Of Endings and Beginnings
I finally finished watching both seasons of Carnivale and some have asked for my review of the way the series ends -
This was exactly the ending this series should have had. We know from the first season that Ben's mission to stop the atomic bomb (though they didn't talk about it after first season) will fail. We know the bomb was dropped and we know that no one could stop it. We can hope and dream of such a world where it never existed but we would be fooling ourselves. History goes on no matter what happens to the players.
As for the individual conflict between Ben and Justin - They are just the next in a line of antagonists going back millennia. They are equally matched and nothing about either of them leads one to think they are the ultimate avatar of good or evil. Justin has passed his status to Sophie (whether he is resurrected or not he would likely end up a behind the scenes player like management while Sophie becomes the focal point of the power) and soon another will come along that Ben can teach. The point of this is that no matter what happens, the struggle between these two forces is unchanged. Yes Ben has stopped (or only slowed) the particular evil that Justin represents but it will be back.
Some theories - the two sides have now received some of each other's powers. Justin took his Boon from Scutter grabbing Ben's resurrection powers and Ben took his from Justin's father - curious intermingling suggesting the two sides are more interconnected than one thinks. And when Sophie came into her power she borrowed from a power that is now accessible to both sides. Would make future conflicts play out very interesting and I am sorry that there will be no more from this series.
This was not a feel good ending. Frankly if a series this dark and gritty had a happy ending I would have felt like the writers were being condescending. I only wish that this could have gone the full five seasons the writers originally planned for and not the crammed together second season we got which left so may stories unresolved (Lodz? Hello? He possessed Ruth and that's the last we see of him.)
Ok - no actual tigers but some exciting personal news. My darling hubby and I are expecting our first child. He or she is due on April 5th and things are going pretty well so far other than the fact that I had no idea early pregnancy was really this uncomfortable. Bleh - tired all the time, some nausea (not too bad fortunately), gas to rival any frat house and mood swings worse than PMS could ever be. It's not all bad though, I don't have to watch what I eat so closely any more (I do some though) and I have a blanket excuse for just about everything.
This was exactly the ending this series should have had. We know from the first season that Ben's mission to stop the atomic bomb (though they didn't talk about it after first season) will fail. We know the bomb was dropped and we know that no one could stop it. We can hope and dream of such a world where it never existed but we would be fooling ourselves. History goes on no matter what happens to the players.
As for the individual conflict between Ben and Justin - They are just the next in a line of antagonists going back millennia. They are equally matched and nothing about either of them leads one to think they are the ultimate avatar of good or evil. Justin has passed his status to Sophie (whether he is resurrected or not he would likely end up a behind the scenes player like management while Sophie becomes the focal point of the power) and soon another will come along that Ben can teach. The point of this is that no matter what happens, the struggle between these two forces is unchanged. Yes Ben has stopped (or only slowed) the particular evil that Justin represents but it will be back.
Some theories - the two sides have now received some of each other's powers. Justin took his Boon from Scutter grabbing Ben's resurrection powers and Ben took his from Justin's father - curious intermingling suggesting the two sides are more interconnected than one thinks. And when Sophie came into her power she borrowed from a power that is now accessible to both sides. Would make future conflicts play out very interesting and I am sorry that there will be no more from this series.
This was not a feel good ending. Frankly if a series this dark and gritty had a happy ending I would have felt like the writers were being condescending. I only wish that this could have gone the full five seasons the writers originally planned for and not the crammed together second season we got which left so may stories unresolved (Lodz? Hello? He possessed Ruth and that's the last we see of him.)
Ok - no actual tigers but some exciting personal news. My darling hubby and I are expecting our first child. He or she is due on April 5th and things are going pretty well so far other than the fact that I had no idea early pregnancy was really this uncomfortable. Bleh - tired all the time, some nausea (not too bad fortunately), gas to rival any frat house and mood swings worse than PMS could ever be. It's not all bad though, I don't have to watch what I eat so closely any more (I do some though) and I have a blanket excuse for just about everything.