Carnivàle, SEASON 1

Samson:
Before the beginning, after the great war between Heaven and Hell, God created the Earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called Man. And to each generation was born a creature of light and a creature of darkness. And great armies clashed by night in the ancient war between good and evil. There was magic then, nobility, and unimaginable cruelty. And so it was until the day that a false sun exploded over Trinity, and man forever traded away wonder for reason.

Samson:
They're set to smash.

Samson:
Let's shake some dust!

Brother Justin:
Latter day versions of the vile plagues that rained on Egypt, the fires that consumed Soddom and Gomorrah. Scourges of the old testament, yes, but even now, brothers and sisters, even now drought and pestilance fester in the very heart of this great land. Titanic sandstorms, the likes of which man has not seen since the days of the prophets… And I ask myself, "What are these things? What are they, if not evidence of God's fury? What are they, if not harbingers of the apocalypse?" And yet… and yet, as I walked to church today, these troubled thoughts were soothed by a balmy wind. And as I looked out upon the endless acres of rich, untilled earth, I realised, brothers and sisters, that this is truly the promised land and that we are indeed blessed. But let us not forget the less fortunate. Let us not forget that they too were once blessed. And let us not forget that the lord giveth, and the lord taketh away. Amen.

Brother Justin:
Eleanor, I see you in my sermons, and you pray so hard it breaks my heart. But my words, they wash over you like water over a stone. We all, each of us, carry within us the seeds of our own salvation and our own damnation. You do belive that, don't you?

[Lila looks at Ben, asleep on her sofa.]

Lila:
Fine looking boy…

Lodz:
[chuckles] You have a singularly prurient mind, Lila.

Lila:
And what would you know about it?

Lodz:
More than I care to, believe me.

Catalina:
Your wife, she's one sexy mujerzuela.

Stumpy:
Heh. You go sleep with her then.

Management:
Yes, but to restore a life you must take a life.

Management:
You must act as a man, not a boy. A boy mends the broken bones of his playmates, and resurrects little kittens for his own amusement. This is different, this is a woman's life. A human life. To restore it you must take life… with deliberation. You must choose the life you take - that is the way of our kind.

Ben Hawkins:
I ain't here to play games with someone hiding behind some curtain.

Lodz:
Best keep a civil tongue in your head, boy.

Management:
Another step and I will kill you where you stand… then what will become of your friend, I wonder.

Ben Hawkins:
Who are you?

Management:
Someone who understands the life you've led, the questions you have, the torments… Someone who understands what it is to make such a choice. One life for another.

Management:
You have made this choice before.

Ben Hawkins:
What do you know about that?

Management:
I know that you are capable of making such a choice. Capable of saying "this one deserves to live, this one deserves to die".

Ben Hawkins:
No, that ain't my place.

Management:
If that is true, my friend, then why is such a choice possible? Why are you not like other men, left behind to bury your dead, gnash your teeth and cry out to God, "Why her, Lord, why not another?" The answer is self-evident. It is your place, Ben Hawkins; it cannot be escaped. It can only be accepted… Her life for another's. It is the only way… You may go now.

Stumpy:
It's a hell of marriage we got here.

Rita Sue:
I wouldn't trade it.

Stumpy:
Wouldn't be any takers.

Brother Justin:
So, I hear you think I burned down my church.

Tommy Dolan:
Do you need an audience, Brother Justin?

Brother Justin:
What I need will take some time to accomplish. But the first step is getting out my message.

Norman Balthus:
My greatest evil? Saving your life? Giving you refuge? Protecting and nurturing you?

Brother Justin:
No, this can't be.

Norman Balthus:
By your own words, the sin l must embrace, the evil that l have brought into the world...

Brother Justin:
[Visibly shocked] ls me!

Norman Balthus:
lt's not too late, son. Pray with me now. Beg the Lord God to have pity upon you. Pray with me, pray that the demon leave you.

Brother Justin:
There is no demon in me! The demon is me.

Tommy Dolan:
Deal?

Brother Justin:
I'm reminded of the phrase "making a deal with the devil".

Tommy Dolan:
Oh, come on, now. I'm not that bad.

Brother Justin:
No, no, you're not.

Waitress:
Every prophet in his house.

Brother Justin Crowe:
Yes, that old time religion, brothers and sisters, rising like a phoenix from the ashes of sin and degradation. Where there was a den of flesh and debasement, there is now a glorious, shining temple dedicated to the Lord God Almighty! Amen. Now there were those who laughed when we started our great mission, men of the cloth, respectable learned men, who said the migrants had lost their faith. He said that the migrants believed that God has abandoned them. And so they in turn have abandoned God. Well to them I say, who has more faith in God than those who have borne witness to His Fury? Who has more faith in God than the brother who has seen his land blow away in a raging tempest? Who has more faith in God than the sister who has buried her children in the hardscrabble left behind? Who has more faith in God than the families that wander the wilderness in search of the Promised Land? From Kansas to Colorado! From New Mexico to Oklahoma!

Samson:
Lyle, I'm tellin' you, this operation is a hundred percent legit.

Lyle:
I never heard an honest man use the word "legit".