In which I insist that you all watch a TV show

[sabotabby]

I just finished the first season of Treme, and holy hot DAMN it was some of the most amazing TV I've ever seen. It's one of those rare shows that actually qualifies as Proper Art (of the others, Mad Men is probably the only one I've gotten into; I'll accept the arguments that The Wire is brilliant, but I couldn't get past my own triggers enough to enjoy it).

Treme is also by David Simon, and has some of the same elements that worked so well in The Wire: city-as-character, heavily stylized dialogue, a diverse cast of characters, many of whom are poor and marginalized, and a sprawling, inept bureaucracy that fails its citizens. It's substantially more optimistic even as it's heartbreaking—the characters, for the most part, are fighting battles they're destined to lose—but one never gets the sense of nihilism and despair that made it so difficult for me to watch The Wire.

But enough of comparisons—those are for critics, and I'm a silly fannish genre person. Treme is post-apocalyptic fiction about a ragtag band of survivors. It's just that the apocalypse in question is a very real one: the destruction of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and the struggle for the city's culture and identity in the aftermath. (It's also arguably a musical, but that's entirely necessary given the setting.)

So! Some of the things that are great about it:




Khandi Alexander as LaDonna lights up the screen every second she's on it. She's a bar owner whose brother went missing after being arrested just before the hurricane. Just watching her, you can viscerally feel her exhaustion—absolutely everything has gone wrong for this woman, but she's just too strong a person to give in.


Albert Lambreaux (Clarke Peters) is probably my favourite character on the show, a construction worker and Mardis Gras Indian chief whose initial straightforward and small-scale goal—to bring his tribe back together and parade on Saint Joseph's Day with new costumes, despite having lost all of his possessions and much of his tribe to the flood—is thwarted by shock doctrine capitalism and corrupt policing.

There's wonderful characterization and writing overall, and I don't want to spoil too many of the plot twists, but I do need to tell you about a sequence near the end that filled me with incredible joy. One of the main relationships in the first season is between Davis, a slacker DJ and musician and generally annoying brat, and Janette, an accomplished chef who loses her business after her insurance payments get delayed. Janette is clearly ambitious and talented, and too good for Davis, though they do seem to care about each other.

Eventually, she decides to move to New York after her second business starts to fail and her roof, damaged in the flood, springs one too many leaks. As she's packing, Davis pulls a grand romantic gesture and begs her to stay. She laughs it off, whereupon he clarifies that he has no illusions about their relationship—he's not begging on his own behalf, but on behalf of the city that needs her. It's a neat subversion of the rom-com/indie movie cliché where the woman is forced to choose between the irresponsible manchild and a job offer in another city—instead, the irresponsible manchild begs the woman to prioritize her career, her passion, and her sense of place over what's easy and safe. (He fails, of course, though I hope not permanently because her character is awesome.)

Oh, and the music is fantastic, and the cinematography is breathtaking. Here's a trailer, which probably conveys more than my early-morning, under-caffeinated ranting ever could:

Watch on YouTube

(rohmie: Okay, I can now talk spoilers for season 1; just don't tell me about season 2 yet.)

Comments

[cdaae.livejournal.com]

Now I know what I'm watching once I've finished with the X-Files (my current marathon series) - ty, because I hadn't heard of Treme.

[sabotabby]

Neither had I until rohmie insisted I watch it.

Not in the same category, but have you seen Fringe? I was obsessed with X-Files back in the day and Fringe gives me the same type of squee that I used to get from watching it.

Glad you're loving it

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

I don't know how or when or if I'm going to properly write about Treme. The richness of the thing makes it intimidating to even try.

For now, I'll just reiterate what you've said and note that, given the setting and the dramatic expectations of even well-written television, there is very little violence in the show — and that when it shows up, it is shocking, brutal and not remotely pornographic.

How far into The Wire did you get?

Re: Glad you're loving it

[sabotabby]

Yeah, I think rohmie's review covered it a lot better than my flailing and squeeing. I might possibly write something more specific later on, but right now I just can't get over how spectacular it is.

For now, I'll just reiterate what you've said and note that, given the setting and the dramatic expectations of even well-written television, there is very little violence in the show — and that when it shows up, it is shocking, brutal and not remotely pornographic.

Absolutely. That was another thing that hit me—like the scene where Antoine gets punched by a cop, you barely see it because it's dark, and it's over quickly but the fallout lasts for two episodes. Because in real life, that's how it happens.

I watched the first season of The Wire, which is apparently not the season I was supposed to see. I keep thinking that I should give it another chance, but I have this thing about watching depictions of drug addiction and dealing that I just can't get over. It's kind of funny because Treme has a scene that's very similar to the one I found most triggering in The Wire, but it didn't have the same effect (I think because it didn't involve someone I'm supposed to root for. Or something.).

[sabotabby]

It's depressing, but it's not depressing in a way that makes one depressed, if that makes sense. And they tend to break up the most brutal parts with musical numbers.

("I married a god-damn musician," heh).

Oh man. It's one of the best relationships (or non-relationships; they're long-divorced) on the show—you can completely see why they got together and how they still carry a torch for each other, and you can see why it didn't work out, and now they're both married to boring stable people but everyone still has to be an adult and interact and deal.

[oldfemmejournal.livejournal.com]

I just started season 2. It's sooooo good. How great are the scenes of all of the dudes doing fine embroidery work on their Mardi Gras costumes? And John Goodman. Poor John Goodman. I have grown to love Davis. He becomes quite loving and charming in the second season. All of these characters are multidimensional. It's so captivating and the music is so amazing! So much music in each episode. I am learning so much about New Orleans by watching it.

[sabotabby]

Oh God. I love that they're all into looking pretty. And yet everything about that is delivered with such gravitas.

I'm sad that there will be no more of John Goodman's character. Apparently the real person he's based on also died.

And yeah, Davis grew on me. Partially because of the bit I mentioned in the post, but also because his entire arc could be summed up by "stupid privileged white boy gets told, then has to own his shit." One doesn't see a lot of that done well on telly.

[queerasmoi.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing that John Goodman agreed to only sign up for one season. In the real chronology of the guy his character is based on, he died of heart failure in 2008. But yeah, he did an amazing job on that character.

I agree about Davis, he has a good heart but lots of imperfections. Like several other characters. Which really shows that they put some work into assembling them so that we would get a sense of their humanity.

Khandi Alexander's ability to tell entire stories with subtle facial expressions is just beyond compare. Like that scene where she hammers out a deal on her terms with the contractor, and you see her lips turn up... but she is not smiling, but rather baring her teeth.

[treehavn.livejournal.com]

Avoiding much of this post for spoilage but: I've actually got the first two seasons of Treme on my hard drive, and was wanting to get into some compulsive viewing Good TV (I watch an epic amount of embarrassing shit). Thanks for directing my viewing choices for the next couple of weeks.

[sabotabby]

Waaatch it now.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

hm, maybe i'll give it a shot.
(although series teevee and i don't usually get along so well.)

[sabotabby]

I actually love series teevee more than movies. There's more potential for depth of storytelling, which is quite often squandered, but is quite apparent in this show.

[smhwpf.livejournal.com]

Treme is a show I definitely want to see. Definitely gonna get the DVDs at some point. The fact that it's David Simon, and has Wire alumni like Clarke Peters in it adds to the appeal.

[sabotabby]

You should! Don't wait for the DVDs; torrent it.

[peaseblossom.livejournal.com]

You're right: Treme is fantastic! Khandi Alexander in the first season finale was pretty much the best acting I've ever seen. Second season is also great, phenomenal acting and music.

[sabotabby]

What else is she in? I now want to watch everything she's done.

[rohmie.livejournal.com]

(rohmie: Okay, I can now talk spoilers for season 1; just don't tell me about season 2 yet.)

Actually, you will probably see season 2 before I do. I wait for my library to get the DVDs.

[rohmie.livejournal.com]

Also, this mini documentary provides a lot of cultural context that will enhance your appreciation of the show. Normally, I don't care for DVD extras, but this one is exceptional. It's not your standard puffy "Making of -" feature. It explains obscure New Orleans traditions and it contains no spoilers.

Also, you can see the real Davis.

[sabotabby]

Cool; I shall check it out.

Re: just dumping this here...

[sabotabby]

You are an evil woman. Now I'm going to have to listen to this.

[thegiantkiller.livejournal.com]

Oh, so that's Treme. I keep seeing the name around but nobody ever went into detail on the content and I didn't ask so I had no idea what it was about. But this sounds great! And it has Kim Dickens! I think I might have to stream it now.

[sabotabby]

Stream it. It's so amazing.

[sugarmommaless.livejournal.com]

Have you watched Canivale? You might like it, too. It's in the 'art' category, in my opinion.

[sabotabby]

I keep meaning to because it looks exactly like my kind of thing.