Treme - David Simon's New HBO Series - Page 3

By the way, you can listen to WWOZ online. That is the radio station Dave was a DJ for. Should be pretty good this weekend since we have JazzFest here (which by the way is the best time to come to the city - JazzFest or French Quarter Fest) and they do live broadcasts from there all weekend long.

It was great. Maybe even better than the first episode.

Davis is based on real-life musician/dj Davis Rogan.

Um...oh-oh? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...ns-420853.html

Loving the show. Two episodes in and it is already Must See TV.

I wish I had not read that.

yea that link is pretty shocking... i wonder if that's what they're doing. in which case my mind=blown.

Something tells me they're not touching shit like that on this show. What exactly, is the correlation between the show's characters and this couple, other than the fact that both are couples?

they both stuck it out during the storm. the thing about her flashing the police was the most glaring comparison though.

last week's clarke peters beat down proves the show has no problems with getting dark.

True, but there's a big difference with the darkness with that beat down and someone cooking and eating a human being. It almost screams too sensational to believe.

Then again, Simon does like to use real life stories and characters in his shows. So who knows?

In real life the guy was an Iraqi vet who also suffered through Katrina. PTSD most likely played a part in his snapping. I don't see that from the hippie-dippie DJ.

And nothing about the original couple made me think they were street musicians, which seems to be a big part of the characters on the show's deal.

Bullets is a real place? And Kermit plays there every Tuesday?

Looks like it.

Yes. Kermit is playing there tonight. Yall should really check out NOLA.com every Monday. Our local TV writer does a breakdown to explain things in the show. The place on the pilot he is playing is called Vaughn's in the area of the city called the Bywater.

And yes, Kermit does BBQ a lot.

Yeah, it's hard for me to see them going in that direction, the reference to the link just stated that Simon was buddies with the guy who reported it. The flashing the police thing is what most connects the two.

I'd say that it would seem too dark for the show, but then it is only two episodes in, and one never really knows what to expect from a David Simon show. It seems like something too sensational for a writer of his style to make up, but since he didn't make it up who knows. As others have stated, Treme does seem more 'slice of life' than concerned with tradition story tropes, but sometimes life comes in a really bloody, crazy, terrifying slice.

By the by, yeah, two eps in, best show on tv.

Also, it's not the DJ character anyone's drawing comparisons to, but the street musician who's already been shown to have something of a short fuse, if nothing to indicate he'd go cannibal.

I don't want to theorize that they are going this direction though, as there's nothing really to substantiate it. That said, if in an upcoming episode they mention that Sonny had served in Iraq prior to the storm...

But does it taste like pussy?

It somewhat "worries" me that Simon's whole authenticity schtick might RIP Goodman's character.

Oops, my mistake.

As to the pair of street musicians I'd suggest that everyone googles "Lucia Micarelli FHM" and thank me later.

Well, finally actually watched the first two episodes. And yeah, apologies for insinuating that this was a crazy idea.

Having read the article before viewing, it really does seem that they're being set up to be that couple. I don't know why else the little details would be thrown in.

You all DID notice the song he was singing, right? Something about being "thrown out of my happy home" and he's STARING right at her? The flashing the cops thing as well. Also, she seemed to be a bit irked/dissatisfied with him. And the guy moving in on her when he went to the bathroom seemed to tip off a possible cheating angle.

Could his supposed "hero work" during/after the storm be the show's source of his PTSD? I don't know, seems very likely they're setting up that storyline. Why else would they throw all those details at these two characters?
Seems like a weird thing to do if all they're doing is throwing "easter eggs" to people who remember that.



ETA: Damn, forgot the praise! This show is fucking amazing. It oozes vibe and really captures the spirit of New Orleans better than anything else I've seen.

i'd cook her

Was "i'd eat her" too obvious, or just too crude?

Just like that pussy in the article, Deanburger's got no follow through.

well, technically he didn't eat her, so that robs me of a good pun

She also did a mean version of Zepplin's Kashmir while on tour with Jethro Tull:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHsxmjpkeFI

Shit, good catch. Yeah, the song is about a guy who kills his woman.

I'm calling it, they're going there. That's the exact type of foreshadowing Simon goes for, like with (SPOILERS FOR THE ONE OR TWO PEOPLE WHO MAY NOT HAVE SEEN THE WIRE) Kennard pretending to be Omar two whole seasons before he kills him, as well as a whole season before his character is properly introduced.

Are y'all so desperate for straightforward plotting in this show?

And "exact type of foreshadowing" is an incredible stretch, what with the Omar situation being in a show designed as a greek myth and the whole Kenard thing not just being "the guy that will do it", but having the fact that it happens Omar precisely because of who he is and his own legend, and how as Bunk said, kids were not "glorifying [his] ass", and you know, everything that can be summarized as "the point." I actually would say The Wire didn't really have foreshadowing at all, but inevitable payoffs. I don't see the equivalence to Treme.

I don't see how the themes inherent in that example aren't part of a larger foreshadowing for an outcome that Simon himself stated he had planned out well in advance. The Wire was rife with foreshadowing, including in the first episode of the first season where Landsman bets McNulty he ends up on the boat.

And I don't personally care whether Treme has straightforward plotting (and would say actually, that were they to go in the direction some of us are predicting it's anything but straightforward) , as I'm enjoying it just fine.

It's simply that the parallels in the case and the set-up of the characters in the last episode are there, and the nature of such a turn are shocking enough that it's interesting to contemplate.

But if your point is that it's way too early to actually discuss such a turn of plot when there's not really anything concrete to it, you're probably right.

Yeah, I mean, to be honest, had you told me "the Mardi Gras Chief is going to assault the fuck out of someone next week", I would have thought "I'm not sure this show is going to be doing stuff like that", so it's not like any turn is entirely out of the realm of possibility, but so far, based on what Simon's intentions for the show seem to be, I can't quite reconcile why exactly he'd go there.

I'd say though that if they were to "go there", they'd establish the military stuff and not supplant ptsd to the storm, because when it comes to stuff like that, Simon's rules seem to be to "get it right". He might invent traditions like the Sunday truce or the cop funerals, but "real life" details are usually fairly specific, whether it's cops cooking stats or having the guy that jumped from an apartment in the scene where Omar is going to do it.

If we're playing predictions (and I kinda really don't want to, because this show feels very much like one you just have to let play), I'd say it's likelier Ashley Morris' death will end Goodman.

I thought the youtube bit in tonight's episode was really funny because sometimes I forget how long ago Katrina hit. It's still so fresh in my mind.

No Gulf War mention, but they're certainly pushing Sonny into a darker direction with this one. Yikes.

What was Goodman's problem with Davis? Did he just not like him, thought he was getting too close to his daughter, or both?

I think it was mostly the daughter thing, but I also think perhaps there was a little shred of irony since their personalities and interests are somewhat similar.

I really wish I hadn't read that article linked to earlier, just because I can't stop thinking about it when Sonny and Annie are on screen. Especially since, even if the show does go there, it might not be for a long time. Very distracting.

Loved everything about this episode. The stuff with Antoine. Davis' song. The end with Albert and company chasing off the tourists.

So next time I rewatch The Wire, I'm going to end up appreciating Lester Freamon as a performance way more, huh? There's this whole other range Clarke Peters never even hinted.

Holy fuck, that last scene. Sonnie could have chopped Annie to pieces and make beads out her bones for the next Mardi Gras, and I'd be thinking about that last scene. Worse is I had seen it mentioned, tourists and Albert, but I stopped reading everytime so I didn't expect it in context. Holy fuck.

edit: I always liked Joanie Stubbs (no Arjen), but I think this might end up being Kim Dickens' definitive role. Also: wow Khandi Alexander and hahahahaha John Goodman.

edit2: One thing tho, show ain't using the storm for any potential ptsd. Sonnie's overcompensating Annie being noticeably more talented.

I think Goodman's ting with Davis is what any parent goes through: we don't want others deciding what our children will be when they grow up; let them find it for themselves. My wife's family started saying and telling my son he was going to be a musician when he was playing with her guitar. Kid was 3 and thought the guitar was a funny toy; I basically told them not to tell him what he was going to do.

Oh, and you can still see those tour buses. It is a hard one for me. I don't like people profiting off of others misery; but I also want people to see what the fuck happened.

Katrina fucking tours? What the fuck? This seems so inconsiderate, so crass, it seems borderline sociopathic to me. And stopping to ask a bunch of people what they are doing like it's any of your business? What the hell? I can't believe these things fucking happen. If I were witnessing such stuff I'd probably be more hostile towards strangers coming in to gawk at my city than Davis and Sonnie are.

Well, if nothing else it definitely seems like they're laying the ground work with Sonny for a future coke problem.

Moving on, watching this show week-to-week is like watching a (friendly) boxing match between Clarke Peters and Wendell Peirce as to who is the best goddamn actor working today. And this is without them even having a scene together yet. Both are just the perfect personifications of entrenched dignity and weary irascibility that, no matter their faults, pride, or transgressions, you can't help but root for them all the way.

In a lot of ways I see similarities between those two characters and Creighton and Davis. Lambraux and Creighton are both professionals who are proud perhaps to a fault, angry and exasperated by the failures of the system that let the city drown.

Meanwhile, both Batiste and Davis are both struggling musicians who can't make steady money, and it kills either of them to have to compromise, even a little bit, what they see as their vocation.

The difference is that, for the former (the black guys), their struggles are much more immediate, and not something they choose to take up. Both the Chief and Creighton are confronted with the insensitivity of outsiders gawking or passing judgment on their city, but whereas with Creighton he chooses to give interviews, Lambraux has to watch a very meaningful ceremony get interrupted. Crieghton at one point yells to an interview that "We're dying over here!", but he does so from the comfort of his very nice study, in his home which only lost its roof. Lambraux actually has to discovery the body of someone very close to him, in a home that, like his own, was demolished.

Likewise, in this episode, Batiste and Davis are both arrested (and have to call in Leo's character to get them out), but whereas Davis did kind of provoke his arrest, Batiste is a victim of profiling and brutality. And whereas Davis can just borrow money from his folks and others, Batiste losing his instrument means he's fucked, financially.

Apologies for the ramble, just found it interesting.

Well, shit does flow downwards. The further up the ladder you are the less likely it is for you to get buried in it. The same trouble that for some would be a temporary inconvenience, would be practically catastrophic to others.

stelios,
you seemed to have leapt into exactly what Simon wanted you to...

Time

Sepinwall

One reading of the scene correctly illustrates that 95% of the viewers are actually the people on the bus. Because we're watching the show, we identify with the characters (the locals), but in reality (with a few exceptions) most of the viewers are not local. We are tourists as well.

Furthermore, NOLA itself was hopeful for tourism, one of the major draws of the city, after Katrina. The bus stated "New Orleans Tours", so it was probably a local business, before and after Katrina. They probably made more money from Katrina tours. That money hopefully worked it's way back into the city (bus maintenance, gas, shopping, etc). And maybe those tourists took pictures and told their friends back home, and maybe some donations found their way to the Red Cross and eventually some folks who could use the help.

It's absolutely crass to take a tourbus into a devastated city. But it wasn't done maliciously. It's why morons slow down to look at accidents. It's why "if it bleeds, it leads". But it also helped NOLA get back on it's feet. Those same tourists from our voyeuristic culture (the US, not the THEM, since are tourists as well, watching the show) did their own part to help.

A little more on the tour bus, courtesy of NOLA's website and the Times-Picayune:

NOLA's weekly "insider" rundown (required reading IMO)

Episode Review - Right Time, Wrong Place

Even though I haven't lived in New Orleans, I've visited enough and also lived through many hurricanes, one of them quite major (Ivan), that so much of the "life in the aftermath" stuff really hits home.

Such a strange, eerie and unique atmosphere to live in. "Civilization" really does come to a screeching halt for what feels like an eternity before slowly reassembling.


That said, I can totally empathize with the conundrum facing people in that city after the storm re: tourists. You cry and moan (understandably) about "look at what happened! help!" and then naturally, people are going to want to see. And they should see it, because you honestly cannot in ANY way comprehend that shit from photos or video. AT ALL.

Plus, New Orleans is a big tourist destination to begin with. It's only natural that people will want to see what happened, and all things considered, it's probably better they're on a "sanctioned/official" tour than wandering around by themselves.

First, great posts in here. I particularly like Vasquez's character analysis. Well done.

I've seen a lot of people criticize the show for holding viewers at a distance. One critic wrote "it forbids you from loving it while asking you to respect it." These folks seem to think that characters like Davis and Creighton are the "voice" of the show, articulating Simon and Overmeyer's rage. They also think that last show fairly cut and dry; we are the tourists on the bus. We want to know what NOLA is all about, we want to learn. But it's not our city. We're invaders, strangers in a strange land, more signals of the storm, more signs that things have changed and will never be the same.

But just like the show makes great pains to point out the self-righteous characters faults, I find that last scene terribly complex and one of the best of the show so far. Yeah, it's horrific that these tourists roll up in the middle of this ceremony. But these people care like we care, they're interested like we're interested. They want to know more, they want to learn, their curious. And these aren't really faults. It's just unfortunate that they rolled up when they did. The episode is called "Right Place Wrong Time" after all.

Further, both Davis and Creighton, the supposed "voices of reason" are proven wrong at two separate times throughout the episode. Davis argues that his neighbors are committing gentrification, but he comes off as the loser of that argument, and even worse, he doesn't even begin to admit it. The man is a NOLA regular and he keeps up with all of his clever references. But Davis still assumes he's a preppy buzzkill.

Meanwhile, Creighton finds someone that shares his own sensibilities about the city and sees him as a threat (Davis). And as Vasquez notes, his rage is a comfortable one. He yells out that they're dying from the comfort of his cushy home one episode. Two episodes later, he's explaining to his daughter not-so-delicately why they're so privileged.

This is the ep that was filming when I worked on the show for a week. And God I loved Goodman's character's rant. I think we all have been there and still go there a lot. And feeling it a bit more this week thanks to BP.

Edited to add: I go from Treme to the local news and watching our fisherman just be destroyed by this oil leak. God it hurts.

You could really play a whose who with Treme to identify musicians and writers on this show.

If Sonny murders and cooks Annie I'm going to be severely depressed.

Another really solid episode. One question: is Steve Earle playing himself or someone else? Doesn't seem like he'd be playing streetcorners. It's confusing and distracting to have him play a musician who's not him. I like to think that Waylon from The Wire learned to play the mandolin and moved to New Orleans.

I like that Creighton seems to be warming up to Davis a little, and I have a feeling that Goodman and Zahn are going to play off each other really well as that relationship grows.

And Antoine's 'bone is fucked. Even if Toni can find it, it won't be playable again, there's a pretty clear shot of one of the cops kicking the slide, and it made me wince last episode and again in the 'previously on' this week.

I don't know how Simon does it. That little bit with Goodman warming up to Zahn was so sweet. There's a level of patience in the character arcs that I haven't seen anywhere outside of The Wire. I'm really happy they're getting another season because I'm excited to see who is the Pres of the show, AKA the guy who is in the background now but will have a huge part later.

I have to say, if I did see Steve Earle playing a street corner here, I would not be surprised (and was that his son Justin playing with him?). He wouldn't be the only famous musician to spend a day or part of a day playing the streets of the Quarter or Marigny just for fun - some have done it after they became famous because they did it before they were famous.

By the way, NOLA gets a new mayor today. Thank god Nagin is gone. Now he can go to Dallas or some other plastic city to live and leave us the fuck alone.

JazzFest was awesome this past weekend. While walking in, I was walking right next to the dude from the first episode who's negotiating the "fee" for participating in the second line.

Not suprised that he'd be doing it so much as that so few would be watching, I guess. Davis was inside the bar!