The Curse of ‘Carnival Row’: Why the incredible series with Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne decided to close, despite the success

The second season of Carnival Row, which premiered on Amazon Prime on February 17, will have 10 episodes. During this screen time, the creators of the show promise to answer all the countless questions about the universe of the series and the fate of many main characters.

Recall that the action of “Carnival Row” takes place in a world that resembles Victorian England. With a few nuances: fairies and fauns live here side by side with people who fled their magical land because a civil war broke out there. But there is no friendship between the races in the Burg Republic, on the contrary, segregation and domination of people who behave towards magical immigrant creatures, frankly, like a pig, dominates there. Of course, at some point, the situation heats up to the limit.

And a couple turns out to be at the center of events: the outcast fairy Vignette (Cara Delevingne, who has outlawed herself, and detective Rinecroft Philostratus (Orlando Bloom).

Together, they uncover occult crimes that the monster that committed can rival otherworldly creatures from Stranger Things in villainy. And they discover that the confrontation between humans and fairies is even more confusing and nightmarish than official authorities try to imagine…

The series is based on the book “Murder on Carnival Street” by Travis Beecham, written almost 15 years ago: the author was inspired by the story of Jack the Ripper, decided to add a little magic, and got so carried away that he worked across the world with a veritable army of heroes and many exciting details. Beecham then reworked the book into a screenplay that several studios licked their lips about. Eventually, Amazon made up its mind – it acquired the production rights and began preparing for filming.

It was speculated that the director of Carnival Row would be the great visionary and master of horror Guillermo del Toro. However, nothing worked out with him, and the series was directed by John Amiel, known for his work in such famous costume shows as The Tudors and The Borgias.

The first episode of the first season of “Carnival Row” was released in August 2019, and the series was a success. Immediately after the intriguing finale, filming for the second season was announced, and filming began immediately – work was done in Prague. And then the coronavirus pandemic began…

By then almost all of the material had been filmed, but production stalled for nearly a year. Nobody understood how the circumstances would evolve, if it would be possible to resume work in the usual mode. Since Carnival Row was busy with A-list stars, and the show itself turned out to be quite expensive, the channel’s management decided to shut it down – even before the second season aired. In fact, at that time, no one even understood if it would be possible to complete these 10 episodes.

Orlando Bloom does not hide his annoyance and sadness when talking about the fate of Carnival Row. He managed to be fascinated by the world in which events take place (and still!), and to befriend his character, and befriend fellow filmmakers.

‘Carnival Row’ was ahead of its time, that’s all – Bloom is sure of that. – Yes, the show will not continue, but all character lines will be completed. And I’m really proud of this work.

To the delight of fans, the second season has seen the light of day – after more than three incredible years since the premiere of the first. But, despite the fact that interest in Bloom and Delevingne only grew during this time, the channel decided not to take any chances and “skip” the story, turning Carnival Row into a finished show of 18 episodes. The decision will not change.

This may really be the best option, as we all remember bad examples of how the series, despite the resistance of circumstances, kept rolling – and nothing good came of it.