Previously: Libby was full of hot air, and Scudder sailed too close to the wind.
The show opens with a shot of a Nevada State Prison work gang. Men slave away at tedious labor in a hostile land. Shout-out? The camera moves up until we see the Carnivle's tents nearby. I guess it's a creative way to establish that they're in Nevada. But why not put them in Reno? They'd fit in really well there.
The carnies are packing up. Stumpy trails along in Samson's wake, asking where they're going . Samson says they're headed for a Christian camp called New Canaan. Samson sums the place up: "17,000 [Bible] thumpers. Every one of them ripe to be trimmed." Except that the Christian campers are there because they have no money, but I guess Samson's keeping that part quiet. Stumpy asks what kind of show he and Rita Sue are supposed to put on for the Jesus freaks. Samson says that, in the Cooch family's case, the show must not go on. I know it's been a while since Stumpy demonstrated his mastery of the revival speech, but I don't understand why that's not an option. Stumpy protest that he needs to earn a living, but Samson just sniffs that things are tough all over and bustles away. As he crosses the camp, Samson passes Lila, who snarls, "I know what you did." Samson tells Lila, "I don't have time for this," and keeps walking, at least until Lila grabs him by the arm as she says, "Hawkins killed Lodz, and you covered it up." The correct response here would be, "Yes, and?" Instead, Samson tells Lila that she's crazy and, as he walks away, advises her to take her complaints to Management.
A long line of Okies are waiting to get into Shantyville. Apparently, the Knights of Jericho are now searching people's belongings before they let them in. One guard grabs a flask away from someone. See, Stumpy could do a medicine show here, and sell these people some liquor. Problem solved. We kill some time with establishing shots before we finally discover Jonesy and Ben carrying firewood as part of a work detail or something. I swear to you, I tried to figure out what exactly they're doing. It looks as if trucks bring in loads of firewood, and then one group of Okies unloads the trucks and spreads the wood all over the ground, and then another group collects it into a big pile. Maybe it's meant to be busywork, because it really doesn't make much sense. Can't they just unload the truck directly into the pile in the first place? Maybe that hasn't been invented yet. Anyway, Jonesy is wearing a trilby, and Ben's got a pageboy cap on. Disguises have been invented, but they're still a new concept. Jonesy asks if Ben's had any luck, and Ben complains, "Place is battened down tighter than a work-farm." Jonesy eyes some Knights of Jericho as he mutters, "For a fella who believes in heaven, that preacher is sure worried about dying." Jonesy grabs his jacket, and it seems he's heading off to meet up with the Carnivle. Of course, Samson knows where they are, but I guess Jonesy wants to go just in case they need to see his knee to stay motivated. I'm just guessing. Jonesy frets that maybe Ben should come along. Ben says that if he leaves, he might not be able to get back into the camp. Jonesy asks Ben to wait till he comes back with reinforcements, but Ben says, "If I get a chance at him, I'm takin' it." Liar! Exit Jonesy.
Iris is carrying laundry downstairs when she meets up with Varlyn in the hallway. Varlyn plucks some filly underwear out of the laundry basket and says, "Who'd have guessed?" Iris says, "Actually, those are Justin's." Not really. She just grabs them back and walks on as she threatens to tell Justin about Varlyn's behavior. Varlyn calls her bluff, pointing out that if she were going to do that, she'd already have told him. He chuckles, and Iris continues on her way.
Shantyville. Ben is in the chow line, under an orange sky. He makes conversation with another guy in line named Willie. Ben introduces himself as "Henry," and asks Willie what his job is. Willie's part of the security force, and cheerfully says, "You'd be surprised how many people would like to see Brother Justin dead." Willie sighs that he hasn't been around long enough to get assigned to guard duty up at the house. Which is odd, because a second ago he mentioned that he came there from Mintern with Justin. So he was one of the first arrivals, surely? Ben casually asks whether the guards at the house get special training. Willie chuckles, "Just guns." Ben looks up at the house on the ridge, and sure enough, there are men carrying rifles around up there. Hey, I think Ben got new overalls. Or finally washed his old ones. And he buttoned them up properly, too. Hooray!
Casa de Creepy. Sofie is making a sandwich in the kitchen. As she trims the crusts off, we cut to Otho and his sidekick, who are meeting with Justin in the study. Justin listens tranquilly as Otho raves, "Men like Devine are ruining this country. He's a goddamn atheist!" Sofie brings the sandwich in, hands it to Justin, and exits, closing the door. Justin invites his guests to join him for lunch, but they're too busy being outraged. Justin holds his lunch plate lovingly as he explains that the devil invented the idea of separation of church and state. Then, lost in contemplation of his BLT, he says, "See how she cuts the crusts from the bread? It's almost too perfect to eat." Hee. Otho complains, "He called me your 'porcine patsy.'" Hee again. That sets Justin off on a tangent about why Jews don't eat pork, and while he explains that, his guests go on about how Devine is trying to keep the Okies from voting in the election. Justin's still more interested in pork, and Otho sighs, "For God's sake, Justin. Stay with us, we're trying to help you here." Justin looks at Otho. Otho widens his eyes and slowly sinks to his knees while Justin intones, "We don't need them." The sidekick goes on arguing until Justin says that once the voters understand "the choice presented to them," there won't be any problem. The sidekick falls to his knees as well, and he and Otho clasp their hands. Justin smirks, "That's right. Faith, gentleman."
A truck full of firewood drives away. Seriously, what are they doing with the firewood? Ben looks around, carrying a purloined armload of wood.
“ Upstairs, Ben skulks. He reaches the top of the stairs. Thirty seconds later, he pokes his head into a room. Twenty seconds after that, he enters Iris's bedroom. This show, I swear. ”
Outside Casa de Creepy, a couple of the guards are complaining about the weather. One says, "Back home, we'd be bringing in the animals." The other insists that they don't get twisters in California. Which isn't entirely true, but yeah, not like they do in the midwest. Ben approaches with his load of firewood. He tells them that he was told to bring it up by "a fella down there, acts like he's top man." The guards quickly provide a likely suspect and chuckle knowingly. Ben tries to continue to the house, but they insist on searching him first. One of the guards flips up Ben's shirt to check his pockets and then slides his overalls up to examine Ben's ankles. Are they searching him or are they just kinky? Having found nothing, they allow Ben to pass by. They don't examine his armful of wood, of course, because they are dumb. They also don't make him take off his hat, which was my second guess.
Sofie wheels Balthus into the living room as she explains that she has to hurry off because "Brother Justin wants us all there by noon." She opens the curtains for Balthus as she expositions that she never thought she'd want to be baptized. She takes hold of Balthus's arm and says, "I wish you could be there, Reverend." Balthus stares at her balefully for a moment and then pulls his arm away. Sofie sniffs, "Maybe it would help you." She exits.
Ben's out on the porch, where he deposits the wood into a pail and pulls out his knife. And also an axe. He tucks the axe into his pocket, and the knife into his shoe, and enters the house.
Ben stands in the living room doorway and looks at Balthus, who's staring out the window. Balthus turns and sees Ben. They stare. Then Balthus looks upward in a significant way. Ben turns to look upstairs, and starts climbing. Someone shuts a door up on the second floor, and Ben pulls out his knife before continuing his explorations.
Sofie returns to the living room and asks Balthus if she can get him anything before she leaves. Balthus shakes his head. She asks him to pray for her, and strolls out the front door. I feel like, as written, we should have felt like Ben and Sofie just barely missed seeing each other, but given the show's glacial pace, it doesn't really feel like a near miss.
Upstairs, Ben skulks. He reaches the top of the stairs. Thirty seconds later, he pokes his head into a room. Twenty seconds after that, he enters Iris's bedroom. This show, I swear. By the dresser, Ben spots something, and reaches down to pick up a broken bit of Iris's mirror. Ben holds the shard up, and sees the reflection of a black figure pass the doorway behind him. Ben goes back into the hall, his knife at the ready.
Ben enters Brother Justin's bedroom. I eye it for decorating ideas. I like the chair and reading table in the corner. And so does Ben, apparently, since he wanders toward them. The sawing violin on the soundtrack starts seesawing because this is, apparently, very exciting. Ben slips the knife into his overalls and starts to look more carefully at what I assume is The Gospel of Matthias. Then Iris's laundry basket pokes into the foreground, and she asks, "What are you doing here, young man?" She looks at Ben more carefully and asks, "What is that?" which is a shame, since what she means is, "Is that an axe in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?" Ben pulls the axe out and says that he was told to bring some firewood up, and didn't know where they wanted it, so naturally he just started searching through the house while he left the wood outside. You know, for Ben, that's a pretty good attempt at a cover story. Iris orders Ben to put the axe on the table, which he does, and points out that there's no fireplace upstairs. Ben stiltedly says, "No. Ma'am." I like his hat. Partly because it shades his eyes, so he looks mysterious, and partly because it...well, shades his eyes, and hides his prominent brow. Which I kind of like, actually, but I like guys who look a little odd. Iris looks at Ben for a while and then asks if he's been baptized. Ben says he hasn't. Iris says, "My brother is baptizing converts down at the pond today." She moves out of Ben's way. Ben turns and starts to retrieve his axe, but Iris snaps, "Leave it." Ben gets in a quick stare and leaves. Once he's gone, Iris picks up the axe and places it across Justin's pillow.
Carnivle. Lila has gathered together Stumpy and Burley and all the other carnies with names ending in "Y," and tells them that Ben killed Lodz. Oh, fine; Rita Sue is there, too. Stumpy scoffs, but most of the carnies don't react at all. My theory is that nobody cares. Why would they, really? Lila moves on to her real point, which is that Samson helped cover up the murder. Burley asks how she knows about this. Lila sniffs, "Wouldn't believe me if I told ya." No further questions, your honor! Carny justice isn't like ours. Rita Sue glares at Lila as she and Stumpy leave the tent.
Outside, Rita Sue says that she doesn't care what happened to Lodz. See? She does care about the fact that "Samson's lost his goddamned mind," though. They enter the Cooch tent as Rita Sue grumbles that Samson's taking them to Bible camp. Stumpy, ever cheerful, says that he's got some French postcards they can sell. Rita Sue sighs, "They ain't gonna let us sell no dirty pictures, neither." As they pack up some of their things, Stumpy sighs, "Bud's gonna kill me." Rita Sue agrees, and mentions someone named Tiny Walker. Any relation to Tiny Dancer? She says that Tiny missed two payments: "His kid found him nailed to a tree, shot through the left eye." Stumpy stares at Rita Sue with his mouth hanging open. Heh.
“ Sofie grins, 'In your dreams? That's crazy!' Which would be a sensible reaction from almost anyone on the show except Sofie. I'm starting to see why she and Ben like each other; it's a real meeting of the minds. ”
You know that scene in O Brother Where Art Thou? when all the people walk through the forest in their baptismal robes singing "Down to the River to Pray"? This looks just like that. Except without the trees. Or the music. Or the gopher on a stick. Or George Clooney. Sigh. So there are people walking down to a pond, and Brother Justin's dunking them, basically. Ben watches from the shore in his baptismal robe as Varlyn is dunked. in line, already in the water, is Sofie. Ben stares. A freshly baptized Varlyn embraces Justin happily, heh. Ben looks around at the crowd, and the camera slides down to show several inches of knife-blade protruding from his sleeve. Subtle, Ben. And...weird. I mean, I would excuse the fact that he's being stupid if I thought they wanted the audience to know he's ready to kill Justin. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the audience knew that already. We knew he had the knife. I, at least, was pretty sure that he wasn't just there to renew his faith. But wait! As the knife pokes out, Justin suddenly wobbles and looks faint. So that's what they wanted us to know. Okay, I guess. One of his flunkies steadies Justin until he recovers and turns to Sofie. He asks, "Are you in need of a savior?" Sofie says that she is. It's kind of funny that they don't ever set it up so that Sofie has to say, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." Maybe they're saving that one. Justin lectures her, and the crowd, about repenting, and Sofie turns and spots Ben on the shore. Ben shakes his head slightly, and then Justin pinches Sofie's nose closed and dunks her. When she's upright again, Sofie looks for Ben, but he's vanished. Justin tells everyone, "This is Sofie, one of the most treasured of my faithful. She was asleep, but we woke her up." As he goes on about that, a guy on shore points at the water. Eleanor's body drifts toward Justin. Whoopsie. The crowd mutters, "Ew, I thought the water smelled funny," and retreats as Justin turns. He gently starts to carry Eleanor toward the shore.
Sofie walks through Shantytown in her baptismal robe. Ben reaches out from behind a shanty and pulls her to him. Sofie gasps, "It was you! How did you find me?" as she hugs him. D'oh. Ben says that he wasn't looking for her, actually. Sofie's surprised to hear that, and I think maybe Justin's praise has gone to her head. Ben says that this isn't a good place for Sofie to be, adding, "The preacher...he's evil." Sofie pshaws, and Ben explains that he's seen Justin in his dreams. I'm using the word "explains" kind of loosely. Sofie grins, "In your dreams? That's crazy!" Which would be a sensible reaction from almost anyone on the show except Sofie. I'm starting to see why she and Ben like each other; it's a real meeting of the minds. Sofie says that Justin's a great man who changed her life and gave her "something to hold on to." Ben doesn't point out that he also gave Sofie something to hold on to, if you know what I mean and I think you do. She asks Ben why he's there again, and doesn't give him a chance to answer before she pouts, "Leave me alone," and starts to leave. Ben tries to argue, but Sofie says, "I don't need you to protect me from the best thing that's ever happened to me." Ben says that Justin's real name is Alexi Belyakov: "He's a Russian. He killed my father, and he aims to kill me, too." Sofie tearfully says she doesn't believe Ben. She heads up the hill to the house as Ben calls after her.
“ I guess Iris is thinking that when she and Justin are old and have retired from the evil business, they'll look back with fond nostalgia on the days when their foster father tried to shoot Justin. ”
The carnies are about done packing up. In the lead truck, Rita Sue tells Samson that she'll need compensation if she can't perform in Shantyville. She points out that Samson's the one who took them to Babylon, so he owes the Cooch family. But he also told you not to do the blowoff, so, yeah, nice try, Rita Sue. Samson apologizes, but explains that there's no money left so he can't help. Rita Sue sniffles says that they'll go along to California, but not into Shantyville. Samson says, "You do what you gotta do."
Rita Sue marches over to the Cooch car and tells Stumpy and Libby that they're leaving once they get to California. She tells Libby, "Guess you're finally gettin' to Hollywood, girl." Libby appears to have wee little stick-legs in this shot, for some reason. Libby protests that she's staying with Jonesy, setting off Round 7 of the "He left you!" "No he didn't!" battle. Rita Sue asks Stumpy to explain "the facts of life" to Libby. Stumpy leans through the window of the open car door and stammers. Heh. I expect him to start talking about where babies come from, but instead he plays with the window crank and offers, "It has been more than a week now, Lib." It has? And they haven't gotten into California yet? It can't be because they did a show, because they've got no money. Huh. Rita Sue sits in the car and claims that it breaks her heart to see how Libby won't face the truth. Libby snaps, "What truth is that, Mama? The truth that you've been mad at Jonesy ever since he chucked you?" Rita Sue insists that she dumped Jonesy, and poor Stumpy tries to calm things down. Rita Sue says that Libby doesn't know what happened, but Libby snides, "We's husband and wife now. We talk about everything." Rita Sue retreats to first principles, and repeats that Jonesy has abandoned Libby for someone new. Libby snaps that she's going to go ride in the lead truck with Samson, and stomps off. With Libby gone, Stumpy makes an aborted attempt to yell at Rita Sue for being such a meanie, but she tells him to shut up and gets inside the car.
Iris is pasting what I think is the "I Command Thee, Stop" newspaper story into a scrapbook. I guess she's thinking that when she and Justin are old and have retired from the evil business, they'll look back with fond nostalgia on the days when their foster father tried to shoot Justin. The front door closes, and Iris peers around a corner to see that Sofie sitting in the living room, looking flummoxed. Iris wanders over and kindly says that being "reborn" can be overwhelming. Sofie numbly says, "A body floated up to us at the baptism." That can be overwhelming, too. Sofie says that it was Eleanor, and then gets up and grabs her apron. As she leaves, Iris says, "Sofie?"