SDCC 2019: Philo and Vignette's Stories Revealed in New CARNIVAL ROW Trailers

During SDCC, Amazon’s latest TV series Carnival Row released not one but two trailers for the upcoming fantasy show. We’re introduced to a world where the mythical creatures of lore live side by side with humanity. Racial tensions emerge and one city, known as the Burg, becomes a powder keg waiting to explode.

The first teaser we learn about Rycroft Philostrate aka Philo, a human orphan who grew up in the Burg. He recalls a time when the humans and mythical creatures lived side by side in peace and harmony. However, war broke out between the races and humanity was leading the charge. Philo joined the army in order to repay a debt he believed he owed the city that raised him. That’s when he met and fell in love with Vignette, a fae woman. Happiness didn’t last long though as the two were forced from each other. When he returns home to his city, magical refugees are pouring in with no where else to go. Philo decides to become a detective and “defend those who cannot defend themselves”. Will he be able to reunite with his love or will the dangerous city streets claim them both?

Meanwhile Vigenette Stonemoss is a proud fae who languishes in the history of the magical folk. They’re the “stewards of riches and secrets that [humanity] will never know.” All of that changed when the war began and she met Rycroft. However, as we learned, they were quickly parted. Soon, her home fell and she fled, ending up in the racially charged Burg. Her people have become slaves to the humans living there. With her lands gone, Carnival Row is her new home. Though things seem dark and hopeless, she believes she is the light.

The show doesn’t look too bad! I’m very much a fan of a Victorian series with magic in it – that checks a lot of boxes for me. However this show looks like it’ll be a bit dark with sex, murder, and scenes of racism. The trailers gave off a melodramatic vibe and it’s unclear if that will bleed over into the series. These stories are just prologues after all, so who knows. Will the series be able to pull off an entertaining show? We’ll have to wait and see.

Check out the trailers below and let us know what you think! Be sure to come back to Geek Girl Authority for more fantasy TV news.

Carnival Row stars Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, David Gyasi, Tamzin Merchant, Andrew Gower, Karla Crome, Indira Varma, Jared Harris, Simon McBurney, Arty Froushan and Caroline Ford.

Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne star in Carnival Row, a Victorian fantasy world filled with mythological immigrant creatures. Feared by humans, they are forbidden to live, love, or fly with freedom. But even in darkness, hope lives, as a human detective and a faerie rekindle a dangerous affair. The city’s uneasy peace collapses when a string of murders reveals a monster no one could imagine.