I ran across an article on a website I thought I’d share; it is on a site for a magazine about Louisiana’s music and culture called Offbeat. It appears that Consulting Editor John Swenson was present as HBO’s TREME wrapped up filming on location in New Orleans. Here is a brief article written 02.13 of what transpired. It is a scene shot on Frenchman Street of yet another musical moment that has infused the series since episode one.       It was a raw and misty late afternoon in February during Mardi Gras. Spotlights illuminated the gloaming Marigny shadows with a...

I actually watched this episode of Treme and didn’t realize it was the finale until the last 20 minutes.  I sat there wondering why all the storylines were suddenly being wrapped up in a nice little bow for the end of season.  No cliffhangers, no twists, no extending storylines, just quickly running through a little montage.  I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  On the good side, we won’t have to spend the time in between seasons pondering “What is going to happen to that person next season?”.  Our minds torturing us everyday running through...

“Poor Man’s Paradise” was an episode in which many of the characters experienced Newton’s Law of Motion which states “for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction”.  Of course I’m not talking “motion” but describing how every character’s actions this season have sparked reactions.  The building of the storylines all season long are starting to pay off with some results.  As the season nears its end, the storylines are really beginning to ramp up the intrigue. The police corruption and abuse post Katrina has always been...

Almost every week when I’m watching Treme, I realize we are watching a microcosm of what is wrong with America.  Seemingly simple problems with simple solutions made difficult by bureaucratic red tape.  This episode had a number of scenes in which this type of problem was shown brilliantly.  This was another episode written by George Pelecanos and leads me to think this guy should be writing episodes for more shows.  He is able to lay out the issue at hand without getting preachy about it ala Newsroom.  There are common sense solutions to these problems but not everything is...

One of the things you cannot avoid when watching Treme is overwhelming sense of despair.  Especially after the first season, you found yourself saying “How did these people deal with this?”  You end up feeling sorry for the characters and not just one character, I mean all of them.  Mostly you feel sorry for the people of New Orleans whom the characters represent.  This is what David Simon wants us to see and feel.  The characters so far this season have been trying to persevere through these hardships and insults to their lives and culture.  This episode was a great example...

Last week’s episode, brilliantly put together and well written, made us remember some of the great episodes from season 1.  Especially the intertwined cut scenes of Janette finally accepting the deal to open a new restaurant in New Orleans and Annie going over her new contract with her manager.  Both deals were exciting to watch even though the way they were set up seems like both will end badly.  It also produced a feeling for us viewers that now the ball will start rolling with these storylines.  Unfortunately this flow didn’t continue into this week’s episode. One...

As I started watching this new episode, for a second I thought I was watching Game of Thrones.  The show switched from storyline to storyline very quickly and with 11 storylines it was a bit daunting.   Also when you watch Treme, you know there is going to be musical performances and this episode was certainly music heavy.  At least four of the storylines involve characters who are musicians so it is to be expected.  I, for one love New Orleans style jazz but if you don’t, well you probably won’t like Treme.  The storylines not based on actual events continue to drag but...

Well this morning I had in my mind exactly what I wanted to relay on where Treme is going this season, but after reading Jef’s interesting article This Just In About…Treme’s Shortened 4th and Final Season! I think I need to blend in the “what went wrong” aspect.  Certainly the ratings drop from season 1 to season 2 is what set the HBO executives warning light on.  But why the ratings drop?  As I stated in my previews and predictions article, the storylines kind of dragged in the middle of season 2 and they moved away from what made season 1 great, “the...

As of this writing most HBO fans are either watching the Emmy Awards to see if their HBO favorites are lucky recipients or perhaps watching football before BOARDWALK EMIPRE and/or the Season Three premiere of TREME airs. Me, I’m writing this quick post for HBOWatch. What follows is what I have learned regarding TREME. At a special viewing party of the Season 3 premiere of the post-Katrina NOLA series co-creators David Simon and Eric Overmyer made the announcement that HBO has awarded them a lump sum of money to wrap up the TREME story in a fourth and final season. Mr. Simon said at the...

Season 3 of Treme kicks off Sunday and after watching for two seasons I’m truly curious to see what direction co-creators David Simon and Eric Overmyer will be taking the characters.   My interest in Treme began to wane a bit last year during season 2.  While with some characters I became truly curious about their storyline, others I almost wished would go away. (Davis McAlary I’m looking at you)   So to prepare myself for season 3, I watched the hour and half long finale of season 2. While I thought it was convenient how a lot of the storylines wrapped themselves up very...