So who else has watched this or is getting into it now that Sky Atlantic are showing it from the beginning, to fill the gap that Game of Thrones left? It's got a pretty large cult following since it finished in 2005, but it generally seems to go by unnoticed. It does seem quite the hidden gem considering the scope and story seems rather epic indeed and HBO got a lot of stick for cancelling it after only two seasons. The Depression era dustbowl setting is an interesting one too.

 

Plot: 1934, America. The Dustbowl. A fugitive named Ben Hawkins finds refuge within a traveling carnival comprised of a tarot card reader and her catatonic/telekinetic mother, a blind mentalist, a bearded lady, and conjoined twins, amongst others. The carnival is owned by the mysterious and unseen Management, who has designs on the young Hawkins, for the boy is concealing an untapped gift: he can heal the lame and raise the dead--at a price. Ben also finds himself disturbed by cryptic and prophetic dreams, which he shares with a Methodist preacher in California, Brother Justin Crowe. Brother Justin, convinced by his dreams he is following God's will, has begun to practice his own extraordinary talents, although the preacher's plans increasingly lead to disturbing and tragic consequences. In this "last great age of magic," Ben Hawkins and Justin Crowe are moving toward a great conflict between Good and Evil, although it not yet clear on which sides these men will stand.

 

 

The first episode was quite weird I have to say, but in a good way, and it certainly helps that Ben Hawkins is a total hottie. Michael J. Anderson is wonderful as the leader of the Carnival Samson, and the so-called Management are certainly intriguing. Clea Duvall makes an "Ah, I know you!" appearance as the required love interest and only seemingly 'normal' carnie. She does get the chance to show off a bit of acting chops aswell with the fall out of the rape, and her shouting at her comatose mother to "shut up!", was a particular batty highlight. While Clancy Brown does have a gravitas as the Pastor, his scenes felt disjointed with the rest of the episode, and the woman throwing up coins part left me feeling a bit "wtf?" although hopefully this won't be too much of an issue as time goes on.

 

While it didn't grab me as much as I thought it would given the hype (I suppose if I had the DVD to go straight into Episode 2 this wouldn't be a problem) it was decent enough for me to keep tuning in. Seeing as how I didn't know anything much about the plot when I started, the discovery of Ben's gift was also quite well revealed. It certainly helps that the first season is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore, the genius behind the recent Battlestar Galactica re-boot. Funny enough that is what he jumped ships for after the first season.

 

Thoughts peeps?

Edited July 1, 201113 yr by Daniel II

I've considered adding it to The List™ but I can't help but feel it would be one of those terribly artístic and serious historical epics which moves glacially and doesn't much hold the interest, see also Tréme and Boardwalk Empire. Although who knows? I could be wrong about all three...

I've considered adding it to The List™ but I can't help but feel it would be one of those terribly artístic and serious historical epics which moves glacially and doesn't much hold the interest, see also Tréme and Boardwalk Empire. Although who knows? I could be wrong about all three...

I would say it's a lot more fluffy than those two shows, it's a high concept show in the same vain as Lost, Supernatural or Heroes really. With added HBO sheen.

I couldn't get into it when FX had the rights to it about 5 years ago. It was exahusting to watch. You can't miss an episode and you don't just watch it, you need to remember it and kinda analyse it as the storyline are not really simple to follow. I can't be doing with a show like that so gave up after 3 episodes.