"Put it Back There..."

That is a line from one of the best episodes of Carnivale yet. While this season has been exceptional, and entertaining, it has also provided me with a lot of unintentional funny lines. Like when Ben is going to meet an old woman, he asks what her name is, and is told that "FUCK YOUR MOUTH! FUCK YOUR MOUTH! THAT'S HER NAME! FUCK YOUR MOUTH!" I haven't laughed that much since the part in Toni Morrison's Beloved when Beloved tells that dude to "Touch me on the inside part, say my name." And then last night, when a dancer beds one of the field hands, she tells him to "Put it back there". It's actually a very sweet moment involving anal sex. But then again, aren't most moments involving anal sex sweet in some way or another?

Now, be warned Nerdflock, there will be spoilers following.

I watched the first season of Carnivale more out of compulsion than interest. It was great looking, appearing as if everything was covered in a layer of dust and poverty. The dream sequences depicted epic and apocryphal evil, along with demented visions that plague the two main characters, Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl) and Brother Justin (Clancy Brown), made for an appealing visual display. And the storyline of two avatars, one a "creature of light" and the other "a creature of dark", pursuing each other across the backdrop of post-World War I America intrigued me. Thrown in some sideshow freaks, which I'm both fascinated by and empathize with, and I'm there. Only one problem with the first season: It was slower than an inbred pig trying to spell "onomatopoeia"....and that's slow. Nothing happened that first season. Oh sure, there was some evil, some sex (a lot of sex for circus folk, I felt), the occasional bit of violence, and heck even a death or two. Much like my high school sex life, there wasn't a lot of action. But every episode ended with the promise that next episode is when the fit hits the shan, only to be met with great disappointment. Except for the last three episodes, season 1 was pretty droll.

Now I see it's just Act 1. The creators of Carnivale have always said that they would need at least three seasons to tell their story, and I hope it's just three years. Cuz that would situate Season 1 as the opening act of the story; we meet the characters, we see what's at stake, we get a foreshadowing of all the stuff that will go down later. Season 1 is the Fellowship of the Ring of this dusty tale, where some cool stuff happens, but you know it's all gearing up for the badass battles ahead. Season 1 is now available on DVD, you can check it out here, and sometimes it's on HBO On Demand. It's one of those series that you can easily watch in a weekend, devoting huge chunks of time to trying to unravel the mystery. It's necessary to catch up in order to follow the new season, and then I would recommend watching all of the episodes of season 2, also on HBO On Demand in most areas. It would be a nerdy & antisocial little marathon, but it would be worth it just to see the levels of intrigue and foresight that has gone into the series.

So if you haven't done that already, I suggest you go and do it now. Then come back and read this. Go on. I'll wait. I've got nothin better to do. Go on!

...All set?

No? The fuck is wrong with you? Just go do it.

'Cause I said so, that's why. Now go!

...Done?

Good.

So last night Ben finally found his father, Scudder (John Savage giving his best performance since Hair), and brought him to meet Management (Who's actually the mutilated Russian Soldier, Beliakoff). Scudder asks his son to protect him before they head into the trailer. Once inside, Beliakoff forces Scudder to name Ben's opposite--so Scudder ends up saying that it is Alexei Beliakoff aka Brother Justin (remember those pesky Russian orphans?). Beliakoff thought his son was dead, and is shocked to hear this. Then the human Russian stump springs forth and begins to strangle Scudder. It's actually kind of funny to watch a guy with one arm and no legs and an eyepatch slowly strangle another man. He's whipped around like a backpack on Scudder's back, but holds on, until Ben stabs Beliakoff several times. The lights and power dies in the carnival. All is dark and quiet as blue blood slowly leaks out of Beliakoff's body. Then Beliakoff awakens and grasps Ben around the throat. All of the power comes back to the carnival. End. That is something worthy of a season finale, but instead comes with a few episodes left in the season. Oh, and Brother Justin struck out against his diocese and attacks the church much to the chagrin of his superiors and to the cheers of his devotees. So now what's going to happen? Dunno. But here's what's really interesting: This is the introduction to this season that Samson gave right before the season premiere:

On the heels of the skirmish man foolishly called The War to End All Wars, the dark one sought to elude his destiny, and live as a mortal. So he fled across the ocean to the empire called America. But by his mere presence, a cancer corrupted the spirit of the land. People were rendered mute by fools who spoke many words but said nothing... for whom oppression and cowardice were virtues... and freedom, an obscenity. And into this dark heartland, a prophet stalked his enemy. Until, dimished by his wounds, he turned to the next in the ancient line of light. And so it was that the fate of mankind came to rest on the trembling shoulders of the most reluctant of saviors...

The "prophet" is obviously Beliakoff, as he was "diminished by the wounds" he received from Lodz's bear. So that means the next in the ancient line of light is Ben. And we know that Scudder said he just wanted to live a normal life, have a family, or "elude his desitny". So therefore he's the Dark One. So the Dark One's child is now a Creature of Light, and the Prophet's child is the new Usher of Destruction. It is also interesting that the Dark One is usually more powerful than the Prophet of Light, as can be seen by Brother Justin's abilities, and all Ben can do is heal people at a costly price.

Why do messiahs always get the shit end of the stick? From Frodo to Neo to Richard Bach's book Illusions, to the guy who started it all -- The Big JC, messiahs don't really seem to be feeling their role. Just once it would be funny to find a rich, popular, good looking Messiah who really wants to be the savior, not the least bit reluctant or tortured. And then you would have a set upon Antichrist who seems to be cursed; he's clumsy, has Irritable Bowel Syndrome, only likes shitty bands like KISS, etc. Cuz then you'd be rooting for the underdog, which in that case was the Antichrist. So that'd be awkward.

Oh well. In any case, I'm looking forward to the rest of this season, and the rest of this series. It's like Todd Browning's Freaks meets The Stand by way of Twin Peaks. But with a lot more butt sex.