In Defense of "Treme"

A lot of people have recently bashed HBO's latest David Simon series "Treme" as a plotless, plodding project designed to keep the creator of the greatest series ever, "The Wire," happy (See Pappademas).  I can see where the drama focused on the recovery of New Orleans after Katrina would seem that way.  But the people who believe that just don't get it.

Simon and company do an excellent job of art imitating life in every project and "Treme" is no exception.  In fact I would argue the show takes that message to heart as it shows the recovery of a devastated city.  Life is not full of plot twists and fake-out endings; life moves along at it's own pace.  And for a community of musicians, chefs, lawyers, teachers, etc. in a city that is slowly picking itself up off the canvas that pace is not going to be any different. 

Many will argue that you don't watch a show to see a pace of life you live every day because let's face it, most of us live boring, uneventful lives.  But by taking what feels like a much more life-like pace the writers of "Treme" are able to expose much more human moments.  The problem is that you really have to know the characters and know the story to really feel the full force of those moments.  You have to know how passionate Davis is about music and all the frustrations he has felt with the limitations of his talent to appreciate his final performance with yet another band he started that outgrew him.  It's these little very, very human moments that make this series more than just some way to placate the great David Simon. 

Found here

I can understand the frustration of those who thought that this would be "The Wire: New Orleans."  But I am certainly glad it isn't.  "The Wire" was great, don't get me wrong.  But so often was there a feeling of hopelessness, a feeling of evil always winning, of the corruptibility of man that it was a very dark series.  "Treme" has those moments no doubt: suicides, drug addiction, murder, rape, political corruption, government ineptitude/indifference, police cover-up/laziness, but the series does not hinge upon those things like "The Wire" did.  It chooses to focus much more on the strength of the community and the positive moments, like a father and son finally coming to appreciate what each one does for a living and creating something great together.

Father and Son play Jazz Fest

 

I can also understand the frustration of all the musical and cultural interludes.  But again I say to them: that's the point.  New Orleans is a very culturally rich city, and music and food top that list.  Simon wants us to really absorb the culture.  That's why every week we get to hear Antoine Batiste play a few gigs, or Annie T sit in with some famous musicians.  It is why so much gets done in restaurants whether it be Nelson's business deals or Janette's life as a chef in general.  I have never been to New Orleans but this show does such a great job of portraying the culture I feel like I have about as much of a sense of the city as someone could ever hope to without actually going there (it probably helps that I love music in general as well as many of the acts that have shown up on the show).

I would strongly recommend the show to anyone, especially someone who enjoys live music.  But my recommendation would always be start from the beginning and focus on the characters not the plot.  "Treme" is a marvelous study of people in a tough, tough situation.