Finally, fans of Amazon Prime’s neo-noir fantasy Carnival Row get to watch the second and final season. Viewers last saw Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevigne) and Rycroft “Philo” Philostrate (Orlando Bloom) detained inside the Row as a Fae uprising loomed. Their adventures will wrap up over the course of 10 new episodes.
Since the first season of Carnival Row dropped in the fall of 2019, let’s have a quick refresher before getting into the new stuff.
What happened at the end of Carnival Row season 1?
The first season ended with the assassination of Chancellor Absalom Breakspear (Jared Harris) by a Puck fanatic, which resulted in the government imprisoning the Fae in the newly ghettoized Carnival Row. Rebellion, stirred by the Puck agitators, boiled over amongst the Row inhabitants, trapping Philo (now identifying as a true Fae) and Vignette.
Aside from this cliffhanger, most of season 1’s main storylines were neatly wrapped up: Philo and Vignette defeated the treacherous Piety (Indira Varma) and her monstrous Darkasher, while illicit lovers Imogen (Tamzin Merchant) and Agreus (David Gyasi) escaped the chaos aboard a sea vessel. Jonah Breakspear (Arty Froushan) became the acting Chancellor of the Burgue, teaming up with the scheming Sophie Longerbane (Caroline Ford) to form a power couple ready to make waves in season 2.
Carnival Row review: Episode 202, “Fight or Flight”
Aware of the long wait between seasons, “Fight or Flight” includes a season 1 recap, which is highly recommended. Carnival Row season 2 opens with Philo and Vignette operating in the Fae “district,” an urban prison akin to the Warsaw Ghetto of the Second World War, replete with barbed wire, searchlights and armed guards on the perimeter.
Times are difficult on the Row; the cramped and unsanitary conditions have allowed a deadly plague to fester. Still a member of the Black Ravens, Vignette and her company do their best to procure medicines in a fun train ambush sequence, but it isn’t enough. Something big has to be done to save the denizens of the Row from disaster. The outside Burgue is suffering from economic woes and political unrest, making it vulnerable to upheaval. Philo has a plan to blow it all wide open.
Beautifully shot and packed with special effects, “Fight or Flight” won’t disappoint fans of season 1. The mysteries and twists come fast and furious; it’s a rip-roaring good tale.
Carnival Row was never a subtle show, and it’s even bolder now. Bloom’s gruff Philo and Delevigne’s earnest Vignette are as fun as ever to watch. They have a playful chemistry in their loving moments. It’s impossible not to root for them as they once again take the weight of the world on their shoulders.
Familiar faces, including Tourmaline Larou (Karla Crome), return. And “Fight or Flight” has a surprising amount of haunting, eerie moments that follow up on events from the first season. For those worrying that Philo might not don his inspector’s bowler hat to tackle another murder mystery, rest easy; by the time the credits roll on the first episode, we’re back in the thick of things once again.
The narrative shifts from murders in the dark alleys of the Row to the wider political conflict engulfing the human and Fae populations. Underlining the show’s powerful themes of racism and oppression, “Fight or Flight” presents the Burgue as a powder keg about to be ignited, its fuse a smoldering ribbon of ancient hatreds, tangled bloodlines and human frailty. Not a bad start to season 2.