# Carnival Row (Amazon)



## Garren Jacobsen (Sep 24, 2019)

What are your thoughts on this my homies?


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## skip.knox (Sep 24, 2019)

Enjoying it. The sets are spectacular. I especially like how there are layers to the world and to the storytelling. They're taking their time. Still have the last two episodes to watch. Also, the rose is not yet off the Bloom.


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## FifthView (Sep 25, 2019)

I watched the first episode not long after it was available, but I've not bothered to watch the rest.

It didn't really grab me. It seemed almost like it could be a purely historical crime thriller, only with some things changed "to make it fantasy," heh. I don't know how to explain my reaction. I've read some reviews that talked about a lack of a sense of wonder; I suppose I'm somewhat in that boat.


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## Devor (Sep 25, 2019)

FifthView said:


> I watched the first episode not long after it was available, but I've not bothered to watch the rest.
> 
> It didn't really grab me. It seemed almost like it could be a purely historical crime thriller, only with some things changed "to make it fantasy," heh. I don't know how to explain my reaction. I've read some reviews that talked about a lack of a sense of wonder; I suppose I'm somewhat in that boat.



I saw the first episode the other day and this captures my own thoughts exactly.  And if you look at it as a purely historical crime thriller, dealing with race and refugees, I thought it was a pretty boring one, plotwise. And the fantasy, so far, is races that are human-with-wings, or human-with-horns, as well as a coming darkness, ohh and dog monsters.  It's two genres in one, but it's both at a basic, run of the mill level.

But that was just the first episode. I'm going to keep watching.  Maybe it's going somewhere.  The sets are amazing, and the acting is strong, and it's fun to see wings.  Maybe the fantasy elements will pick up?  And it won't be hard to get into the characters: Even as it is I'll probably be hooked after another episode.  But I was hoping to see something in it as a fantasy story to geek out about, and I think it's not there.


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## Chessie2 (Sep 26, 2019)

This is on my watchlist. I'll make sure to see the first episode tonight.


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## skip.knox (Sep 26, 2019)

Finished it last night. I thought it was interesting and worthwhile.


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## Garren Jacobsen (Sep 27, 2019)

skip.knox said:


> Finished it last night. I thought it was interesting and worthwhile.


Me too. It was good, I wouldn't say great. Worth a second season, however.


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## Danskin (Sep 29, 2019)

My impression of the trailer was that it was jumping on a bandwagon of urban fantasy. Well, that's a good thing if you are an urban fantasy author!


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## Steerpike (Sep 29, 2019)

The premie of the show may make it harder to establish a sense of wonder, because there is no wonder on the part of the characters. Fae are known quantities. Not only that, they’re roundly despised. These aren’t elements of the world the characters are going to feel wonder about, so it’s difficult to put that sense onto the viewer without changing the aesthetic of the show. Maybe as it goes on more powerful and unusual beings will be brought into the show and that wonder can be captured. When it comes to the fae, though, they’re not supposed to impart wonder—they’re just another part of the world.


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## FifthView (Oct 1, 2019)

Steerpike said:


> These aren’t elements of the world the characters are going to feel wonder about, so it’s difficult to put that sense onto the viewer without changing the aesthetic of the show. .... When it comes to the fae, though, they’re not supposed to impart wonder—they’re just another part of the world.



I really can't judge the whole show, because I've not followed it past the first episode. So there is this caveat.

As a viewer, my own sense of wonder is not dependent on having characters sense the wonder. I believe cinema and television _can_ increase the feeling of wonder by showing characters who feel wonder; perfect example is the LOTR movies, for instance when the Fellowship enter the main hall of Moria:





There are multiple examples in those movies. Peter Jackson knew exactly what he was doing.

But this isn't required. Maybe the creators of _Carnival Row_ wanted us to feel the humdrum along with the characters; but, why? Heh. I'm not amazed by that humdrum. There are other examples from movies of characters who themselves take for granted their wondrous world, quite accustomed to it, but the wonders still seem quite wondrous to _me_, the viewer.


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## TJPoldervaart (Dec 7, 2020)

I found the setting to be pretty interesting, mostly because I enjoy fantasy in industrial revolution-like settings, and the art department did a phenomenal job in creating the world. However, I found the chemistry between the main actors to be weak. Also, from a writing standpoint, it annoyed me that the seperate narratives (the mystery and the upper-class trouble) only quickly connected at the beginning to not come together in the climax.

It's a fun series to watch away, but not brilliant imo.


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