Carnivàle is a period piece set during the Great Depression, and consists of two main plot lines that are slowly converging. It deals primarily about the battle between good and evil.
The first involves a young man with strange healing powers (Ben Hawkins). He joins a travelling carnival when it passes his home. He soon has strange dreams and visions that sets him on the trail of a man named Henry Scudder.
The second revolves around a Methodist preacher (Brother Justin Crowe) who is Bens nemesis. Justin also seems to possess strange powers, but is the opposite of Ben.