Martin Carr reviews the season 1 finale of Carnival Row…
Adapted from a black listed script by Travis Beacham Carnival Row has been expanded from two hours into over eight hours of ornate television. In this finale although the amount of information packed between the civil unrest set pieces is riveting, there is a lot of time given over to character exposition. Elements which had been built up around certain people feels wasted, while elsewhere others are afforded the necessary respect and closure. Family dynamics which promised sordid backstairs behaviour are somehow undermined, seemingly rushed and then conveniently tied off. It feels in certain areas like these writers were rushing to a predetermined conclusion without considering the journey to get there.
Beyond that though there are still some solid performances from the likes of Simon McBurney, David Gyasi and Andrew Gower to name a few. Both political family siblings leave scorch marks on the screen such is the unreserved chemistry which exists between them. Whereas late night trysts between nearby neighbours continues lighting emotional and intellectual fires beneath this hotbed of civil unrest.
As far as climaxes are concerned there is something necessarily copybook about the closing moments of Carnival Row, at least for the overtly villainous elements involved. A clashing of new world ideas and old world superstitions provide the thick seam of opposing ideologies that glue Carnival Row together. Yet beyond the salacious game of good manners and surreptitious coupling there is an inherent complexity which has barely been touched upon. Some character revelations might seem the stuff of bad pulp fiction but that is counteracted by a richly realised world of intrigue and possibility.
In the closing moments of this opening season there are no happy endings, no nail biting cliff hangers or unsolved mysteries requiring resolution. Instead there is a dramatic statement of intent involving barbed wire, segregation and men with guns. With certain actions punishable by death, this Burgue is more reminiscent of a Polish ghetto than anything else. Individual differences are not celebrated while skin colour, orientation and religious belief promote fear, instil distrust and threaten the status quo. Not it would seem a place for fawns, fae and fantasy folk after all.
Martin Carr
