TV Show Review: Carnival Row Season 1 (2019)

Carnival Row Season 1 (2019)

August 30, 2019

Season: 1, episodes: 8

Amazon Prime Video

Starring: Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, David Gyasi

Genres Drama, Fantasy, Suspense

With a serial killer loose on Carnival Row, and a government that turns a blind eye to the deaths of its lower class citizens, Rycroft Philostrate, a war-hardened investigator, is the only person willing to stop the murders and maintain the fragile peace. But when Vignette Stonemoss, a faerie refugee, turns up in the Burgue, she forces Philo to reckon with a past he's tried to forget.

amazon

The latest Amazon series has me all in a tizzy and I can’t wait to talk about it!

Carnival Row is a dark, gritty mix of fantasy, mystery, suspense, and romance that surprised me with the direction it took. The show follows faerie Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevingne) and human detective Rycroft “Philo” Philostrate (Orlando Bloom), secret lovers who were parted years before and now find themselves face to face once again but this time with secrets, lies, and prejudice between them. The setting is a Victorian era inspired city called Burgue where creatures like Faun, Faeries, Centaurs, Werewolves, and Trow (aka trolls) have fled to in order to escape their war torn homelands. These unfortunate refugees have made their home in a section of Burgue known as The Row. Many of these creatures fled on refugee ships with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and in order to pay for their passage are now indentured servants working for the humans residents who can barely stand their presence and see them as little more than things. Adding to the tensions between the two factions are a series of grisly murders reminiscent of Jack the Ripper. On crack. That’s a lot to pack into 8 episodes and it shows.

I’m not going to lie, I was apprehensive about this show. I just knew people were going to compare it to Game of Thrones which isn’t fair, because there is only one Game of Thrones and it can’t be copied or replaced. So if the people behind Row are hoping to do that, my advice is to stop and instead try and carve out your own niche. The material is there, just do your own thing because as of right now the series wobbles a bit in its bid to find its footing and aside from a familiar face from Thrones (I see you Indira Varma), there isn’t a similarity between the two shows as much as a slightly weak attempt to mimic some of the ruthless political scheming Thrones was known for.

I also think that part of the problem is that it’s trying too hard to fit in so many themes into one season all at once. It’s chaotic at times and doesn’t give any one plot a chance to really shine. And in the first season the audience needs to connect with the characters and that’s also a bit of a problem. Out of all the characters, the only one that the show gives you a chance to connect with is Vignette. She’s a scrapper, a true survivor who knows when to fight and when to duck her head and live to fight another day.

The show needs to utilize all its characters but at the same time, it has to make the audience care about them and not overwhelm them with a revolving door of characters.

It would be easy to just make the show all about Philo and Vignette’s rocky reunion and rehashing their history but then Carnival Row wouldn’t have as much potential as it does and it wouldn’t be as interesting. Not every show has to have a romance front and center and thank goodness Row didn’t set itself up to become just another star-crossed lovers story, these characters have lives outside of their personal history and I liked that they’re shown as individuals on their own journeys. That said, I’m not really feeling the chemistry between the two characters, there’s something that’s missing and it’s not allowing me to believe in their romance past or present.

But where Carnival Row lacks in character build up it excels in its visuals. The backdrop of a steampunk like setting, complete with dark corners that could be a danger or salvation are fantastic. The amount of work put into the costumes, prosthetics, and CGI shouldn’t be overlooked. The show isn’t a complete dud but it does need to find its place and quickly. It’s been renewed for a second season so I hope the writers pay attention to what viewers are saying and that they stay away from pandering to a certain type of viewer if they want to have a solid story with multi-dimensional characters and a chance at longevity.

Rating: 3 ½ Sheep with Potential for Greatness

Adria Reyes

adriasromancereviews.blogspot.com

Sheep Movie Review: The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, stars Logan Lerman, Matthew MacFadyen, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom and Christoph Waltz. Be prepared for sword fighting and campy lines galore! This movie isn't better as a "remake" but it's entertaining if you're not looking for much depth or overall substance.

Plot:

The hot-headed young D'Artagnan along with three former legendary but now down on their luck Musketeers must unite and defeat a beautiful double agent and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.

Let's start with what I liked and work our way down. I liked the sets, and Summit Entertainment dished out a big wad of dough on this one. They are visually stunning and hands down you do have some "wow" moments aesthetically. Costumes were absolutely gorgeous with the men and women both in some stunning outfits that look great to flaunt around. While a few costumes took over the top to a new level, if you like gaudy ball attire you'll enjoy what the film delivers. Swords fights are abundant, but what Musketeer movie would be complete without them?! Some of you reading this review may remember that we at Sheep attended WonderCon earlier this year in San Francisco. While there we sat through many-a-panel, and this film was one which we attended. Luke Evans and Logan (god I love that name) Lerman were amongst the group promoting this film. During that short 30 min Q&A we learned just how much sword training all the actors had to put in for this film and it definitely shows in the finished product. En garde! If you love some campyness in your movies then you'll be pleased with the amount tossed around in this one. It's certainly over the top but that seems to be the main goal here.

What happened to the accents? It seemed Jersey was in the house for this one because I couldn't tell these guys were supposed to be French. A few of the English actors did a little better in that department but young Logan (dude I still love your name) didn't even try to make much of an attempt in the linguistics department. The show stealers here have to go to MacFadyen and Bloom both for different reason but equally awarded. It's nice to see Bloom have fun in a role and you could tell he took this one to the eccentric bank.

Now the negatives. I couldn't get behind many of the characters due to a disconnect in the script writing. While it's a fun fantasy tale, you get so much fantasy it occasionally looses focus on the dialog between these guys. Milla plays a double agent who's supposed to be devious and deceitful but I felt she just couldn't pull the character off and made her motivations unbelievable. The movie just fails to engage with its audience. It does have some similarities with the Pirates franchise so if you liked those and enjoy the 'Black Pearl' prepare to walk the plank once again. Arr! Sure you get some laugh out loud moments, but they're too few and simply cannot carry the film by themselves. In the end the plot just doesn't make sense and the movie certainly won't make nearly half what this studio dished out for the big sets and costumes. BUT I have to admit it's fun in its moronic way. Just don't expect much and you'll be less disappointed.

I will "recommend" that you either A. catch the cheap showing or B. rent it for a $1 at Redbox early next year.

Getting 2 "I knew I should have worn Blue" Sheep

KD