The Burgue does, however, accept fae refugees if they can make it to Burgue territory. Not especially willingly, mind you: the fauns and pixies and kobolds are expected to live in tenements and to take menial jobs. Having fae blood disqualifies you from pretty much any occupation of responsibility.
Vignette Stonemoss is one such fae refugee, a winged woman who stayed in the fae homeland for several years after the war, helping others of her kind to flee, but who ultimately has to make the trip herself. She does so reluctantly, knowing that being in the Burgue will endlessly remind her of her dead former lover, Philo, a Burgundian soldier who was secretly half-fae.
But Philo is not as dead as Vignette believes. He let her believe that because he convinced himself it was "what was best for her". Men in fiction are dumb like that. (Many men in real life, alas, are more apt to make decisions purely based on what seems best for themselves). He is now working as a police inspector, a job he is not supposed to hold, given his "tainted" blood.
When Vignette arrives in the Burgue, it is only a matter of time before she and Philo meet, with all the emotional fallout you might expect. But soon they will have even bigger concerns. They find evidence of a conspiracy deep within the upper echelons of Burgundian society, one which threatens not just their own lives, but the lives of all fae in the Republic.
Carnival Row is a glossy drama in a pseudo-19th century society where real world concepts of class and race have largely been mapped onto the human vs fae divide. This is not a subtle element of the show.
To be honest, subtlety is not something the show does on any front. The writing is pretty heavy-handed in developing its plot, its themes, and its characters. It's also a bit meandering and disconnected, at times. The opening scenes of the first episode, for instance, firmly establish Vignette as our bad-ass protagonist. And then the rest of the season spends all its time walking that backwards, making her more of a damsel in distress and pushing Philo to the fore.
Similarly, there is some clumsy handling of storylines. There's a sub-plot involving a faun named Agreus who has become very wealthy and is attempting to force his way into 'polite' (i.e. human) society. It's a decently executed sub-plot, but its only link to the experiences of Vignette and Philo is thematic. Neither of them ever meets him, or plays any direct role in his arc. Then there's another storyline where Vignette joins a fae crime syndicate known as the Black Ravens. A big deal is made of this for about an episode and a half, and then it is more or less shuffled into the background and ignored. Likely it will come back in season two, which has now been filmed (it was delayed by COVID), but it should not have vanished in the first place.
The show does have its positives, however. Visually it looks great. It also has a solid cast who work hard to make the material engaging. To the extent that the show works - and overall, I would say it works okay - is because of their efforts. They did enough that I will probably check out season two, despite my issues with the show's writing, so far.
If urban fantasy is your kind of thing, Carnival Row is at least worth a visit.
If urban fantasy is your kind of thing, Carnival Row is at least worth a visit.
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