excerpted from The Complete Guide to Carnival of the Vanities

Season 13 of the popular, long-running series Carnival of the Vanities is regarded by many critics and fans as the best season of all. This season occurred during a long period of time in which the creator of the program, Silflay Hraka, gave up creative control of the series, and several other prominent producers took the helm for a season apiece. Critics frequently regard season 13 as the best due to the sharp wit brought to the program by famed producer Alex Knapp. Fans of the long running series, however, view Season 13 as a high point in spite of, not because of, Knapp. Frequent mutterings can be heard at Carnival conventions about "that lousy egomaniacal hack Knapp" whenever a critic heaps praise on his work in the 13th Season. These hardcore fans cite that the writers for season 13 had already been lined up by previous producers, and that Knapp was merely "riding on their coattails." Still, love him or hate him, nobody can deny that season 13 was filled with terrific writing, intense characterization, ingenious plot points, and of course, a healthy dose of humor.

What follows is a complete episode guide to season 13, categorized by topic, and listed by author, then episode title.

TERRORISM EPISODES
Since the show was on the air during the dark days of the war on terrorism, many of the episodes revolved around terrorism or the war on terrorism. Here are a few of those episodes:

The Rant - Legislative Maneuvers Part Deux — Our hero valiantly struggles, but in the end fails, and is forced to watch with horror as legions of flying monkeys insure the presence of sweet, crispy bacon in the Homeland Security Bill.

Everything Must Go — The Beginning of the End — Our hero learns that the real enemy is sometimes ourselves, as he fights appeasement and corruption in his own government.

Eleven Day Empire - Agendas and Actions — A subtle morality play in which our hero weighs whether pursuing a moral end with allies who have unjust motives is the right thing to do.

Feste's Best - Humbug Denied — In which our hero discovers that it's not important why your enemies hate you, and realizes what's truly important in life.

Dancing with Dogs - Islamic Fanatics and Identity — In this powerful episode, our hero fights Islamic extremists and, in the process, learns a valuable lesson about self-identity and the pressure of group movements.