Product Description

(HBO Dramatic Series) As the final war between Good and Evil looms two powerful avatars divided by fate share one mission. For Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin, the race is on to find the elusive Henry Scudder--and the fate of the world depends on who finds him first.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:3 Audio Commentaries with Creator Daniel Knauf, Executive Producer Howard Klein, Director Rodrigo Garcia and cast members Clancy Brown and Clea Duvall.
Documentary:"Magic and Myth: The Meaning of Carnivale"--half-hour documentary exploring the apocalyptic writing and mythology behind the show. Interviews with the creator, executive producer, and writers and directors of the show to get their take on the mythology, as well as independent contributors who have examined the show?s characters and the archetypal roles they represent.
Featurette:"Creating the Scene" Featurettes--Find out how Carnivale's creators brought the Daily Brothers show -- and its Scorpion Lady, He/She and Praying Mantis-to vibrant life!
Other:Museum of Television and Radio panel discussion with cast and crew

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1731 in DVD
• Brand: HBO HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2006-07-18
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Russian
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 720 minutes

Amazon.com
The second season of HBO's Depression-era gothic--John Steinbeck by way of Tod Browning--picks up where the first left off. Professor Lodz (Patrick Bauchau) is dead. Ben (Nick Stahl), the show's protagonist, appears to be the culprit. Samson (Michael J. Anderson) helps him dispose of the body. Later he tells the other carnival workers that Lodz "took a powder." Lila (Debra Christofferson) doesn't buy it. Meanwhile, Sophie (Clea DuVall), who lost her mother to fire the previous year, feels unmoored without her guidance. A few states away, Brother Justin (Clancy Brown) harbors ever greater delusions of grandeur--and inappropriate thoughts about his sister, Iris (Amy Madigan). In "Alamagordo, NM," he decides to establish a temple, which he dubs Jonestown, er, Jericho. At the same time, life amongst the carnies, who are heading towards Justin's California, is becoming increasingly tense. Ruthie (Adrienne Barbeau), for instance, is starting to see dead people--like Lodz--and Stumpy (Toby Huss) is no longer able to keep his gambling in check. As with the first season, the action continues to alternate between the carnival and the congregation. What binds the two is a man named Scudder (John Savage), who has connections to Ben and Justin. Although writer/creator Dan Knauf had planned to tie things up between seasons three and six, HBO did not renew Carnivàle a second time. Nonetheless, a surprising number of questions are answered, like the identity of "Management" (voiced by an un-credited Linda Hunt) and whether Ben and Justin will have a final showdown. The answer to the latter question is: Yes, they will--and there’ll be casualties. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

'Bout Darn Time"!!!
Season two of this amazing series saw a shift in gears as far as the direction of the show. Season one, while a masterpiece, suffered critical hits for taking too long to develop, and thus, perhaps lost some viewership. The not-so-well-kept secret is that time it took to craft the characters is exactly what true fans of the series enjoyed.

Some of the deep mystery and magic is gone from the second season, in favor of moving the plot along, but series creator Dan Knauf was so adept at his craft that he never allowed the series to become ho-hum and typical like other network series that delve into fantasy and science fiction.

What ultimately killed this series was two-fold. 1. It lost viewers who didn't want to be bothered with trying to figure the mystery out instead of having it handed to them on a platter and 2. executives who lost their vision as to what the show stood for and didn't recognize the art for what it was.

This show has created a cult following matched by few others in it's genre. True fans who cry out for more while keeping the vision alive in our minds. Hopefully one day our wishes will be fulfilled, but until then we have memories and two excellant seasons to enjoy.

"When it comes to livin', dying is the easy part..."
There has never been a show that has had such an impact on me like HBO's "Carnivale." You can only imagine the heartbreak I went through when I found out that the show would not be renewed for another season. In a world where there is so much pointless garbage on TV with no substance, no emotion and no thinking behind it (again, this is not always a bad thing), it was refreshing to see something that challenged us to the core like "Carnivale" did. At long last, the second season has found its home on DVD.

It's hard to describe such a show without giving too much away, but I will do my best. The first season left off with Ben Hawkins (an unlikely savior and healer) and Brother Justin (a man who once served religion has now found his place along darkness and an ultimate evil)finally realizing their path in life and knowing who they really are. Ben is scared and instructed by the mysterious Management on what he has to do in order to prevent the end of the world as we know it, but Ben is not so sure who is using him and who he can trust. Yet, he knows that the key to the final battle between good and evil is his father, Henry Scudder. The problem is that Brother Justin is also looking for Scudder, as he has some terrible, awful plans of his own for the world. These two are states away, but finally they will meet and the fate of the world ultimately depends on who ends up coming up on top. And that's only a part of the overwhelming and forceful epic that is known as "Carnivale."

The second season is much more darker and unsettling than the first, and it never slows down. As good as the first season was, the pace was very slow--but it had to be in order to set the pieces into place. A lot of things that didn't make sense in the first season will come to light in this one. The scenery, the look and feel of it all really cements this as a memorable and solid series that was quite possibly ahead of its time. Not only does this show rely on great and hypnotic writing, but also the actors who give it their all and bring their characters to life. With a show as complex as this, you have to have the writing and the characters, and this show has no problem delivering the goods on that front. The DVD contains all 12 episodes and some very cool "behind the scenes" features that are worth seeing, along with commentaries on selected episodes.

"Carnivale" is not a show for everybody. It's extremely dark, brutal and the themes can get pretty disturbing and unsettling, especially since it deals with the religous and spiritual world. If you are a fan of the first season, then this is a must-see, even if we may never get another season ever again. Sure, not everything will be answered, the last episode does leave us hanging, but all in all this season is very satisfying and is even more exciting and thrilling than the first. If you're looking for something you've never seen before, check it out. I'm just happy the second season has finally found a home. I just wished that such a great show had more of a chance. I don't think I'll ever see anything that will ever surpass this, and I believe I will think that way until my last breath. -Michael Crane

Bring Back Carnivale!
The wildest, wackiest, most inventive series in TV: stranger than TWIN PEAKS, CARNIVALE has a feel all its own, unlike anything you've seen. It makes a sort of dream-sense, although it would be difficult to try to explain to the uninitiated what it's all about. I love this young actor, Nick Stahl, who plays Ben Hawkins. He looks like he walked out of a 1930s postcard, as does Jonesy, Sampson, Sophie and the rest of the carnies (although Adrienne Barbeau looks out of place: too much plastic surgery perhaps? or not enough?). That HBO cancelled this series after its second season finale is lamentable.