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"...And on her forehead, a name was written, a mystery. 'Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth..."
Directed by: Tim Hunter
Written by: Dawn Prestwich & Nicole Yorkin
Summary
As the caravan bounces along a dusty hill, Samson and Jonesy pull up next to a lone traveler, walking toward them. The man, Stangler, tells them they're almost to Babylon, Tx. "You the carnival?" he asks, eyeing the trucks. "Been waiting for you folks for a long time." Samson and Jones are bewildered, as the man tips his hat and walks off, toward 50 miles of nothing.
Setting up, the rousties and troupers are more agitated than ever; they want to know what they're doing in a tapped out mining town that is legendary for terrorizing carnies. More than one worker is threatening to bolt, and Jonesy pressures Samson for information, but Management isn't offering any.
Sophie and Apollonia are still arguing over Sophie's recent assignation with a married stranger. "And he didn't knock me up," the daughter says defensively. "That only happens in dime novels."
Still, Sophie later asks Libby how a person knows when she's pregnant.
In an effort to calm the riled up crew, Samson offers to take everyone out for a night on the town. But when the dolled-up troupers arrive at the local saloon, it is rundown and empty, and behind the bar is Stangler. "Never made it out of town, huh?" Samson asks. "Never do," Stangler says solemnly.
Everyone does their best to have a good time, and the atmosphere becomes pretty festive with the help of some music and plenty of whiskey. Sophie and Libby arrive from the empty movie theatre and join the dancing. A blowsy and sheepish Jones is rebuffed by Sophie when he tries to cut in.
Dora Mae asks the bartender where everyone is. "They don't drink much," Stangler says. "Anyway, it's better when they don't come in."
Alone to the side, Ben drinks ferociously, and, swaying, wanders off. When he awakes, he is in the pitch dark. Sparking his lighter, he sees that he is in some kind of mine shaft; he follows his way through a creaking passageway, but finds the end caved in.
The next night, the Carnivàle is ready, but, no one has seen a living soul in town and, as Jonesy observes, "the money ain't exactly rollin' in." Just then, the neighing and breathing of horses is heard, and in the dark, a long line of men with lanterns can be seen. But as the sullen men file in to the midway on a windy night, the carnies can see that they're not the typical crowd.-"a queer bunch of muckers," as Dora Mae says.
Following a Tarot reading, Apollonia tells Sophie to ask her customer if she's ever heard of a man named Scudder. "Yeah, I knew him," the miner says, surprised. "Worked the Babylon. Killed old Carl Butridge. That was the last we saw of him."
Samson doesn't like what he sees with this strange bunch as they move joylessly through the carnival's attractions. A large crowd has gathered in for the cootch show, but he warns Stumpy. "Somethin's not right," Samson says. "No blow-off tonight. They keep the panties on-that's an order!"
Still in the shaft, Ben is becoming increasingly frantic when he bumps into a miner rushing through. The mysterious man is Scudder. "Hold up!" Ben screams. "I know who you are!" But Ben not only loses sight of him, he discovers the body of a man with a pickaxe in his chest. He sinks to the floor of the shaft, darkness engulfing him as he breaks down.
Up under the cootch tent, the night is crackling with weird energy. Rita Sue decides to overrule Samson on the blow-off, they've worked tougher crowds than this, she says. And Jonesy is hitting the bottle again, as he operates the Ferris Wheel. When a scuffle with a couple of burly miners gets him in the middle of a fight, Samson tells him to get the hell out, and he staggers off into the night.
Dora Mae narrowly escapes the out of control audience as they mob the stage during the blow-off. The tent is pulled down, and the girl is badly shaken up.
Ben, meanwhile, has pulled himself together. By the flickering flame of his lighter, he reads letters written on the mine supports. TAVATARA, they say, and he writes the word on his arm with charcoal. Then, borrowing the dead man's lantern, he heads off again.
A drunken Jonesy wanders outside the midway. There he is stopped cold by a staggering sight: hanging from a tree is the body of Dora Mae Dreifuss. As he carries her back to her family and sets her down, the Carnivàle gathers. On her forehead a word is crudely carved: HARLOT.
Discuss this episode on the Carnivàle Bulletin Board. |
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FATE Game UPDATED!
New upgrades make the game faster and your character even more powerful. Download now.
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Carnival Fact
Vaudeville stars considered it a below them to appear in burlesque shows, though many of them slummed it during dry spells and appeared in burlesque shows under assumed names.
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