Carnivàle: "Halliburton, NE"

By Jason Davis     February 28, 2005

"Halliburton, NE" has a hard act to follow with the preceding episode's long-awaited appearance of the mysterious Henry Scudder. That it manages to better its predecessor is a tribute to Knauf's writing, which elegantly jumps from storyline to storyline with such energy that the audience is never impatient to return to A-plot, but greatly relishes it when it returns.

With the death of Management, Ben Hawkins has now received the full measure of his boon, and the full extent of Lucius Belyakov's scheming is revealed. Management needed Ben to kill him in order to inherit his abilities and memories while anointing the weapon with which he must one day kill his opposite number, Brother Justin. The pursuit of Hack Scudder and the murder of Ernst Lodz have all been plots to put the boy in position to perform this bloody act. The emotional core of the episode revolves around Samson's reaction to Management's death, and the extent of the carnivàle's overseer's relationship with his dead employer is finally made clear by the anguish he feels upon his friend's death and the venom he spews at the hayseed that killed him.

Thematically, the episode revolves around relationships, and this is born out in the B-plot in which Libby Dreifuss and Clayton Jones continue their affair to an unexpected conclusion. Waking up after a night on the town, Libby finds her lifestyle significantly altered, and the fall-out results in a massive row with her mother. In what is a genius piece of characterization, Felix Dreifuss expresses greater disappointment in his daughter's unwillingness to turn tricks and dance the cooch than in her rash and rebellious behavior. Once and for all, the audience knows where Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss stands with regard to his family: they are nothing more than flesh to peddle to lonely townsfolk in need of some fun. Contrasting her husband's reactions, Rita Sue leaves the audience with the ambiguity of whether she's mad at her daughter's mistake or jealous of it.

With Ben's ascension in Nebraska, Brother Justin collapses into demonic spasms in California, triggering doubt in his long-standing disciple, Eleanor, who confides in Iris that she suspects the devil lives in the preacher. Knowing that something dangerous to him has happened, Justin consults his occultist, who makes him aware of Ben's newfound powers. Time is running out for the sinister Methodist preacher, but his henchman Stroud has Scudder and is headed westward for a visit that will doubtless result in Brother Justin stepping into power alongside Ben.

In a spectacle that reverses the tragedy perpetrated on the carnies in last year's "Babylon," a disaster long foreshadowed brings the episode to a spectacular climax and allows Ben to answer prayers destined for a higher power in a scene that really embraces the full potential of the series. Michael J. Anderson's performance here is without parallel, and he doesn't even utter a word in a scene that starts the series off in a new direction. Lucius Belyakov is dead and his Carnivàle is under new management... and if all that wasn't enough, the cliffhanger will certainly have viewers eager for the next chapter.