Ever since we first caught wind of it, my wife and have been tingling with anticipation over the broadcast of [David Simon’s] new series, [Treme], on [HBO]. For we are both huge fans of his last series, [The Wire], and we were hoping that Treme would be just as good. You can read about just how much we were fans of The Wire [here].
We were, however, rather concerned about familiarity possibly breeding contempt. For we learned that several of the main actors from The Wire would also be starring in Treme, and since we are as bad as anyone about identifying actors by the characters they have played, we weren’t sure if we could disassociate one from the other.
Well, it is too early for me to tell if Treme will live up to my expectations. For after watching the first episode a couple of hours ago, I could immediately see that it certainly wasn’t The Wire, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Suffice to say, Treme is different, but it does show some potential. For [Det. Bunk Moreland] in The Wire is now Antoine Batiste, and Bunk did not get in the way of Antoine. The same applies to [Det. Lester Freamon] in The Wire now being Albert Lambreaux in Treme.
Be assured that I would have loved to provide a link to the characters in Treme, but the powers that be at HBO evidently do not think that something like that is needed just yet. In all fairness, they have only had around two years to get ready for the premier of this series, and I do understand that it often takes decades for a website to be properly set-up. (Yes, I am being sarcastic.)
Again, Treme does show some potential—especially if you are a big fan of New Orleans-style jazz. Surprisingly, I have never been all that much of a fan of jazz music—despite playing piano, trumpet and valve trombone for years, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying what I was hearing in this first episode. Hey, what can I say?
In regards to some possible Wire-like scenarios, [John Goodman] plays Creighton Bernette, who is a fiery community activist on a rampage over the man-made disasters that came out of [Hurricane Katrina], and [Melissa Leo] plays his wife, who is a lawyer trying to help survivors pick-up the pieces of their shattered lives. In this first episode, she seeks to find the brother of [Khandi Alexander’s] character, Ladonna Batiste-Williams, who was supposedly incarcerated in a New Orleans jail when the hurricane hit, and has been missing since, with both the New Orleans Police Department and the Orleans Parrish Sheriff’s Office swearing that they never had him.
In case you are curious about Ladonna having a last name of Batiste-Williams, she was formerly married to Antoine, which could lead to some Wire-like intrigue. The only nudity that was shown in this first episode, however, was of Davis McAlary’s tookis.
Davis McAlary is played by [Steve Zahn], and he is perfect for the role. For McAlary is a hustler to the bone, and Zahn has always gave me such an impression—regardless of what kind of character he was playing. Now, this is not to say that he has always appeared to be rather nefarious to me, but I am fairly sure that he has never gotten anywhere without at least trying to take every short-cut that he could imagine. Of course, that has become an admirable trait in this day and age, and I have certainly tried to take my fair share of short-cuts along the way.
Another main character of the series is Janette Desautel, who is being played by [Kim Dickens]. Janette is the owner/head chef of a small restaurant, and kinda, sorta, maybe the part-time girlfriend of Davis McAlary.
All in all, I enjoyed the show, but my wife is not sure about it. Nonetheless, she will be tuning for the next episode, and I think you should, too. If you missed this one and have [HBO On Demand], you can watch it anytime you like, and even if you don’t have that service, this first episode will be rebroadcast several times throughout the coming week.
We were, however, rather concerned about familiarity possibly breeding contempt. For we learned that several of the main actors from The Wire would also be starring in Treme, and since we are as bad as anyone about identifying actors by the characters they have played, we weren’t sure if we could disassociate one from the other.
Well, it is too early for me to tell if Treme will live up to my expectations. For after watching the first episode a couple of hours ago, I could immediately see that it certainly wasn’t The Wire, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Suffice to say, Treme is different, but it does show some potential. For [Det. Bunk Moreland] in The Wire is now Antoine Batiste, and Bunk did not get in the way of Antoine. The same applies to [Det. Lester Freamon] in The Wire now being Albert Lambreaux in Treme.
Be assured that I would have loved to provide a link to the characters in Treme, but the powers that be at HBO evidently do not think that something like that is needed just yet. In all fairness, they have only had around two years to get ready for the premier of this series, and I do understand that it often takes decades for a website to be properly set-up. (Yes, I am being sarcastic.)
Again, Treme does show some potential—especially if you are a big fan of New Orleans-style jazz. Surprisingly, I have never been all that much of a fan of jazz music—despite playing piano, trumpet and valve trombone for years, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying what I was hearing in this first episode. Hey, what can I say?
In regards to some possible Wire-like scenarios, [John Goodman] plays Creighton Bernette, who is a fiery community activist on a rampage over the man-made disasters that came out of [Hurricane Katrina], and [Melissa Leo] plays his wife, who is a lawyer trying to help survivors pick-up the pieces of their shattered lives. In this first episode, she seeks to find the brother of [Khandi Alexander’s] character, Ladonna Batiste-Williams, who was supposedly incarcerated in a New Orleans jail when the hurricane hit, and has been missing since, with both the New Orleans Police Department and the Orleans Parrish Sheriff’s Office swearing that they never had him.
In case you are curious about Ladonna having a last name of Batiste-Williams, she was formerly married to Antoine, which could lead to some Wire-like intrigue. The only nudity that was shown in this first episode, however, was of Davis McAlary’s tookis.
Davis McAlary is played by [Steve Zahn], and he is perfect for the role. For McAlary is a hustler to the bone, and Zahn has always gave me such an impression—regardless of what kind of character he was playing. Now, this is not to say that he has always appeared to be rather nefarious to me, but I am fairly sure that he has never gotten anywhere without at least trying to take every short-cut that he could imagine. Of course, that has become an admirable trait in this day and age, and I have certainly tried to take my fair share of short-cuts along the way.
Another main character of the series is Janette Desautel, who is being played by [Kim Dickens]. Janette is the owner/head chef of a small restaurant, and kinda, sorta, maybe the part-time girlfriend of Davis McAlary.
All in all, I enjoyed the show, but my wife is not sure about it. Nonetheless, she will be tuning for the next episode, and I think you should, too. If you missed this one and have [HBO On Demand], you can watch it anytime you like, and even if you don’t have that service, this first episode will be rebroadcast several times throughout the coming week.
not only do I not have HBO I very rarely even watch TV. I'll settle for your review. The only actor who's name I even recognized in there was John Goodman.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping again, my dear Ann!!! Be assured that if I could get out and about again, I would not be watching as much TV as I have been the past 10 years or so. If you watched the video that was provided, you could see that John has changed a little since his days with Roseanne.
ReplyDeleteI don't have hbo but that surely looks good. maybe you'll be kind enough to keep us up on the latest episodes from fancast. (wink*wink)
ReplyDeleteI might be a little biased, because a good friend of mine who recently passed away was a writer on the show. I enjoyed the premiere last night. Thanks for posting about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by again, my dear BadGal!!! I am thinking about posting a review of each episode for this series until the first season ends, but it all depends upon how well the show goes for. I did a similar thing for the last season of The Wire, which was posted on FishHawk Dropping before I changed things over there, and I would like to do that for every episode of that show if I could find a good place where people can see the show online.
ReplyDeleteIf you have never seen The Wire, I do believe that you will be immediately hooked like my wife and I were--especially if you start with the very first episode. For each character is a fascinating story in themselves, and they all fit together oh so very well. Nonetheless, the ending of The Wire was rather bittersweet, but I understand that this is the way it goes in the game between drug dealers and drug enforcement.
Thanks for stopping by again, my dear Dickster!!! I hope they crank up the intensity in later episodes, but I did enjoy the beginning. Again, I feel for your loss.
ReplyDelete