#imogen and agreus

[my-lady-galadriel]

My thoughts about the last season of “Carnival Row” (WARNING ⚠️ There are SPOILERS!)

- The plot is intriguing, but too complex for only ten episodes. The final resolution seems weak and a bit forced.

- Vignette the worst character of all 😤 I loved her in the first season, I understood her trauma and her struggles, I thought Philo hurt her too much... and, in this final season, she becomes a sort of fickle teenager who blames the others not only for their mistakes but also for hers?! Damn it, she is incapable of taking her own responsibilities ‒ in contrast with Darius and Tourmaline, who suffered a lot but behave like adults.

- Tourmaline the “replacement” of Philo? Seriously?! Folks, Tourmaline deserves a partner who puts her first. Vignette goes with her only because she is an easier choice than Philo 😑

- Darius’ death is awful and pointless. I’m not particularly involved in his relationship with Tourmaline, but their connection is undeniable... and then the screenwriters decide to kill him 😫 Why?!

- Imogen ad Agreus are cute together, but their tension after Ezra’s death seems over-the-top to me. Agreus has never tried to “control” Imogen; her accusation is a nonsense.

- Poor Berwick shouldn’t be dead 😭

- The failed improvement of the Parliament is demoralizing.

- Last but not least: Philo’s development that misses the target. For heaven’s sake, stop torturing this poor man! He must learn to love and forgive himself, but the screenwriters continue to pick on him! At the end he seems to accept his status of half-blood, but that’s not enough: he is hurt (both physically and emotionally) and lost hope. Yes, he made horrible mistakes, but he gets smacked almost all the time... and he thinks he doesn’t deserve Vignette (Vignette, who abandoned him in prison without batting an eye!), like in the first season ☹ This is unfair. Philo doesn’t love himself enough and is alone, while he deserves affection, compassion and forgiveness. What a disastrous conclusion 😔

[rycrofts-bowler-hat]

Carnival Row text posts (1/??)

[ariadnethedragon]

ORLANDO BLOOM as RYCROFT PHILOSTRATE

Carnival Row (2019-)

[kellymagovern]

Carnival Row 2x02 “New Dawn”

[kajaono]

Carnival Row has so many problems with taking homophobia and racism analogies and giving them to white, cis - mostly - straight actors.

But that makes Mr. Agreus role even more powerful. Seeing a black man, playing a fantasy creature, not being allowed to be in love with a human woman... who happens to be white. In victorian England. And you only need half a braincell to realize that this isn't about horns and wings.

And this makes his lines so powerful. Everytime Agreus talks about the privileges white human people take for granted, while he will never be able to because he is black a fae-born, I nearly fall from my chair. The actor is just *chef kiss*

Them casting a black actor for the role, saves the whole show imo. If they would have also casted a white man for the role... YIKES. I only wish they would have casted a queer actor for Philos role. Because his role is the homophobia metaphor. So thumbs up for having a pansexual actress playing a pansexual fae, but the whole show would ahve worked better if the actor of Philo also happened to be queer. Because then i wouldn't cringe so much when a straight actor, has a metaphorical coming out scene, followed by "i am proud of you."

People trying to push him back into the closet, was still on point tough

[my-dear-philo]

So, I just finished Carnival Row season two. Here’s my thoughts (spoilers ahead).

I really liked it at first, but it just kept going downhill. Season one had a twisty storyline, but pretty much all the pieces fit together in the end. This season felt way more convoluted and much less character driven. They tried to do stuff with characters’ motivations, like exploring Philo’s guilt over suppressing his fae heritage and “siding” with humans. It’s just that none of it felt as authentic or compelling as it did in the first season. As a writer myself, there’s a difference between “the characters did this” and “the writers made the characters do this.” It’s a hard difference to explain, but this season felt like the latter. Stuff just happened because it could, with little attention paid to actually exploring character depth in meaningful ways. Overall it felt too rushed and convoluted.

Other points:

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you’ll know I love Philo. This season, however, he felt far less humanized (which is ironic, because the writers were trying to do just that). His arc in season one was so focused on helping people — he was so defined by his compassion — and I really didn’t feel that was present in season two. He felt significantly less sympathetic.

I couldn’t bring myself to ship Vignette and Tourmaline. Their relationship was a major focus in season one, and it was established that Vignette chose Philo, and that she and Tourmaline were better as friends. I just really hate it when a show establishes two characters as a couple and then totally changes direction in the next season. Philo and Vignette were written as endgame in season one, including the finale, and this season totally erased that. It felt like narrative whiplash.

Why did they bother establishing a connection between Tourmaline and Darius and setting them up to be a cute couple to then do nothing with it? And then just kill him? Lazy writing. Make it flow.

I actually really liked Imogen this season. Her growth in season one was great, and it was cool to see her spunk and competence this season especially in the last few episodes. Also, having her kill Ezra felt narratively fulfilling. He had it coming based on how he’d treated her, and I didn’t feel sorry for him at all.

I will never forgive this show for killing Sophie Longerbane. She was 100% the most interesting character on the show, and just as she was getting even more interesting, they killed her. Let smart, fascinating, ambitious women live, thank you. Seriously. Her arc was so good, and I was so excited to see what she’d do next, and then she DIED. How dare you.

Honestly, the show was more interesting before Sophie and Jonah were killed.

What happened to Philo’s “I’m Breakspear’s son and I’ll be chancellor to help people” plot line? It disappeared after like episode two and only appeared again in the epilogue. For a show about fantasy politics, this season almost totally ignored the most interesting political stuff in its own plot.

Speaking of the epilogue. I like what it did, but holy crap that was too rushed. I need at least a few more episodes to explain how everyone got to that point. I love happy endings, especially to stressful stories, but this felt like a cop-out from actual storytelling. I want the story of Philo revealing his parentage and becoming chancellor. Do Imogen and Agreus get married? I need way more development for Vignette and Tourmaline’s relationship. I just need more. The middle of the season felt like a lot of filler; they could easily have cut that and done a couple more episodes to ACTUALLY wrap up the show.

As always, the costumes and sets were STUNNING. This season had better win awards for that.

[phoenixwrites]

I’m gonna FIX CARNIVAL ROW WITH FIC.

Then I’m gonna Hellcheer it.

[the-fatal-impact]

Stanisław Wokulski i Izabela Łęcka

[nthflower]

Kaine should kill Philo. Man lost his polycule and can't even take his revenge because killing is bad.

This is also so funny we get polygamy representation but other three died off screen because of illness and terribly and one died on screen got shot by a cop get fantasy hate crimed. Yay diversity.

[siegelst]

tv review

Carnival Row Season 1 Season 2:

11/11

Best tv show I had watch in a while. and I binged watch it as well. The season final was wonderful and the sets are beautiful. Im so used to everything cgi that i was surprized some of the characters design is non-cgi which is refreshing.

[deadlydelicious]

....ok yeah i’m not a fan of taking a break from the really intense fucked up serial killing monster political thriller in the Burge for...Imogen and Agreus have relationship troubles in fantasy communist land

it is completely destroying the pacing, and tbh their characters feel a bit like season 1 relics. they should have just escaped happy and have been done with it

[fallingthruspace]

Is there some sort of Series Law where Vignette and Philo are required to break up once every season?

[heytheredeann]

S2 of Carnival Row was a complete mess tbh, but TOURMALINE MY BELOVED.

[ariadnethedragon]

TAMZIN MERCHANT as IMOGEN SPURNROSE

Carnival Row (2019-)

[kellymagovern]

Carnival Row 2x01 “Fight or Flight”

[beemovieerotica]

carnival row is such a wild show because the sets, the costumes, the creature design, and the attention to visual detail are so luscious and yet the writing will whiplash you between the most interesting, painstakingly written sideplot and the yawn-inducing heterosexual main plot which takes up 70% of screentime because the main guy is a producer who is dating the main girl