Carnivale: Season 1 Episode 1 - Milfay

It's the Great Depression and we're meeting our new cast of friends. It's very dusty, possibly magical, kind of fun, and a bit depressing.

Produced by Kristen Riley and Daive Reed Edited by Daive Reed

Thanks for being here and if you enjoyed the episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. Or, even easier, tell people about us! It really helps us out. 

Find us on Twitter and Instagram @CastFiles

We also auto-post on YouTube, if that’s your streaming service of choice, or if you like closed captions. 

And finally, email us at [e-mail]

 

SHOW NOTES

 

Set Up: In the midst of the Dust Bowl, a traveling carnival roams from town to town scratching out a living. And a Methodist minister regains his faith in the lord after seeing amazing visions.

Trigger Warnings: Sexual assault, human death, animal cruelty and death, child exploitation.

 

Opening Lines: Samson: 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, there 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 traded away wonder for reason.

 

Summary:

Nightmare sequence.

• In Ben's opening dream, we see, various:
  • Scudder being chased by the Usher through a cornfield
  • Scudder retreating from Bruno the bear in World War 1
  • a hand (possibly Ben's or Boffo's) holding a Templar ring (probably Boffo's) bearing the motto "In Hoc Signo Vinces" ("By this sign you shall conquer" in Latin)
  • Scudder, in a black tuxedo, and Belyakov face each other in the diner
  • Sofie turning over the Magician during Ben's tarot reading
  • the funeral procession in Tipton
  • Ruthie with a snake during one of her acts
  • Scudder popping his top hat
  • a dead lamb
  • a photo of the Babylon mining crew, focusing in on Scudder's picture
  • Apollonia's rape by the Tattooed Man
  • a picture of Felix's gun on a pillow next to four bullets
  • a picture of Lobster Girl from Gunderson
  • Ben wakes up from a dream with no arms or legs
  • more scenes from the trench during World War 1, featuring Belyakov aiming at Scudder
  • a shot of Dora Mae's funeral

On a barren farm in the middle of a dust storm a young man, Ben Hawkins, watches over his dying mother. He reaches for her when she has a coughing fit and she pulls away, disgusted. "Don't touch me," she says before dying. 

It’s fine. This probably won’t impact the rest of his life. 

Outside, a group of trucks rolls down the highway. They stop to find Hawkins digging in the rock-hard ground with a man on a bulldozer shouting at him. 

Samson, the co-manager of a traveling carnival, bets his right-hand man, Jonesy, that the man on the bulldozer "squashes" Hawkin's meager resistance. Jonesy takes the bet and gets out of the truck to help. 

He realizes that Hawkins is trying to bury his mother and, after the bulldozer guy comes over to see what’s up and finds out, Jonesy asks if he has shovels and has the carnival roustabouts help. The eclectic troupe, including conjoined twins, a giant, and a bearded lady, hold a small burial service for the deceased. 

The bulldozer man waits for the burial and funeral to complete, which is good of him, then destroys the house. 

As Samson and the gang try to decide what to do with Hawkins, a car is approaching and Ben collapses, so Ruthie has Gabriel carry Ben.

In Mintern, California, Brother Justin Crowe delivers a sermon on the devil. An older woman, Eleanor, is listening to the sermon and as the plate is passed she reaches in and makes eye contact with the plate holder, to distract him. She takes money from the plate, but Iris, Crowe’s sister, sees her. As Eleanor tries to leave during a song Iris stops her. Iris is terrifying. 

Justin talks to Eleanor in his home after the service, Iris leaves the room and Eleanor tries to talk herself out of the situation. Justin confronts her and suddenly she starts coughing up gold coins. Brot