So I've not heard many people around the web talk about it so I thought I'd make this into a blog as I posted this on Reddit previously and thought some people might actually enjoy reading my thoughts on it. Hello to the two of you very bored people BTW thank you for actually reading my drivel.
Here goes:
Plot
Amazon's new series Carnival Row is described by wikipedia as a Neo-noir fantasy show what that means in practice is you have a mix of fantasy races known as the Fae (SP?) or the more disparaging term Critch alongside humans who get their own term to get called on occasion by the Fae in the form of faan-troigh. The show is set in what could be said to be a close approximation of post War Edwardian England. It follows Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Carribean, Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit films) as the detective Philo as he tracks down a serial killer seemingly targeting the Fae. Bloom is joined by Cara Delevingne (Suicide Squad, Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets) as Vignette Stonemoss a faerie who is a new arrival to the country after helping others flee the Fae homeland in the aftermath of a war. Philo previously having fought in the war on the side of the Burgue against an opposing army called The Pact who don't get much fleshing out really in the story other than a few odd bits of info here and there. The Pact for what little they're in the show are kind of generic villain army though it is mentioned both sides have Fae fighting in their armies.Philo and Vingette were close during the war as Philo's regiment was stationed and the Fae village Vignette is from however due to various events they end up separated with Vignette believing Philo is dead. It's probably worth pointing out at this stage that the series has a BBFC rating of 18 though most episodes make a 15/ for most of it and they push that 15 rating boundary such that I'd say the sex scenes in PEGI 16 / ESRB M rated Mass Effect Andromeda were possibly more tame so this isn't a fairy story for the kids or people who are sensitive to nudity on show.
I'm trying not to spoil two much but the main story is quite well done but so heavily telegraphed via foreshadowing that eve and 2 gin and tonics while watching some episodes I was able to still predict twists at least 5 minutes before the reveals. I think only 2 twists in the entire thing actually really surprised me or gave me that "I did not see that comic moment". There are also a number of side stories that all fit in one way or another to the main story and greater world building, though the direction they take is possibly even more predictable for the most part. That's not to say the plot is bad or not enjoyable but it's not going to have people debating of the symbolism or meaning of it for years either. It's enjoyable without trying to be pretentious or pretend the story isn't exactly some new subversion of people's expectations, even at points almost poking fun at how cliche it's own story is in subtle way but in a way that also isn't presented as a bad thing just how enjoyable things often get made by being inspired by others.
World building
While the plot may be derivative (though again enjoyable, like how Avatar the film wasn't a new story but was enjoyable) the place where Carnival Row really shines is in the sheer amount of world building that has been put into this. The show's lore bible must already be huge.The show also really doesn't care to spoon feed you the lore, you're along for the ride not along to be given a history lesson. Most of the lore is in little moments from a random treaty name being quoted to exchanges about different Fae and human interactions or passing comments. The series introduces werewolves in a fight sequence with 3 of them and basically goes "oh yeh werewolves exist in this world too btw" without feeling the need to talk more about it. About the only thing close to what could be called an exposition dump would be Vignette telling Philo of an old faerie tale while showing him the book about it.
About the only poorly fleshed out thing is the enemies from the Great War a group known only as The Pact and all that's really said about them or shown is how they're ruthless.
Effects
The show employs a mix of both computer generated and practical effects managing to blend them quite well.
The CGI mainly being used for creatures the odd creature that couldn't easily be done practically, sequences of characters flying and oddly enough backgrounds of some scenes or wider shots showing cities and areas from a distance. I will say it's not the highest quality CGI when there are close shots of obviously CGI creatures but the direction seems to have been to work round this in a way that said creatures when not in the background are often moving about to stop you studying them too hard.
The sets look quite high quality and very distinct from location to location.
It's also worth noting a fight scene near the end of the show feels very much like something you'd expect more in a video game than a TV series. It doesn't feel like a highly choreographed film fight it feels like a very real brutal brawl with brutal impacts and a character being thrown round the room like a rag doll and smashing into things as he goes. This also isn't "A bit of the old ultra violence" kind of fight scene either with over the top brutal blood sprays or anything either.
Acting.
Orlando Bloom steals the show with what can only be described as a smoulderingly intense performance as detective Philo. This is possibly the best performance I've ever seen from him and it feels like a role he was made to play with his performance seemingly on point almost every time.
Cara Delevingne puts in her best performance to date too. Unfortunately her relative inexperience while often in scenes with an on point experience Orlando Bloom only shows this inexperience up more. It's is far better than her previous work and shows she has improved drastically from being what I'd politely describe as the more animated of the two Thunderbird puppets in her role in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. In Carnival Row she's far from wooden and the problem is more her sliding into seemingly melodrama at points. When in scenes with others in the cast though her performance is at least on par or better than certain cast members who really seem to be phoning it in slightly.
I will also point out of note was a surprisingly good performance bordering on truly great from Tamzin Merchant (Lyra from Supergirl the TV series) as the hidden depths of her character are slowly revealed, requiring scenes where she looks genuinely nervous or concerned, she pulls them off spectacularly. Alongside scenes where her character is just barely hiding her true emotions under a facade which come off very well.
Social commentary
I like to talk about this stuff to help people get an idea of what to expectThe social commentary I can only really describe as nuanced.
I've read round some other takes on it and they seem to range from "See this is why we need open borders it's mocking people against immigration" to just seriously confused at what kind of statement is being made. The first kind of take I can only assume said person either didn't get far in or are complete morons.
The show does start with all the subtlety of the Star Trek Episode Let That Be Your Last Battlefield in its commentary but that really is the outer most layer and it never does end up in "Orange Man Bad territory" of having characters spouting real world political slogans. As the show progresses it's nuanced position sets in and by the time you have a character loudly proclaim how they're a progressive only to moments later be disgusted at the idea of treating a Fae as an equal you realise the nuance. One of what I'd call the bolder moves includes having a Fae character after being asked if he is happy an anti-Fae politician is now dead launch into as speech about how not only was the politician in question pointing out real issues but back in his homeland he nor any of his countrymen that he knew could honestly give a toss about diversity and likely don't either now they care about surviving and just getting on with their lives.
Also a bold move which I have to include that is spoiler in spoiler which will be hidden unless highlighted for those who wish to avoid being spoiled a group of Fae (specifically the Faun like Puck's) are shown to have a fundamentalist religious group preying on and recruiting the down on their luck refugees to act as terrorists attacking targets the group chooses. Yes really they have a side plot that ties into the main one about how in the story not all the refugees that have come over may really be so harmless and innocent
Groups are shown as nuanced with villains on both side and quite honestly the caricature ones you'd expect for a show tackling the idea of war refugees starting up again in a new city, it's the caricatures that end up far less villainous than some of the other arguably more manipulative almost sociopathic characters.
It's the kind of show where one character can talk about something being a bit colonialist , only to crack a smile and reveal they were joking for the most part and realise the absurdity of such concepts in the greater context of what matters in the world.
Also again weirdly not a show being sung about by the normal press despite 1 gay couple and 2 characters strongly implied to be bi so those into diversity will find it does show some and it fits well into the plot. It doesn't feel jarring when it comes up and it's played out I'd say quite appropriately given the setting and comparisons to the Edwardian time period. It feels very much in keeping with the kind of era being shown. So don't go in expecting something akin to Dragon Age Inquisition from a world that already heavily frowns on straight relationships between humans and Fae.
Also worthy of note is that Philo and Vignette feel far more like equals rather than anything else with them saving one another nearly an equal amount of times one way or another.
Why I enjoyed it
- Regularly features sex scenes and nudity putting it akin to the level of Game of Thrones levels almost.
- Light story that isn't breaking any moulds but doesn't need to really and accepts it's position as maybe not the most original thing ever gladly.
- Very good world building
- A surprisingly brutal take on mythology and fairytales without falling into the trappings of other shows attempts at a brutal fairytale world which often amount to "Let's get high and then murder a God"
- Seeing Cara Delevingne playing a pixie / fairy like being whose wings glow when she well um yeh...... no really.
- You've already Finished Amazon's The Boys and wouldn't mind something a bit more brutal, less stylistic and fantasy themed instead of Super Hero themed.
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