1. klawhammer

   10

   The best show on tv.
   The acting and soundtrack are fantastic and the script writing is brilliant but what really makes this show so good is the how the director how combined all these great elements in a way that is unlike anything else on tv.
   most shows use spikes of over dramatic sentiment or dramatic reveals to keep the viewer involved but the director has chosen to let the show flow in a very natural pace.The positive and negative side of post cyclone new Orleans in a very interesting well balanced way.… Collapse

   • Helpful? 2 of 6 users said Yes.
2. marquis_de_vaux

   9

   Treme is back - and thank goodness for it. No more raw or sophisticated a programme is there on television at the moment. Between the water damaged pastel shades of the abandoned tenements and the vibrant greens and pinks of vegetation pushing up through the cracked pavements, the fullest spectrum of the human experience is on show in David Simon and Eric Overmeyer's New Orleans drama; humming with music, energy and passion, Treme is so good it hurts - although there's no doubt that it isn't everybody's glass of Sazarac. David Simon is, of course, most famous for The Wire, his sprawling crime epic that cracked open the nebulous world of Baltimore gangs and let us see into its painfully beating heart; bywords for Simon's projects include 'complex', 'unpredictable', 'revelatory' and - most significantly - 'human', and undeniably the first season of Treme ticked all of these boxes. Opening with an irrepressible ambition and passion, the show took its time to introduce us fully to its world, a dazzling and alien place to many, but by the close of the first series the characters were friends. We traced their struggles, victories, failures and departures across a diverse range of lifestyles and themes, and on conclusion it would be nigh on impossible to feel unmoved by the various events that occurred along the way. But where next is the question, and much like The Wire the answer can only be deeper. Emergent themes for the series, based only on the first episode of Season 2, seem to be, on the one hand, dealing with loss, and on the other (more familiar to fans of Simon's past work), the failure of municipalities. David Morse was seen very briefly in the first series, the chief of police in a town so beaten down that it had been abandoned by most of its criminals, and we now catch up with events 7 months on to see that along with business, hope and civil society, crime is once again beginning to blossom on the streets of New Orleans. Morse is now a central figure therefore, so fingers crossed this new aspect might help Treme attract more attention from the old Wire crowd and bring the series to a wider audience. Also on show is acres of regeneration. Out of the shadows of ruined buildings, people are emerging to resurrect their city. At the same time as the city starts to show more signs of life however, its many residents are starting to reconstruct themselves. The rawness of the loss, confusion and determination of these characters is absolutely captivating, and anyone who chuckled at the self-referential 'Dickensian aspect' of The Wire will likely feel reassured that Simon and Overmeyer are continuing to weave the lives of multifaceted and emotionally true people into this socially conscious show in a way that would make Mr. Dickens proud. Of course any review of Treme would be remiss if it failed to mention the music. Treme might just be the best TV project in human history in respect to its treatment of music. The human experience without toe tapping, clapping, singing and dancing isn't really the human experience at all, and Treme is chock full of musical performances that are moving in ways that transcend the written word. The variety of style, tone, form, and quality on show in this programme is, quite frankly, astonishing. A show for music lovers of all walks of life, this programme is one in which scenes don't require characters to speak when they can express themselves better through their various instruments - the raucous and the soulful, the effortless and the laboured, the extra dimension music adds to Treme cannot be underemphasised. And there's the rub I suppose. Those not looking for extra meaning in such things, impatient for a driving narrative, might feel left out - if not completely baffled - by Treme's charms. It is, undeniably, an intellectual, sophisticated, nuanced programme, one about human culture and its struggles to survive in the face of overwhelming odds. At times raw and punishing, at others hilarious and absurd, audiences hungry for simple escapism are unlikely to find much satisfaction here. Fortunately, for those who seek leagues of depth in their television drama, Treme is back again to make you think, feel and marvel. It's great to see Melissa Leo return after her well-deserved Hollywood plaudits for The Fighter, as well as to be reunited with Steven Zahn's hapless Davis, Wendell Pierce's bumbling Antoine, and Clarke Peter's Big Chief Lambreaux who, throughout this episode, utters not a single word but owns the screen in his every moment on it. Newly emergent characters are also surfacing, but I'll leave those for you to meet in your own good time. Certainly though, I'd recommend doing so - couldn't recommend it more highly. So, roll on Season 2 basically. And get your friends to watch it - the last thing we need if the big cheeses cancelling this one..… Expand

   • Helpful? 3 of 6 users said Yes.
3. jimmypowder

   7

   Great music this season,but why am I getting bored with the weak storylines? I find myself skimming
   through the newspaper while watching this show,just listening to the music.
   
   Thats not a good sign.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
4. reifying

   2

   What I -- and most other folks -- loved about David Simon's "The Wire" was the writing, the stories. Everything flowed from that. "Treme" is "The Wire" without the writing. Where is the tension? When is the show going to break out of this slow (but beautifully filmed, beautifully acted, beautifully scored) journey? Unless there is going to be a shift in its direction I can't imagine there will be another season. Case in point: John Goodman's Creighton Bernette drifted through season one without developing into a character we wanted to care about, and it wasn't John Goodman's fault. Yes, we got the whole "I'm pissed what's happened to my city" schtick, but that was the extent of his character? Really? Bernette, and many of the other characters, come across as permanently one dimensional -- more similar to characters in "Law and Order" than "Breaking Bad", the current gold standard for shows with great stories.
   
   With such as awesome cast (thank G-d Khandi Alexander's back on the TV) and a potential as wide and long as the MIssissippi, "Treme" could be much better, much much better.… Expand

   • Helpful? 4 of 7 users said Yes.

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