Here we are, five weeks in, and Treme is still hands down the best thing on TV. Take your Glee and your Lost and your precious Idol and shove it, politely speaking of course.
This is a show that, for me at least, gets richer, fuller and fatter by the episode. Like those classic New York-centric Woody Allen films of the 70’s, Treme is entrenched in local color and the eclectic New Orleans milieu. Whether you’ve visited the Big Easy or not, something about the show just feels right.
But I digress. Here’s what went down this week: Sonny’s drug buddy from Houston has been crashing with him, much to Annie’s dismay. Antoine finds some unexpected companionship from a well to do jazz fan from the Far East who kindly buys him a new trombone, Albert and his tribe are ready to march but are being met with resistance from city and state officials, Davis gets back into the studio with some friends, Creighton’s internet celebrity continues to blossom while his book deal falls to pieces, Janette’s restaurant gets a much needed boost thanks to some upscale clientele, and some treacherous motherfuckers decided to shoot up a parade.
Some stray thoughts:
-A small note, but Creighton’s had six years to pul together his novel and only now the publisher is considering pulling the plug? Are publisher’s really that patient? I doubt it. And what the fuck has he been doing all this time? Talk about writer’s block.
-Once again, Davis steals the goddamn show, and I’m not complaining. From the opening scene where he’s manically pitching his benefit record to anyone and everyone who will listen to the studio performance of his free associative anti-Bush rant, it was vintage Davis: crazed, overzealous and hyper impassioned in the most big hearted and gregarious of ways. There’s a real Jack Black-ish quality to him that I really warm up to.
-I was really happy to see Janette find some good news and happiness in this episode. In a show that focuses ostensibly by and large on people at the lowest points in their lives, it feels like Janette’s having a rougher go of it than most, or at least she’s caving under the pressure more than most of the other characters. That said, it was cool to see her get some kind words of encouragement from some prominent New York chefs of repute. Here’s to hoping there’s more good luck in her way in the future.
-The shooting at the parade caught me by surprise, but I’d imagine that’s generally the feeling whenever anyone here’s gunshots at close range. While the show has thus far gone to considerable lengths to highlight the more festive aspects of New Orleans life and culture, the scene opened up a window into a bleaker reality, that being a crime problem facing the city that has only intensified since the hurricane. And with the polie department undrstaffed, maybe the shooting is an omen of things to come in future episodes.
Stay tuned.
RB
