The Summary of first Season Carnivale

Genre: Drama / Fantasy / Mystery / Thriller

Actuallly I only need 3 days to finish first season of this HBO Series, but it seems I have not enough times to write the summary... here it is as I promise you...

Carnivale was an American dramatic television series produced by HBO. Created by Daniel Knauf, it starred Nick Stahl and Clancy Brown. The show ran from 2003-2005.

The series is a period drama set in the United States during the Great Depression. It has an overarching story about the battle between good and evil as well as the struggle between free will and destiny.

At the beginning of the first episode, the carnival's manager (a dwarf named Samson) says: "Before the beginning, after the great war between heaven and hell, God created the Earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called man... and to each generation was born a creature of light and a creature of darkness... and great armies clashed by night in the ancient war between good and evil. There was magic then. Nobility. And unimaginable cruelty. And so it was until the day that a false sun exploded over Trinity, and man forever traded away wonder for reason."

This quotation offers a glimpse into the show's subject matter and framework.

The story consists of two main plot lines that are slowly converging. The first involves a young man with strange healing powers named Ben Hawkins, the "creature of light," who joins a travelling carnival when it passes near his home in Milfay, Oklahoma. Soon thereafter, Ben begins experiencing strange dreams and visions, and finds himself on the trail of a man named Henry Scudder, a drifter who crossed paths with the carnival many years before... and who apparently possessed unusual abilities similar to Ben's own. Scudder is eventually revealed to be Ben's father.

The second plotline revolves around a Father Coughlin-esque Methodist preacher, Brother Justin Crowe, the "creature of darkness," Ben's opposite and his ultimate nemesis. Justin is also learning the extent of his strange powers, which seem to include the ability to bend human beings to his will, and to make their sins or "greatest evils" manifest in the form of terrifying, traumatic visions. Justin experiences surreal, prophetic dreams similar to those of his young counterpart.

HBO Home Video have released both seasons of Carnivale on DVD. Both season sets feature extra features, including episode trailers, audio commentaries and documentaries. I bought second season of carnivale in BB Plaza Kuala Lumpur for RM 60. Quite Expensive for counterfeit DVD, but I can't hardly wait to watch the finale...