'Treme': Did he really jump? Do you really care?

Falling in love with a television series is a singular experience. It’s a creation that infects your brain, your heart, your emotions. You think about it from week to week when it’s not on, you contemplate the next episode as you replay in your head the last one and all those that came before it. You unravel characters and motivations, try to get into the minds of the writers, marvel at the acting. Something is at stake: your time. You don’t want it to be wasted. You want to know that you’re going to learn something about the story, the characters, life. You want the pleasure of a good narrative. Otherwise, what's the point?

This isn’t a blog about AMC's series Breaking Bad, and I won’t talk too much about it other than to say that this weekend in between various other engagements I started on episode No. 1 of the first season (yes, I’m finally catching up) and couldn’t stop. I moved through all seven installments in the first season at various times on Saturday and woke up on Sunday morning with the series on my brain, made coffee, and sat down and watched three more. Over the course of that time I got teary-eyed and awed at least once per episode, flat-out bawled on another occasion, and found myself literally leaning close to the screen to get as near to the action as possible.

I knew that the new episode of "Treme" was on later in the weekend, but truth be told, it didn’t enter my head too much other than because I’m tracking the show and writing about it, I knew I’d be watching it. But not once did I get that obsessed feeling of soon visiting a made-up world. Never once did I look at the clock to count down the hours until it came on.

This wasn’t something I expected when I first started watching "Treme." I’ve enjoyed the show, but I'm getting increasingly frustrated by it. I’ve invested time and have gotten emotionally involved with a few aspects of it, mostly at something that Khandi Alexander's character, LaDonna, is going through. I’ve been blown away by certain sequences and scenes. I’ve loved lines of dialogue. But the obsession thing hasn’t happened the way that happened with "Breaking Bad" or "The Sopranos" or "The Wire" or "Mad Men."

And actually, nothing really happened in Sunday night's episode No. 9. Creighton Bernette (John Goodman) stared at a blank computer screen most of the time, at least when he wasn’t lecturing either us or his college class. At the end of the episode he vanished off the side of a boat after smoking a Marlboro, and we’re led to believe that he may have jumped overboard – the biggest cliffhanger of the series.

Part of me thinks: good riddance. The guy’s mostly a humorless blowhard, and every time he starts talking about New Orleans history or Kate Chopin or the 1927 flood, I hear co-creator David Simon’s voice (or maybe George Pelecanos's, since he did the teleplay for this episode) coming through loud and clear. If Creighton indeed did jump off the boat and drown, it’d be one fewer character telling us how outraged we should be about the state of post-Katrina New Orleans. Sonny (Michael Huisman) the druggy pianist? He and Annie (Lucia Micarelli) the violinist are breaking up, apparently, which is wonderful both for her and for us, because maybe that means they’ll be killing Sonny off at the end of this season. Better yet, maybe he and Davis McAlary (Steve Zahn) can have a duel over Annie's affections and kill each other off at the same time.

What else happened in this episode? McAlary planned a party, lectured us about another amazing New Orleans musician, handed out fliers. People attended his party, drank, smoked pot, and then he got a late-night booty-call from Janette (Kim Dickins). Janette too planned a gathering, but it got rained out, and when she got home she realized that the rain had caused her ceiling to collapse. Albert Lambreaux (Clarke Peters) sewed, and talked to a cop, and got his little work-buddy to unload some heavy stuff from the back of a pickup truck. Antoine Batiste (Wendell Pierce) played the trombone while his baby daughter slept in a chair at the club. LaDonna went to a cemetery and got upset at the state of her family’s plot. Her roof is finally getting fixed.

Did someone say plot? New Orleans is a setting, not a plot. Music – supposedly a “character” in the show – isn’t plot, it’s ... music. We’ve got a lot of little storylines going on and a few big ones unfolding, but I can’t for the life of me tell you what this show is about the way that I could tell you what "Breaking Bad" is about.Yes, it's about rebuilding New Orleans and the realities of that endeavor; it's about music; it's about people. But what's the story exactly?

Wow. I actually didn’t realize how angry "Treme" is starting to make me. I want to like it, but it's becoming clear that I'm not caring too much about any of these characters, and I can’t imagine how Simon and company will be able to craft any sort of season-ending cliffhanger that will revive the excitement that I felt upon watching the first few episodes.

I started "Breaking Bad" because people repeatedly looked shocked and disappointed when I told them I’d yet to see it. I had no choice. Within the first 10 minutes of the first episode, it was love. (Who knew that Bryan Cranston in tighty-whiteys could do that to a man?) Now I understand.

Yes, I've had a few similar conversations with people who are completely taken with "Treme," but nine-tenths of the way through its first season, I've still not gotten to the point where I'm really looking forward to what happens next. And that's a bummer.

-- Randall Roberts

Photo: John Goodman as Creighton Bernette. Credit: Paul Schiraldi / HBO.

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Comments

[WatchLessTV]

Treme is not for everyone. Sorry if you feel it's too "preachy;" I'm sure the folks who have been affected by the myriad catastrophes along the Gulf coast in the past 5 years probably disagree with you. Tell you what--you continue watching 16 hours worth of television on the weekends, we'll continue trying to rebuild our city and ecosystem, and you can whine about how much a show about our city is bringing you down and doesn't give you the visceral excitement that you get from living vicariously in a meth lab.

[Harry Vest]

Good observations but you left out the best series of them all...The Shield!!!

[adam]

why even bother reviewing it if you felt this way about the show..if this review attempted to explain things and discussed or analyzed something maybe it would have been ok but to summarize the episode in this way alerted me to the fact that you are "truly lazy"..go watch another 5 hours of breaking bad..the times should be ashamed to include this on their site.

[dexmagee]

wow. i think you may have missed the point. this is a slow develpoing show in that southern tradition. ever listen to a song the first time. it intrigues but doesnt leave you wanting more. its not until you dig a little that you realize the brilliance and subtle nuances that tie it all together. with each listen you find something new and special. that is this show. watch it again. maybe creighton was talking to you in his youtube rants m-fer

[Marc Meyer]

I feel your pain. As an expat New Orleanian, it's both frustrating and enthralling to watch this. I know every place, street and building practically that appears- and they have the types of individuals/characters/personalities/vibes down cold in this series. But it seems as though they are doing surface dives with all of them. As if we're just watching a day in the life, which is cool-but post Katrina there has to be more than this. I love the series because it takes me back home but I would like to see more of something. Though the wire always had the risk/reward element hanging over it, this is different territory. The music though, is second to none.

[Atticus]

Creighton is based on Ashley Morris (in fact some of his rants come from Ashley's actual blogging after Katrina.)

Ashley died in 2008.

YOU may not care how true to the actual experience the show is. YOU may not care about how the actual people felt about what happened, what the aftermath was, how the city tested and tests its inhabitants.

At least know that the "humorless blowhard" is based on a real-life suffering human being and his "humorlessness" - my gawd how much humor would you have 6 months after your city was destroyed at seemed to you that no one cared?

[Claude S.]

Treme shows me people trying to pick up the pieces of their lives and most of them doing it and not realizing the post traumatic anxiety that's inside of them. Reminds me of the first year after 9/11, and so many of my colleagues and I felt more on edge, just a wave of different emotions, and understandably so. Perhaps for that reason I warmed up to the show and I'm routing for just about every character and I do care if Goodman's character did jump into the river. His character had "brass" and I did enjoy how he put the city's politics in a nutshell (or on Youtube). Sad if he did jump but c'est la vie, non?

[Pumpkin]

What an insipid review of Treme! Actually - it seems less a review than an airing of grievances.

The obsession thing hasn’t happened with your blog. Trust me.

[Markus H.]

I've gotta agree with Roberts here. I've watched and have LONGED to love this show, but each week come away with the same conclusion: An interesting tidbit here, a lovely line of dialogue there, a remarkable piece of acting here, an extraordinarily sublime piece of music there. And yet it all still leaves me with a feeling of "There's just no there, there" as a series.

And then I see all these posts from people who are from the region who love the series (well, most of them), and it suddenly dawned on me that the show is being made, not just for them, but ONLY for them. The comment someone made, "Treme is not for everyone" couldn't be truer. In fact, the rest of the sentence should read, "Treme is not for ANYone except New Orleanians."

Then I ask myself another question: Would I really want to see a TV series about San Francisco six months after the 1908 earthquake? Would I want to see a series about Pompeii six months after Vesuvius spewed? Or another series about Chernobyl six months after the meltdown? And the answer to all three is: Resoundingly, no.

Treme, sorry you couldn't find anything but the unremittingly bleak (and mundane) to shine a light on. Unfortunately, I already knew about that. Try showing me something I DIDN'T know about, and MAYbe I'll consider coming back.

[Andrew]

Your obsession with plot is pedestrian. So American, we want laughs, we want murders...Last night's episode was riveting. If you allowed yourself to move with the current you might experience the thrill. This is one of the best things HBO has done in years.

[Freeze Tag]

You are not doing your job as a critic fairly. Your trivializing remarks about the characters, setting, tone, and music of "Treme" show you are simply assessing from a surface level. You are more than allowed to not like the show (and it does have a fair amount of criticisms), but I feel you are jumping to conclusions and not observing the details and subtleties.

[Paula A. Hardin]

No doubt this show hits the mark with the thousands of folks who had to endure Katrina and the aftermath. My husband was there with the Border Patrol flying a helicopter rescuing people from attics and roof tops; he will never forget the experience, it still brings tears to his eyes when he talks about the stranded, starving cats and dogs. We both like this show very much even though we would like to see more indepth character development.

I do care about whether John Goodman jumped. With luck, he's a goner never to reappear on the series.

[Shelle]

Love the show, love the music. My family is from New Orleans some of it does hit home. I also think you missed the point. I actually don't think Creighton jumped. At least I hope he didn't I actually really like his character.

[nolalola26]

First of all, thanks to all the commenters supporting this show and the people of New Orleans - we need you!

As for you, Randall, I'm so very sorry you're tired of hearing how stricken the coast is! And I'm so sorry you find Creighton Burnette's heartache and depression regarding this humongous disaster so exhausting! I'm sure life in that caricature of a city, LA, is much happier and more efficient that New Orleans, you can keep it and we don't need you or your insanely short attention span.

Finally, thank you to David Simon for your love and respect, I love Treme!

[byl]

Wow...FINALLY reading exactly my feelings about "Treme" and especially, "Breaking Bad."
I really, really wanted to love "Treme," but I abandoned ship at the third or fourth episode when I realized I didn't care about, or was interested in, ANY of the characters! I have wonderful memories of New Orleans, but these surprisingly snobbish characters were so irritating to watch. I felt sorry for the tourists they seemed to despise and mock so much, because I know I was probably one of them.
I gave the producers a pass for three weeks, because "The Wire" was such an incredible series, but I should have left after the first episode.
Now, "Breaking Bad" is a constant wonderment. Don't you love someone who can tell a good story? The writing is so consistently spot-on, and I think of all the characters there I enjoy so much...Saul, the lawyer whose real name is Scottish, but changed it to a Jewish surname to instill confidence; Gus Fring, the low-key and extremely frightening big boss; and of course Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, the main protagonists. I could see shows just based on their one characters, they are so well delineated.
So, I agree with you totally on your characterizations on "Treme". Some shows aren't worth salvaging.

[Marie Smith]

What a shallow person you are regarding your remarks about not caring what happens to New Orleans. Treme is an excellent commentary on the U.S. government and it's failure to respond to a catastrophe of epic proportions. It impacts all people in the U.S. who are sickened and disheartened by the death of the most culturally rich city in the U.S. New Orleans is the birthplace of American music, the home of an amazingly diverse and rich culture. The fact that you cannot become interested in the characters indicates to me exactly why we have so many crap writers, reality TV celebrities, and a fascination with some of the programming you seem to favor...it is said you cannot buy class...and you really cannot buy soul, heart and passion. All qualities which your review sorely lacked.

[Jeanene]

Yes, I care whether Goodman's character jumped. I do look forward to this show every Sunday night, and love, love, love, the music!!

[Samantha]

A line Creighton quotes from the Awakening "but we do so at our own peril. Because we are all imperfect."

That's the point, the show isn't about perfect people or closure or some guy who got cancer and decided the best way to make money for his family was to make meth (an utterly ridiculous idea by the way). It's based on real life, this is what really happened, and continues to happen, in New Orleans, these are representations of real people in a very very real world. The problem is, reality is too boring for everyone whose been fed hollywood action-packed plots for decades.

The music foreshadows the storyline like nothing I've ever seen before and it's beautiful. Simon's understanding of the city, of its quirks, of its people and their struggles is beyond that of many of its own residents. Sorry this show angers you, sorry you don't appreciate something of true beauty that isn't some fantasy world of perfection and action.

[Frankls]

Thanks so much for this commentary!!! I loved the Wire too, love Breaking Bad, and feel that this is a frustratingly tiresome show.

It's tiresom watching New Orleanians preach about the greatness of their city and chastizing the indifference or fleeting sympathy of the rest of the country. Let us outsiders into the setting by letting us understand and sympathize with the characters, as was so successfully done on the Wire. Instead we're getting talked at/preached at/shouted right out of their world by endless lectures, to forever remain outsiders. And it's hard to care and impossible to sympathize after a while.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that thinks this way. Thanksa gain.

[Anthony Venutolo]

Really ... a moronic head. The large bulk of the TV critiicism collective embraces the show.

I for one, DO, in fact care. I liked the character and he will be missed. You come across like you've watched too much TV and seem a tad jaded.

When you say "I've still not gotten to the point where I'm really looking forward to what happens next... "

that's because it's character-driven and not entirely plot-driven. Just like what Creighton was talking about with "The Awakening" ... in life, things don't get wrapped up. Life doesn't get wrapped up ...