But atmosphere alone can't sustain drama. There are three broad plotlines. The lion's share of time is devoted to Ben (Doofy-Dust-Bowl-Boy-Who-Is-The-One) and his archetypical search for himself. Ben and his Mom live on a farm raising crops of what appears to be dirt. Ben's Mom, a decidedly unpleasant woman in a Mommie Dearest kind of way, is dying but she refuses to let him heal her by touch because she believes his power is a sign of evil. Meanwhile the bank is about to foreclose on the dirt farm and Ben has to stand down a bulldozer, Tiananmen-like, until he can bury his now dead Mom. That's when the carnies show up. They help Ben bury his Mom and give him a job. This carnival, cleverly named Carnivale, seems to be run by a tough, practical, but compassionate dwarf named Samson and has the usual assortment of gypsies, tramps and theives. Yet it turns out Samson, like all of us, answers to Management. In this case, Management is an unseen entity behind a curtain that communicates via Linda Hunt's voice, and is strongly suggested to be The Fallen Angel and I don't mean Demi Moore. Ben, who is carrying an elephant-sized chip on his shoulder, is now the object of everyone's interest. All are competing to get control of him and his power in one way or another. In the course of the season Ben manages to learn more about his absent father and his power — seems he can't heal and resurrect without killing in proportion; this can take the form of hundreds of dead fish in return for a mended broken arm, acres of dead crops for a healed deformity, or a life for a life in the case of resurrection. Ben also has frequent visions and nightmares of things that are symbolic of, well, something. We're not really sure what, but there's no doubt they're symbolic.

Plotline two is centered on a preacher man, Brother Justin, (exceptionally well played by Clancy Brown). Brother Justin is a man of frighteningly powerful faith. He is also a man who can kill with a look, or perhaps even more alarmingly, he can force others to see and confront the evil acts they have committed and tried to hide. Justin is also on a path of self-discovery that involves his past and his powers. Justin's desire to do God's work clashes with his capacity to inflict pain and suffering and drives him first to lose his faith, then perhaps his sanity, then regain them in what may be a dangerous form.

Plotline three involves the less powerful carnies involved in a love triangle — actually a quadrangle — no, call it a pentagon. I would go on a bit a about this but it would end up sounding like the first three paragraphs. Suffice it to say this is pretty much straight soap opera fodder and, so far, has little to do with the deeper themes.