the carnival; Father of Ben Krohn Hawkins
• Linda Hunt as (voice) Management, or Lucius Belyakov (Deceased and Ascended - Ben Krohn Hawkins), previous generation's Avatar of Light; Owner of the carnival; Father of Brother Justin Crowe and Iris Crowe
  • Michael Massee as (body) Management, or Lucius Belyakov
• Michael J. Anderson as Edgar "Samson" Leonhardt, head of the carnival; Former dwarf-strongman
• Tim DeKay as Clayton "Jonesy" Jones (Shot and left for dead - Sofie Agnesh Bojakshiya), leader of the roustabouts; Husband to Libby Dreifuss
  • Bill Moseley as Possum, the carnival's cook
  • Scott MacDonald as Burley, a roustabout
  • Blake Shields as Osgood, another roustabout
• Clea Duvall as Sofie Agnesh Bojakshiya, fortune teller; Daughter of Apollonia Bojakshiya and Brother Justin Crowe; Former lover of Ben Krohn Hawkins; Currently exhibiting hitherto unknown powers: These powers seem to be like Ben's as she touches Brother Justin and the field around him begins to die
• Diane Salinger as Apollonia Bojakshiya (Deceased - Suicide by fire), catatonic fortune teller; Mother of Sofie Agnesh Bojakshiya; Could communicate telepathically with her daughter
• Patrick Bauchau as Professor Ernst Lodz (Deceased - Ben Hawkins/Part-time possessing Ruthie), blind mentalist; Ex-assistant of Management
• Debra Christofferson as Lila Villanueva, the bearded lady; Professor Ernst Lodz' lover
• Adrienne Barbeau as Ruthie (Part-time possessed by Lodz), a snake charmer; Ex-flame of Henry "Hack" Scudder; Mother to Gabriel
• Brian Turk as Gabriel, a strong man; Ruthie's son
• Toby Huss as Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss, manager of the "cootch show" (strip show); Rita Sue Dreifuss' husband; Father to Libby Dreifuss-Jones and Dora Mae Dreifuss
• Cynthia Ettinger as Rita Sue Dreifuss, main cootch show stripper; Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss' wife; Mother to Libby Dreifuss-Jones and Dora Mae Dreifuss
• Carla Gallo as Libby Dreifuss-Jones, cootch show dancer; Daughter of Rita Sue Dreifuss and Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss; Former older sister of Dora Mae Dreifuss; Widow of Clayton "Jonesy" Jones
• Amanda Aday as Dora Mae Dreifuss (Deceased - Murdered), cootch show dancer; Former youngest daughter of Rita Sue Dreifuss and Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss; Former younger sister of Libby Dreifuss-Jones
• Bree Walker as Sabina Engstrom, "The Scorpion Queen" (ectrodactyly) of the rival Daily Brothers Carnival; Ex-wife of Samson
• Matthew McGrory, as a giant
• John Fleck as Gecko, a lizard man (Season One)
• Karyn Steben as Alexandria, conjoined twin of Caledonia (Season One)
• Sarah Steban as Caledonia, conjoined twin of Alexandria (Season One)
• Don Swayze as the Tattooed Man, a symbolic representation of the Usher of Destruction found in Avataric dreams

Carnivàle - Episode guide

Carnivàle - Season 1 2003

Carnivàle - Season 2 2005

Carnivàle - The Gospel of Knauf Avataric Rules

• One Blood

• Two Houses, Light and Dark;

• Two Avatars per generation - eldest males, one light, one dark;

• An Avatar's nature is random - dark can beget light and light can beget dark;

• One Prophet (Dominant/eldest male) per House;

• One or more Princes (Ascendant males), depending on the number of generations alive at any time; (The whole thing is not altogether different than the ascent of royal families, except…)

• A Prince must kill the Prophet with his own hands in order to gain his full measure of power (per Wilfred Talbot Smith, who knows a thing or three about these things).

• Free choice is operative.

• Though tougher and more resilient than normal humans, Avatars are still mortal.

• The Usher of Destruction - An Avataric Prophet who has been foretold as a harbinger of the End Times (again, per Talbot Smith); as for the TRUE function of the Usher, it has yet to be revealed.

• The Alpha was the first Avatar - a female. Her story has been lost since the destruction of the Royal Library of Alexandria by Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria (incidentally, the patron saint of arsonists). The Omega (which had erroneously been considered synonymous with The Usher by most scholars) is the last Avatar - also a female. Her story has yet to be concluded.

Carnivàle - Genealogy of Scudder and Belyakov lines

Carnivàle - Lawsuit

On June 9, 2005 a lawsuit was filed in United States District court by writer Jeff Bergquist. Mr. Bergquist claims that the creators of Carnivàle did not originate the idea for the show but rather stole them from his unpublished novel Beulah. Mr. Bergquist is claiming that HBO and Carnivàle's creators violated his copyright on Beulah and is seeking both recognition and punitive damages. The validity of his claims has yet to be proven.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Carnivàle", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki