dgc

After watching tonights show 10/12, I think I'm ready to give up on it.

I love the production value, acting, style and the authenticity of the time period, but I need more substance and payoff. And I'm not talking about "popcorn flick" substance for the MTV attention span crowd. If they are going to take it slow, more INTERESTING character development would be nice.

Also, did I blink or miss something?

I hope not I'm not mistaking my viewer confusion for smart build- ups / story telling. I'm sure it's building up and will lead to something but they still need to entertain a bit more during the 45 minutes.

Perhaps, I just don't have the patience to wait for the big payoff. I don't watch TV to be frustrated. Lovers of the show please don't take offense, this is JMO. I really want to like this show more.

spainlinx0

I might be in the same boat. I do love the atmosphere, and all that goes along with it, but exactly how long is this series supposed to be? If it's only 13 episodes, I hope they really start focusing more on the supernatural aspects soon, but I think that may be the case since they are in Babylon now.

I don't think they showed how he ended up in the mines. I'm guessing he got drunk, passed out, and someone put him there.

Roto

I'm in it until the end just because it looks great in HD and it follows the Sopranos reruns which I have been watching anyway. I didn't really see much happening in this episode that is going to matter in the long run. Killing that girl was almost equal to seeing the new guy on Star Trek getting zapped.

Ben ending up in a mine with no explaination is what I've come to expect from this show. I'm not entirely sure if that was real or another dream of his, considering the whole pick axe story.

I gotta admit the show held my attention during all the scenes with Carla Gallo from Undeclared. She's a real cutie. No Brother Justin was a disappointment. Amazingly he's had more interesting plots than a traveling freak show.

dgc

Yes, the fact that it follows the sopranos with some more HD was originally a selling point for me as well.

dgmayor

I'm with the first two posters. I almost gave up on it this week but I figured what the hell, They're going to Babylon, right? Must have some pay off. Nothing but another slow moving episode. I'm pretty sure I'm done with it, as fantastic as it looks...

Buck Turgidson

Well...I'm in for the long haul, myself.

Patman

Annoyance is the word that describes my feelings about this latest episode. I'm going to lower my viewing priority of future recordings of this show because of the glacier pace this show is moving at for the past 3-4 episodes.

jkingfish

Me and the wife were discussing this over dinner last night and our oppinions were quite differing. Personally, I love just about every aspect of the show INCLUDING its pace. Every week I am on pins and needles to see what little tidbit they reveal and am anxious for the questions I am inevitibly going to be left with. It's like detective work. I totally think it works. I mean, with so many interesting characters all wrapped up in this bizare storyline, I appreciate the time they are taking to let me get to know each one. I tend to wonder what the reaction would be if they did rush the story a bit more and gave us everything we wondered sooner. Would we be complaining that the whole thing is just unplausable? That it didn't make sense?

We have learned some crucial things so far. We are watching the mutual redemption and decline of two major characters with Ben and the Preacher. We are learning the intricacies of the "family" and the politics that have existed long before we entered the story. Nothing is as it seems yet everything is right in front of us.

I have a feeling many will feel let down the further this story goes because I don't think the "payoff" is going to be that extraordinary, at least not viscerally. I think we know almost everything already. I think it is obvious where it's all heading. But the journey, man, the journey, is well worth the sores on my ass and the dust in my eyes from riding down those long bumpy roads.

Despite the inherent quality of the metaphysical and supernatural themes surrounding this story, I think it is just simple good story telling; yarn-weaving, if you will. We sit every week in front of the Barker tantilizing us into the tent and nobody sees it.

If you are enjoying the story, do just that, enjoy it. Don't heap expectation on it. Don't look for the payoff. Don't be a mark. Just let them spin you a tale that takes you to a place just byond the cliffs of reality and put your quarter in the box with a smile.

RevLiver

I guess this explains why I don't watch most television. I love this show and hate the pacing of most shows. I loved Season 4 of Sopranos. I prefer when televison, like life, takes its time. I can't watch sitcoms and network dramas where there's a new story each week that's conveniently wrapped up in 45 minutes.

Patman

Does anyone else get a case of cottonmouth after watching this show? It must be all that dust swirling around for 45 minutes...

marty888

I'm not ready to give up, but my initial enthusiasm is slowly being sapped. I have no problem with deliberately paced material, but on the surface we are getting more filler than substance. I keep hoping with each new episode that some sort of cathartic moment will start to pull the strands together. Maybe next week....

Geofferson

Agreed - he is missed when he's not in an episode.

I too will be in for the long haul with this one. It looks glorious in HD and furthermore, I don't mind the pacing. Quite honestly, the pacing of the show has never annoyed me because, well, I suppose because I am so caught up in the period and lifestyle of these characters. Plus, Michael Anderson (the midget leader of the band) steals every scene he is in and I love watching him. He should be nominated for an Emmy (or a Golden Globe at least ).

spainlinx0

Don't get me wrong, I also am in it until it's over, but I feel that if this show is only lasting 13 episodes, then maybe something more substantial should have been revealed by now. At least give us SOME clue about Ben's powers.

Roto

Maybe he'll heal that guy with the pick axe protruding from his gut. I think that's what's driving me nuts more than anything, that he hasn't really used his powers since the end of the first show. That is what got everyone hooked to begin with. If he wasn't stuck in a mine maybe he could take the dead stripper to the middle of town and heal her, killing all the psychos in Babylon

Also, did they ever have that weird nightmare again? People spent a lot of time trying to analyze that, and I don't think anything has happened relating to that dream yet. I hardly remember anything about the dream other than the guy with the tattoo on his back. If you let the story go on for a month before you reveal what the foreshadowing was about, nobody is going to remember it.

kramdenfan

I also, am not enjoying this as much as I did; the pace is just too slow. Based on the previews for next week, it looks like things will pick up a bit (but we all know how previews work)...
Now that they are in Babylon, things are building AGAIN... but there's just no substance. I thought I saw Ben looking at the mine hole at one point, then all of a sudden he's lost in there... HUH?!?! I'm in this for the long haul as well (mainly because my wife loves it); I just hope it ties things together properly- so far it's just buildup...

As for the nightmare:

goLUCKY

It's doubtful that he will heal the guy in the mines I want to know why the blind guy went to the top of the hill and stayed there? What's TAVATARA mean?

Astro

AVATAR. Draw from that what you will.

TAVATARA is avatar surrounded by T and A... which pretty accurately describes last night's episode, heh.

theedge

I think next weeks show actually looks pretty good... this weeks was pretty much a snoozer, however it did go by quick for me. They are setting up something big... I hope! And I can't help but watch it in HDTV !! Nothing else is on at that time that I enjoy.... well except Sunday Night Football in HDTV....

Roto

Well, I was mostly being sarcastic about healing the guy with the pick axe, because I agree with your theory. I'm just tossing out silly ideas that I wish would happen I just want to see him heal someone again. They should head north to Iowa so he can do it in the middle of a corn field so he won't have to woryy about killing anybody

Dydion

A tall man will appear in the mines, face barely visible by the flickering light of Ben's Zippo, and warn "It's happening again."

I like the slow pace of the show, too, but it is beginning to tax my patience. I actually wondered if I was gonna watch it all the way through last night. l did watch it to the end, though.

I want more supernatural stuff on TV!

RandyC

This gum is coming back in style....

A lot of the posts remind me of the things said when Twin Peaks first played. I am still giving it more time.

And yes, I am in for the duration, and a lot of it is because the great filmwork, high definiton, it follows Sopranos, and I am intrigued.

JJE-187

I love every thing about this show & will watch every episode (& buy the DVD when/if it comes out) I almost teared up with the dancer was found dead, that's how much this show has grown on me in a short time.

Plus Carnivale is 1 of only a handful of shows that I plan on watching the entire season.

I will catch ER when they are actually AT the ER & not somewhere else dorking around.

RevLiver

Anyone else wonder about the lack of women in Babylon? Seems like it was only crazy men living there. Perhaps that explains their reaction to the blow off. I'm wondering if they did to all the women in town what they did to the chubby stripper.

I'm beginning to think Lodz is evil, Brother Justin is good and they will end up battling for control/allegiance of Ben. Maybe Lodz sitting out on that hill the whole time while Ben was lost in the mines signalled that Lodz had something to do with it, whether Ben's really lost or is having another dream.

kramdenfan

I was originally figuring Brother Justin would be the evil side of the story, until I saw his reaction with the fire at the chapel; I don't think he's going to be evil at all- it would be too much of a character change. Once the Carnivale got to Babylon, and I saw how the entire city seemed to be made up of zombie-like men, not to mention all the references of Babylon being Hell, I figured the people of Babylon would be the evil force. My prediction: Babylon=Evil; (Carnivale + Brother Justin)= Good. I just haven't figured out how Brother Justin and the Carnivale will meet... unless it's through the dreams?

JMO..

Kramdenfan

spainlinx0

Well one day Brother Justin could become evil from the fire is if he finds out that it was deliberate. He does have quite the temper.