"Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."
So said Red, played by Morgan Freeman in the classic 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption.
For long-suffering Carlton fans, hope has been too dangerous to even ponder after finishes of 16th, 14th, 18th and 13th in the past four seasons. Not only have the battered Blues lost far more games than they've won in recent years, they've also struggled to fulfil football's most obvious task - kick goals. The Blues have not scored 100 points in a match since round 11, 2016.
While they weren't able to claim a famous victory against the battle-hardened Tigers as the AFL returned to centre stage in Thursday night's season-opener at the MCG, Carlton fans at least were able to reintroduce themselves to hope.
Hope could be found in the Charlie Curnow's jaw-dropping five-goal performance, including a barely believable boundary-line snap across his body in the first term and another goal out of nothing in the third.
Hope could also be found in Patrick Cripps' insatiable appetite for contested possessions, in Jarrod Garlett's sparkling debut in navy blue, in Caleb Marchbank's industriousness down back, in Sam Petrevski-Seton's cleanness and creativity, Liam Jones' continued redemption and Zac Fisher's dash.
Most notably though, hope could be found in Carlton's attitude. They jumped their opponents with the opening five goals of the match, the previously dour Blues replaced by a brazen, bold, barnstorming version that looked right at home on the wide expanses of the MCG.
A victory wasn't forthcoming, as Richmond slowly gained the ascendancy but it was a titanic, see-sawing battle, befitting the occasion in front of a crowd of 90,151. And while the Blues again failed to crack the 100-point mark, their effort to post a score of 15.5 (95) was highly promising considering Richmond conceded an average of only 74 points per match last season.
The Blues lost, but they won hope.
Carlton coach Brendon Bolton, who has often spoken of the "green shoots" of regeneration since taking over at Carlton in 2016, was bitterly disappointed after the match. He did though admit there were several promising signs for the Blues after such a barren run, paying particular praise to rising star Curnow.
"There were positive signs with our ball use ... some of it was really, really exciting, but some of it was a bit indifferent, I think we over-handballed from time to time, but there was definitely some growth," he said.
"He [Curnow] is a fantastic player, he kicked five goals ... we know we've got a special talent and we're rapt to have him but most importantly he understands and we understand there's huge growth still and his mindset will allow him to continue to get better, so that's exciting."
Of course, there's a gigantic difference between hope and expectation, and no doubt even the most optimistic Carlton fan isn't dreaming of premiership glory this year despite the back-to-back premiership fairytales of the Western Bulldogs and Richmond in the past two years.
But as The Shawshank Redemption's Andy Dufresne wrote in a letter after his escape: "Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
Despite losing on Thursday night, Blues fans would now agree. Hope is a good thing.