Diary of a Carnivale virgin – Iris is evil and Sofie is back

by Bob Degon

(Season 2, Episodes 8-9)

It’s been a little while since I’ve sat down for some Carnivale. My absence was due to a mixture of being busy with the holidays, catching up on some recently released movies, and trying to draw out the final episodes of the show. Now, however, I’ve carved out some time and I have less than a handful of episodes remaining before I am completely done with the HBO show.

“Outskirts, Damascus, NE”

This episode picked up right after the momentous events of the previous episode, with the long awaited meeting of Scudder and Management, with Ben caught in the middle. After the big cliffhanger, with Management strangling Ben, the resolution seemed a bit rushed and unspectacular. In any case, Management is gone, and Scudder is on his way to meet Brother Justin.

It was a little touching seeing how upset Samson was over the loss of Management. He really did consider Belyakov a friend. Ben finally won Samson over by giving him an experience inside the perhaps-nonexistent baggage trailer. Other events in the carnival continue to annoy me slightly. The relationship merry-go-round has never been my favorite part of the show and now with the impromptu marriage between Jonesy and Libby I’ve had enough. I guess I’ll just have to see where it goes.

Sofie finally showed up on the scene again in the most surprising of places: Brother Justin’s house as the new maid. That’s sure to bring some good drama.

“Lincoln Highway”

When there was the merest tease of a tar and feathering on Deadwood, I shuddered and squirmed. I guess it wasn’t enough for HBO though, as this episode featured a full blown torture scene as some of the locals tar and feathered Jonesy in retaliation for the ferris wheel accident. It was brutal. Luckily, Ben was there to bring him back from the brink (and cure his banged up knee). More and more people are in on Ben’s secret now. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before the whole carnival is in on the real story.

The most interesting part of this episode were the events going on with Brother Justin and his crew. Iris is one mean lady. I really think she is even more evil than Justin. At least he has the excuse of being the “creature of darkness.” Meanwhile, she’s out protecting him. In this episode that meant bashing in Eleanor’s skull because she was going to tell Brother Justin that she saw the devil in him.

There are certainly going to be some more interesting things going on with Sofie in Justin’s house now, as his latest maid. She definitely has a bigger role to play in all of this and I am very curious about it. Ruthie went into a trance in this episode and wrote “Sofie is the omega” on her mirror. Sofie also seems to have some immunity toward Justin’s “charms.” I hope that I get some answers about this before the end of the series, which is fast approaching.