Summary
Sofie carries laundry out to the line and stops in her tracks when she sees the Carnivale set up in the valley. Glancing over her shoulder at the house, she sees her mother Apollonia in the window, dressed in a funeral veil. "No..."she moans.

Rushing to the house, she enters the room upstairs, but finds Brother Justin dressing, his cassock open to reveal his tree tattoo. Justin asks Sofie to cut an irritating thread from his collar, and hands her a straight razor. Trembling over his exposed throat, she slices the thread. But as she turns to leave Justin speaks, "You really should have knocked..." and the door to his room slams shut in front of her.

:tear: :tear: :tear: and so it ends. Maybe the last episode made.

Beautiful ending, Sophie seeing the Carnivale at the camp. Tense moment as Justin asks her to cut the loose thread on his cassack and then turning on her slamming the door and telling her to choose.

Go to hell - why go, I intend to bring it here :fear:

Sophie then being thrown into the cabin and indeed confronting her demons literally. She learns the truth about Justin seeing who she thinks is Apollonia and then sees herself, the path revealed in flashbacks. Riveting stuff.


The invitation from Sampson at the house to ride the Colossus - good plan. The contempt on Jonesy's face as he smashes the lever on the ride as Ben gets down to business and heals as many as he can targeting the energy from Justin, and yet Justin doesn't seem that damaged afterwards.

When Justin shouts stop and decides to end it slashing whoever gets in his path - including poor Norman who has just been healed he is indeed frightening. Again I have to say how wonderful Clancy is in the role playing it just right, never overly dramatic, subtle looks and smiles with sudden explosions of rage.

The dream sequence that Ben has had for so long finally coming to be as he runs through the corn fields followed by the tatooed hunter with flashes of lightening in the dark is intense and finally they face with Ben coming off victorious.


However, it seems the Ushers power has been transferred to his daughter Sophie as she kills Jonesy
:o a tad harsh, eyes black and then goes to heal Justin.

Room for many more stories, I've never been bored watching this and although I'm satisfied by the ending I would so love to see more.

:)

I was completely blown away watching this episode. Ever since episode 1 it's been in the back of your mind that should they (Ben and Justin) ever meet the results would be equal measure of explosive, catastrophic and magnificent. New Canaan indeed does not disappoint. It's the episode we've been waiting for for two years !!!

Clancy Brown is truly awesome in this episode, but so it has to be said is Nick Stahl. I found the scenes towards the end when the plan clicks into motion truly compelling. Imagery abound throughout the episode as well, the least subtle of which having Ben being carried out of the cornfield in the crucifixation position.

If I sat here for a million years I really doubt I could fault this one. Plenty of answers (of sorts), resolutions, drama, action, and yet still, plenty of scope for more.

The two respective powers change with each generation. Scudder was a CoD, possessing the healing power, this then switched to Ben in the following generation, an avatar. What's unclear at this stage is whether Sophie truly harnesses the power, or whether it's possibly the unborn child of Ben/Sophie manifesting it's powers early. Countering against that theory though is the 'Sophie is the Omega' statement. If Sophie is indeed the Omega, then she's the end. We already know that Carnivale is set during the death throes of the age of magic. Sophie would appear to be the omega to that era. A frightening thought really, given that she would appear to harness the power of healing, and apparently is siding with Justin. :fear:

Carnivale was written as a six season show, encompassing three overlapping stories. The first of these was the Ben/Justin story. For all intents and purposes, this is now told. They'd both still feature, but not to the degree that they've done up to now.

I'd be gutted should the show not continue, but on the bright side, we do have a conclusion of sorts. If it is the end though, it would have possibly been wiser to leave that last bit (Justin's healing) and end the show with him beaten.

Still, amazing stuff though !!

:thumbsup: It is absolutely laden with imagery and its one of the things I love about the show. There are used to re inforce stories or offer clues to the future, so well done.

I was almost holding my breath :)

Nick Stahl was superb throughout it has to be said. The mixture of innocence and yet grave understanding showing through. Absolutely wonderful cast. :)

I didn't actually realise Sophie was pregnant :blink: is that a theory or did I miss something. :lol:

Pure theory ;)

:thumbsup: cool thanks, I thought I'd blinked and missed something again :lol:

I have to admit, I was wondering if 'rain' was all Ben and Sophie made that night ;)

What a fantastic ending to the season. Lets all pray that it is not the series end too :tear:

I loved it from start to finish with some beautiful moments such as Sampson handing the money to Rita Sue, Ben silencing Stumpy and just healing as many people as he could get his hands on, Jonesy rescuing Sophie, only for her to shoot him (he can't be dead :tear: ), Stumpy trying to reassure Libby that Jonesy is fine and her pathetic eagerness to believe him, Lila losing the last of her support after she continues to question Sampson and Ben, Ben lying motionless in Managements trailer.....

The scene where the carni folk carry ben out of the cornfield was just spectacular, it brought a tear or two to my eyes, I must admit ;)

I really hoped that Sophie would resist :unsure:

that was really moving, especially as she really didn't deserve it, but then Stumpy had gone and lost her money in the first place.

Wow! Just how good was that?

Carnivale has to be one of the best shows I've watched over the years. The final episode just did not disappoint at all. There were a few unanswered questions, but I actually like that as it allows the show to live a little after its last episode.

I don't think I can add any more to what's already been said on this thread, apart from a few more superlatives.

Terrific performances from all concerned. It's a real shame that we only got two seasons. Clancy Brown and Nick Stahl were magnificent. Well, they all were really. So many characters, but all beautifully realised.

What am I going to do with my Sunday evenings now?

Andrew :yahoo:

:yahoo: It's fantastic isn't it, I quite agree about it being one of the best shows, possibly my favourite drama ever!

As you say the whole cast was superb even the bit players. Incredible storyline with such attention to detail
:thumbsup: and one amazing finale.

So what would be the best form for a return? book/film, we could certainly do with more :D

What did you make of Sophie at the end :o that was a huge shock to me

Well I really enjoyed the finale as well but I don’t think I’m going be quite as effusive as everyone else. With the whole two season’s and in particular the most recent episodes building and building to this moment and to the confrontation between Ben and Justin I think it was always in the back of my mind that it wouldn’t quite live up to my expectations … and it didn’t. It was excellent and I enjoyed it a lot but I was still left slightly disappointed. Don’t ask me what it was exactly that I was expecting :shrug: maybe more of a power struggle between Ben and Justin then a simple knife/scythe fight and I think it would have been better to end it with one of them definitely dead. I would have much preferred it to have ended with Ben wounded, Justin dead and Sophie haven risen in his place rather than that final shot of Sophie apparently healing Justin. Justin was the best character imo as he and the actor’s performance were just hypnotic but I still think he should of died.

Sophie was the big shock for me. :o Her turning evil was a horrible but fantastic twist, ever since we found out she was Justin’s daughter and we saw that omega message about her I wondered if she might turn out to be more powerful that either Ben or Justin but I thought in the end it might have been her who actually stopped Justin I never thought for one moment she’d actually side with him ! :o :tear: And poor Jonesy :tear: that was cruel but I guess you have to have some cruel death’s in a show’s finale don’t you? ;)

A well acted, quality show such a shame its over.

That was my one and only problem with it too. I thought they could have carried on the 'Ben healing people, Justin going black-eyed and killing everyone' thing at the Carnival a little longer. The stabbing did seem a bit of a let down.

Besides that, I thought it was wonderful :)

I guess they were holding back as they really thought there would be another season :(

The only thing I regret is that they didn't confront the dream of the nuclear explosion type senario. I suppose that is another thing they were saving. Judging by the time that it is set I am sure that events of the Second World War would have come into play at some stage.

At what point was it cancelled ? had they already filmed the finale or was it just too late to change it in anyway ?

They had already filmed the finale and HBO waited until after it had been broadcast to announce it wasn't going to come back


"having come to a natural conclusion"


Quite a suprise really as it was an award winning show, very well received by critics and held a steady audience. It seems to have boiled down to money in the end :(

There was/is a Save Carnivale campaign and HBO were inundated with messages, not enough to put it back on the screen though

:tear:

I think everyone involved wanted it to continue so we may yet see it again in some form or other :D

I was in the deluded hopeful camp at the time before it's cancellation :lol:

It did come to a conclusion of sorts but also opened more doors :rolleyes:

Its a shame you'd think you could expect better from HBO wouldn't you ? :no:

Oh and while we're bad mouthing tv networks ;) I'm a bit annoyed at FX because for weeks they've been running trailers on the channel showing clips from all their best shows and one of the Carnivale clips is that shot of Sophie pointing the gun at Jonesy ! you don't actually know who she's pointing the gun at or the context but they shouldn't really be showing such an important clip from the finale like that should they ? :rolleyes:

:o they are useless <_<

by the way how was Serenity2, are you going to put a review up :D

I think I wrote enough about Serenity the first time. :lol:

Now thankfully i have finished watching season 1 and 2 and can now get back to the life it has robbed me off for the past few weeks! :p Why this hasn't been bought by a terrestrial channel is beyond me, it drew me in from the first episode.

I know Sophie was the Omega, but we never found out what this was. I was wondering if perhaps Ben's healing powers were shared with her the night they spent together?

One of, if not the first line of the show back in Season 1, Episode 1.

This is all very interesting :ponder: ( and a little confusing :rolleyes: ) where's it from ?

One of the reason's I wasn't initally worried about Sophie being Justin's daughter was I thought that maybe it changed each generation - Scudder evil ( be it reluctantly ) = Ben good and so Belyakov good = Justin evil = Sophie good but I guess that was way too simplistic. :rolleyes: The twist with Sophie really makes me wanna go back and watch S1 to see if you can see it coming or piece it altogether. With most of my focus on Ben and Justin I’m sure I wasn’t paying enough attention to what was going on with Sophie.

So we know Ben is the Creature of Light but if Justin is The Usher ' a unique Creature ' and Sophie the Omega then who is the Creature of Dark ?

Oh and who is Gabriel ? its not Ruthie's son is it ? :shrug: :ph43r:

Yeah, Gabriel is Ruthie's son. I think there was something definitely to be told about Gabriel. No idea what though.

I'm still fairly sure that Justin was also the creature of darkness, as well as being the Usher of destruction. The Usher is unique in that there can only ever be one 'Usher', I don't think that discounts the Usher from also, at the same time, being a creature of darkness. From what we know, Alexi was the firstborn of Lucius, therefore an avatar, one of the two avatars of his generation.

Sofie's the Omega, signifying the end of the age of magic and heralding the birth of the age of reason. The catalyst for the change being the Usher of destruction.

You're right, this is all very headache-inspiring :lol:

Cheers CK! The information that was told to us along the way was overlooked by me as the minute one episode ended i was too busy putting the next one on to fully digest the episode i had just watched! I am going to go through it again and take it in this time! hehe

Snap, I can't understand why it hasn't been snapped up.

James that article is incredible, I think we should pin in actually as it gives a really in depth explanation :thumbsup:

Many thanks, it does make me want to see what would have happened next even more though.

Anyone else confused by Belakovs actions though

:shrug:

Yeah, I definitely need a rewatch as well :lol:

One thing i did notice over watching seasons 1 and 2 is they seem to do a lot of smoking and having sex. I am sure nearly every episode someone is getting some!

:lol: I think Rita Sue gets everyone's share - of both ;)

Rewatching this at the moment. Just another thought on the whole 'Sophie is the Omega' thing;

The whole 'Avatar/CoD' thing passes down the generations through the firstborn of each respective family. Hence, Ben inherited his abilities from Scudder, and later his boon from Belyakov. Justin on the other hand inherits his abilities from Belyakov, and ultimately his boon from Scudder.

Now, Sophie is Justin's daughter, and presumably firstborn. We learn't through Appolonia (speaking through Ruthie) that it was always Sophie who had the 'psychic' power thing between them. So, Ben has the power of light, Sophie, the dark power. If they then had a child, would these two powers cancel themselves out? Sophie, could conveivably be the omega (the last). She's a generation down from Ben in the grand scheme of things, hence would ultimately be the last avatar.

One thing I'm not sure of though, I thought the powers switched with each generation. Scudder a CoD, Ben then an avatar. Belyakov an avatar, Justin then a CoD. Sophie though looks to be a CoD as well, so that doesn't quite track.

Too many unanswered questions. We need a film!

That's so weird I rewatched this last month :lol: :lol:

I'm pretty sure there's no pattern with how the powers pass on to the next generation. They don't neccesarily have to switch, or at least that's how I interpreted it. More pot luck than pattern :)

Ditto with the film though

I agree, I don't think it's necessarily a switch, but I don't know what would happen with the child - would that be the omega rather than Sophie.

I would so love a film ... what happened to the talk of continuing the story in one form or other?

There was talk last year of HBO considering doing a movie to wrap up the loose ends, yet bizarrely, if that were successful they'd consider greenlighting a further series. Not exactly sure how that would work if they were tying up the loose ends in the film though. Anyhow, that's all gone quiet now.

Regarding any form of continuation, HBO own the rights, meaning Knauf can't do anything, whether it be on screen, in print, or just idle chatter about explaining how things would have gone. A real shame really. If HBO aren't willing to continue it they should at least have the good grace to let Knauf spill the beans.

Finished watching the extras on the S2 set now, apparently Season 3 would have focussed more on Sophie, and her internal struggle between the evil and good sides of her nature. Also the meeting between Ben and Justin was just their first battle, there would have been more. The only other thing of consequence I remember hearing, not of the DVDs, but from an interview that Knauf did shortly after the series' cancellation was that Jonesy wasn't dead, something that the producers allude to on the DVD extras, saying that Jonesy was shot in a non-specific place, basically intimating that it wasn't as serious as you might have thought.

Still gutted that this show was cut short. Ultimately it was down to the ratings not justifying the expensive cost, but when you look at the likes of Rome on HBO, it's not even half as good IMO. Boo, hiss! :(

Darn HBO :mad: why do they have to be so childish.

Sounds like season 3 would have been just as good as the others, Sophie was one of the strongest characters so showing her struggle would have been intriguing.

Poor old Jonesy - glad he didn't actually die then after all that trouble :)