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| Scene from Carnival Row |
Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.
Ever since 2010, the majority of networks have tried to find their Game of Thrones. And for good reason. The HBO drama was one of the biggest series in TV history, drawing conversation on every last detail on a weekly basis. It also brought fantasy to the foreground, connecting with audiences who had no interest in the swords and dragons world that the series pulled from. Within that statement is the conundrum of finding a show that could be as beloved as Game of Thrones. You need to be great at drama and fantasy, but not too over-the-top that things aren’t appealing to a wide market.
Carnival Row is Amazon Prime’s latest attempt to get in on this game, borrowing iconography from the turn of the century Britain and using imagery, not unlike Penny Dreadful. It’s a world that’s macabre but also built on a world where violence and sex are openly depicted. In the opening scene, Cara Delevingne’s character is seen running away from certain doom. She is an outcast, a fairy who has the curse of being born different from the social class that she inhabits. If she so much as spread her literal wings, she will be decried for crimes and punished.
On the flip side is Orlando Bloom, who plays another survivor. He met Delevingne on a boat journey to this land but supposedly died in the process. The first episode highlights each other journeys as they try to find each other. Delevingne is now a servant to an upper-class person while Bloom is looking for something greater. He isn’t there yet, but he keeps finding shady men who may have answers for him. He even gets into a rooftop chase that gets to show off the droll but sweeping set design, which is one of the show’s best assets so far. Even if it lacks a compelling story right away, it at least feels like it could be a better fantasy show.
Which raises a good question: is Carnival Row any good? In a time where there’s too much TV to watch, the show stands out for its niche subject matter, turning fantasy back to the R-Rated streets where everything feels more dangerous. It also feels like it’s a show destined to explore the diverse struggles of the lower class in this community, which can only help but expand the premise of the show. For now, it’s highly reliant on the wit of its characters, who are enjoyable enough. However, this show falls into a camp like FX’s Taboo, which wants to build a mystery before really making audiences care why there’s a mystery in the first place. It’s also evident because much like Taboo, Carnival Row uses its excellent cast to mediocre results.
Is this Amazon’s Game of Thrones? Nay. Maybe it’s more of a detour before their proposed The Lord of the Rings series gets off the ground. With that said, the murder mystery aspect of the show has room to grow, and there’s a strong chance that a mismatched couple of Delevingne and Bloom could lead to some memorable moments. Right now, it’s weird without a bigger purpose than highlighting how cool the fairy characters look. It’s a show that trusts that audiences will be around in a few episodes once the pacing finally picks up. The one benefit is that the show runs a paltry eight episodes, which means that any meandering won’t be for long.
Beyond that, it’s a good looking show that has a lot of striking moments. With its muted colors, the wardrobe pops with its own life, managing to feel dirty. There’s a danger to everything as the social classes reflect a difference between each other. Still, it’s hard to really say what will make the story stand out as anything more than another underdog story in which the unjust will get their just desserts. The show looks too good to be bad, but it needs to work on a bigger hook real quick if it plans to be more than a novelty fantasy show with a great title, a great cast, and a few shortcomings.
Carnival Row may do the trick for genre fans, but there are so many other options to choose from that it’s not always immediately obvious. It doesn’t have an immediacy to make it appealing. The best moment is the cliffhanger of an ending, which is a good thing for the rest of the episodes. It’s just that the introduction doesn’t feel entirely warranted by the end. The only thing that’s fun is the look of the show, which was great as marketing but less in hour-long episodes. Will the show get better? One can hope. For now, it’s a pretty-looking show that will need to work harder to stand out.
Carnival Row is Amazon Prime’s latest attempt to get in on this game, borrowing iconography from the turn of the century Britain and using imagery, not unlike Penny Dreadful. It’s a world that’s macabre but also built on a world where violence and sex are openly depicted. In the opening scene, Cara Delevingne’s character is seen running away from certain doom. She is an outcast, a fairy who has the curse of being born different from the social class that she inhabits. If she so much as spread her literal wings, she will be decried for crimes and punished.
On the flip side is Orlando Bloom, who plays another survivor. He met Delevingne on a boat journey to this land but supposedly died in the process. The first episode highlights each other journeys as they try to find each other. Delevingne is now a servant to an upper-class person while Bloom is looking for something greater. He isn’t there yet, but he keeps finding shady men who may have answers for him. He even gets into a rooftop chase that gets to show off the droll but sweeping set design, which is one of the show’s best assets so far. Even if it lacks a compelling story right away, it at least feels like it could be a better fantasy show.
Which raises a good question: is Carnival Row any good? In a time where there’s too much TV to watch, the show stands out for its niche subject matter, turning fantasy back to the R-Rated streets where everything feels more dangerous. It also feels like it’s a show destined to explore the diverse struggles of the lower class in this community, which can only help but expand the premise of the show. For now, it’s highly reliant on the wit of its characters, who are enjoyable enough. However, this show falls into a camp like FX’s Taboo, which wants to build a mystery before really making audiences care why there’s a mystery in the first place. It’s also evident because much like Taboo, Carnival Row uses its excellent cast to mediocre results.
Is this Amazon’s Game of Thrones? Nay. Maybe it’s more of a detour before their proposed The Lord of the Rings series gets off the ground. With that said, the murder mystery aspect of the show has room to grow, and there’s a strong chance that a mismatched couple of Delevingne and Bloom could lead to some memorable moments. Right now, it’s weird without a bigger purpose than highlighting how cool the fairy characters look. It’s a show that trusts that audiences will be around in a few episodes once the pacing finally picks up. The one benefit is that the show runs a paltry eight episodes, which means that any meandering won’t be for long.
Beyond that, it’s a good looking show that has a lot of striking moments. With its muted colors, the wardrobe pops with its own life, managing to feel dirty. There’s a danger to everything as the social classes reflect a difference between each other. Still, it’s hard to really say what will make the story stand out as anything more than another underdog story in which the unjust will get their just desserts. The show looks too good to be bad, but it needs to work on a bigger hook real quick if it plans to be more than a novelty fantasy show with a great title, a great cast, and a few shortcomings.
Carnival Row may do the trick for genre fans, but there are so many other options to choose from that it’s not always immediately obvious. It doesn’t have an immediacy to make it appealing. The best moment is the cliffhanger of an ending, which is a good thing for the rest of the episodes. It’s just that the introduction doesn’t feel entirely warranted by the end. The only thing that’s fun is the look of the show, which was great as marketing but less in hour-long episodes. Will the show get better? One can hope. For now, it’s a pretty-looking show that will need to work harder to stand out.
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