This Underrated HBO Series Is Required Viewing for Dark Fantasy Fans

Dark fantasy as a genre has been gaining a lot of popularity of late. And why wouldn’t it when we have the likes of the Game of Thrones saga and Stranger Things taking viewers’ collective breaths away with their dark, novel tales full of magic and monstrosities? But such stories aren’t only just now finding their way to TV screens: some existed even before the era of streaming, and, unfortunately, did not receive the acclaim and accolades they deserved.

HBO’s weird, wonderful dark drama Carnivàle falls in this category. Airing between 2003 and 2005, it was created by Daniel Knauf and has 24 episodes spread across two twelve-episode seasons. Each episode has its own plot, but there is an overarching story that Knauf slowly builds. The show is set between 1934-35 in the Great Depression-era Dust Bowl, when a young farmer from Oklahoma, Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl), finds refuge with a traveling carnival. He soon discovers that he has strange healing abilities that he can use to help the disabled and maybe even raise the dead – but it all must come at a price.

Wracked by disturbing visions and dreams, Ben decides to find a drifter named Henry Scudder who apparently has the same powers as him. Meanwhile, in California, a charismatic Methodist priest named Brother Justin Crowe (Clancy Brown) starts having the same prophetic visions as Ben. He takes them to be a sign from God and fully immerses himself in his religion. Numerous believers are drawn to him and his preachings, forming a sort of cult. But there may be more to Brother Crowe than he lets on, especially when it comes to his own unearthly powers that allow him to bend others to his will and create terrible visions.

Through the two seasons, Knauf gives both Ben’s and Brother Justin’s plotlines equal importance, even as the two, through destiny and design, inevitably draw closer to each other. 

Dark, Desperate, Detailed: Carnivàle Tells a Tale as Old as Time

The opening lines of the series state, “Before the beginning, after the great war between Heaven and Hell, God created the Earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called man. And to each generation was born a creature of light and a creature of darkness.” Thus begins a series that will literally take its characters through heaven and hell, just so they can fulfill their destiny.

From the very beginning, viewers are aware that Ben and Brother Justin are part of something bigger, much bigger than either of them can even begin to comprehend. Ben, the reluctant savior, a being of light, is caught in a battle with the forces of evil embodied in the form of Brother Justin. It is a tale as old as time — this fight between light and dark, heaven and hell — yet Knauf manages to take a novel approach to it. He gives us something so surreal, so incredibly subversive that it may take a couple of watches to get all the references and understand all the foreshadowing. Season one starts languidly. It’s unhurried in its pacing, nearly testing viewers’ patience at times. But then comes the finale, and you understand what Knauf had been building towards as it all starts falling into place. 

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If the Season 1 finale is a promise, boy, does Carnivàle Season 2 deliver on that promise. It is where things finally start to come together, with the light inevitably facing down the darkness. The season is as visually stunning as the first, if not more. This is important since a lot of the story is explored through visuals instead of dialogue and exposition.

Equally important to the story is the music score. Each prominent character has their own signature score, and each score tells a story. The music is designed to reflect character backgrounds, history, and ethnicity. Characters who are connected — even when they and the viewers are unaware of it — have oddly similar scores. The music that follows Brother Justin is reminiscent of church choirs and orchestras, for example.

Both the devil and the prophet are in the details when it comes to Carnivàle. Knauf’s writing is very Tolkien-esque in the way that it doesn’t shy away from delving deeper into, well, everything, even seemingly meaningless details. Overall, this is a show worth a watch and then several rewatches, especially so one can soak in the sheer amount of visual intricacies. Be warned, though, due to low viewership, it got cancelled after a mere two seasons, leaving lots of questions unanswered and loose ends untied. 

Carnivàle can be streamed on HBO and HBO Max.