As Ben searches for the next link, Justin tends to his flock; Sofie refuses to read Ben's tarot but the cards have an agenda of their own; Dolan grills another arson witness; Ruthie is visited by a mysterious shadow; Stumpy peddles the girls to a barely legal audience; Gabriel assists Ruthie in her latest death-defying act; and Ben receives a rough welcome when he stumbles upon distant relatives.
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The tattoed man is everywhere -- now he's showing up on the tarot cards. Not sure how long Iris can stay in the clear - especially if Dolan continues his prodding into who caused the fire. Also, the snake choking Ruthie as Ben is being buried alive? I liked the final scene where Lodz leads Ruthie to his trailer where Sofie is sleeping and awakes to Brother Justin's sermon. This is gonna' get interesting!

Crap tape ran out while taping!

So it was a good episode then? I didn't have a chance to watch just yet hopefully I will later this week.

Oh and just doing a google search for Carnivāle I copied and pasted this: ā.

I loved the pacing of this episode so much better, very reminiscence of the first season, hopefully they keep this pacing for more of the season.

OMG. I wanted Ben to do some of his "gift" on those mountain folk, but I guess they know who HS is after all.
What is Lodz trying to get grandma to do?

I also noticed that the pacing seems to have slipped back into first season mode. Or I'm just getting used to it. I think that maybe they packed a lot of information into the first two episodes to set the stage for the next ten. If I had a gripe, it would probably be that the a lot of this stuff should've been resolved in the first season (the question of management's idenity, and Justin getting the tree tattoo) so the viewer could've gotten a few bones to chew on while waiting for the second season. As it was, the first season just ended on a pretty typical televison cliffhanger.

Last night's episode seemed really sleazy... the Coca Cola douche, the old humpbacked coot offering the "tight" retarded girl, and Justin getting a hummer in front of the paralyzed preacher.

And speaking of sleazy, if Sophie really wanted something to do, she could've joined the hoochie coochie show and given us a blow-off for her debut performance. But maybe now that she's one of Justin's apostles, she'll loosen up a bit.

That's my big question too. The Lodz-Ruthie-Sofie connection...?

Same here, and it's probably a combination of both. I found the first two episodes to be a bit annoying this way, but this one flowed a lot better and felt more like the first season.

das

I wonder if it's Lodz or if it's Sophie's mom that's trying to get her back into reading cards. Could be that the spirits of both are still hanging around.

The description in the first post says "distant relatives." Did I miss something?

Also, when Ben grabbed the old guy and he got scared and said he'd never do it again, I have a feeling we didn't see everything there. Justin has been known to grab people and kinda pull them into these visions. I almost feel like Ben might have done the same thing to this man, but we weren't shown the vision.

I took that as actually a major difference between the two characters. Justin would show people their sins in order to benefit himself and his church. The people usually weren't better off after being shown the "light." Ben on the other hand simply has to give the person a look, and they realize what they have done. It sort of reminded me of Jesus forgiving the sinner and saying to sin no more. I thought it was a really powerful scene the way the man just broke down. He did it with no motivation other than to show the person they were wrong.

Man, the threads for this season of the show are dead compared to the first season threads. I guess there really are a lot less people watching. Maybe HBO is right to be concerned about competing with Desperate Housewives?

Are they taking a break for the Super Bowl or will there be a new Carnivale against that too?

I think Lodz may be trying to communicate to Ruthie via Sophie (and her cards).
Also, in the last episode in the first season he had a "talk" with Apollonia before they both died.

And what the hell happened to Catalina? Did I miss something?

I'm completely spacing on who Catalina is. Do you mean Celeste?

Catalina de la Rosa from last season, the "dancer" Stumpy picked up in the bar.

das

Ahh...thanks. Either Rita Sue or Libby said she took off and that's all we've heard. Weird.

IIRC Lodz said something to the effect of "are you sure she is the one?" We know she is not the one, so what is she?

Finally saw the show and damn was it great. I agree that it was kinda sleazy, but its all good. The scene with the retarded girl was very good and was very powerful. I agree with spainlynx and I got blown back by it; maybe its the fact I watch it real late, in complete dark, in HD and SS that totally makes the show enchanting.

I dont think Sophie will become an Apostle, but the Lodz stuff is very well done and I cant wait to see what happens. As far as the woodfolk go, I thought it was going to be deliverance or southern comfort, but it was well done. I didnt pick up the fact that theyre related to Ben. Oh and Libby is starting to look really fucking hot

And is it me, or does the Score really drive the show, set an awesome mood, and just all around seem perfect?

Oh and Geoff, just copy and past one of my title threads for the A with the accent. When I did the first one, I was looking at a site that had the A with it, so I coppied and pasted it

I agree about the score of this show -- it is fantastic! It sets the mood, atmosphere and pace of the show perfectly. The opening theme is just as good.

Has anyone else seen the slide show for this episode? Intersting pics:

http://www.hbo.com/carnivale/episode...pisode15.shtml

With regards to the Lodz-Ruthie connection. I thought Lodz died because Ruthie was brought back to life. IIRC, Ben had to kill after he brought her back, and he killed Lodz. I have been thinking that the connection has to do with this.