Carnival Row (Season 2), Episodes 1 and 2: Amidst a spate of fantasy shows in recent years, Carnival Row returns for the first time since August 2019 on Prime Video. The first two episodes will be released on Friday, with the rest to follow weekly in batches of two. It is created by Rene Echevarria and Travis Beacham and executive produced by Marc Guggenheim, René Echevarria, Jon Amiel, Travis Beacham, and Orlando Bloom.
Thor Freudenthal directs the first two episodes, best known for his work on ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ (2010), apart from a few DC TV shows such as ‘Arrow,’ ‘The Flash’ and ‘Supergirl’. The return of Carnival Row to the small screen is very much a mixed outing, excelling in some areas and falling short in others, much like the first season.
Carnival Row (Season 2), Episodes 1 & 2 Recap:
Episode 1 – Fight or Flight
The episode opens with Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevingne) and a few other Black Raven members cutting the barbed wire and flying out of Carnival Row to carry out a heist on a moving train manned by soldiers. They successfully steal the medicine they’re after, all the while avoiding killing anyone on board.
At the same time, former inspector Rycroft Philostrate (Orlando Bloom), or Philo, is participating in an underground fighting ring where he is unfairly outmatched. After a violent fight, he wins despite being quite bloodied and bruised. However, instead of taking the money he is offered, he asks Boz, the organizer, for a special favor.
Vignette and the others on her team return to Carnival Row, which is suffering due to crowding and overpopulation, in addition to a shortage of resources, such as the medicine that was just stolen. Kaine (Jay Ali), one of those who helped Vignette, gently speaks to his mate Oona, who is on the verge of death owing to a disease called Bas Dubh which happens to some Pix when they cannot fly. Oona refuses her dose of the medicine, saying there isn’t enough to go around for everyone else.
Philo and Vignette reunite at home, where each of them expresses worry for the other: Vignette at Philo’s fighting and injuries, and Philo for Vignette’s theft of important supplies. This, however, makes way for some light-hearted banter about them both desperately needing a bath, and they bathe together.
Outside Carnival Row, Runyon Millworthy (Simon McBurney) is in a carriage and sees the economic crisis in the Burgue and the impact it is having on its human citizens. He reaches an erected platform or stage where Jonah Breakspear (Arty Froushan), the country’s new chancellor, is preparing to execute some faun, allegedly responsible for killing his parents. While they certainly wanted to do so, they are innocent of killing his mother and one of the fauns, Quill, desperately pleads to Jonah that he was in prison and couldn’t have killed his mother. Jonah, though affected, executes them by guillotine. Ezra (Andrew Gower) is also in the crowd, seemingly approving of the deaths. Sophie Longerbane (Caroline Ford) looks pleased too.
After the execution, Millworthy tries to have Jonah visit Carnival Row to witness the horrendous conditions for himself under the guise of giving morale to the soldiers. Jonah catches on and refuses, ordering that the dead faun’s severed heads be mounted on the wall of Carnival Row as a warning. Tourmaline (Karla Crome) sees the mounted heads and is disgusted.
Sophie overhears members of her own party planning to oust her with an election, and they also criticize Jonah’s policies. She goes to Jonah, who is guilt-ridden over the faun executions. Sophie points out their problems, such as The Pact ambassador visiting soon and that the ministers want to replace them, saying they need to remain strong. She then reminds him of the prophecy that the eldest son of Absalom Breakspear would be destined for greatness, despite Jonah reminding her in turn that he isn’t Absalom’s son.
Milworthy goes into the Row. But his old friends express their distaste at him working with the chancellor and meet Philo, who tells him not to believe in Jonah. Milworthy believes, however, that Jonah still has a chance to change his mind. Philo suggests he runs for chancellor as he is Absalom’s eldest son. Milworthy says the plan is suicidal as he is both half fae and a bastard but agrees to help him nonetheless, suggesting the ambassador’s welcome dinner the next day is the best possible spectacle.
Tourmaline goes to the old witch’s shop, where she has a vision of Aofie and Philo shooting at something that is trying to kill her. She flees when the trance is broken.
Meanwhile, Kaine informs Vignette that the rest of the Black Ravens want to brand her with the Deagh Nos, the Black Raven mark, which she accepts. Their leader Dahlia shows up at the last minute and completes the brand whilst warning Vignette not to carry out missions without her knowing anymore. Then Tourmaline helps patch up the brand burn, and the two friends talk awhile, though Vignette notices something wrong with Tourmaline, who refuses to share and leaves.
Tourmaline has another vision of Aofie, where she breathes in a blue smoke exhaled by Aofie. The vision shifts to the point of view of a creature who kills someone, and when Tourmaline awakens, she sees that she has slaughtered a girl’s pet cat.
Philo is whisked away by the police without any explanation to a crime scene, where he is greeted by Office Berwick (Waj Ali), a friend and former subordinate. He shows him the murdered corpse of Anders, a guard, the same one Tourmaline saw in her vision. He has been tied up high, leading Berwick to suspect that the Black Raven might be involved. However, Philo refuses to talk in spite of Berwick saying he is a good inspector. Sergeant Dombey (Jamie Harris) makes his entrance and sends Philo back to the Row.
The scene then shifts to Imogen (Tamzin Merchant), who dreams that her brother Ezra has stabbed her. She awakens with Agreus (David Gyasi), who is tired of running, but Imogen believes they are free on the seas but not on land. They are then effectively taken captive by a Pact airship that threatens to sink them unless they follow it.
Episode 2 – New Dawn
This episode resumes with Agreus and Imogen, the former of whom believe they aren’t in danger owing to his vast wealth. They anchor at Ragusa, a war-torn port. Rebels sack the ship and lead Imogen away.
Back in the Row, Vignette and Philo clash over Anders’s murder, with Vignette telling him the Black Raven is innocent in this case. Philo reveals his plan of speaking at the ambassador’s welcome dinner, and she tries to stop him, but to no avail.
In Ragusa, Imogen sees a society where fae and humans live together in peace and harmony before she is taken to a house where the only one who talks to her is Leonora, a faun cook. She is less than forthcoming with answers but does say that there was a revolution and the old regime of The Pact was overthrown. Imogen speaks highly of Agreus, which Leonora takes not of.
All the ship sailors are set free, but the commanding officers are executed. Agreus is spared in the nick of time, but the shooting and blood seem to trigger some trauma of his.
Jonah greets the ambassador, who reveals that an organization called New Dawn which is a coalition of humans and fae, is attempting a takeover of their country. Millworthy recognizes a Pactish military man, Major Vir, who, with some prodding, reveals that they want to battle New Dawn by purchasing Burguish rifles.
Sophie tells Jonah that they must help The Pact as it would help secure his position as chancellor, whilst also helping New Dawn so as to retake Tirnanoc from The Pact. Impressed but sure unsure as to whether Parliament will agree, Jonah, says that no one should underestimate Sophie.
Sophie returns home and heads to the attic, where her faun friend Nilly is in hiding, and Nilly tells her that they will have enough money for their plans if they sell more of their things. Sophie reveals that she is discreetly enquiring as to Nilly’s brother in the Row, and Nilly expresses confidence in her brother’s survival. They are both sure that everything will work out in their favor.
Philo returns to Boz, who shows him his friend Darius (Ariyon Bakara) as a werewolf in a cage, who, after transforming into a human, again reveals that he was experimented upon while in prison. The two have a brief argument before Philo reveals his plan.
Meanwhile, at a tea party hosted in her mansion, Sophie meets with the factory owners in her party, who reveal their discontent with Jonah’s policies as they stripped them of their cheap fae labor. Sophie then offers to invest more in their companies and says she can convince Jonah to allow the fae to return to the factories, thus making them a fortune.
At the Row clinic, Vignette, Oona, and Kaine come up with a desperate plan against the Burgue. Tourmaline has another vision where she sees something attack Dahlia and one of her men. When she comes to, she is in Aofie’s old shop, having killed another animal.
Imogen and Agreus are reunited in Ragusa, and the latter tells them that they must share a house with other families as a ransom for their freedom. They each tell the other what happened to them since they were parted, and they realize Leonora was testing Imogen by telling her of the revolution. They also realize that she is the leader of the revolution.
Tourmaline goes to a Mima, who reveals that Aofie passed her powers on to Tourmaline before she died and warns her that it is an evil power that she now possesses.
Vignette proposes her plan to the Black Raven, and Dahlia agrees with it but decides to lead the mission herself. Vignette tries to talk Dahlia out of going herself, but Dahlia misconstrues it as an attempt at her leadership.
Philo and Millworthy reach the banquet, where Ezra is garnering sympathy with the false story that Imogen was abducted by Agreus. Just as Philo is about to speak, the Black Raven appears and Dahlia makes an impassioned speech about the horrible living conditions in Carnival Row. Oona reveals her illness, which shocks everyone present, including Jonah and Sophie.
Sergeant Dombey kills Oona, and the Black Raven members leave soon after. Millworthy gives a signal to Philo, which is seen by Major Vir. Philo and Vignette reunite at their home with a hug once again.
Later at night, the two are awoken by Kaine, who leads them to a wall where Dahlia and her right-hand man’s heads are mounted on a wall, just like Tourmaline’s vision.
Carnival Row (Season 2), Episode 2 Ending, Explained:
These murders have shaken up things both within and outside the Row and have left the police stumped without Philo. The political machinations in the play are also quite intriguing, and a potential three-way conflict between the Pact, New Dawn, and the Burgue could be quite something to witness.
The murders of Dahlia and the others will doubtless form the core of the season’s mystery moving forward, and Philo and Vignette will be in the thick of it all. Philo will perhaps be investigating it with Vignette’s aid (or even the police’s), or Vignette might even be suspected of killing at least Dahlia as a play on the leadership position of the Black Raven. Alternatively, and more likely to happen is that Vignette will fill the void left by Dahlia and step up with Kaine as her number two.
Sophie is clearly manipulating everyone, including Jonah, but what her endgame remains to be seen and will likely be revealed towards the end of the season. Jonah and Millworthy, meanwhile, should have a confrontation sooner rather than later, as Millworthy is probably the only genuinely good influence on Jonah left and will try to sway him to reconsider his policies regarding the fae.
Carnival Row (Season 2), Episodes 1 & 2 Review:
Carnival Row’s return to the small screen is very much a mixed bag, much like its first season. The nearly four-year gap between seasons, mostly due to COVID-19, didn’t help either, and it surely played a part in just the second season being the final season.
The strong worldbuilding suffers because of this presumed curtailment, as it seemed like the writers would slowly reveal the larger world outside of the Burgue before having to rush so much in the opening two episodes. This fast pace, while making for a somewhat compelling plot, detracts from the characters and their respective arcs a lot, making it hard for us as the audience to care about these characters. Add to that the episodes being released weekly rather than in one go (as was the case with season 1), and some of the various plot threads by themselves aren’t all that compelling, especially when you have to wait at least a week to see progress.
On the other hand, the visual design, the costumes, the special effects, and more are just as good as ever, if not better. The otherization or the “us versus them” premise that the show has heavily leaned into is believable and grounded despite perhaps being a little overdone. The acting is also well done, with the actors doing the best they can despite barebones characterization.
Read More: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 1), Episodes 1 & 2: Recap & Ending Explained
Carnival Row (Season 2), Episodes 1 & 2 Links – IMDb
Carnival Row (Season 2), Episodes 1 & 2 Cast – Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, Simon McBurney, Tamzin Merchant, David Gyasi
