Carnival Row: Season 1, Episode 8 “The Gloaming” [Season Finale] – Recap, Review (with Spoilers)

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In the season finale, the controller of the Darkasher is revealed, as well as who the real mastermind behind the events of season 1.

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Network
Amazon Prime
Director(s)	Jon Amiel
Writer(s)	Travis Beacham
Air Date	8/30/2019

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Recap

A Love Like This Does Not Come Every day: Imogen, Agreus, Ezra

So, Ezra knows Imogen and Agreus are bumping uglies, and he comes to the point of wanting to kill Agreus – if not at least threaten him. However, Imogen decides she is done living with and supporting her brother, so she helps Agreus escape, and they leave the continent.

Many Secrets Revealed: Piety, Absalom, Jonah, Sophie, Philo, Haruspex

Get this, Piety and the man she killed, Ritter, they had a kid, and that kid is Jonah. The person who has regularly been having sex with Sophie, his half-sister. Also, she knew, through rumors, there was the possibility Jonah was her brother, and she just didn’t care. Yeah, that is how little of a f*** Sophie gives. But, all things considered, why should she give a damn about incest when so many of the high born families already have that as part of their histories?

But, with that said, taking note Jonah’s reaction, she still proposes them joining forces or else becoming enemies. Which, considering Jonah confronted his mom about kidnapping him, makes him lean more towards joining forces with her than continuing to live out this dream Piety has. One that she feels is increasingly threatened for with the discovery that Philo is Absalom’s bastard, that complicates things immensely. Especially since Absalom helped Philo get out of custody and with him on the loose, he is a major liability. Not just to Piety and the Chancellor, but also Jonah.

So, in a fit of madness, she kills Absalom, as well as Haruspex, and uses Absalom’s liver, as she has used many others, to activate her Darkshire.

The Prophecy Holds True: Jonah, Vignette, Philo, Sophie, Piety

The prophecy always was that Jonah would rise up to be something great. This is made possible since Piety kills Absalom and Jonah, as chancellor, joins forces with Sophie to create a coalition. One which subjugates the fae population and sequesters them all into Carnival Row. All of which may have been Sophie’s plan for, get this, the whole drama of the series, at least starting with Aisling’s death, was due to a letter Sophie wrote to Absalom that Piety intercepted. Thus leading her to make a Darkasher, tracking down Philo, and killing anyone who knew about him, and trying to kill him herself.

However, when Piety kidnaps Vignette to help her find out where Philo is, she escapes. Vignette escapes just as Philo is about to be killed by Piety’s Darkasher with a blade going from the back and out of her mouth. Thus ending Piety’s tyranny but it not ending Philo and Vignette’s problems. For, with the sequester, it seems they will be separated again but with him firmly claiming, in front of his former peers, he is fae, he joins her behind the lines and thus season 1 of Carnival Row ends.

Noteworthy Information

1. A member of the faun who praises the hidden God tried to assassinate Absalom, but he survived. But, with being bedridden, and gravely wounded, that is how Piety was so easily able to smother him.

Review

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Considering all the trouble Vignette caused, shouldn’t someone have cut her wings off?

Highlights

Sophie Behind It All

That’s some big evil, I want to watch the world burn, type of stuff right there, isn’t it? She is responsible for the death of at least six or seven people. Yet, despite that, she is still living her best life. Her brother/lover she plans to burn the world with, she is likely pursuing a civil war, and while not bat s*** crazy, she definitely has screws loose. Yet, she is what this show needs and I hope will be seen of more. For this is the kind of villain you love to hate.

Imogen and Agreus

The fact they ended up together, in the end, is the main reason this is a highlight. We’ve watched them fight, bicker, her do a 180 turn, and while that turn was drastic, in the long run it felt real. She was lonely, always trying to impress people and here comes this main, with some airs and graces about him, but generally didn’t give a damn. He wanted respect but wasn’t about bending over backwards to get it. Making him not just a good potential partner but also an example.

With that said, I can only hope their venture, which has not got intertwined with Philo’s story, stays separate in the future. Especially since they are likely going to a different continent and might expose us to the rest of the world.

Low Point

Where Are The Dark Ravens?

Excuse me if I sound like a broken record but while I get The Pact couldn’t have crossed an ocean and tried to take on humanity, considering what Vignette knew of the Dark Ravens, I doubt she could spend a week or two and leave. You know, have a casual attitude about it and say, “You know, this is just not for me.” That organization comes off very much like, “You leave in a casket and if you screw us over  you won’t have your wings.” So for them to just go poof, it makes no sense. Particularly when you factor in how corrupt parliament is and this vibe Dahlia should have had an in to continue her presence/ story.

On The Fence

Hoping Vignette & Philo Would Have Had A More Romantic Moment

While you can appreciate the two of them being long game, and are still rebuilding trust in their relationship, it’s hard to not want a bit of wish fulfillment. We got it with Imogen and Agreus, so for Vignette and Philo to not match them, maybe surpass them, seemed strange. But, perhaps it is just because Vignette hasn’t been much beyond a love interest so her ending up with the man she loves seems like it should have been part of the ending.

Not to downplay him choosing her, and their people, for that goes beyond them kissing or having sex again, but there is just this vibe their moment should have ended things with a bang. Rather than a moment that seems like it could be written in mid-season or a few episodes before the finale.