Genre: Crime drama; Neo-noir; Political; Steampunk; Urban fantasy
Created by René Echevarria, Travis Beacham
Based on A Killing on Carnival Row; by Travis Beacham
- Starring: Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, Simon McBurney, Tamzin Merchant, David Gyasi, Andrew Gower, Karla Crome, Arty Froushan, Indira Varma, Jared Harris, Caroline Ford, Jay Ali, Joanne Whalley, Jamie Harris & Ariyon Bakare.
Composer: Nathan Barr
Executive producers: Marc Guggenheim, René Echevarria, Jon Amiel, Orlando Bloom, Travis Beacham
Producer: Gideon Amir
Production Location: Czech Republic
- Production companies: CrimeThink (season 2), Legendary Television, Amazon Studios
Distributor: Amazon Prime Video
Plot: Love. Murder. Conspiracy. Revolution. When mysterious killings inflame tensions between the Faefolk and their Human oppressors, each denizen of “Carnival Row” must choose who they are and how to act.
Season 2 of Carnival Row was decent but still not good.
Pros: Both Orlando Bloom & Cara Delevingne are separately engaging in their respective roles. Each storyline got complicated as the season carried on, also engaging to see its resolve. The level of violence was so-up compared to the previous season and nothing else.
Cons: A lot was going on this season it was difficult to keep up with what was happening. I hated the run-time for each episode being 50-67 minutes long. I couldn’t get used to the two sets of teams, having this war with each other & it felt like the ending came out of nowhere.
Casts & Characters:
Main:
- Orlando Bloom as Rycroft “Philo” Philostrate, an inspector of the Burgue Constabulary, investigating a dark conspiracy at the heart of the city. A half-fae passing as a human, and veteran of the war, he sympathizes with the fae to the disgust of many of his colleagues.
- Cara Delevingne as Vignette Stonemoss, a faerie (also known by their derogatory name of “Pix“) and Philo’s former lover who believed him to be dead following the war. She falls in with a group of fae ruffians known as the Black Raven while dealing with her complicated feelings for Philo.
- Simon McBurney as Runyan Millworthy, a human street performer and master of a troupe of kobolds.
- Tamzin Merchant as Imogen Spurnrose, an heiress who becomes involved with Agreus to support her lifestyle.
- David Gyasi as Agreus Astrayon, a wealthy faun (also known by their derogatory name of “Puck“) shunned by Burgue high society for his appearance and origin.
- Andrew Gower as Ezra Spurnrose, Imogen’s brother whom she blames for mishandling the family finances and driving them into debt.
- Karla Crome as Tourmaline Larou, Vignette’s fae friend and former lover, Poet Laureate of Tirnanoc, and a courtesan at the Tetterby Hotel in Carnival Row.
- Arty Froushan as Jonah Breakspear, Absalom’s son who rebels against his controlling father. He becomes the new chancellor at the end of season one.
- Caroline Ford as Sophie Longerbane, the power-seeking daughter of Ritter Longerbane who becomes sympathetic towards the Fae.
- Jay Ali as Kaine (season 2), a fae allied with the Black Raven who goes to extreme measures to make life better for his people.
- Joanne Whalley as Leonora (season 2), the faun leader of the New Dawn revolutionary movement who has a history with Agreus.
- Jamie Harris as Sergeant Dombey (season 2), a constable sergeant known to harbor racist beliefs against the fae and despises Philo for sympathizing with them.
- Ariyon Bakare as Darius Sykes (season 2), Philo’s old friend and a former soldier of the Burgue now held in captive luxury at Bleakness Keep due to having been bitten by a Marrok (a type of wolf-man created from a virus) during the war.
Recurring:
- Alice Krige as Aoife Tsigani, a Haruspex (or witch) in the service of Piety Breakspear.
- Tracey Wilkinson as Afissa, the “Puck” housemaid and cook to the Spurnroses.
- Ryan Hayes as Constable Thatch, a rookie constable with a strong hatred of the fae.
- Waj Ali as Constable Berwick, Philo’s timid partner who nevertheless remains loyal to him.
- James Beaumont as Constable Cuppins, a constable who finds Philo’s interest in the fae unnatural.
- Jim High as Fergus, a human servant in Agreus’s household.
- Scott Reid as Quilliam / “Quill”, a “Puck” footman, is unjustly dismissed by the Chancellor, who turns to radicalism.
- Brian Caspe as Nigel Winetrout, a politician and close advisor for the Breakspear family.
- Chloe Pirrie as Dahlia, the ruthless fae leader of the Black Raven.
- Anthony Kaye as Bolero, the loyal second-in-command of the Black Raven.
- Sinead Phelps as Jenila, Sophie’s “Puck” lady’s maid.
- Fraser James as Erasmus Fletcher (season 2), a politician and advisor for the Longerbane family.
- Eve Ponsonby as Phaedra (season 2), a fae vigilante and member of the Black Raven.
- Stewart Scudamore as Boz Ghaidos (season 2), a well-connected cattle-horned “Puck” who manages an underground fighting ring.
- Andrew Buchan as Mikulas Vir (season 2), a general in The Pact army who travels to The Burgue to secure a weapons deal.
- Karel Dobrý as Ambassador Anrep (season 2), the ambassador for The Pact to The Burgue.
- Jacqueline Boatswain as Mima Blodwen (season 2), a “Mima” fae, a spiritual leader, who guides Tourmaline.
- George Georgiou as Kastor (season 2), a high-ranking member of the New Dawn in charge of overseeing Agreus and Imogen.
I would skip this season as well as the first season.
Rating: 5 out of 10 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident TV reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe