Roll Up! Roll Up!

I'm rediscovering the delights of Carnivale, the show that seemed impenetrable at first but with a second viewing reveals magnificent rich wonders of splendiferous splendidry. I can't gush enough. I think I'm in love again.

It reminds me of Star Wars without the vein of pubescent male fantasy. There is no comparing of light sabres here, but there is a "force" of a kind driving the warriors, Ben Hawkins and Justin Crow, towards their ultimate struggle for supremacy in the battle between the darkness and the light. Brother Justin, coaxed away from a suicide attempt, is shipped off to the local psychiatric hospital for some inhumane treatment, where he begins to reveal that he can make strange things happen indeed. Meanwhile, Mr Dooley is on the radio telling the story of this man, who had his church burned down, while trying to seduce his subject's sister. The source of infernal injustice probably stems from the town councillor, Val Templeton, who, as a representative of the people, either orchestrated the fire or at least turned a blind eye to it. But God was clear to Brother Justin and instructed him to set up some o' that ol' time religion in this house, where the "Okies" could worship the Lord.

On the road, young Ben Hawkins is doing his best to resist the attempts of the blind and enigmatic dream reader to encourage Ben to harness his gifts, though when it is revealed that Ben is practicing his magic on his own in healing a broken arm, the analyst flies into a fury. He has big plans for Ben. Evil ones. Somehow Ben falls into a disused mineshaft and comes across the much talked about Hank Scudder, then upon following him out into the open, finds he is living a WWI dream he once had. As a private, he dons tin hat and rifle and wades through the bodies of the trench. Brother Justin appears above the parapet and is just about to knock off his rival, Ben, when suddenly the bear of Russian Communism rears up and does away with the preacher.

There is so much symbolism and biblical reference in this show, set amongst the dustbowl of the American southwest of the 1930s, where a sandstorm knocks out a town for an afternoon, where a woman dancing with a snake sends men into a spin, where a town full of souls called Babylon overflows with angst and murders one of the Carnival folk in retribution for provoking lust of a different kind which couldn't be satisfied in this place full of men.

Carnivale is brilliant, but you don't have to be at least 5 feet tall to get on this ride. Thankfully the diminutive Samson is running the show.