10 Binge-Worthy SciFi/Fantasy TV Shows You Need to Watch

All the Carnivàle Freaks (Carnivàle promotional image, Season 1, image via HBO)

Carnivàle

(HBO)

Set in the heart of the dust bowl, this tale about carnies stuck in a war between heaven and hell will keep you saying “WHAT IS GOING ON?” The carnival freaks are the least of the weirdness.

Ben Hawkins is plagued by strange dreams of a war he never fought. He brings a kitten back to life and his mother tells him he is marked by the beast. She calls him an abomination on her deathbed. As he’s digging her grave, a traveling carnival happens by. Apparently full of charity for this random kid who appears to have escaped from a chain gang, they try to convince Ben to come with them and give her a proper funeral. After he collapses in the heat, they take him along anyway.

The carnival’s blind seer reads the boy’s dreams. He sees trench warfare, a flat-faced man running through a cornfield. He almost collapses from the barrage. The catatonic gypsy fortune teller tries to warn her daughter that the boy is dangerous. But management wants to keep the boy with them, so they do.

Meanwhile in the promised land of California, Brother Justin dreams of a rain of blood. He wakes to find himself kneeling in front of brothel. Justin knows he must make the den of iniquity into a church and orphanage. After an arsonist burns down the building, killing all the children, and Brother Justin has a crisis of faith. What is his true path? The dreams escalate. Brother Justin sees Ben, Ben sees Brother Justin, and they both see the flat-faced man. Somehow they are connected. Is Brother Justin meant to fight the beast within the boy?

Next: Cleverman