I'm not really into black chicks, but Khandi Alexander has a fucking fine body

5/25/2010 2:16:42 AM

lol go watch her in the corners as a heroin addict

[Edited on May 27, 2010 at 2:59 PM. Reason : she do look good though. and i am into black chicks]

5/27/2010 2:59:31 PM

^haha yes.

she has a smoking hot body in treme, but damn she was haggard looking in the corner.

is anyone else starting to get sick of ol mopey-annie? i realize that the character has quite a few hardships to deal with, but i feel like every time we see her she looks like a little girl who just got yelled at by her parents.

5/27/2010 3:47:44 PM

i thought the mardi gras episode was good.

did we know before that john goodman's character was not originally from new orleans? i don't remember that being referenced before. i thought it was interesting considering how passionate he is about the city.

6/10/2010 9:14:16 AM

just watched last night's episode

by far one of the best

and nooooo!!!

6/14/2010 8:32:52 PM

the Mardi Gras episode was awesome, and Sunday's was really good as well but very much a downer.

6/16/2010 3:17:28 PM

the final daymo scene seemed like it was trying a bit too hard for Simon, but otherwise, great season (series? they doing more than one season of this?)

6/21/2010 9:33:45 PM

I want a second line for my funeral

6/21/2010 11:54:49 PM

^^^^^ Creighton was based off of Ashley Morris: http://www.nola.com/treme-hbo/index.ssf/2010/04/blogger_ashley_morris_provides.html




As TWW's resident New Orlenian, I enjoyed the first season of this show. If you were expecting car chases and explosions, this wasn't the show for you. It's important to remember that the show follows a series of characters' reactions to living in New Orleans post-Katrina. It appears to lack a plot at times, but other than a given character's movement through life, that isn't the aim. We get to see several real struggles people dealt with post-Katrina:

- LaDonna is separated from her husband and children (they live in Baton Rouge, which is 80 miles west of New Orleans; most NOLA natives don't go further west than the airport, located in Kenner) and can't move with them because she can't tempt her mother to follow her. Maybe now that the Daymo situation is resolved she'll have more luck with that.

- Janette works 15-hour days to keep her restaurant open, leaving her little energy, money, or time to work on her house. We ultimately see her accept a painful defeat.

- Creighton longs for the New Orleans of the past. He notices that even Mardi Gras isn't the same anymore. Winds up going for a one-way swim that was timely for the show, because a flame as strong as his was couldn't burn forever. His message would have eventually gotten stale. Davis has similar problems wanting the old New Orleans back, and early in the series we see him struggle with his temper a lot, but he seems to come to accept the city for what it is. It's telling that Creighton, who had the most going for him, wound up taking the easy way out. Suicide was a tragic reality of the times.

- Antoine's pre-Katrina life seemed pretty stable (he even had a car, or at least his new woman did) and now he's playing odd-job gigs wherever he can (strip club, airport) to keep afloat.

- Sonny is dealing with the reality that he's just not as good a musician as he may think he is, whereas Annie is getting invited to play very classy gigs. Sonny's insecurity makes him insufferable, and I feared season 1 would end with him paralleling Zach Bowen (google him). I feared for Annie. At the most, I can say that Sonny's darkness fits in that everyone on the show couldn't be angelic.

- Albert can't find his fellow Mardi Gras Indians. Typically, a tribe consists of a Spy Boy (stays ahead of the pack and checks for other tribes), a Flag Boy (lets everyone know what tribe they're watching), a Wild Man (keeps the path clear), then Big Chief, Second and Third Chief, and Trail Chief, all with their accompanying queens. Any further tribe members are just regular Indians behind the Trail Chief. Neither Albert's tribe (Guardians Of Flames) nor the tribe they encountered wearing the yellow (Congo Nation) was anywhere near full strength. It was good to see them pass respectfully.



I'll write more later when I'm not falling asleep at the keys

[Edited on June 22, 2010 at 6:24 AM. Reason : 23]

6/22/2010 6:22:35 AM

^I like how you try to equate people who didn't like it to people who are looking for car chases and explosions. And no need to write a fucking essay -- we all know what the show is about, we are not dumb or confused.

It had a lot of good points, but it also had a huge weakness. The Wire had no such fault. You can't really rationalize the difference away.

6/22/2010 11:16:48 PM

^ what did you think the huge weakness was? i'm not trolling / flaming - i'm just interested in hearing your criticism.

also, does anyone else think this is going to be a one-season show? i feel like the last episode could have been a suitable ending for the series...

6/23/2010 8:34:50 AM

Sleik why did you write a 2nd grade book report? If someone is posting in this thread it's pretty clear they've watched.

6/23/2010 10:21:27 AM

^^^ Car chases and explosions are a figure of speech. What I'm trying to say is that Treme isn't going to be an action-packed show. It's more about following characters through the unknown that was life in New Orleans post-Katrina. Some people get in their own way and prevent themselves from enjoying a really good show. I didn't watch The Wire as it progressed; some critics of the show admit that the activity significantly increased in season 3, and it's almost as though those same critics want Treme to somehow carry over that energy that The Wire had when it concluded.

^^ a second season has already been green-lit. I think we're going to see the return of crime element, as well as more commentary on the inner workings of local politics.

^ I know people who watched all 10 episodes and have no clue what they were looking at. I thought their right-before-Katrina lives gave an interesting snapshot into every major character's role.

6/23/2010 3:43:28 PM

Quote :

"a second season has already been green-lit. I think we're going to see the return of crime element, as well as more commentary on the inner workings of local politics."

ahh good stuff - even though i think it could have ended after this season, i really enjoyed it and will be glad to keep watching.

haha - crime and commentary on local politics - what was that other show david simon did?....

6/23/2010 4:08:34 PM

One of the criticisms was the lack of crime in season 1. Violent crime didn't really become an issue until over a year after the storm had passed. The thugs got sick of being irrelevant in Houston, Atlanta, and Baton Rouge and came back home to start stirring shit up. I don't really mean that.

6/24/2010 4:06:38 PM

Quote :

"It had a lot of good points, but it also had a huge weakness. The Wire had no such fault. You can't really rationalize the difference away."

I'm not sure what huge weakness you're describing, I thought the first season was excellent. It seems to me that alot of people are hating on Treme because it isn't The Wire: New Orleans, but that obviously wasn't what David Simon was going for and I didn't really want a rehash of The Wire set in a new locale anyway. I'm sure some people also found fault in the show's glacial pacing, but there was enough mood and atmosphere to keep me interested even when the plot wasn't moving along very much.

6/25/2010 4:14:15 PM

as someone who has been to NOLA many many times for mardi gras and to visit i can say that i really enjoyed the hell out of this and I am so happy that a second season has been given the go ahead.

i am also happy as hell that they didnt make this anywhere near what The Wire or any of his other shows were. i have witnessed and been apart of mardi gras traditions, tons of the parades, the indians, the parties, the costumes. its all great. seeing the struggles post Katrina from all the different point of views made the show for me. The musicians featured in the show was simply outstanding.

i, too, want a second line at my funeral.

6/25/2010 9:22:11 PM

well i finally finished watching this tonight and I was very impressed by the complexity of the characters and how intimately I got to know them. I think it would have been cool to see a few more flashbacks to the storm and the the few days afterward with all the confusion and struggles, but maybe in season 2?

Sleik thanks for explaining the Indian tradition...I didnt quite understand what was going on there. Definitely looking forward to another season.

Anyways bttt for a great show

8/4/2010 11:33:38 PM

say what?

2/28/2011 3:11:39 PM

The new season premieres on April 24th at 10pm, but the more exciting news is that Anthony Bourdain is now writing the Kim Dickens/restaurant storyline.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/anthony-bourdain-joins-treme-writing-staff,52485/

2/28/2011 3:13:48 PM

Fuck. Yes.

2/28/2011 5:29:41 PM

Some casting tidbits for the premiere on Sunday: David Morse as a Police Lieutenant trying to deal with increasing crime and Jon Seda (recently seen on The Pacific) as a carpetbagging developer. It's going to be a killer Sunday night lineup for HBO with this and Game of Thrones.

4/19/2011 2:04:34 PM

omgomgomgomg can't wait for new season

4/19/2011 2:30:58 PM

I thought the premiere was pretty strong, good to see James Ransone (Ziggy Sobotka) show up and Juvenile performing with Antoine was the icing on the cake.

4/26/2011 1:20:24 PM

Juvenile wasnt performing w/ antoine, was he?

Quote :

"(as also evidenced by a set in which Juvenile jams with Galactic and the Dirty Dozen Brass band toward the end of the episode)"

http://www.avclub.com/articles/accentuate-the-positive,55010/


embed?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2kpMwaGQ1s

5/1/2011 11:01:58 PM

Khandi Alexander was just devastating in the latest episode

5/10/2011 2:44:32 AM

^ agreed.

Great episode, best of the early season by far. Wendell Pierce is awesome.

5/10/2011 6:33:28 AM

HBO just renewed Treme for a third season...glad to hear it.

5/13/2011 5:26:39 PM

Episodes 1 and 3 of the new season were awesome, episode 2 was just okay.

[Edited on May 13, 2011 at 6:15 PM. Reason : whoops, misunderstood]

5/13/2011 6:14:29 PM

Gotta be honest, this show is starting to lose me. First few episodes of this season were fantastic, but right now, the show seems to lack both a purpose and a glue that keeps all the characters and stories together. It's starting to feel pretty repetitive and fractured.

5/30/2011 6:55:26 PM

^agreed. i haven't been as motivated to tune in as i was last season, just has gotten kind of boring.

5/30/2011 9:23:16 PM

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/07/david-simon-loves-new-orleans-too-much-to-make-treme-interesting/241299/

Quote :

"To get an idea of just how little drama is present in HBO's Treme, which wraps up its second season this Sunday, just read the online plot synopses. They contain lines like: "Antoine Batiste is doing right by the young people" and "Janette Desautel has found her groove at Lucky Peach" or "Sonny is moving forward on all fronts." That's what a show without conflict sounds like. The most obvious problem with Treme is that it is boring"

Can't say that I disagree with any of that, but I still watch because the music is bad ass and New Orleans seems interesting.

7/4/2011 6:06:40 PM

^The last three episodes of the second season really revved it up. The finale was stellar, IMO.

The first season was kind of the same way--the first few episodes were intriguing, the middle episodes got really boring, and then they really ramped it up for the last few episodes. They need to start finding a way to hit their stride earlier in the season. With David Simon, though, that shouldn't be a problem; The Wire always wasted no time in delving right into the story. I'm cautiously optimistic about Season 3.

Anyway, there were several scenes from the finale last night that stood out to me: the construction worker asking his cousing what exactly he does and his cousin not having a satisfactory answer, the scene with LaDonna and her husband, the scene where Lieutenant Colson goes to Toni's office to get evidence from her. All good stuff. It felt good to finally get fully engaged with the show again.

7/5/2011 11:43:08 AM

I "watch" it for the music, as well.

Really just listen and do other stuff and look up when it seems like something might be happening.

7/5/2011 4:01:06 PM

The last 3 episodes revved it up? Yeah right -- they resolved most of the conflicts by just waiting the problems out.

Little girl and suicide
Black chick and rape
Both bands breaking up
Annie getting over the shooting will most certainly just go away with time
European guy getting with asian chick

Is the crooked cops thing even a major storyline??

The column is right. All of these problems had very little drama, and the resolutions weren't that interesting.

I buy the idea that David Simon gave up on making a show that would be interesting to anyone outside of New Orleans. I am curious to see how many seasons it gets. You gotta believe they lost a lot of viewership.

7/5/2011 9:31:32 PM

whatever that last ep was stellar. maybe not up to Simon's level, but stellar compared to most tv

Quote :

"the scene with LaDonna and her husband,"

that shit was money

7/6/2011 12:20:01 AM

The bounce show at Kings last night was pretty ridiculous and awesome.

Thought this belonged here more than it would in the concerts thread.

9/18/2011 11:11:56 AM

Last season premieres tonight at 9. Get excited people!

12/1/2013 7:47:06 PM

Hell of a series. Loved the last season. Anyone else watch it?

1/21/2014 1:00:43 PM

I did... the last season seemed more like an epilogue than a true final season, but I guess that's what I should have expected from five episodes. Still loved the series and was sad to see it go.

1/21/2014 1:38:22 PM