* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Despite having a highly original and engaging plot, the premise of "supernatural battle set in the Depression-era dustbowl", and the thick layer of religious and mystical symbolism all over the show, made it hard for a lot of people to get interested in. It didn't help that the series mythological background (based on both real-world myths as well as components created for the show) wasn't laid out well and the hints were obscure leaving viewers who didn't have an encyclopedia on hand clueless to many aspects. It's been described as a less accessible Twin Peaks for a reason.
* CompleteMonster: [[PsychoForHire Varlyn Stroud]] is the sociopathic [[TheBrute chief enforcer]] of the [[Characters/CarnivaleNewCanaanMinistry New Canaan Ministry]]. A convicted criminal even before being chosen to be the "Archangel" of [[BigBad Brother Justin Crowe]], Stroud is tasked with capturing and delivering Henry Scudder to him. Taking the opportunity to cause as much mayhem as possible, Stroud murders multiple people; bombs a Templar lodge in New Mexico; and torches an entire carnival, endangering the lives of several workers. [[PsychoSupporter Fanatically devoted]] to the apocalyptic plans of his master, Stroud ultimately ensures that Crowe becomes the feared Usher of Destruction.
* CultClassic: Never the most popular show on HBO, it nonetheless has a loyal following to this day.
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Turns out Michael J. Anderson is just as good playing a human character as he was a [[Series/TwinPeaks backwards-talking, dancing spirit]].
* HilariousInHindsight: The ghosts in Babylon are very similar in both appearance and role to [[Series/TwinPeaks the Woodsmen]].
* MagnificentBastard: Iris Crowe is a fairly spectacular example. The sweet, innocent spinster sister of Brother Justin? Has not only spent her entire life playing XanatosSpeedChess with her brother's true nature, but burned down her brother's church to get him publicity, allowed an innocent man to go to jail and eventual execution for what she did, lured an innocent woman out beyond the camp and then bashed her over the head with a boat oar, to keep her from talking about how evil Justin really is and kept the secret of Sofie's paternity from everyone. After the big battle, when Ben and Justin are lying dead in the cornfield, the New Canaan faithful have almost been completely slaughtered by Justin, and the Carnivale has had to slip away for fear of the authorities in the early morning hours, what is Iris doing? Cooling her heels as the Last One Standing.
* MoralEventHorizon: Multiple.
** Iris [[spoiler: when she set the ministry on fire.]]
** Brother Justin's treatment of his maids.
** [[spoiler: Sofie shooting Jonesy and resurrecting Justin]] in the finale.
* RetroactiveRecognition:
** Tim [=DeKay=] (Clayton) is much more well-known these days as [[Series/WhiteCollar Agent Peter Burke]].
** Yes, [[Series/PrisonBreak T-Bag]] aka Creator/RobertKnepper is playing a good guy (Tommy).
** As mentioned above, [[Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia Liam [=McPoyle=]]] plays one of Ben's cousins.
* TearJerker: Many, most especially the immolation of the orphan children in Justin's ministry.
* TooBleakStoppedCaring: [[http://www.salon.com/2003/11/01/carnivale/ Some critics]] during the first season's run felt this way about the show, as its bleak, macabre take on the Depression-era U.S. and moral ambiguity made it difficult to care about its characters. The second season was better about this, but the show suffered a large enough ratings drop between seasons to be CutShort.
* ValuesDissonance: When Jonesy implies in the first episode that Sofie asked to be raped.
* VindicatedByHistory: Of a sort. The show itself was ''always'' an AcclaimedFlop, but it was also the network's unsuccessful first attempt at bringing a fantasy series for adults to the small screen. At the time, many people wrote off ''Carnivale'''s failure as the inevitable result of [[ItWillNeverCatchOn trying to run a history-inspired fantasy saga on HBO]]. [[HilariousInHindsight Because a show like that could never possibly find a wide audience, right?]] But after the absurd success of ''Series/GameOfThrones'', the idea didn't seem nearly as strange.
** There's also the rather slow pace of the show, with individual episodes mattering less than the season as a whole. Maybe it's not the best approach for a weekly series, but it's been good for several streaming shows.
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