“Penny Dreadful” and “Games of Thrones” Fan? Check Out “Carnival Row”

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If you’re an Amazon Prime member who’s looking for a bingeable new series, and you like fantasy mixed with horror and mystery, I can’t recommend Carnival Row highly enough. You’ll find it under Amazon Originals.

The trailer intrigued me when I saw it during the summer. However, would Carnival Row be the kind of show that was up my alley? Amazon’s been putting out some pretty good series lately, but this looked a little out of their realm.

Amazon released it August 30, 2019, just in time for Labor Day Weekend, but I didn’t watch right away. (I wanted to finish Mindhunter on Netflix first.)

I started Carnival Row a couple weeks ago, though. Even though I was instantly hooked, I just finished the series over the weekend. (You could totally binge this in a weekend or during a week, though. I just savored it each night before I fell asleep. And that’s what held me up. Some nights I fell asleep faster than others.)

With a serial killer loose on Carnival Row, and a government that turns a blind eye to the deaths of its lower class citizens, Rycroft Philostrate, a war-hardened investigator, is the only person willing to stop the murders and maintain the fragile peace. But when Vignette Stonemoss, a faerie refugee, turns up in the Burgue, she forces Philo to reckon with a past he’s tried to forget.

It’s its own beast entirely, but if you liked Penny Dreadful and Game of Thrones, you’re probably going to dig Carnival Row too. Here’s why…

How It’s Like Penny Dreadful

It doesn’t have some of literature’s famous monsters like Penny Dreadful did, but the costumes and sets do have a similar Gothic Victorian feel.

However, even though I liked Penny Dreadful in the end, it was a slow watch for me. I’d also watch it at night while I was in bed. It never failed to put me to sleep.

I don’t mean that in a harsh way. The plot moved slow at times and the dark atmosphere lulled me into dreamland. But it was a good series. (Except for the brusque ending. Wish they’d extended that a bit.) Carnival Row moves a little bit faster.

Here’s a few photos from IMDB to demonstrate how it captures the Victorian element:

How It’s Like Game of Thrones

Ruling families. Family secrets. Betrayals. Incest. Power plays. War. Evil queens (in a manner of speaking.) Brothels. Magic. Drama. Suspense. Romance. Twists and turns. Characters that die when you’re not expecting them to.

If you liked all that Game of Thrones had to offer, but you’re missing it, give Carnival Row a try. It may satisfy that hole. Or at least help assuage it.

The only thing that’s missing is dragons and White Walkers. (But it’s got the Darkasher, so we get to meet a new scary creature.)

Rating

An exuberant five out of five stars.