# Is anybody watching Carnivale? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371 "2003-10-03T16:22:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lefty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85e7bf/32.png) [@lefty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lefty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/1 "2003-10-03T16:22:15Z")
I can hardly believe there isn’t a thread about the new HBO series Carnivale. There’ve only been three episodes so far, but it’s clearly one of the most unusual shows on television. Am I the only one watching this thing? ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/2 "2003-10-03T16:34:50Z")
Unfortunately, I’m watching it. It’s soooooooo slow. ---
**Author:** ![Rythefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d07c76/32.png) [@Rythefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rythefly)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/3 "2003-10-03T18:09:11Z")
It is slow, but I still like it. I find myself excited to know what will happen next! If this show were on network television it would be gone by now…luckily HBO sticks by their series so we can find out where it’s going. ---
**Author:** ![lefty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85e7bf/32.png) [@lefty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lefty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/4 "2003-10-03T18:17:02Z")
Is being “slow” a bad thing? Are television shows supposed to be “fast”? I guess I prefer a show that takes its time to set up themes and develop them over the course of a season. Like “The Wire”, another HBO show that doesn’t seem to get a lot of credit for its incredible depth of character and story development. Both are probably slow in some ways, but I don’t think either is boring, and the eventual payoff would seem to be pretty substantial. ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/5 "2003-10-03T18:57:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lefty \* > \*\*I can hardly believe there isn’t a thread about the new HBO series Carnivale. There’ve only been three episodes so far, but it’s clearly one of the most unusual shows on television. Am I the only one watching this thing? \*\* Otto posted a thread about it earlier during the week: **[Carnivale episode 3](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=214184)** ---
**Author:** ![lefty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85e7bf/32.png) [@lefty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lefty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/6 "2003-10-03T19:00:16Z")
Well, I stand corrected. Any particular reason that thread doesn’t turn up in searches? ---
**Author:** ![Spurious\_George](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Spurious\_George](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spurious_George)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/7 "2003-10-03T19:12:02Z")
I’m watching it, and I think it’s beautiful. I haven’t seen episode 3 yet, so I’m still avoiding the other thread. ---
**Author:** ![lefty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85e7bf/32.png) [@lefty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lefty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/8 "2003-10-03T20:18:20Z")
Ah, apparently, I’m just inept at searching. I didn’t realize there was a timeframe filter. So quite aside from individual episode reviews, is the general perception that this show is “too slow”? ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/9 "2003-10-03T20:41:20Z")
I’m watching it (haven’t seen ep3 yet) and liking it. However, let me say this: all the unexplained stuff better get explained. There better be a logical pay-off. Even if the logic is fantasy logic, there better be reasons for things and not just wierdness for the sake of wierdness. For example… When Ben goes into the mysteriously appearing and disappearing baggage car and finds a picture of his mom. I’m sure the mom connection will be explained, but what’s the deal with the baggage car suddenly coming into existence just to give him a picture? What force caused that? Couldn’t that force just drop the picture on his lap while sleeping? And what’s with the live fetus in a jar? Will that ever be explained, or is that just mood with no rhyme or reason? (I hate that.) Peace. ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/10 "2003-10-03T22:03:38Z")
Yeah, this show is really slow but I’m enjoying it. You know, I have a feeling that the whole good vs evil thing is not as obvious as some may think it is. Then again, nothing is really THAT obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/11 "2003-10-03T22:14:04Z")
I’ve started threads about each of the first three episodes. For some reason the first week’s thread isn’t showing up in a search. Week three link was already posted. Here’s [week 2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=212810&highlight=%2Acarnival%2A). ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/12 "2003-10-04T02:49:35Z")
I just watched all three episodes back to back tonight, and I love the series. Love, love, love. I’m hooked, can’t wait for more. ---
**Author:** ![Fibber\_McGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Fibber\_McGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibber_McGee)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-anybody-watching-carnivale/205371/13 "2003-10-04T11:57:08Z")
Moriah, regarding your example: Samson seemed to think it was somehow connected to the mysterious person/entity known only as “Management” whose nature has net to be revealed. The obvious conclusion would be that “Management” is God (Or Satan, assuming that Ben is not the Creature of Light but rather the Creature of Darkness) so hopefully, the obvious conclusion isn’t the correct one.