The Treme

I began watching 'The Treme' on HBO because my friend Mike, a New Orleanian, wondered whether it would make him cry (see his post).

I can't decide whether I like this mini-series. The plot line follows several characters and how they are dealing with a post-Katrina New Orleans.  Some of these characters are compelling: the Big Chief of the Black Indian Mardi Gras is willing to commit murder to preserve what he has.  Janette runs a restaurant that is doing very well but nevertheless is in dire danger of going bust. 

However, some of the characters are simply annoying.  Creighton Burnette (John Goodman) is loud and abrasive and perfectly predictable.  He lashes out at the world constantly, and by his third scene in the second episode, I was searching for the remote to skip to the next scene: this character is altogether too wooden, too predictably angry, too stock.  Davis McLary is a DJ and hotel concierge (I think), and is fired from both jobs because, among other things, he cannot control his earnest and burning desire to reveal the 'true' New Orleans to everyone.  I find his character more and more tedious. 

At the same time, I find it interesting that there is so little link between the characters and their very separate plot lines.  It could be that they will all be woven together later on in the series.  However, for now, it is as if they are all individual tesserae in a large mosaic with many pieces missing.  In a way, I suppose, this is fitting, because it stands as metaphor for a city that had suffered such a huge natural (I hear Creighton yelling 'Man Made!') disaster. 

So far, and in terms of character and plot line, The Treme does not come even close to other HBO miniseries like 'Deadwood', 'Six Feet Under', 'Rome', or 'Carnivale'.  However, I'll hang in there for a few more episodes and allow the series to gestate.  If for nothing else, I'll continue watching for the wonderful music, be it in a strip club, a recording session with Elvis Costello, a funeral, or a street parade (Wild Tchoupitoulas gonna stomp some rump!).