 |
"...You must listen to what your dreams tell you. They will guide you..."
Directed by: Jack Bender
Written by: William Schmidt
Summary
While most of the carnival crew sleeps, an exhausted-looking Ben sits and smokes. Sophie, walking back to her trailer, hears screaming and banging from inside. She breaks open the locked door to find her mother being sexually attacked by a large tattooed man. Apollonia screams over and over for him to stop...
Suddenly, Sophie is back outside the trailer and when she enters, there is no sign of any attack, but her mother, now mute again, is crying. "Who was that man?" Sophie asks. "Yes, I saw." Begging her mother to stop screaming in her head, Sophie holds her.
When morning comes, Lodz is disturbed at Ben's self-imposed insomnia. "The boy doesn't sleep, he doesn't dream. He doesn't dream, he can't be reached."
Uncomfortable with Lodz's suddenly chummy relationship with Management, Samson has also begun the day in a foul mood. Gathering together some of the crew, he sends them out for bizarre items-a turtle shell, frying chickens, a skull.
Jonesy realizes that Samson's planning a "fireball show," and when he sees the
kitty, he understands why: the Carnivale is down to a handful of coins. "Get the word out," Samson tells everyone. "Trim the chumps for all they're worth."
Samson pulls out the watch fob with the templar emblem on it and asks Ben if it means anything to him. Showing him the initials on the back, he tries to give the item to the boy, saying it belonged to his father. Samson tells him to come by the tent later after lunch as he would like to chat. Later, he presses Ben to tell him what happened when Ben touched Boffo's ring with the same symbol on it, and asks him why Lodz, Apollonia and Management are so interested in him. Ben demurs, but Samson won't let it drop: "We didn't pick you up that day by chance," he says. He pulls out a photo album and finds the picture of Ben's mother. "I lied to ya," Samson says. "I said I didn't know her, this your mama?(pointing to a picture) Furthermore, I reckon Hank Scudder is your daddy."
Ben says his father ran off and that he doesn't care two cents for him. He asks about Management. "I'm not at liberty to say," Samson says. "But he's a good man, which is more than I can say for your friend the professor."
Ben's "friend", meanwhile, continues to try to convince him to use his powers, to listen to his dreams.
Meanwhile, Iris is again seeking Tommy Dolan's help, this time appearing herself on his radio show to try to reach Brother Justin. And indeed, her voice does reach him on the radio inside the mental institution. Justin, who seems
increasingly composed, continues to exert control over the other patients. His doctor, looking somewhat disheveled, watches Justin intently and seems to write notes continuously in his file. After the radio show, Iris and Tommy talk, and he
attempts to kiss her, but she runs off, upset.
Sophie asks Jonesy to go for a walk, and as they talk, Sophie tells him she's worried that Apollonia is going crazy. "Last night I saw some things she used to be able to keep from me," Sophie says. "Now she can't." Strolling back to the camp, it is clear that Jonesy has made her feel better. She leans up to kiss him, briefly, on the lips.
That night, the fireball show is in full swing and anything goes as the carnival tries to squeeze every nickel out of the crowd-anything from fake attractions like the Turtle-Baby and the Man-Eating Chicken to picking pockets. Lodz uses his seeing abilities to produce a compelling "mentalist" show, telling the stories
behind objects offered by the audience. Samson, looking for information and a bit of revenge, hands up Scudder's watch fob.
Lodz is immediately consumed in violent convulsions, and grotesque images of crusaders, heads on spikes and amputations appear to him. As he jerks on the floor he chants "in hoc signo vinces" and Ben mouths the words in English: "By this sign we conquer," he says.
When the action finally halts, Samson grabs Ben. "Where in the hell did you learn Latin?" he asks the oblivious farmboy. And then, frustrated, Samson warns him. "The way things are shaping up around here, you're going to have to trust
someone. Either me, or that one in there," gesturing to the mentalist's tent.
In the cootch tent, Jonesy's attempt to call things off with Rita Sue seems to be working out well-until a goodbye kiss turns serious. Ruthie, drawn to a worn-out looking Ben, offers a kiss in the quiet of her trailer after her snake show, but he ends up
running off.
In the California evening, a nattily dressed Brother Justin is discharged by his doctor, who continues to write manically in a file, even as he tells his patient about his great progress. As the two walk out of the hospital, the doctor finally hands Justin the folder he has been writing in. Justin opens the file to the first page: "Acts of Redemption, by Brother Justin Crowe," the title page says. Next he sees, "Chapter One: Pain is an unavoidable side effect." Smiling, Justin walks off into the quiet night.
Sitting and smoking in the dark, Sophie greets Samson, who wonders why she is still up. "I can't go in there," she says. She tells him the story of Apollonia's rape. "She told you that?" Samson asks, seeming incredulous. "I saw it in my head,"
Sophie answers. "She sees things that no one else does. The present. The past. It's all the same to her." And then after a long pause, Sophie adds, "And I'm starting to see them, too."
In Management's trailer, Lodz discusses the day's events. "At least we know why we're having so much trouble with young Hawkins," he says. A gutteral voice answers: "We should have known it from Babylon."
Samson counts up the money from a pile of pilfered wallets as Lodz emerges from the trailer. "Well played, little man" he says, handing Samson back the carefully wrapped fob. "Guess we're movin on?" Samson sks. "Fireball shows, they leave us no choice," Lodz replies.
A few yards away, Ben struggles to fend off sleep. But as the night grows long, his fight slackens, and, finally, his eyes slip closed.
Discuss this episode on the Carnivàle Bulletin Board. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
FATE game UPDATED!
New upgrades make the game faster and your character even more powerful. Download now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Carnival Fact
Some experts claim that the Freemasons continue the traditions and mysteries of the Knights Templar, whose Order was founded in the 11th century to protect Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land.
|
|
|
|
|
