Treme: The Complete First Season
Amid the ruins of an American city, ordinary people–musicians, chefs, residents–find themselves clinging to a unique culture and wondering if the city that gave birth to that culture still has a future. From the creators of The Wire comes a new series about adversity and the human spirit, set in New Orleans, in the aftermath of the greatest man-made disaster in American history. Welcome to Treme.
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(out of 6 reviews)
Review by Jazz Baby for Treme: The Complete First Season
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The premier episode, “Do You Know What it Means”, is a work of art. It will easily bear repeated watching because of its outstanding writing and masterful use of the indigenous music.
Not to mention the great acting, many levels of meaning, clever cameos and true-to-life subplots. And most of all: a major media production has finally “got it” about New Orleans, and got it right!
The entire series is “a love letter to New Orleans”.
Signed,
A New Orleanian from Treme who has actually lived the show
Review by DC Amazoner for Treme: The Complete First Season
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There really isn’t anything else to be said. This is the best TV show or movie ever shot in New Orleans. Ever.
Review by Alberta for Treme: The Complete First Season
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I never made it to New Orleans. This show made that lack so poignant. The show was beautifully written, well-acted, great visuals, and the music was incredible! I love all the new (to me) music this show introduced me to. I wish it had gone on.
Review by Robert Moore for Treme: The Complete First Season
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I became a fan of this series and watched each episode with tremendous anticipation. The series is a tad thin on narrative but very strong on character. Narratively, in fact, very little happens on the show. What we get instead is a deep, finely grained exploration of the lives of a number of vividly conceived characters (many of them played by actors familiar from THE WIRE) and a beautiful evocation of a deeply wounded city trying to recover from the damage inflicted upon it both by hurricane Katrina and the failure of the government to help rebuild it.
This is one of the finest and deepest ensemble casts on television. There is no real star but instead a number of equally fascinating characters who help hold the show together. The lack of obvious lead characters is especially felt in the Pilot, where it isn’t at all clear who the ongoing characters on the show are (except in the cast of well known actors like Steve Zahn, John Goodman, and Kim Dickens, as well as those from THE WIRE).
I suspect that this show is going to have viewers of the DVDs fall sharply in two camps. One camp will proclaim it the greatest show on TV (I would rank it about 8th or 9th of the various shows that I watch, well behind series like MAD MEN and CAPRICA and BREAKING BAD and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS), while a second group will be perplexed and express how boring them found it to be. I think the lack of a deep narrative keeps it from being either among the very best shows on TV (and definitely not as good as David Simon’s previous two series, THE WIRE and HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET), but I think that those who don’t recognize how outstanding the show is at developing character. I passionately recommend this show to anyone who loves carefully written, well acted television.
Review by Michael D. Williams for Treme: The Complete First Season
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I loved the series. The New Orleans Blues and Jazz music woven throughout the series was fantastic. It was especially interesting as many real and famous musicians were used in the story. The individual characters are interesting and varied. John Goodman was a hoot! Khandi Alexander (CSI: Miami 2002-2009) was really strong, but her stomach here was not. Very different from CSI. Musicians Trombone Shorty, Elvis Costello, and John Boutte, to name but a few, were great. Also the racial mix was a strength to the series and the reality of the real New Orleans and story of Hurricane Katrina.
I especially found the graphics during the credits roll interesting. Who would of thought that mold and fungus stains on walls, floors, and ceilings could look like art. Being interested also in biology and photography, I found the house mold interesting to look at, to itself artistic, even though it is often a serious health hazard. A great idea for a photo project: someone should photograph the mold stains of New Orleans with Ultraviolet light (Black Light). Many molds are UV fluorescent!
Anyway, it is a fantastic series, can’t wait for Season Two and for this DVD set to be available. The only downer for me was the latter part of the season’s final episode got a bit busy and confusing — not their best work. Seems like the producer, director, and writers did not really want to do a season finale, eliminating some characters, but just keep going with the story lines into the next season. Wish there were a bit more about the foods of New Orleans and the Creole / Cajun South. But then you can’t really taste food on TV.