Ben Hawkins
Nick Stahl
Ben Hawkins

“Into each generation is born a creature of light and a creature of darkness.”
Carnivàle is an American television series set in the United States during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. In tracing the lives of two disparate groups of people, its overarching story depicts the battle between good and evil and the struggle between free will and destiny; the storyline mixes Christian theology with gnosticism and Masonic lore, particularly that of the Knights Templar.
Carnivále Season 1 Trailer
Ben Hawkins
Nick Stahl
Ben Hawkins
Brother Justin
Clancy Brown
Brother Justin
Samson
Michael J. Anderson
Samson
Clayton Jones
Tim DeKay
Clayton Jones
Sofie
Clea DuVall
Sofie
Rita Sue Dreifuss
Cynthia Ettinger
Rita Sue Dreifuss
Libby Dreifuss
Carla Gallo
Libby Dreifuss
Ruthie
Adrienne Barbeau
Ruthie
Iris Crowe
Amy Madigan
Iris Crowe
Stumpy Dreifuss
Toby Huss
Stumpy Dreifuss
Lila
Debra Christofferson
Lila
Gabriel
Brian Turk
Gabriel
This show was insanely cool and had the potential to be one of HBO's best ever shows. Seriously, I'd take these two seasons over just about anything the premium channel has put out. There's a level of creativity and thoughtfulness that is near unheard of in TV. Unfortunately, these seasons amount to god-tier set-up for shit-hits-the-fan moments that we never got to see. As soon as we were going to get some big pay-offs, Carnivàle was cancelled. Nobody watched it: it was too slow, too smart, too weird for its time. This is one of the biggest creative what-ifs ever in my opinion. I still love these seasons, but rewatching them know that the story doesn't get its proper end isn't too appealing. Still can't rate it lower though: what we got was way too good.
Read full reviewMore series you might want to watch next.