Carnival Row is an adaptation of Travis Beacham’s A Killing on Carnival Row. The first season premiered in 2019. We had to wait almost four years for the next series – a really long time in a world dominated by streaming. The shooting, interestingly enough, in Prague was interrupted by the pandemic and the global lockdown. In the meantime, the showrunner has also changed – Erik Oleson, known for such productions as “Dardevil” or “The Man in the High Castle”, took over the title. Despite numerous difficulties, work on the set was finally completed, and viewers will soon learn their effects.
Fans have been waiting for the second season of “Carnival Row” for a long time. What do we know from the trailer?
will show new episodes of the series with em and Cara Delevingne on February 17. We return to a neo-Victorian world where fairies are real, but people are so afraid of them that after a brutal war, they force them to almost slave labor and forbid not only to fly, but simply to live their own way. In the first series, viewers found out that due to the war waged in Tirnanoc – the homeland of fairies and fauns (collectively known as the fae people) – they have to flee to the world of people, where they are second-class citizens persecuted for their differences. As the action unfolds, it turns out that a series of brutal and mysterious murders are taking place in the city of Burgue.
The truth about the attacks is investigated by inspector Rycroft Philostrate (Orlando Bloom), known for his inquisitiveness and the fact that he abhors xenophobia, who is also a war veteran. In the course of the investigation, he unexpectedly runs into Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevingne) – they met years ago in the now war-torn homeland of the fairy. They then had an affair, but when Rycroft was seriously injured, he was transported back home, both of whom were convinced that the other person was dead. Meeting again is not pleasant.
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The more brutal murders, the greater the social unrest. While Rycroft and Vignette search for the murderer (and they succeed), the more politicians try to capitalize on the animosity and set people against the fae – making their own money, of course. A literal fairy ghetto is created. The second season focuses on the final showdown between fairies and ruthless humans. Now everyone will have to choose which side they will fight on – it will be a lot and very bloody.
The cast of the series, in addition to Bloom and Delevingne, also includes Tamzin Merchant (she was the first to get the role of Daenerys Targaryen, but was replaced after shooting the pilot episode), David Gyasi, Karla Crome, Simon McBurney, Andrew Gower, Caroline Ford and Arty Froushan.
The series is so beautiful that it “breaks the eyes”. But it’s not a hit
One of the strongest points of the series is undoubtedly its visual setting. Neo-Victorian realities created an incredible field for operators, set designers, costume designers, make-up artists and specialists in special and practical effects, and they used them diligently. Each frame is so refined that it is really worth admiring it on the largest screen possible. It’s a visual feast for the eyes: paradoxically, the details are so refined that you can almost believe that these fairies and fauns really exist. Let’s face it, it’s nice to see Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne in period costumes or in a loving embrace. Erotic scenes in the air is something that the viewer does not see too often.
The plot itself is also attractive because it copies one to one patterns known from hits and classics received by the audience, such as “Game of Thrones”, “Lord of the Rings”, “The Chronicles of Narnia” or even “Harry Potter”. The screenwriters serve the viewers with elements of crime fiction, action cinema, cinema noir, political thriller, romance, as well as a lot of inspiration from Neil Gaiman and other fantasy authors.
There is no denying that cinema and television often have a problem with doing justice to even the best source material. Not every film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s work turns out well, Polish viewers also know very well how difficult it is to translate “The Witcher” into the language of film in a satisfactory way for the reader. Paradoxically, in various elements, “Carnival Row” is closer to the work of Andrzej Sapkowski than both series adaptations of his saga.
‘Carnival Row’ returns for its second and final season Carnival Row / Amazon Prime Video / Press Kit
In theory, Carnival Row has everything it takes to be successful: a good cast, a fast-paced script, elaborate special effects and costumes, mystery, sex and violence. Yet the series failed to break into the mainstream consciousness. There may be several reasons.
As the first reviewers pointed out – perhaps the writers overdid it and crammed too many threads and genres into one series. There is a lot going on there, so it can be difficult for some viewers to put it all together. Another thing is the fact that the series theoretically tells about fairies and fauns, it can scare away a large part of, for example, a male audience. As you know, winged elves are not as Cossack and righteous as dragons and knights. By deleting the series for this reason, they obviously make a big mistake, because the world presented here is clearly deepened, and even brutal.
Meanwhile, those viewers who assume that the series about fairies will be cute and cheerful, get a strong kick in the stomach. In the series, apart from bloody murders, battle scenes and pictures straight from the saddest Dickens descriptions, there is also a real ghetto for “others”. It’s not quite fairytale. “Carnival row” is also perhaps too unclichéd production, too experimental to gently convince someone who likes to watch what he already knows. Let’s also remember that even the best cast and direction will not help much when the script doesn’t stick together well. Perhaps the new showrunner managed to fix what didn’t work properly before.
I also have a theory that no matter how much “Carnival Row” would be fabulously beautiful and perfectly filmed, it also shows human behavior from the worst side too realistically and brutally. The fact that fairies and fauns are persecuted does not help here, the cruelty and psychological mechanisms inherent in the script are devastatingly real. And that’s not why we watch cartoons, is it?
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
