Heartwarming / Carnivàle

• Season 2's "Road to Damascus" has Ben and Sophie give into their passions while in a 1930s truck cab/car. When Sophie finishes, a massive rainstorm begins. Ben sticks his hand outside the cab/car window to catch the rain, then gently puts it to Sophie's cheek. Subverted when Sophie leaves the Carnivale at the end of the episode. Subverted even more in the final episode by Sophie's Face–Heel Turn.
• The moment in "Pick a Number" when Lila and Ruthie dress Dora Mae's dead body in a bolt of silk they'd been saving, telling her stories while they clean her up.
• "Lincoln Highway", where Ben tells Libby to trust him and run as far from the tarred, feathered and dying Jonesy as she can get. She does, crying her eyes out because she thinks her husband is going to die without her there, and Ben uses the life from the vultures that have gathered around Jonesy's almost-corpse to bring him back to life. Jonesy gets up, takes a few steps, then lets out a whoop of joy - Ben hasn't just healed him, he's healed his crippled leg, too. Jonesy's pure and unadulterated joy is just amazing.
• The moment in "New Canaan, CA" where Rita Sue stands at Ben's side against the other carnies, sticking up for him when she'd previously been one of his main critics.
• Another subtle Rita Sue moment is her terrified search for Libby after Dora Mae has been killed and Libby is missing. Libby shows up, smoking a cigarette and insulting her mother for worrying, and Rita Sue first slaps her across the face, then hugs her tight, crying.
• Samson's advice to Ben, telling him not to throw his life away:
  Samson: What's stupid is dyin' when you don't gotta. Dying, just 'cause you're piss-poor at livin'!
  Ben: That ain't true.
  Samson: It is and you know it. And let me tell you somethin' else that's true: When it comes to living, dying is the easy part!
• The ending of the season two finale when the carnies find Ben lying unconscious in the cornfield, Samson shouts "He's alive!" and they lift him up and carry him back to safety, thus cementing the fact that he is one of them.

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