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Anyone watch this Amazon series?

Pretty cool fantasy / steampunk world they created. It got a bit slow in some parts but I enjoyed it overall. A little too much romanitcal stuff and not enough explosions for me, but still interested enough to watch season 2. More interested in seeing what happens with their enemies in the war, but it seems like they were just a plot device for the background story and aren't a threat these days.

 Necros wrote:
Anyone watch this Amazon series?

Pretty cool fantasy / steampunk world they created. It got a bit slow in some parts but I enjoyed it overall. A little too much romanitcal stuff and not enough explosions for me, but still interested enough to watch season 2. More interested in seeing what happens with their enemies in the war, but it seems like they were just a plot device for the background story and aren't a threat these days.

I ended up "accidentally" binging the whole season last weekend. I thought the world well thought out and the bulk of things that exist in the world make sense within the world.

I got very much of a vibe that the Burgue were supposed to be "England" and thus the good guys, and I do agree that it would be very interesting to see what the Pact is actually like (other than stereotypical WW1 'Germans'). I mean, I doubt that the pixies would be running for the sake of running, but perhaps in the world of convoluted stories, there's a lot more to things than merely what we happened to see in the opening scenes.

It has an insane "Ripper Street" vibe going, Orlando even looks like the sergeant from that other TV series. That this also deals with the police and starts with the "jack the ripper" style story adds to it; but they've also captured the very same filth and muck feeling of that end of London. It very much is modelled after a steam punk influenced London; but they were smart by fully giving it a fantasy setting of its own. So you can draw loads of comparison links between that world and ours, but the series is also totally free to do its own thing.

I really enjoy it and the effects and sets have had a lot of love and money put into them. It really shows as a very high quality production. I'm also really enjoying the way they've plotted it out which is why I'm trying to pace myself through it rather than binge it all in one night otherwise I'm going to leave myself nothing to tide me over in the long wait till season 2.

I can’t get past that Irish accent.

She can’t do it convincingly, and none of the other Fae have an Irish accent. So I’m wondering why she bothered.

Visuals are pretty cool though.

I've got it downloaded to my Kindle to watch while I'm traveling for work this week. I was sold on it when one website called it "Sherlock Holmes teams up with Tinkerbell".

Binged it last weekend, being obsessed with Fae and that just, look right up my alley.
Love it start to finish

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I can’t get past that Irish accent.

She can’t do it convincingly, and none of the other Fae have an Irish accent. So I’m wondering why she bothered.

Visuals are pretty cool though.

because telling purty gurls something is a silly idea is hateful mansplaing.

watched the first episode, don't think I'll bother with the rest

Ah, now I thought it was going along with the political allegory they had going on. Transport to a new country, working off their passage, dying in their coffin ships- seemed like they were setting the Faeries up to be Irish immigrants initially. It was kind of odd that the Faeries didn't have a consistent accent- but then again, we don't really know how large Tirnanog (or however they spell it ) is.

The interactions between Imogen and Agreus are spectacular! You really can't tell what anyone in high society is thinking.

I'm really hoping they'll be showing more of the world besides not-London next season. But I guess setting up the whole Chancelor storyline means they're gonna stick around.

 Necros wrote:
I'm really hoping they'll be showing more of the world besides not-London next season. But I guess setting up the whole Chancelor storyline means they're gonna stick around.

just a bit of a WAG here but I suspect season 2 will feature Legolas leading a Fae uprising and truly meeting the prophesied 'thing' for original Chancellor's son.

 Gitzbitah wrote:

The interactions between Imogen and Agreus are spectacular! You really can't tell what anyone in high society is thinking.

It really is, it seems like they like him in a novelty sort of way. But then seemed repulsed at the idea of him ACTUALLY being part of high society.

I wouldnt be surprised if imogen gets pregnant and its a scandal.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I can’t get past that Irish accent.

She can’t do it convincingly, and none of the other Fae have an Irish accent. So I’m wondering why she bothered.

Visuals are pretty cool though.

Her accent was fine man, and I don't think you're much of a judge given you think none of the others had Irish accents


I actually really enjoyed it overall. I've seen a few critics having a pop at the pacing, but I actually think the mostly measured and occasionally slightly glacial pacing is what saves it - the core of the show is one mystery and two romances, and the romances more than anything else, which could easily have gotten extremely boring for everyone other than stifled housewives and teen girls, but by devoting a lot of time to them they give them enough space to be more than just romance scenes, with most of them fairly groaning under the weight of all the worldbuilding getting done, and it's a fascinating world.

I've been a sucker for "faepunk" stuff since playing Arcanum, and it's great to see the style getting a big-budget outing. Interested to see where things go next.

the accent thing is most likely a part of that whole audience is thick assumption, so she needs a thing case folks forgot about the fairy in the fairystory

remember we live in a world where Asha amd Osha was considered too confusing but siblings having wildly different accents is fine

I must be accent deaf or someething cause i personally never hear accents unless its real thick

We watched the first one last night, and I liked it well enough. I'll watch the rest of it.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I must be accent deaf or someething cause i personally never hear accents unless its real thick

accents is a tricky, I think part of it is if you are familiar with whats being attempted you more likely to spot bum notes, plus telly and films tend to over-egg it a bit

still its nowhere near the best / worst Orish as spoken by Brad Pitt

Interesting world with uninteresting characters and a painful lack of focus. Some things could use to be explained or fleshed out more. Why is the punishment for flying in a human city so severe? Why are The Pact brutally murdering all the non-Pact fae? Too many political allusions distract from a very fascinating fantasy-victorian world. Still, TNG had an awful first season and sometimes a show needs to figure itself out after a season of stumbling. Worth watching when there's nothing better to do and I'll give season 2 a try once its out to see if it can find its groove.

I just finished it.

I turned it on to just have something different playing as noise while I painted, but it drew me in.

Definitely could’ve have done without the Imogen/Agreus subplot as I saw how it would play out the second they revealed that dude was a faun and it was unrelated distraction to the much more fun Philo/Vignette plot but overall I enjoyed the show.

I also kind of appreciate that its not based on a book and was an entirely original creation(to my knowledge).

 nels1031 wrote:


Definitely could’ve have done without the Imogen/Agreus subplot as I saw how it would play out the second they revealed that dude was a faun and it was unrelated distraction to the much more fun Philo/Vignette plot but overall I enjoyed the show.

taking a wild guess here, but I suspect that this subplot was wholly immaterial to season 1, but will in some bizarre way become integral to main plotpoints in season 2+ . . . And honestly, I am not sure how I feel about that prospect. With Philo/Vignette, you very early on get a sense of history between the two, whereas literally everything with Imogen happens on screen with the only backstory being "wealthy, racist family member learns to be not-so-racist"

See, i predict it will go the exact opposite TBH. With them becoming totally disconnected to the plot because they are leaving the Burgue, and eventually coming back around.
Maybe they convince The Pact to invade the city?
I do think the Pact was something that was interesting yet totally ignored.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
Ah, now I thought it was going along with the political allegory they had going on. Transport to a new country, working off their passage, dying in their coffin ships- seemed like they were setting the Faeries up to be Irish immigrants initially. It was kind of odd that the Faeries didn't have a consistent accent- but then again, we don't really know how large Tirnanog (or however they spell it ) is.

The interactions between Imogen and Agreus are spectacular! You really can't tell what anyone in high society is thinking.

Pretty big.

https://www.thewrap.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-crazy-fantasy-world-of-carnival-row-explained-tirnanoc-the-burgue/crny-map-lg-77eb6764-cdf2-441e-be12-31a8df3335b0-_cb442357533_ql85_v1_/

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
See, i predict it will go the exact opposite TBH. With them becoming totally disconnected to the plot because they are leaving the Burgue, and eventually coming back around.
Maybe they convince The Pact to invade the city?
I do think the Pact was something that was interesting yet totally ignored.

Agreed. I think we'll get the Burgue perspective from Philo, Vignette & co, with Imogen and Agreus allowing the writers the chance to do some work fleshing out the Pact and/or other human and Fae lands.

Also, a wee aside - the Scottish actress who plays the leader of the Black Raven looked really familiar, but she's not been in anything I've seen. Based on her age and her school I think I might actually have met her years ago when we were kids, a bunch of the Mary Erskines girls used to slum it with the punks & moshers occasionally

I'm enjoying it. Sure it has its faults and some things are a alittle odd but on the whole it's a solid serris, worth a watch and enjoyable. The visuals are good and the whole semi stems punk, victoriana, fantasy is a new setting to see a shoe make use of.

Nothing perfect but definitely watchable.

I couldn't help but think "I'm glad I'll never have to kill a guy with a huge stone, because I'm not sure I could lift a stone that big."

I felt like the beginning of the show was wandering and slow paced but as the season went on I think it's like the first book of a series. The first book usually has to wander around to set-up the feel of the setting, the characters and all the cool background for future sub-plots and subtle cool things that can happen.

I ended up really enjoying the series and have really high hopes for season 2 as I feel they've set-up a very deep and interesting setting for future story-lines to develop. It's a well produced fairypunk (no idea that was a thing) that seemed to have organic and consistent characters and action (characters actually doing things they would not just actions to advance the plot, not perfect but much better than a lot of shows I've watched recently, FtWD...). There's lots of room for them to explore all kinds of characters, plots, motivations, social commentary, human nature, and all of the fun stuff that you can push and exaggerate in rich sci-fi/fiction settings.

7/10 with a lot of potential.

I finished this, and liked it quite a bit. I wish there was more focus on just exploring all the weird fantastic magical stuff instead of continually circling back to thinly veiled allegories for the horrors of various modern immigration crises, but that's not the show they're doing, so it is what it is. The show they ARE doing is not bad at all. I definitely was wishing there was more when it was done.

Hopefully it doesn't flame out like Man in the High Castle sort of did by the third season.

Nurglitch wrote:
I couldn't help but think "I'm glad I'll never have to kill a guy with a huge stone, because I'm not sure I could lift a stone that big."

IKR? I mean, for religiously sanctioned murders, there has got to be a better way.

(late to the party)

Just started it, on episode 3 or 4 and really enjoying it.

I agree that hewing too close to historical analogies sometimes hurts it since you start expecting it to be a complete analogy. But overall interesting enough both visually and story wise that's worth it.

I wonder sometimes if Cara Delevigne is going to be typecast as a " grumpy pixie" like waif ...

I did like the mix of usual fantasy races walking around in what was an analogue of Victorian period London.

I preferred "Penny Dreadful" though.