Season 2
“On the heels of the skirmish Man foolishly called the war to end all wars, the Dark One sought to elude his destiny ... live as a mortal. So he fled across the ocean, to an empire called America ... but by his mere presence, a cancer corrupted the spirit of the land.
"People were rendered mute by fools who spoke many words, but said nothing ... for whom oppression and cowardice were virtues ... and freedom, an obscenity.
"Into this new land, the Prophet stalked his enemy ... until, diminished by his wounds, he turned to the next in the ancient line of light. And so it was that the fate of all mankind came to rest on the trembling shoulders of the most reluctant of saviors.”
- Samson's introduction to Season Two
As the final war between Good and Evil looms, two powerful avatars divided by fate share one mission. For Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin, the race is on to find the elusive Henry Scudder - and the fate of the world depends on who finds him first ...
The second season of HBO's Depression-era gothic picks up where the first left off. Professor Lodz is dead. Ben, the show's protagonist, appears to be the culprit. Samson helps him dispose of the body.
Later he tells the other carnival workers that Lodz "took a powder." Lila doesn't buy it. Meanwhile, Sophie, who lost her mother to fire the previous year, feels unmoored without her guidance.
A few states away, Brother Justin harbors ever greater delusions of grandeur - and inappropriate thoughts about his sister, Iris. In "Alamagordo, NM," he decides to establish a temple, which he dubs Jericho.
At the same time, life amongst the carnies, who are heading towards Justin's California, is becoming increasingly tense. Ruthie, for instance, is starting to see dead people, like Lodz, and Stumpy is no longer able to keep his gambling in check.
As with the first season, the action continues to alternate between the carnival and the congregation. What binds the two is a man named Scudder, who has connections to Ben and Justin.
Some vital questions are answered, like the identity of Management (voiced by an un-credited Linda Hunt), and whether Ben and Justin will have a final showdown.