After the long wait, is Carnival Row season 2 worth it?

Carnival Row began Season 2 on Friday February 17, 2023. “Carnival what?” some might ask who don’t have many memories of Season 1 left after three and a half years. Carnival Row was the adult fantasy series full of sex, violence and intrigue, which Amazon Prime released in 2019, starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne.

In the paranormal crime thriller, they searched for a serial killer and at the same time explored an oppressed class of mythical creatures who had escaped. Now Carnival Row is back, but: Is it worth returning? We’ve already watched all 10 episodes of season 2 in their entirety, and we can assure you spoiler free answer give.

After a 3.5-year hiatus, is Carnival Row’s fantasy return worth it?

There are many reasons why Season 1 of Carnival Row made fantasy fans happy: they range from the richness of detail to the successful world building and figures to the processing of current topics. These arguments apply to season 2 as well. Carnival Row summoned a pretty complex narrative world up. One that requires its own encyclopedia including a world map, which you (without Rewatch) have to remember with difficulty after three and a half years.

As a memory aid, there is of course a summary flashback on Amazon before episode 1 of Season 2 Carnival Row. It can still take some brain power to get back into it. Nevertheless there is 3 good reasons why it’s worth continuing to watch.

1. Carnival Row Season 2 breaks expectations

Whether it’s out of nowhere, Game of Thrones-worthy character deaths or downright brazen twists: Season 2 is clearly the grand finale of Amazon’s fantasy series and takes no prisoners.

That also applies to them shocking creativity of bloodshed. A grisly group guillotine for mass decapitation is just the prelude to showing how much the fronts between humans and fae have now hardened. And as a further foreshadowing, perhaps just this much: Carnival Row’s new “main monster” may not be the pinnacle of computer animation, but you wouldn’t even have it in yours wildest nightmares can paint.

2. Carnival Row is becoming a political series on Amazon

Although Carnival Row tries new things in Season 2, the fantasy series always keeps the foundation laid beforehand. Story elements that have been prepared for a long time are finally paying off. It doesn’t matter whether it concerns werewolves finally freed, government friction or the fairy ghetto.

In addition, the conflict is no longer just fought on two sides (humans and mythical creatures). Now there’s the human parliament of the city of Burgue, its fellow-human wartime opponents of the “Pact”, the winged resistance group the “Black Raven” and the new opaque group the “New Dawn”. With the The emergence of several politically motivated parties increasingly creates gray areas and it is difficult to distinguish between good and bad. This gives Carnival Row a realistic substructure for all fantasy parts.

3. Neglected Carnival Row characters are allowed to flourish in season 2

Hand on heart: The love story of the main characters Philo and Vignette was probably the least interesting thing about season 1. At least the interspecies love of high society lady Imogen (Tamzin Merchant) and Faun Agreus (David Gyasi) stole the two stars of the series loose the show. The new Season Carnival Row seems to have realized this: Because she carefully shifts the focus of the figures and pulls out the long overdue pasts of other fan favorites.

Especially previously introduced ones Supporting characters that we would have liked to get to know better in Season 1 benefit of it: Now Philo’s soldier buddy Darius (Ariyon Bakare), who was bitten by a werewolf, is finally allowed to leave his prison and become active. And after Vignette’s fairy friend Tourmaline (Karla Crome) leaves the red light district in favor of dark magic, she, too, gains more narrative weight. Ditto for characters like Philo’s nemesis, Police Sergeant Domby (Jamie Harris), who transition from antagonist decal to more complex figure walk may.

In short: Anyone who is willing to invest some passion in Carnival Row again after almost four years of waiting should be pleasantly surprised what will happen in the 2nd season of the underrated fantasy series everything is yet to be revealed.

Podcast: Is Carnival Row a Fantasy Highlight? In the 7th episode of the stream, Andrea, Esther and Jenny ask themselves why the large-scale fantasy production Carnival Row has only received moderate reviews on Amazon Prime, even though it is a complex and detailed fantasy world. Including Orlando Bloom. Carnival Row starts at 00:41:06. Before that, let’s talk about the Netflix epic The Irishman.

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