WiC Watches: Carnival Row season 1

Carnival Row Ep108 Amazon Prime Photo: Jan Thijs

EPISODE 108: “THE GLOAMING”

As tensions rise on Carnival Row, Philo must confront both darkness incarnate and the evil that controls it. Vignette gleans the true nature of The Burgue. Imogen lets her feelings for Agreus go unbridled. Breakspear’s secrets catch up to him.

What Happened?

Under the watchful guidance of Quill, the new acolyte Cabal murders Absalom’s puck servant and steals his uniform. Philo meets with Absalom, who first believes he murdered Aisling: once they sort things out, father and son share stories. Agreus and Imogen begin to understand the dangers inherent in their secret affair. Absalom promises to free Vignette and encourages Philo to take her and leave The Burgue forever.

Piety discovers Jonah’s affair with Sophie and disapproves, revealing that Sophie is his sister (from Piety’s prior affair with the late Ritter Longerbane). The Haruspex witch drinks a potion before being cut down by the Darkasher. Dressed in the servant’s uniform, Quill brutally stabs Absalom as he prepares the paperwork to free Vignette. Sophie convinces Jonah to carry on their incestuous relationship.

Carnival Row Ep108 Amazon Prime Photo: Jan Thijs

Jonah confronts and abandons the badly wounded Absalom. The heartsick Tourmaline steps aside for Vignette to rejoin Philo. Agreus and Imogen quarrel but can’t escape their attraction. Agreus’ human servant informs Ezra of the illicit affair and breaks into Agreus’ house with a pistol, but the couple escape him.

Philo investigates the body of the dead Haruspex, who speaks to him from the gloaming (a sort of Fae limbo); she reveals Piety to be her daughter and in control of the Darkasher. Meanwhile, Piety smothers Absalom to death and reads his liver, learning his secrets, namely the identities of his bastard son Philo and his Pix lover Vignette.

Carnival Row Ep108 Amazon Prime Photo: Jan Thijs

Philo and Tourmaline act to save Vignette but she’s already been captured by Piety. Philo chops up the Piety-controlled Darkasher in the sewers, then confronts Piety in her macabre laboratory. The self-reassembled Darkasher overwhelms Philo but Vignette saves him by killing Piety. Jonah becomes acting Chancellor of the Burgue and makes McBurney his Special Advisor, needing a good man at his side as the puck fanatics threaten chaos in the Row.

Philo and Vignette want to depart the city but all Fae have been “sequestered to the Row” due to the apparent murder of Absalom by a puck fanatic. On board their sea vessel, Agreus and Imogen decide to sail far away. Jonah realizes that Aisling’s blackmail note to Piety was written by Sophie, who has been masterminding the political intrigues and disruptions all along; they team up as the Burgue’s new power couple. Identifying himself as Fae, Philo rejoins Vignette in the newly ghettoized Row.

Carnival Row Ep108 Amazon Prime Photo: Jan Thijs

Was it good?

As far as season finales go, “The Gloaming” was very good, but not great. As usual, Philo’s story development was stellar, and his final duel with the Darkasher hit all the right notes. Unfortunately, Vignette was sidelined for much of the second half of this season, and once again she had little to do beyond being beat up and held captive. There isn’t enough room in an hour-long show for so many narrative threads, and Vignette’s story has been sacrificed.

If you are a fan of open-ended, mysterious TV shows, Carnival Row probably isn’t your bag. “The Gloaming” spends a lot of time explaining its mysteries and wrapping them up nice and neat, and it does it well — the pacing never lags despite all the exposition. This episode sets up a new narrative playground for season 2, and I for one am sad that the wonderfully spooky Haruspex won’t be in the mix.

The Agreus/Imogen storyline was given considerably more time that I had expected, and both David Gyasi and Tamzin Merchant shine in their roles; I once considered this underserved corner of the Carnival Row story a liability, but with plenty of development it is fast becoming one of the show’s strongest dramatic arcs.

“The Gloaming” serves its purpose as a season finale, supplying solid resolutions to season 1 storylines while setting the table with new players and conflicts for the already-ordered season 2. The episode may be a touch underwhelming as a whole, but it has plenty of fine acting and well-structured melodrama. If you’re a fan of Carnival Row, you can’t help but want to see more of the star-crossed lovers Philo and Vignette, as well as Agreus and Imogen. We’re going to get more, and that’s a good thing.

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