Previously: There was an elephant. And then it went away. Sigh.
Brother Justin and his army of clones step into the frame, aieee. Oh, wait, it's just set of mirrors. It seems that he's getting fitted for a new suit. Iris intervenes when the Chinese tailor says that Justin's inseam measures 31 inches. She insists that it's 32 and a half. The tailor disagrees, so Iris grabs the measuring tape and prepares to prove him wrong. Does anyone think that Iris might have bribed the tailor just so she could have an excuse to run her hands up into her brother's crotch? She is, of course, correct about the measurement. Justin looks around curiously as we hear children's voices nearby. In the mirror, he sees the reflection of a window; there's a ferris wheel outside, with kids riding in it. Justin turns to look at the actual window, and there's no ferris wheel to be seen. Iris runs her hand between Justin's legs and up over his ass. The back of the jacket flops into sections, and Iris complains, "The whole back of the suit is split open." The tailor explains, "That's how we dress a corpse. It's a funeral suit." Justin stares in the mirror as the lights fade out. He looks down at Iris at his feet, and raises her head up gently. But now Iris is wearing the plaster mask of Ben's face, and clutching the trench knife. She jerks the knife up into Justin's crotch, and I think they're going to have to measure his inseam again after that.
Justin jumps awake shouting, and quickly shuffles his hands under the blankets to make sure that his manhood is intact. Reassured, he gets out of bed and peers out at an ambulance parked outside, just as another car drives up to the house.
Out front, Iris is offering to tend some wound the ambulance driver has suffered. I'm guessing it's a bite inflicted by his passenger. He insists, "I'll get it looked at after we drop her off," and hurries away. The new car disgorges its driver: Bishop McNaughton. He asks if everything's all right, and Iris explains, "Our new maid. Bad case of nerves." I wonder if the same ambulance driver takes the maids away every time, and that's why he was in a hurry to leave. Iris greets McNaughton and asks if he'll join them for breakfast. He replies, "Do I smell bacon?"
Ben drives. Drive, Ben, drive. On the seat beside him is the Moon card. The truck enters the stretch of road with the grain silos, but there aren't any canines in sight. There is a sign for Damascus, though.
Ben drives. Drive, Ben, drive. In Damascus, he passes a building that has chalk (or maybe paint?) line-drawings of pigs on the walls. And around the corner we see...a pig pen! Elapsed time from mystery to solution: a mere four seconds! Unless you count that bacon mention earlier. But still, very impressive. As a reward, Ben is treated to a visiony reprise of the burned man from his tarot reading. The mysterious white-haired figure lifts up the window and dunks his head in a bowl set outside. We even get a bowl-cam shot of his head coming out of the liquid as he screams. Ben stops the truck. Per the captions: "[pigs continue snorting]." Ben rubs his head and looks out of the truck only to see Scudder himself, in his tux, standing among the pigs. Scudder turns and enters the slaughterhouse. Get it?
Ben follows Scudder inside and walks down an aisle lined with pig carcasses. This probably should make me think of Preacher, but I'm actually just wishing Ben would playfully slap the pig-bits in imitation of Chris Morris. Alas, it is not to be. Instead, Ben gets a "you're getting warmer" vision of the white-haired guy pouring a bottle of liquid over his head. I kind of like the visions acting like a cheap metal detector. Ben's attention is attracted to a little runoff trench that's filling with pig's blood, and he follows the trail upstream.
A pig squeals as Ben peers around a corner. A man with his back to the camera seems to be jostling the pig into position. Then he raises a big mallet and bonks the pig on the head. The pig collapses, and the butcher turns around to ask, "Do you like pork?" He doesn't seem surprised to see Ben, or perhaps he's just happy to have an audience for interesting facts such as: "Your hog's utensil is shaped like his tail. Like a corkscrew." Is this just a random fact? I'm in favor of those. Or are we supposed to follow the porcine trail back to Brother Justin and his liaisons and wonder if maybe the maids are going crazy because.... Er, let's just assume it's a random fact, okay? Ben turns and sees that at the end of the barn there's a slightly opened door. And through it is a sign framed so that only the letters "H" and "S" appear. Cute. Ben says, "Henry Scudder," and opens the doors dramatically to reveal that the letters are on a billboard for the Hotel Astoria.
Jonesy strolls through the Carnivàle and then stops by a pile of stuff. Apparently they've lost no time in cleaning Sofie's stuff out of the trailer, which seems a little odd, since they aren't even done setting up for the night's show yet. But I suppose last week's new arrivals are eager for someplace to stay. Anyway, I think the point is to cause Jonesy to look wistful So he does. Lila steps out of the trailer and encourages Jonesy to help himself: "The girl hardly had anything, anyway." Jonesy picks up his gloves.
In the chow tent, Jonesy eavesdrops as Rita Sue tells Libby that nobody's surprised that Sofie skedaddled. Rita Sue declares, "Some people are meant for this life, and some ain't," and pointedly notes that Libby was born in the carnival. Having finished encouraging the younger generation, Rita Sue says it's time to go practice, and leaves. Libby sits with her back to Jonesy for a while, and finally follows.
Management's trailer. Management asks Samson for a cigarette, and Samson obliges, poking the lit cigarette through the puppet theater curtains. Management says that Ben will be back soon. Samson asks what happens then. Management tells him to leave, and then adds, "Goodbye, Samson." On his way out the door, Samson pauses to say, "You know where to find me." Does he? And does he have some way of contacting Samson even if he does? I hope they have special whistles or something to call each other. Or kazoos.
Samson exits the trailer and walks past Sabina and Lila, who are doing their laundry. Sabina asks if Samson is still "under that thing's thumb." Alliterative! Lila asks if Sabina's ever seen Management, and Sabina non-answers by chuckling that he's always behind the puppet theater curtain. She shifts the subject a little, mentioning that Management always took them off the regular circuit. Lila agrees, pointing out that Damascus isn't going to be a profitable stop. Sabina says it's always been like that with Management: "We all go back a long way." She turns and stares after Samson, who's talking to a carny. Sabina reminisces that she was never allowed to touch Samson's suits: "[He] never kissed me in front of people. We used to fuck like rabbits." It's unclear if he was okay doing that in front of people. Sabina mentions that sometimes she thinks about Samson when Bert is "flopping around on top of [her]." Lila looks slightly dubious about that until Sabina adds, "Not everything on him is small." Hey, way to go, Samson.
Rita Sue and Libby are practicing a dance where Libby acts like she's Rita Sue's reflection in a mirror. It's just like the mirror scene in Duck Soup except for the costumes, and the actors, and the fact that Libby keeps messing up, and it's not a comedic scene, and I guess when I said "just," I meant "almost nothing." Sorry about that. Stumpy makes a pained noise from somewhere nearby. I thought it was a dog barking at first, actually. Rita Sue finally yells at Libby for getting the steps wrong, and Libby snaps, "It's hard looking at you and imagining I'm looking in a mirror, Mama." Point. Rita Sue says, "Well, you are." Oooh, it's a tie! Rita Sue stomps off to find out what Stumpy's yelping about, and Libby practices by herself.
Stumpy, as it turns out, is getting his head examined. Well, his teeth, but it's a step in the right direction. Stumpy introduces the dentist as "Dr. Delichter from Osterreich," which is so much fun to say that I don't know if I'll ever stop. Stumpy says that Dr. Delichter (from Osterreich!) is fixing "that crown Jonesy popped loose with that lucky punch of his." Delichter greets Rita Sue with a polite "Guten Morgen." Rita Sue leans over and hisses that Stumpy can't afford to pay for dental work after losing all their money. A shimmery light highlights Rita Sue's cleavage as Stumpy wheedles, "We'll work something out." Rita Sue notices the light, and then sees that Delichter is admiring her bounty with the help of a shiny dental mirror. She stands up and sighs.
Casa de Creepy. On the porch, breakfast is over. They sure love their porch, don't they? Not that I blame them. Brother Justin asks if McNaughton came for some reason besides "the temptation of [his] sister's bacon." McNaughton explains that members of the supervisory board are unhappy about some of Justin's sermons. Iris looks concerned as McNaughton describes some of Justin's messages as divisive and confrontational. Justin insists that it's a misunderstanding, and smarmily asks how he can set everyone at ease. McNaughton asks if the board can review Justin's sermons ahead of time: "You may even benefit from our collaboration." Justin stares at McNaughton for just long enough to allow audience members to place bets on how long till McNaughton suffers a tragic stroke. Then Justin chirps that it's a swell idea, and laughs pleasantly. As Iris clears the table, the camera pans down the side of the house to a partially opened window.
It's the window to Balthus's bedroom, in fact. Balthus pants as he struggles to move. He twitchily manages to get one foot out of bed, and then turns enough to fall out onto the floor.
Apparently, the thud that follows is loud enough to be heard all the way out by the cars, where Justin is saying goodbye to McNaughton. From the porch, Iris tells the menfolk not to trouble themselves; she'll go check on Balthus. McNaughton is sad to hear that, according to Justin, Balthus hasn't shown any signs of recovery. McNaughton cites Dante: "The ninth circle of hell, being frozen in ice in eternity, is for those who betray their benefactors." From this he somehow deduces that Justin and Iris are due something extra-good in heaven because of the tender loving care they've given Balthus. "Theology" and "logic" look like they'd be related, but they don't actually have much in common, do they? Justin tut-tuts that it's the least they can do. McNaughton sighs, "I just...can't see him like this." Yes, I can see how it would be difficult for someone in the ministry to tend to the sick. Plus, McNaughton was the guy who met them at the hospital after Balthus had the stroke. This sudden squeamishness seems like a clumsy maneuver. Not necessarily on McNaughton's part. McNaughton asks whether Balthus understands when Justin speaks to him. Justin wistfully says, "I pray he does." As McNaughton gets into his car, Justin says that he'll send along tonight's sermon directly, using the fairyland postal service that we're not supposed to ask about.
Iris discovers Balthus crumpled on the floor, his foot tangled in the blankets. She cheerfully says that if his spasms keep throwing him out of the bed, they'll have to put up railings on the bed. She untangles his foot, wraps her arms around his chest, and does an impressive job of hoisting Balthus up. She tells him an old Russian proverb: "It's better to be a wounded lion than an impeccable flea." Then she collapses onto the bed with Balthus in her arms. Not like that. She twists to get him fully onto the bed, then slides out and begins arranging him as she goes on chatting. Iris says that Justin's too busy to worry about them now. "We can't keep up with him. We'll look up one day, and poof, he'll be gone." Balthus stares upward rigidly like he might be okay with that as Iris says she'll do whatever she can to avoid being left behind. "I am not a flea," she asserts. Balthus moves his eyes to look at her. Iris stares at him for a second, then peers under the blankets and says, "Time for a change."
Damascus. Ben enters the Hotel Astoria. The desk clerk is apparently building a model of the Eiffel Tower out of matchsticks. I say "apparently" because the model is in front of him, and we see him putting a lot of glue on the matchsticks, but he doesn't ever actually touch the model for fear that the prop guy will cut his hand off or something. I'm just guessing about that. Ben says, "I'm looking for a man named Scudder. Henry. Hank. Hack." The clerk says that any friend of Scudder's has to pay in advance. Behind the clerk is an office, and in the office is someone with long white hair, his back to us. The clerk explains that Scudder left on Christmas Eve, owing eight week's rent. Aw, Ben, if only you hadn't gotten sucked into a wormhole for nine months, you could have found your dad. I hate when that happens. Ben asks whether the clerk knows where Scudder went, I guess because he's unclear as to what "snuck out" suggests. The clerk, unsurprisingly, has no suggestions. Ben asks if he can see Scudder's room, and the clerk says that there are paying tenants in it now. At a grumpy look from Ben, the clerk admits, "Around the stairs, to the left. Room 2. Door's always open."
Ben goes through the lobby and down a hallway. As he approaches room 2, he gets another vision of the dude with the burned face growling and fumbling about in the room, knocking the shades off the window. At this point I think it's safe to say that the dude in question is Scudder, don't you? Ben pauses, and then enters the room.
We get a Ben's-eye-view of the room: desk, window, bed, full-length mirror, another window. Ben enters and then turns to see there's also a couch, on which three women sit. I wonder how it feels to be cast as an extra on this show. "You want me to play a jaded whore and pose in filthy, unflattering clothes while looking as unalluring as possible? Hooray, my big break!" Ben takes a few steps over and, amusingly, sits down like they're all sitting in a waiting room. Perhaps Dr. Delichter from Osterreich will see them in a moment. Also amusing is the fact that the chair Ben sits in is kind of low, so he ends up spreading his legs out in a way not unlike that with which the women are displaying their, um, wares. I'm telling you, this episode is all about crotches. And maybe pigs. Freud was still alive in 1935, you know. The most awake-looking whore asks, "Buyin' or lookin'?" Ben asks if they've ever heard of Scudder. The first whore says that she hasn't, and the other two stare at him numbly. Ben asks, "Who are you?" because the lad ain't too bright. The first whore says, "I'm your mother." The second giggles, "Yeah, I'm your Aunt Claudine." The third whore is still busy wishing she had a fix. Ben gets up and then clutches his head as another vision strikes. The first whore tells him to go outside if he's going to throw up.
The background lights fade out as Ben enters vision-o-rama. It's night, and Scudder is standing at the window. He pours some liquid into a bowl set outside, and then closes the window. He crosses the room to another set of bottles beside a basin on the desk. Scudder lifts up a bottle and pours the contents into a basin. A close-up informs us that the bottle contains sulfuric acid. Scudder puts on the rubber goggles and then leans down to dip his face in the acid. Then he pulls away, wailing and gasping, but after a second he dips his face in the basin again. After the second dip, Scudder flails about the room, knocking stuff over. Ben watches as Scudder stumbles to the window, pulls the shade out of the way, opens it, and then pours what looks like bottles of vinegar over his face. Props to prostiturtle, for suggesting on the forums that the vinegar is meant to lower the pH of the acid. The vision concludes with a shot of that guy in the hotel office, with his long white hair. Hint, hint.
And then Ben's back in real time, the whores staring at him. Ben opens the door to the hallway only to discover a mellow Varlyn standing there. Yay! Varlyn says, "I know you," kind of happily, and grabs Ben by the shirt collar. Then, in an unbelievably clumsy moment, Varlyn lets go of Ben with one hand so as to punch him, and Ben wriggles away so that Varlyn ends up stumbling across the room and driving his fist into the mirror. Apparently Varlyn throws punches by holding his fist up and then falling forward. Ben dashes out while Varlyn screams about his hand. The whores don't really react to any of this, which is funny, although the second whore finally says, "You've gotta pay for that."
Ben rushes back into the lobby, where the clerk is on the phone. Ben goes behind the front desk, and swats the protesting clerk across the face a couple of times. Ben Hawkins: action hero. The clerk protests, "This isn't the farm, you little shit! That behavior doesn't fly here, this is Damascus!" Ben ignores the clerk, who tries to fight back by...pointing vigorously. Ben heads into the office behind the desk.
We hear the clerk asking an operator for the cops as Ben walks toward the white-haired figure. Ben says, "Henry Scudder." Scudder says, "Who?" and doesn't turn around. Ben hops forward and wheels Scudder around in his chair for the dramatic reveal of his melty prosthetic face. Ben says, "You're him."
In Room 2, Varlyn grabs a scarf or something and wraps it around his bleeding hand. The second whore says, "You're gonna have to pay for that, too." Varlyn gives them all a dirty look and exits.
Ben starts to tell Scudder, "I'm taking you back to Belyakov." The clerk starts yammering that Ben should leave the guy alone, so Ben closes and locks the office door. Scudder insists that he doesn't know who Ben is, or what he wants. Ben says, "You know who I am. I'm your son!"
Varlyn marches through the lobby and steps behind the desk to ask the clerk, "Where'd he go?" The clerk asks if Varlyn is a cop. Varlyn says, "Yeah, I'm the police," and nods his head to convey the unspoken "...you idiot." Hee. I love Varlyn. The clerk points Varlyn toward the office, and mentions that Ben's locked the door. Varlyn turns and sees a fire axe on the wall. He says, "We'll see what we can do about that," and smashes the glass over the axe with his elbow.
Ben jumps as Varlyn starts doing a Shining on the office door. Scudder moves as if to get up, and Ben shoves him back and puts his hands on Scudder's face.
Outside, the clerk whines at Varlyn, "I have a key!" Ha! Varlyn goes on trying to chop through the door, but then wobbles and drops the axe. Varlyn turns and stumbles out behind the desk, grabbing the bewildered clerk for support. Varlyn shoves the clerk back toward the door as he falls toward the desk.
Under Ben's hands, the prosthetics covering Scudder's face start to melt away.
The clerk puts a hand over his heart and collapses. Varlyn, looking panicked, fumbles out from behind the desk and falls to his knees. Varlyn goes on crawling toward the door as other people in the lobby keel over.
Brother Justin is sitting at the dining table with his sermon in front of him. And then he vomits up a tremendous amount of milk. Thanks, HBO.
Ben removes his hands to reveal John Savage's pretty face. He has such nice cheekbones. Shame about the long white hair, though, because it looks silly.
Varlyn crawls out the hotel door. Outside we see that people in the street have bent over in pain.
The camera zooms through Management's trailer, and then through the curtains of the puppet theater. Behind them, we see a sliver of a wrinkly face as Management says, "It is. So it is." Once more, with clarity?
Casa de Creepy. Brother Justin pants over the table covered with chunky ew. Half of the notes for his sermon have vanished since we last saw him. Oops. Iris enters and asks if he's okay. Justin wipes his mouth with a handkerchief and gasps, "What a day to lose the maid." Ha!
Ben drives down the road, with Scudder in the passenger seat. Drive, Ben, drive. Ben says that, for years, he's been wondering where Scudder was, what he was like, was he thinking of Ben, and would he ever return someday. Well, half of that, anyway. He says that Scudder's a "shriveled-up old coward," and asks why he left. Scudder says he had no choice: "Belyakov was getting close. Lodz was in town, asking questions." Scudder says that Belyakov would have killed Ben and Flora to get to him. Ben huffs, "That's a load of crap. He ain't that way." Ben? This is the guy who was willing to let Lodz kill Ruthie to manipulate you. What exactly makes you think he ain't that way? Scudder says that he did what he had to do. Ben says, "You left me there alone with a goddamned crazy woman!" Was she? No, seriously. She freaked out when she found out that her son could raise the dead. I'm not sure that's evidence of mental problems. It seems more like a sign of a lack of them, but I'm cynical like that. Scudder says that he didn't want to be a part of this: "I just wanted peace and a family, but you can't just up and quit." My god, Scudder's hair is distracting. Scudder says that "you can't run away from who you are," and that he wishes he could make it stop, but he can't. He declares, "Belyakov means to kill me." Ben's like, "Yeah, right." Scudder insists, Ben scoffs, and finally Scudder says, "If you're wrong, will you protect me?" Ben says that he will.
Ruthie is looking at herself in the mirror when Lila arrives. With chowder. Lila is wearing a fabulous dress. It's an off-the-shoulder thing with a beautiful fitted waist and stuff I don't know how to describe, but: it's purty. Ruthie gratefully prepares to dig in as Lila not-very-casually asks, "You remember anything?" Ruthie figures she was sleepwalking, and asks what she said to Lila. Lila says that Ruthie asked about "the boy," and adds, "It wasn't so much what you said, it was your expression, or...what do you call it?" They decide that "bearing" is a good word for it. Lila sighs, "I must have been the one who was dreaming."
The ferris wheel of plodding plotitude whirls. Samson strolls up and asks if Jonesy is happy to be rid of Sofie. Jonesy takes offense, and Samson says, "She was a sweetheart, for Chrissakes. She was family." If you say so, Samson, I'll try to believe it, but I just don't know. Jonesy grumps, "Tell me how to get her back, I'll go do it." Samson says that Sofie is "pure prey" out in the big nasty world. Yes, I don't know why she fled the Carnivàle, which was perfectly safe except for the occasional mysterious death. Jonesy says he wants what's best for her. Samson sneers, "Sure you do," and stomps off. Jonesy lets some new passengers onto the ferris wheel, and then stops to eye a woman riding alone. She's a blonde with awful posture, sitting with her legs spread so we can almost see her crotch, because it's a theme. Or maybe a motif. I get them mixed up. She notices Jonesy staring, and closes her legs. Jonesy tells another carny to take over, and wanders away, thinking, "What can I do to contribute to this week's theme and/or motif? Hmm."
Cooch tent. Rita Sue and Libby perform their mirror dance as the men watch. Dr. Delichter from Osterreich enters the tent, escorted by Stumpy. Stumpy catches Rita Sue's eye and pulls his lip out to display a flash of gold on his tooth. Then Jonesy enters the tent and stands at the back. Libby spots Jonesy and starts twirling her necklace instead of mimicking Rita Sue's steps. The audience hoots happily as Rita Sue finally notices what's going on. Libby slips off her bra, Rita Sue stands still, and Jonesy doesn't quite drool. But almost. Rita Sue points at Jonesy, and Stumpy turns to see what's going on. Jonesy catches sight of Stumpy approaching, and exits the tent. Libby stops her dance, gives her mother a "Gawd!" look, and leaves the stage. The crowd fussily starts to file out, but Stumpy encourages them to give Rita Sue some love. Rita Sue finally starts dancing again. She reaches down, takes the mirror out of Delichter's shirt pocket, and licks it. Judging by the reaction she gets, the crowd is full of mirror fetishists. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Brother Justin and Iris arrive at the Tent of Jericho. Balthus is wheeled on stage as Justin approaches the microphone. Justin starts to talk about Gethsemane.
Cut to the supervisory board, who have gathered around a radio to read along with their copies of Justin's sermon. McNaughton says, "I approved it this afternoon, after I called Justin with some changes." He says that from now on they'll get the sermons a week in advance, so they'll have time to make plenty of suggestions.
Justin removes his glasses and pauses for a while. Then he holds his copy of the sermon up the microphone and tears it in half.
The board goggles at each other as, over the radio, Justin says, "That was the sound of the sermon other men would have me deliver." Justin tells his parishioners that they aren't there to listen to other men's words: "You are here to listen to me. So that I am not alone in the garden."
The crowd murmurs as Justin declaims against "deluded men who would presume, with all the arrogance of the Papists, to tell you, to dictate to you, how you should worship. How you should think!" The crowd boos and protests, and Justin says that the board members used to be righteous: "But what is the devil himself, but a fallen angel?" Justin tears his sermon into tinier portions as he rants about his "indignation at men who would betray you." The crowd gets all riled up, and Iris clasps her hands happily, as Justin roars that he is not alone in the garden. "Jesus had twelve at his side. I will have 12,000!" Much of the audience is on its feet by now.
One of the men in the supervisory parlor glares at McNaughton and says, "Shit."
Justin tells his audience that they will never hear him use other men's words: "You will only hear the words of one man. One man, inspiring you to live!" He bellows, "And that is the sound that they will fear!" Justin throws the shredded sermon into the ear, and a zillion tiny pieces of paper fall to the ground in slo-mo as the crowd cheers.
Out in the fields near the Carnivàle, Jonesy and Libby are trying to make it rain again, if you know what I mean. Libby's lying on a patch of dirt, and Jonesy's on top of her, struggling to shove his pants down without breaking contact. Libby finally lends a hand, and he gets his trousers and underwear down and then pulls her clothes off. Then they look at each other, pant a second, and go back to smooching. And, um, stuff. Jonesy reaches in between their bodies, and Libby suddenly stops him. She rolls over and whispers, "Put it back there." Jonesy takes a minute to comprehend what she means, and then says, "Are you...are you gonna like that?" Libby isn't sure, but says, "I don't want you goin' where the Johnnies go. I want it to be special." I don't see how it could be anything but special to have anal sex for the first time on dry, rocky soil with your mother's ex-lover, who once caught you in a lesbian clinch. Yee. Jonesy decides that crotches can wait for some other time. He kisses her again, and...scene.
Back at the Carnivàle, Osgood is looking for Samson. He tells a passing carny, "He told me to get him when the kid came back." The camera pans sideways into one of the storage trailers, which was a very pretty little shot. Inside, Samson and Sabina are cuddling. Sabina is rubbing Samson's shoulders and saying that he never used to be so wound up. Samson is all but purring as he but halfheartedly asks about Bert. Sabina says, "Nothing gets him up," and reaches down toward Samson's crotch.
Ben and Scudder are standing in the darkness near Management's trailer. Ben tells Scudder to come along into the trailer. Scudder says, "I'm glad we had these hours, son." Hours? How far outside Damascus is the Carnivàle? And why? Ben says they'll have more time later, and insists that Management just wants to have a little chat. Scudder looks at Ben, sighs, and then figures that if he goes into the trailer, at least tendrils of his hair won't keep blowing into his face. That would drive me insane. They walk up the trailer.
Management whispers, "Come to me," as Scudder approaches the puppet theater. Scudder stops, startled, as Management's face appears dimly in the gap between the curtains. We can't see him too well, but Management appears to be wearing a homemade Phantom Of The Opera mask that covers the right side of his face. Scudder and Management greet each other, or at least demonstrate that they know each other's names. While Ben watches from near the door, Management growls, "Here we are." Scudder complains, "I'm not a part of this. I never was. I took myself out a long time ago." He says that he just wanted to live in peace, and asks Management why he couldn't stop, too. Management demands the name of Ben's enemy. Scudder refuses. Management thrusts a hand through the curtain and grabs Scudder's wrist as he says, "Give it to me!" Scudder gasps in pain, and Ben dimly asks, "What's going on?" Trust Ben to ask a decent question in one of the few scenes where people are too busy to answer. Scudder goes on groaning as Management says, "Open your mind, Scudder!" and jiggles Scudder's arm for emphasis. Ben tells Management to stop, but doesn't so much as take a single step toward them. I suppose you could argue that failing to intervene in a struggle between quasi-mystical beings isn't entirely stupid. But it's Ben, so I don't know if he's thinking of it that way. Management insists, "Open your mind or I'll tear it apart!" Ben more vigorously says, "Stop it, goddamn it!" Scudder finally cries, "Alexi!" Management releases Scudder immediately. Scudder repeats, "Alexi Belyakov. Your son." From behind the curtains, Management growls that Scudder is lying: "My son is dead. He died in a train derailment." Scudder huffs, "He has a man looking for me, and he's not dead." Management ponders that for a second, and then somehow launches himself out through the curtains to grab Scudder by the throat.
Ben stares, and it's kind of understandable. A lamp suddenly sparks as Management wraps his one arm around Scudder's neck from behind and tries to strangle Scudder. Scudder staggers around the trailer with a legless guy wearing a half-mask clinging to his back. ["Boy, if I had a nickel for every time that's happened to me." -- Wing Chun] Scudder cries for help, and Ben says, "Let him go!" as more lights fizzle out. Ben tries for a more insistent, "Stop, goddammit!" as Scudder reaches back and tears off Management's mask. Management growls angrily and, judging by the one semi-clear shot we see of his face, I guess the big deal is that the right side of his head has scars from the bear's claws. Ben helpfully points out, "You're killing him!" I think they're both aware of that, Ben. Scudder collapses to his knees, and then keels over, out of air. Ben pulls the trench knife out of his boot, and the music gets epic as he plunges the knife into Management's back a couple of times. Management tumbles off of Scudder, and once Ben finally decides on a course of action, he sure commits to it. We see Management lying on his back on the trailer floor as Ben plunges the knife into his chest a few more times.
The lights of the Carnivàle go out, and the ferris wheel creaks to a halt.
Samson notices the power failure and starts to pull away from Sabina. She holds onto him tightly for a moment, and he snaps, "What are you doing?" as he finally manages to break away from her. Sabina says, "He didn't want you to interfere. He wanted to protect you." Samson asks who "he" is, and then gasps, "It's Management, isn't it? What have you done?" He hurries out.
Ben pulls his knife out of Management's chest as pools of deep blue blood spread out across the floor. Ben turns to look behind him, where Scudder moves weakly by the door. When Ben turns back, Management lifts his head and suddenly grabs Ben's neck and starts to choke him. Hey, Management's fine! So it all worked out okay, right? I bet they'll all have a good laugh about this tomorrow.
The lights come back on, and the crowds stroll about as the ferris wheel turns. Fade out. Us, I mean, not the Carnivàle lights.
time: Samson says there will be no more secrets and lies, and asks Ben what happened to Management. That'll go well.