Previously: Iris burned things, Ben broke things, and Varlyn blew stuff up. Bunch of vandals.
Carnivàle. Night. Full moon. Ben wanders past the deserted grounds and stops to stare at the carousel. Everything is coated with black ash. Dream sequence! Ben reaches out, crumbles a bit of one of the carousel horses, and moves on.
Management's trailer. Everything's coated with dust and the place is a mess. Ben moves toward the puppet theater and calls, "Belyakov?" He pulls the curtains aside. Boo! Naked, tree-tattooed Brother Justin roars into the frame with his eyes all black.
Ben wakes up in the back of a truck in broad daylight. He jerks up and looks at the side of the road as they drive pass a little roadside display of crosses. The crosses are flared a little like the Cross Formée. Or something. An old doll is propped up at the bottom of one. Some carnies are playing cards in the truck bed as well; one asks Ben, "Bad dream?" Ben ignores him and lies back down. The trucks move on as we cut to a shot of the doll against the horizon, with its head blocking most of the sun. Make a note; we'll be getting a lot of eclipse imagery later on.
As Ben and the carnies work on the Ferris wheel, Stumpy starts chatting about the big fight tonight: Max Baer vs. Joe Louis. Which means it's suddenly September of 1935. I wonder if all the interesting stuff happens off-screen during the months that seem to be passing in between episodes. Osgood thinks Louis will win. Stumpy lectures Ben and Osgood: "When a white man gets in the ring with an eightball, the eightball's got no chance." Stumpy goes on with the casual racism for a while, in case we're slow to pick up on it. He explains that Louis will lose "because he can't think on his feet. It's his Achilles foot, so to speak." Heh. Eventually, Stumpy wanders off. Ben watches him leave, looking as bored by this subplot as I am.
Lila complains about the coffee to an uninterested Rita Sue. Ruthie is sitting with them, but she's not really listening because she's watching Sofie, who's seated nearby. More specifically, Ruthie is watching Apollonia, who's sitting across the table from Sofie. Sofie seems to be looking right at her mother. Rita Sue asks if Lila really believes that Samson killed Lodz. Lila does. Just like she did last week. Or last year. Whenever it was. Rita Sue sniffs, "Maybe he run off with Catalina." She explains that Catalina disappeared the same night Lodz did. So we can get answers to the trivial questions, just not to anything important, I guess. Swell. Rita Sue gets up from the table with a snide, "Probably just a coincidence," and leaves. Lila sneers to Ruthie, "Tragic, what happens when spirochetes eat your brain." Ruthie abruptly excuses herself and heads over to Sofie, who's now sitting alone. Ruthie quietly says, "Don't think I'm crazy, but I've seen her too." Sofie asks, "Who?" Ruthie sits down and answers, "Your mama." Sofie snaps, "My mother's dead," and stomps off in a huff.
Sofie hurries for her trailer, passing Ben on her way. Ben stops and asks her what's wrong. Sofie explains, "Ruthie said she's seen my mama." Ben looks around and then grunts, "I'll go set her straight," which is faintly ridiculous. Sofie pulls Ben back but he insists, "It ain't right." Given the number of odd things Ben and Sofie see all the time, I don't understand why they're so reluctant to believe that maybe other people could have similar experiences. It's almost like we're supposed to think they're both dopey egomaniacs. From a little distance away, Samson watches as Sofie kisses Ben on the cheek and then goes into her trailer.
The shantytown around the Tent of Jericho has spread out quite a bit. Soon there'll be shanty-suburbs, and they'll have shanty-commuters and shanty-traffic. Sorry, I just really like saying "shanty." Inside Casa de Creepy, Brother Justin asks when they can pour the foundation for the temple. The foreman says it'll be six weeks, unless he puts a second shift on the job. Justin looks pained about the delays and insists that money is no object. Justin may be playing the role of HBO executives here. Balthus is in his wheelchair nearby as Justin shows him that the blueprints include plans for a ramped entrance into the church. Justin leans close to Balthus and says, "You won't miss a single service." See, he's considerate, unlike some people I could mention. Dolan marches in and starts complaining about the shanty-traffic. What did I tell you? Brother Justin asks Iris to show the foreman where the fountain should go. Once they're gone, Dolan says, "I've been following Iris."
Ben is headed for the truck when Samson approaches and notes that Ben and Sofie seem to be "getting kind of close." He doesn't seem to approve. Ben asks what Samson's problem is, and Samson says, "She don't need the grief." Ben brushes that off and starts to get in the truck, but Samson adds, "We both know that wherever you're headed, it's likely to be a one-way trip, and that little girl -- she's lost enough already." Ben drives away without replying.
Ruthie is in her trailer, examining the punctures from the snakebite on her arm, when Sofie knocks and enters. Sofie apologizes for her behavior, and Ruthie says she's sorry, too: "You must think I'm tetched." Sofie smiles and starts to exit, but Ruthie says, "I'm not crazy," and tells Sofie to close the door. Sofie does, and Ruthie sits down as says, "You told me once you thought your mama had one foot in this world, and one in the other. Did she ever see ghosts?" Ruthie looks sad as she says she's been seeing ghosts every day since the snakebite. Sofie sits down and confirms that Ruthie's seen Apollonia. Sofie asks what her mother wants, but Ruthie starts to cry as she says, "None of them speak, not a word." Sofie takes Ruthie's hand and says, "You're not crazy."
The remains of the clothes Iris burned last week are sitting on the table in front of Balthus. Poor Balthus; he probably thought Iris was the sane one in the family until now. Dolan figures Iris was burning the clothes she wore the night she burned down Chin's. Justin looks through the window at some children playing and says, "I always said I would follow the truth no matter where it led. And now here it is, at my doorstep."
Ben pulls up in front of a lovely little suburban-ish house with a white picket fence and a lovely landscaped yard. So it's pretty clear that whoever lives here is evil. Ben knocks at the door and calls, "Hello," and then strolls around the yard a little bit. Because nothing should happen quickly. As Ben finally starts to leave, a kindly (evil) Santa-Claus-ish (evil) man wearing a bow tie (EVIL) steps outside and introduces himself as Evander Geddes. Ben asks, "Do you make masks?"
And we're inside the pleasant country-casual house. Evil! Ben calls that he's in a hurry, and Geddes steps out from the kitchen carrying a tray of hot cider and cookies. As he serves the cider, he asks what they were talking about. Ben prompts him, "Henry Scudder." Geddes starts says, "We had quite a time together in the old days, at Hyde & Teller." Ben mentions seeing the mask of Scudder, and Geddes says it was a good one, then pointedly sips his cider. Ben politely raises his cup as well. At which point I figure that the cider is drugged, or else what's the point? Geddes explains that he's only done masks of children since he retired: "Their sweet little faces not yet ravaged by broken dreams." Well, thank heavens; I wouldn't want to go too long without a hint of pedophilia on the show. He says that Scudder's the only adult he's done a mask for in years. Ben speaks admiringly of the mask, without mentioning that he broke it, and guesses that it must have cost a lot. Geddes admits that it did, so Ben asks who paid for it. Geddes says that Scudder did, and Ben says, "You mean, before he died?" Geddes and those portions of the audience that haven't fallen asleep shout, "No, you idiot!" Well, Geddes actually says, "Henry Scudder is very much alive!" We know!
Sofie flips through a magazine in her trailer. Guess she got over that need to work all the time. Then she looks up at the tarot cards on the dresser, and picks them up. That's another thirty seconds killed dead. This show might actually be improved by commercial breaks.
Two kids get on the Ferris wheel as their jolly father tells them to have a great time. Dad gives Jonesy a long strip of tickets and says he wants them to have a long ride. Jonesy says the tickets will buy at least half an hour. Dad says, "This is their first time up and, well, I just want them to always remember it." He's so friendly and happy that it's totally obvious that he's going to visit the whores. To be fair, I also thought that the Ferris wheel would kill his kids while he was screwing around, but I should have realized that a horrible accident at the Ferris wheel might actually be interesting, which makes it unlikely to happen quite yet. Dad leaves, and then Libby strolls up and starts chatting with Jonesy about what a wonderful father that guy was, in case we still don't get that he's going to visit the whores. Libby says that her own dad loves her, but not the same way, and then says, "Of course, you can't really blame him. I mean, look at me." Oy. Jonesy takes the bait and insists that Libby's a wonderful girl and she shouldn't talk about herself that way. Sofie suddenly appears, and Libby starts glaring as Sofie asks Jonesy where Ben is. Jonesy doesn't know, and when Sofie presses him, Libby snaps, "What does he look like, a damn baby sitter?" Sofie blinks at Libby and then leaves. Jonesy looks pretty entertained, because who doesn't love a catfight?
Sofie carries her cards through the Carnivàle, looking for Ben. As she moves through the crowd, she brushes past Varlyn. Yay! He's a doer. Or he was. Maybe now he'll be affected by the same stultification that grips everyone else. I realize that it's slightly unfair of me to be so irritated by this week's show, since the subplots do mostly get resolved within the episode and it's actually fairly traditional if you break it down. But the thing is, it resembles a very predictable TV show. And that makes me think that they keep everything so mysterious because, if they actually told us what was going on, we'd roll our eyes and turn off the TV. There's a point at which building suspense backfires, because no answer is going to be good enough to justify the time the audience has invested. You might want to make a note about that, Abrams. ["You too, Shyamalan." -- Sars]
Iris is sitting on a porch swing as she asks Brother Justin, "Why are you doing this?" Justin says, "There's no other way." Iris sniffs that Justin wouldn't have any of this if it weren't for her. She adds, "You needed martyrs -- I gave them to you!" Justin argues, "I did not ask you to --" Iris says that he didn't have to, that she always knows what he wants. She concludes, "And I've always been the one to pay the price." Justin agrees, and after a moment, he says, "I will take responsibility for the fire." Iris pshaws that if he'd planned to do that, he would have already done so. Feisty! She says, "If you want me to do this, you're going to have to ask." Justin walks across the porch and bows his head. Iris moves to him and says, "Ask me to turn myself in." Justin says that he can't. Iris seductively leans in close and repeats, "Ask me." Justin straightens up and looks at her.
Geddes refills Ben's cup as he enthuses about how everyone has a soft spot for their mothers. Ben asks if that's why Scudder had the mask made. Geddes says it was "a uniquely suitable gift," what with Gramma's blindness. Ben testily says that he's trying to find Scudder. Geddes finally admits that he might have an address for Scudder around somewhere, and offers to look for it later. Ben orders him to go look right now. Either being drugged makes Ben more aggressive than usual, or whatever information Geddes has will be useless, and so it's safe to let Ben insist on getting it instead of dragging this out for weeks. I wonder which it will turn out to be. Geddes finally gets up to go look, but then pauses to comment on Ben's face. "Still youthful. Skin soft and supple." Ben sleepily twitches away from the creepy guy poking at him and repeats, "The address." Geddes goes on enthusing about how Ben's face shows the hints of "a powerful man who will soon emerge." Geddes finally bustles off for the address. Ben puts down the cider and lets his head loll back against the couch cushions.
Carnivàle. Stumpy shouts complaints as the carnies try to set up a radio antenna. Varlyn listens from nearby, looking as bored as I feel. They finally get a clear signal and Stumpy announces that he's going to go "check in with the warden." As Stumpy walks toward the Cooch tent, he sees the wonderful, loving dad from the Ferris wheel stepping out of the tent and zipping up his fly. Imagine my surprise.
Stumpy enters the tent, where Rita Sue is lying on the bed in a negligee, smoking a cigarette. Stumpy begins to talk up her customer as he offers her a swig from a bottle, and gulps some down himself. Rita Sue smiles, "Sounds like a real catch," as Stumpy starts to undress. She asks if the guy is a big spender, and Stumpy says, "Generous to a fault." And so on, and on, and on. Stumpy finally hops into the bed and begins kissing Rita Sue. She purrs appreciatively and then asks, "How much do you owe?" Stumpy protests that he'll tell her later, but she ignores him and asks if it's more than $100. "Two hundred?" she asks seductively. "Three?" Stumpy finally groans, "It's four and change." Naturally, Rita Sue pushes Stumpy away and glares at him. She asks how much he's bet on the fight tonight. Stumpy insists that he hasn't bet a thing; he's done gambling. Rita Sue sighs, and then turns over to reach under the bed. Look out, Stumpy; she's got a gun! But instead she pulls out a hat box, and it looks like that was the object we saw Stumpy fiddling with last week. Rita Sue pulls out a roll of bills as Stumpy says, "You don't want to be doing that." He's right, Rita Sue! But she hands over the money and tells him, "You pay what you owe, and then never again." Oh, Rita Sue. How can you be so dumb? You give him the money when the bookie's right outside, and maybe I'd excuse it. Frankly, it seems like Rita Sue wouldn't mind embarrassing Stumpy by paying off the bookie herself. Stumpy shoves the money into his pocket as he goes back to making out with his wife.
Varlyn says, "Quite a responsibility," as he approaches Jonesy at the Ferris wheel. Varlyn goes on about how Jonesy has the riders' lives in his hands. Jonesy brushes that off, saying, "Guess I don't look at it that way." But Varlyn thinks he should, as he describes an accident he witnessed in Hastings, Nebraska in 1908. He says a girl started rocking the carriage at the top of the wheel, and, well, she fell out and hit a crossbar. Incidentally, according to Varlyn's bio at HBO's site, the dead girl in question was his sister, and he was the one who tipped her out of the carriage. Varlyn winds up the story by describing, "Her mama screaming 'baby, baby, baby,' pickin' up the pieces of that little child." Methinks Varlyn is prone to exaggeration, because I don't see how falling from a Ferris wheel would leave you in pieces. Jonesy, disturbed, looks up at some kids who are rocking their carriage and yells at them to knock it off. Varlyn, pleased at having unsettled Jonesy, immediately asks if someone named Scudder works at the Carnivàle. Jonesy says, "Can't help you," and spits for emphasis. Varlyn presses, Jonesy resists, and Varlyn finally wanders off, whistling.
Close-up shot of a bright white light. The camera tilts over to show a pair of baby shoes hanging from a string. Ben opens his eyes and sees shelves full of plaster masks of children's faces. I think the best part is that some of their mouths are opened like the models were screaming at the time. "Best" in the sense of "creepiest," just so we're clear. Geddes has an echoey voice-over about mask-making that concludes, "My objective, you see, is to capture the soul." Ben's hands and feet are bound to a large table. Geddes, his back to Ben, cheerfully explains that Ben is in his workshop as he puts something over his head. Ben asks what Geddes is doing, and Geddes says, "Something..." and then turns so that we can see he's wearing one of the children's masks, "...magical." Some of the posters have suggested that the mask is what Gramma's needlepoint was alluding to, and while one eye is open much wider than the other, it's the right eye here. Which is the eye of the sun, not the moon. If you're still working that angle, which I was, but I have just about given up on it because my ability to care is just gone this week. Maybe it'll come back when I'm less bored.
Ben tugs at the ropes, and Geddes happily tells him, "Keep struggling. Perspiration opens up the pores." Geddes picks up a great big hypodermic needle and explains, "It's a simple paralytic." He injects it into Ben's neck, and covers Ben's mouth as Ben screams, and ick. After a moment Ben looks dazed, but doesn't he always? Geddes leans over Ben and asks, "Can you hear me?" Suddenly Ben jerks his head up, smashing the mask on Geddes's face. Geddes spins away, then complains, "You could have cut yourself!" When he turns back, the area under the mask's right eye is missing, but Geddes is unharmed. He examines Ben's forehead to make sure he hasn't "raised a bump," and then gets to work. Geddes natters on about how he's using plaster of Genoa, with his own special added ingredients, blah blah blah. He begins spreading it over Ben's face. Soon Ben's face is completely covered, and bubbles are forming where his nostrils are. Again: ick. Ben twitches and twitches.
Suddenly Ben wakes up back on Geddes's couch. He jumps up, wiping at his plaster-free face. Geddes is sitting at a desk, painting a porcelain doll, and cheerfully explains that Ben fell asleep on the couch. Ben angrily begins roaming through the house, looking for the workshop. Which means he isn't going to find it. And he doesn't. Ben demands to see the basement. Geddes very nicely stammers, "I don't understand," and Ben shouts, "Show me!" See, I know that he's not going to find anything, because really, the sane reaction here would just be to run away immediately, and the fact that Ben doesn't do that means our time is being wasted. Again.
Geddes lifts up a trapdoor and shows Ben the tiny crawlspace under his house. He closes the trapdoor and suggests that Ben had a bad dream. Ben stares into a mirror and feels his face uncertainly. Geddes then pulls out a notecard with the address he has for Scudder: it's for Gramma's house in Ingram. Ben says that he's already been there. Geddes say it's all he's got, and then invites Ben to stay for dinner. Ben says he has to get going, and exits.
In the truck, Ben stares at Geddes's house. Geddes is at the window, still working on his doll. Away goes Ben.
Geddes tunes his radio to the Church of the Aaaair. I love how the announcer says that. Geddes sits in an uncomfortable-looking chair to the radio and nods occasionally as Brother Justin explains that it's all Eve's fault that we live in "a world of pain and despair." Stupid Eve.
Carnivàle. The carnies are listening to the fight. Joe Louis is pummeling Max Baer. Baer is knocked out "two minutes and 23 seconds into the fourth round." 23! The occasional 23 is all that keeps me awake at this point. The carnies start to stroll away. Osgood wraps his arm around Stumpy and chuckles, "Lock of the century." He leaves, and then Burley gets in Stumpy's face and glares while Stumpy nods sadly. Either Stumpy convinced Burley to bet on Baer, or Stumpy made a bet with Burley. In which case I think Burley's interest in Rita Sue will become very relevant soon. When everyone else is gone, one last guy tells Stumpy, "That's what you get for betting on a Hebe." Stumpy is shocked to learn that Baer is Jewish. And then he comforts himself, "It weren't a white man fightin' a nigger. It never was. Son of a bitch -- it's a goddamned Jew." I actually like it when they show how normal it was to believe some really vile things. In a weird way, I wish they did that more, because I think it's important. There, I said something nice. We now return you to my usual grumpiness.
The lights go out on the midway, and the last few customers leave. Samson is standing at the gate as Varlyn wanders up and makes insulting small talk about how nice it must be to be a midget. Having made a swell impression, Varlyn confirms that Samson runs the place, and asks, "Ever tire you out? Dealin' with all the big folks." Samson says, "Sometimes...like right now." Heh. I want a spin-off with Varlyn and Samson. They're the only characters that don't seem to be idiots. Mostly. Varlyn's amused too, and says that Samson's "all right" before suddenly asking if he's ever worked with someone named Scudder. Samson says no. Varlyn explains that "one of these lodge boys" told him that Scudder was friends with a midget. Samson finally concedes that he might be able to help, and Varlyn sighs, "It's about fuckin' time," and bends down to eye level with Samson. Samson advises Varlyn to check out the Daly Brothers' show: "They's lousy with midgets." The thing is, I don't get why they wouldn't say, "He worked here twenty years ago. Good luck with that." I mean, the knee-jerk refusal to answer questions is fine usually, but in this case they might get rid of Varlyn faster if they told the truth. Varlyn flashes his stolen badge and tries threats. Samson giggles, "If you's a lawman, I guess I'm John Dillinger. Save it for Halloween." Dillinger died in July, 1934. I don't think that makes Samson's statement unlikely; I just remind everyone that Dillinger died for your sins. Varlyn, fed up, snaps, "This carnival is shit! Nothing but half-wits, whores, and two-bit freaks! You're lucky I don't burn it to the ground!" Samson doesn't back down, and Varlyn eventually marches off angrily.
Stumpy returns to the Cooch tent, and half-collapses against the bed in despair. The camera pulls back to reveal that Rita Sue is sitting on the couch, waiting up for Stumpy. "You bet on that damn fight," she says. Stumpy pops up and immediately takes offense, but after a second he admits that he did. Rita Sue confirms that he bet all of it, and sighs, "You lost everything?" Stumpy lean over and smirks, "Who said anything about losin'?" Rita Sue disbelievingly asks, "You bet all that money on a shine?" Stumpy asks, "What, do you think I'm some kind of hillbilly?" That seems like an anachronism. Maybe it isn't, but again, racism was kind of the norm, so I don't know if the whole "only ignorant country folk are racist" idea would have been around at that point. And yes, the hillbilly thing is as much of a stereotype as everything else coming out of Stumpy's mouth this week. Anyway, Stumpy snorts and stammers a while as Rita Sue looks on disbelievingly, and then he leaves. Yeah, very convincing, Stumpy.
Outside the front gate, Varlyn lights a cigarette and tells a returning Ben, "They're closed." Ben agrees, and continues on. Varlyn asks Ben if he works at the Carnivàle, and Ben hesitates a moment and says that he doesn't. Varlyn offers Ben a cigarette, and asks if he's come out by himself. Ben takes the cigarette and notes, "I don't see a gal hangin' on your arm." Varlyn chuckles and says that women are "all back-stabbin' bitches and outhouse whores." He adds that the more he knows of women, the more he likes dogs. Ben's like, thanks for sharing, and starts back toward the gate. Varlyn testily repeats that they're closed, gets in his car, and drives away. Sofie suddenly appears at the gate and tells Ben that she's been looking for him.
In Sofie's dark, dark trailer, Sofie shuffles the cards as Ben says that she seems nervous. Well nothing's more reassuring than being told you look nervous. Ben cuts the cards, and Sofie deals three face-down. The first card is turned over: Two of Wands. Sofie says, "There's a lord looking over his dominion, yet he turns away. Ashes, agony, disfigurement." We're treated to some blurry images of Scudder in his tuxedo. And then a shot of a window being closed from the outside by someone wearing heavy gloves. On the other side of the window there's a bowl and several bottles. Ben jolts back, and Sofie says, "It's happening again, isn't it?" Ben wipes his forehead and tells her to go on. The second card is The Lovers. This time Sofie gasps, and we see Ben and Sofie looking shockingly well kempt, and rather less shockingly kissing. They're standing at the Trinity site and they kiss as the explosion starts behind them. Sofie and Ben both twitch back to reality, and Sofie asks him what he saw. Ben says, "Nothin'." Oy. Sofie very quickly explains that The Lovers signify "attraction, passion, trials conquered," and moves to the last card: the Moon.
There's a piercing howl, and we get to see a live-action recreation of the card: a hound and a wolf sit on a road, and in the distance behind them are what looks like two grain silos. They stand under a sun that in some frames is eclipsed. Oh, joy. Eclipses. I mean, symbolically, fine, but I'm a little tired of eclipses being the answer to everything. And you know there's going to be five weeks of Ladyhawke-ish "The sun and moon at the same time? How could that be?" We hold on the tableau for a moment, then pop in closer to the wolf, which turns to face the camera. Aw, puppy! Then we pop in so that its head fills the frame. And more zooming until the wolf's left eye fills the frame. Moon! But wait, there's more. Now there's a short image of a man with white hair screaming as he waves a gloved hand near his face. His face is all ooky and red like the skin was burned off, and he's wearing goggles. There's also a metallic twang on the soundtrack that I associate with swordplay. So originally I thought it was a Crusader, but the goggles suggest not. I think.
Ben jumps back from the table. Sofie asks, "Don't you want to hear what it means?" Ben says, "I think I know." I'm so skeptical about that. For the record, the Moon signifies the unknown, the unconscious, imagination, illusions, fear. Stuff like that. Exit Ben. Sofie picks up one of the cards to look at it, although she doesn't bother turning it right side up. The camera pulls back behind her and I guess I'd be really startled to see that there's someone standing behind Sofie, except all I can see is that there's big patch of black behind her because the whole place is so damn dark. Then a low voice says, "You were always the one who read the cards," and Sofie turns to see Apollonia standing behind her, her arms by her sides but with her hands angled out. Sofie stares, the music trills, and then the little light there is in the trailer suddenly goes away.
Casa de Creepy. Iris describes how she burned down Chin's while Dolan writes it all down. Brother Justin sits to Iris, listening quietly. Iris says that she went across the street to watch the fire: "I needed to see it happen, but I didn't want to hear the screams." Dolan finishes writing and asks why she did it. Iris looks at Justin and says, "I fell under a shadow. It preyed upon me. It needed to be done." Justin says that's enough, and asks if Dolan got everything. Dolan did. Justin whispers, "You've done the right thing, Irina," kisses her cheek, and says, "You are forgiven." Then he leaves.
A book is flipped open to a photo of Damascus, Nebraska. The photo is of a hilly horizon with two silos at ether side. Samson and Ben look at the picture, which I guess is a postcard in Samson's big book o' plot points. They're sitting at a little table outside of Management's trailer. Ben confirms that the picture matches what he saw in his vision. Samson asks, "Reckon that's where Scudder is?" Ben thinks so. Okay, here's the other reason this episode drove me nuts. Presumably if Sofie had read the cards for Ben two episodes ago, they'd have gone straight to Damascus then. At least last season, there was a sense that each step led them to the . But Ben didn't need to go to Ingram at all; that was just stalling and creepiness for its own sake. That irritates me. Samson goes to inform Management, then stops to tell Ben that someone's following him. Ben says he met Varlyn, and figures that he's a cop. Samson disagrees: "His type's more comfortable behind bars than in front of them." Samson climbs the steps to Management's trailer, then stops, turns, and very dramatically says, "I got a feeling he'll be back, though." Oh my God, do you really think so? I thought Varlyn would just leave now, and we'd never see him again. Thanks for hinting that he might return. I swear, this show makes me want to break things sometimes.
Morning. The carnies are getting ready to move out.
The latest maid carries a small packet of letters and a medium-sized box toward Casa de Creepy. I say, "It's the mask." I know it'd be easy for me to claim that I knew while writing this, even if I didn't, but seriously: I knew. My point isn't that I'm so clever, it's that this is so ridiculously obvious and it still takes forever for them to get to the damn point.
Inside the house, the maid gives Brother Justin the package, which was sent special delivery with no return address. "It's the mask," I repeat.
Up in his bedroom, Justin opens the package. First he removes the twine. Then he neatly removes the paper wrapped around it. Then he looks at the plain wooden box curiously. Then he opens the lid. Then he pulls out a wad of straw. Then I scream, "I know it's the fucking mask already, just GET ON WITH IT." Then Justin lifts out the mask of Ben's face. Thank you! Christ. Justin looks at it for a while, then turns it around and holds it up to his own face. Then the eyes on the mask open.
And we're treated to a Ben's-point-of-view camera as he helps load up the trucks. Ben hands some stuff to Jonesy, then turns to look at Samson and Lila standing nearby before he walks over to a pile of stuff and grabs a gas can. He carries it to the truck and hands it to Jonesy. I miss the unbearable tension of the "opening the box" scene. Also, way to be helpful by carrying one small item at a time, Ben. Very efficient. Originally I thought that Jonesy addressed Ben as "Hawkins" during this part, and so maybe the point was that Jonesey now knows Ben's name. But nope. Ben walks back and this time he picks up a big mirror and, of course, looks in it. For a while.
Justin rips the mask away from his face and throws it onto the floor, where it breaks. He blinks, dazed, and then looks at the broken pieces of the mask on the floor as blood begins to pool around them.
Cut to the broken mirror, which Ben has apparently dropped. He gazes down into it, and this is when Jonesy says, "Goddamn it, Hawkins! Quit your gawkin'!" Which kind of rhymes. Ben bends down to pick up the mirror, but then stops and keeps staring. He thinks, "No wonder people treat me weird. I'm filthy!" Ben finally carries the broken mirror to the truck, although I'm not really sure why, what with it being broken. The camera pulls back and back and back until we finally fade out.
time: the Carnivàle runs into some competitors, Stumpy has words with Jonesy, and Ben and Sofie spend some quality time together.