Archive for the ‘Treme’ Category
It’ll swerve at the last minute…like it always does.
Episode 10: I’ll Fly Away (Finale)
“Who dead?”
– Anonymous Cabbie
“Play for that fucking money.”
– Antoine
“I been keeping time since yo’ diapers been full of that shit you talking now.”
– Albert
“Sounds like every motherfucker up in there is spinning.”
– Ladonna
What a stunning finale. I honestly almost cannot express how genius I found it. The key to the whole thing was the precise way in which it ended. By showing our characters right before Katrina we gained such a depth, such a clear understanding of not only the stakes of the storm—both personal and otherwise—but also the stakes of our commitments as viewers. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s all gonna’ work out…
Episode 9: Wish Someone Would Care
“It’s all gonna work out…”
– Antoine Batiste
“I’d rather my head dipped in duck fat and shoved in the French oven…”
– Jannette
“Fucking is fucking, but music…that’s personal”
– Annie’s friend
“I’m from the state of Texas, and no insult, but y’all have a defective work ethic.”
– The Texican
Wow…what to say? So many huge moments in this week’s episode. Obviously, the biggest is Creighton’s suicide. Then we also have Jannette’s decision to leave. I am certain that the ramifications of both of these decisions will be felt exponentially as it affects more and more characters on our show. Read the rest of this entry »
Whatever comes next is just a dream of what used to be…
First of all, massive props to the writers up to now and director of this episode for not making Mardi Gras the last episode of this season. It was a bold, unexpected, and ultimately rewarding move.
I’m going to focus for a moment on Sonny. As much as pretty much everyone dislikes him (and rightly so), there is something fascinating about his character. Note that a dimension is added this week in which Read the rest of this entry »
We are always our own worst enemy…
Well, it looks like I was right about Albert. We see him take action this week. What’s interesting about it is the way that the “community affairs” sergeant presents the problem: do we want justice or do we want democracy? In this sense, we see the same issue raised in a variety of arenas this week: from Creighton’s YouTube rant about the topic to the judge’s rant about New Orleans. The message that we seem to be getting this week is that the system is the problem, but we are the system, and so we are the problem. Read the rest of this entry »
Davis can save us…
Shallow Water, Oh Mama
“Fuck those fucking fucks.”
– Toni Bernette
In this episode, it is once again reinforced how working within the system is ultimately fruitless. We see this most explicitly in the character of the cop who simply quits after working for 8 days straight; we see it in the futility of both Toni’s attempts at playing by the rules of the bureaucracy (even with proper paperwork, nothing’s going to happen), and in Albert’s getting a trailer, when all he asked for was for his crew to return to their projects…which weren’t flooded or damaged. I think we also see this in Janette’s refusing to ask her staff to work for free. She realizes that she could probably systemically convince her employees to work, but that ultimately it wouldn’t change anything. Read the rest of this entry »
The wheels are off the cart…
“Chaos is a given.”
– Toni Bernette
What a great episode. The question I want to raise off the bat is what everyone thought about the leaving of the Texican? I didn’t seem to grasp what it was all about. Was he leaving because Sonny felt insecure with him around?
Once again the theme of anger surfaces, albeit this time explicitly. As Creighton’s acquaintance states: “There are times when anger is the only proper response.” We see this on display not only with Albert’s pushing the politician (a brilliantly filmed and acted scene), but also with Davis’s bar mishap. Read the rest of this entry »
Respectfully…I know how they jail…
Guys tossed sandwiches over the wire and laughed like they was feeding zoo animals. And we fought over those sandwiches, moldy as they was.
– Kevon White
What an elaborate and rewarding episode! There was so much going on in this episode that I will make a few stray observations this time around. Read the rest of this entry »
How to stop a bulldozer?
Episode 3: Right Place, Wrong Time
As we watch the Katrina tours bus drive away, we can’t but help ask this question which had earlier been posed to Albert: “how to stop a bulldozer?” Read the rest of this entry »
A man-made catastrophe of epic proportions…
Do You Know What It Means
Meet De Boys on the Battlefront
“People do a lot of dumb shit ‘cuz it’s easier.” – Albert
First of all, I want to thank Kathryn and Natalie for allowing me to return to the web to blog on this show for the moth chase. I will be here every Tuesday and very much look forward to the conversation that I hope this show will generate.
As everyone knows by now, David Simon’s and Eric Overmyer’s new show, Treme, deals with New Orleans three months after Katrina. I want to start my musings on the first two episodes by reference to another disaster: the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Read the rest of this entry »
Treme Fans – Watch This Space!
Dear Moth Chase friends,
Our friend, Martin – who wrote some fabulous commentary for us on Dollhouse – will be returning tomorrow to start a series of posts on Treme. Due to scheduling conflicts, his posts won’t be up until Tuesday mornings, but please check back then (and each Tuesday morning) to read what he has to say.
xoxo,
Natalie and Kathryn
