David Simon said in an interview that when he first started brainstorming Treme, he initially wanted to do a series set in New Orleans about culture, and how a city’s culture defines the people who live there. That’s a pretty broad stroke to paint any series with, but while Treme has a narrower focus that zeroes in on those first few months after Hurricane Katrina, it’s fair to say at this point that Simon stayed remarkably true to his original vision.
With every passing episode, it becomes more and more apparent that, perhaps even more so than its stellar ensemble cast, the real star of the series is New Orleans. The stuff that fills the background, be it the shots of Bourbon Street, the decaying neighborhoods and just the background music behind the dialogue are often times the stuff that carries the show to the next level. The story lines involving the characters are hardly the stuff of a big, edge of your seat, tune in next week to find out what happens kind of drama, something HBO did insanely well with shows like The Sopranos. Instead, everything in Treme is very grounded and low key, even at its tersest moments. But it’s great slice of life TV that feels authentic. The attention to detail and the way it embraces the city’s culture carries it a long way.
Episode 6 felt that way, even more than the episodes that preceded it. This week, Antoine works in earnest to get his mentor back on his feet after an illness, offering up the brand new trombone he scored in last week’s episode, Albert continues to go to war with city officials over securing housing for his Mardi Gras tribe, while his son Delmont is harvesting his own feelings of resentment toward his father. Creighton’s fear of losing his book deal goes out the window when the publisher reemphasizes its interest in his book, although they now want something concerning Katrina and not his original topic. Sonny’s mounting coke problem continues to drive a wedge between him and Annie, Janette is forced to face some hard realities by closing to doors to her restaurant indefinitely, Toni gets the break she’s been looking for in her search for Daymo and Davis embarks on an almost farcical pursuit of public office.
Other tidbits…..
- I wonder what’s keeping Annie with that shitbum loser Sonny. He was always stubborn and sort of an asshole, but now that he’s drove headfirst into drug addiction he’s really flown off the handle. When she returned after Sonny tattooed her across the face with his left hand, I just had to wonder why. I’d have to guess she’ll ultimately jump ship, but I wonder when.
- I think the relationship between albert and Delmont is getting pretty interesting. Albert has a son and a daughter, but it’s clear that he takes his role as Mardi Gras chief as seriously as he does his role as a father, if not more so. And you could see the resentment on Delmont’s face as he played on stage, noting that his father was more concerned with shaking hands and politicking than he was watching and supporting his son’s endeavors. I also thought the scene where Delmont drops by his father’s Mardi Gras rehearsal, and how he almost grudgingly started to clap and sing along, was one of the most telling and well executed of the episode. In spite of his issues with his Dad, he respects him and accepts him for who he is.
- Janette’s decision to finally close the doors to her restaurant was really sad, especially seeing as how she seemed to be catching some nice breaks last week. Torn between asking her staff to hang in there for a week without pay so she could catch up on her mounting bills and waving the white flag, she did the hard but honorable thing and closed up. She gave it her all, but she fell victim to the city’s uncertain business climate. it’ll be interesting to see where she goes from here.
-The opening scene with Davis hitting the campaign trail, literally parading through the streets on a float with dancers, was pretty great. Politicians take note: Davis can save us.
RB
