Season premiere review: Treme ‘Knock With Me – Rock With Me’ – Gettin’ With The Hypotenuse

Is Treme the best show on television? For most television watchers, the response to that question would be “What show is that?” Last night’s Emmy ceremony certainly wasn’t going to introduce anyone to the show – like The Wire before it, Treme is largely ignored by the public act of masturbation parading itself as the definitive achievement for scripted (and now unscripted television). And while there’s plenty of validity to the quality of shows like Homeland and Breaking Bad, there’s a wandering beauty to the world and the storytelling of Treme that separates it from many of its counterparts, a quality that we see in spades in ‘Knock With Me – Rock With Me’.

For all intents and purposes, ‘Knock With Me’ is a reintroduction to the world and characters of Treme, taking its time to bring us up to date on New Orleans and the people living in it. It’s now September 2007, two full years after Katrina hit, and many of the changes going on in both the city and our characters have stalled a bit. There are a lot of individual bright spots – Annie’s band, Sonny’s blossoming relationship, Antoine’s steady paycheck – but there’s still a lot of darkness lying under the surface, something illuminated in the episode’s opening scene, where a group of mourning musicians are arrested for sending their musician friends off into the afterlife with a little song and dance, which is based on a true story, and I believe featuring the same musicians in the part. Check out Dave Walker’s awesome ‘Treme Explained’ articles every week to get the right information, I’m going to do the best I can throughout the season.

As always, the opening scene of a David Simon season provides a lot of insight into what we’re going to see as the season moves forward. Individuals and communities are trying to rebuild, they’re going to be met with a lot of roadblocks, be them professionally or personally. Toni may have built up her relationship with Sofia a bit, but she’s not privy to what she does at night or with her musician boyfriend (who’s much older than her), just like DJ Davis’s tour of historic spots in New Orleans is attended by some people interested in learning, but ultimately dismissive when they realize how much in shambles the town really is (or simply can’t comprehend this fact, being outsiders to the culture).

And the police aren’t always going to be the problem – for someone like Antoine, moving forward with his life means facing the fact that he isn’t a nocturnal, womanizing musician anymore (Desiree: “You a grown-up now, so you gotta carry it like one.”) Nelson’s dealing with the same thing: tired of being on the sidelines in Texas, he’s trying to jump back into the real estate game in New Orleans, where shady deals are still going on (painting moldy houses with federal money among them), and the town seems more interested in bulldozing its history, then preserving it (closed Armstrong Park, a famous music studio that’s now a laudrymat). Things are getting better down in the Treme, but even 25 months removed from the hurricane – a time where New Orleans had all but dropped out of the minds of most Americans – optimistic moments can come at a price.

There’s a lot more to talk about which I’ll get into in my thoughts and observations below, but ‘Knock With Me’ was exactly what fans of Treme expected, taking its time to bring us up to speed on the characters we know and love in the world of New Orleans. Television doesn’t have to be a high-speed chase to the dramatic endpoint, something Treme reminds us with its meandering narrative, realized characters, and grasp on reality every showrunner in the business should be jealous of.

Grade: A-

Other thoughts/observations:

– Albert Lambreaux wears his pride on his sleeve everywhere, something that both frustrates, and inspires Delmon. Their relationship is one of the best father/son portrayals on television today – it’s too bad only a half million people get to see it every week. I’m quite worried about his coughing, however, and his double duty working on houses during the day and rebuilding his at night. For me, seeing Albert sit down in his finished home would be like seeing Bubbles get to have dinner upstairs with his sister, and if there’s one thing I get to see in next season’s finale, I hope it’s that. Hang in there, big chief.

– the tensions between cops and musicians is certainly still around, and is only going to get worse if the whispers of white civilians given passes for killing black people during the fall of New Orleans becomes louder. That being said, the moment at the end where the police escort shows up is one of those glimmering moments of hope lying on the outskirts of David Simon’s television narratives (both on Treme and The Wire), just a beautiful, beautiful little moment.

– Like Nelson, Terry Colson is trying to get back to his old rhythms and relationships, but is struggling to find a home among any of them, being denied a transfer. When Colson is in vanilla Indy, he can’t figure out why anybody would want to be outside New Orleans, a feeling I’m sure Nelson experienced here and there in his time on the sidelines (one of the things I enjoyed last season was Nelson embracing the New Orleans culture, though he was still trying to take advantage of it in some fashion. I’m hoping he doesn’t get a bad case of the Simon corruption bug this season).

– Khandi Alexander is amazing on this show. Ladonna is a powerhouse female character (along with Toni), and her resilience towards both her inner fears, and her in-laws underhanded elitism is awesome to watch (especially the ‘Ladonna Look’). Get that woman a fucking Emmy already.

– does anyone see Janette staying in New York? Sure, wine from 1811 is fancy, but the influence of New Orleans is clearly having an effect on her. I didn’t think she’d stay through the end of last season, and I don’t think she’ll make it through this one. Fool me twice, shame on me.

– after being arrested for playing unorganized, unlicensed music in the streets, we see Batiste ‘policing’ the marching band, trying to instruct them on the ways of discipline and following specific rules (while they are in uniform).

– what is a Christ-like act of martyrysm for white boy Davis, is an everyday annoyance for black people. Sometimes the social chasm between the races of people in this country can be scary, though here, it’s presented in a way we can all laugh about (even though it’s a strange, ‘man that is fucked up’ kind of laugh).

– Some people might see the historic studio of Fats Domino, Ray Charles, and other as ‘just’ a laundrymat, just like many people view New Orleans as a forgotten mess full of dreamers and drunks. But Davis and the others who love and inhabit the town, know it is much, much more than that.

– I like how David Simon can take shots at himself: when Delmon and his agent are discussing the album, the agent asks him “A good review is enough, now you want reviewers to actually understand the work?” Like Albert says, breaking “fresh fucking ground” can create a whole lot of ignorance – and self-righteousness, if it isn’t played right, something both Simon and Chief Lambreaux help avoid with their passion.

With 60 minutes of episode to digest, there’s a lot to dissect about the different characters and situations of Treme. For the sake of not writing 4000 words every week and printing reviews on Wednesday (I don’t receive screeners from HBO yet, something I’m working on), I’ll be sharing many thoughts on the show in lengthy bullet points. Feel free to leave your thoughts/comments below, and look forward to reviews every Monday throughout the season!