I just finished Treme for the first time and I just have to say, I can’t believe it took me all of these years to discover this show. The music is so phenomenal, and the characters are just so lovable. As a lifelong resident of New Orleans, this show perfectly displayed the beauty of the culture and music scenes, plus the violence and scandals that are still continuing to this day. And it was great to see so many familiar faces from The Wire.

I lived in East New Orleans and worked in St Bernard Parish when Katrina hit. I was there at a hospital for five days after the storm before we were air evacuated by the State Guard on helicopters.

Treme captures the event and the aftermath perfectly and only Five Days at Memorial on Apple even comes close to it.

Please watch both out of respect for all that died in that hurricane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utw4zjNENHo

I used to be completely ignorant about New Orleans, believing that Bourbon Street was all that Nola had to offer. Frat boys and middle-aged conventioneers acting like drunken fools being unappealing, I avoided visiting.

But in the fall of 2008 Oxford American magazine put out a “3 Years After” edition that featured articles about what was lost and what was being rebuilt following Katrina, with a heavy emphasis on New Orleans. Reading that issue gave me my first clue that I had been missing out on something special.

Then Treme premiered. Being a huge David Simon nerd, there was no question that I would check it out. I was enthralled from the start. Everything about the show hit me just right, from the characters to the plots to the live music. I couldn’t even wait until the end of the first season before I booked a weeklong trip to New Orleans for that summer of 2010. Of course, I used the show to help plan parts of my itinerary. And despite going with almost impossibly high expectations, New Orleans still managed to blow me away. By the end, I felt like I’d completed a cultural hajj.

I’ve returned at least once every year since, some years multiple times. As someone who’s been lucky enough to travel extensively over the last 10 years, New Orleans retains its title as my favorite city in the world. And I can’t thank everybody behind Treme enough! I rewatched it again earlier this year, and it remains my favorite tv show.

I’m watching episode 3 (rewatch), the scene where Davis begins piano lessons with Sofia. Creighton is immediately judgmental and wary of Davis. Why? I feel like Davis is the kind of guy that Creighton would love, being that they both love New Orleans and his wife obviously likes him. But these feelings toward Davis, and later on his suicide, got me to thinking about the type of person Creighton is.

I believe that Creighton is a person that lacks identity, and has clung on to New Orleans’ culture out of desperation to have something to belong to. I think that this is best observed when focusing on the juxtaposition of him and Toni. Creighton isn’t native to NOLA, his wife is. I think there are several instances in the show where we see how Creighton isn’t seamless with the culture, such as that part where he likes a part of the parade that Toni finds to be offensive because of its history. Or how he seems wary of true NOLA around his daughter (Davis piano lessons), where as his wife welcomes it.

Creighton’s perception of his identity isn’t only associated with New Orleans, but also with being a writer. At some point, he began writing his book about the Great Mississippi Flood, but stopped for whatever reason. But after Katrina, his passion for this book was rekindled by the fact of how relevant his work was, giving him meaning and identity. But, when he fails to continue writing, the rug is quickly pulled from under his feet. I think he begins to feel his reality come crashing down around him, wondering where he belongs in this new mess he’s found himself in. I think the ruin of Katrina and the blow to faith in humanity, due to the horrible government and societal response, exacerbated this lack of identity, not to mention the cynicism and loneliness that followed.

We ironically see Creighton criticizing identity in one of the first episodes, where he talks about how all the courses that are staying at his college are focused around identity. He mocks, “Gee, you think? I mean, look what they’re keeping. Musical theater, digital media, medieval studies, women’s studies, Jewish studies, African studies. It’s all about identity. Let’s not learn how to actually do anything. Let’s just sit and contemplate the glory of me in all my complexities. Who am I? I am black, Jewish woman. Hear me roar.” I think this rant stemmed from some sort of jealously, or feelings of inferiority, due to his crisis of identity. I think Creighton’s story is all about the importance of culture, community, and identity. And, what happens when someone is deprived of it.

I started with The Deuce as it aired on HBO. Loved it, had never seen anything like it. Then I dove head first into The Wire about a month ago and finished it in 2 weeks. It blew me away. Now I’m watching Treme. The more I watch, the clearer it is that David Simon is not just a badass writer and show runner. The man is a motherfucking anthropologist. His shows are concentrated case studies of cities and the people who make them, in a given period of time. And he gets it right every time. I watch a lot of TV and have seen a lot of really great series. But ain’t nobody got anything on Simon.

Edited to add: To those who are downvoting this post, care to elaborate on why you disagree? I would love to hear your perspective.

I started this show out of curiosity a couple of months ago. Having moved to Indianapolis after living on the Gulf my whole life, I wanted to find something that reminded me of home. All I have to say is wow… The characters and dialogue are so well written, the depictions of Lundi and Mardi Gras are accurate, and pacing was perfect. I wish more people knew about this

Side note: I cackled at the colts scene with Terry and his kids in the finale!

For so many reasons Treme has always passed me by but finally got around to watching this. And omg I have that “thing” in my head when I say I was jealous of people watching “The Wire” for the first time. So far I am absolutely blown away (awful pun). I am loving everything about this show, including the music… Im not a massive Jazz fan but it is incredible and is in of itself a member of the cast. I can’t wait to see the other season, and so many familiar faces from “The Wire”.

One observation: I think Sonny is the only character I’ve ever seen go an entire season without taking a shower or carry out any sort of personal hygiene. He looks ripe and rancid in every scene.

Something I love about this show is the same reason I love the movie Amadeus (although that one ends a bit differently). We see a lot of characters who struggle to accept themselves as some one who is just okay, or even mediocre. And some by the end come to accept it.

I find it really present in Antoine, Davis and Sonny's stories. The scene where Sonny watches a young kid rip Tipitina in the music shop, Antoine trying to step his game up on trombone in later seasons and Davis always being the connection but never the star.

It's just a theme I really enjoy in the show. As someone who often feels similar, it's a nice portrayal of that sort of conundrum. Not everyone can be a star or amazingly talented but they find their place and try their best to accept it.

Love this show. So many layers

This scene breaks my heart every time and I'm always left wondering why Chief is the way he is.

Delmond dedicates a song to Albert while he's on the radio and notes it's the first song his father taught him on trumpet. The scene cuts back to Delmond who simply walks out of the building he's repairing as the trumpet lingers in the background.

Gutting and engaging. A microcosm of their entire relationship and who they are as people. A lot said in a single scene.

I've rewatched this show a few times now and it always leaves me wanting more. I'm really glad it exists. I wish I could get more people to watch it. It's unbelievably good.

He's Puck, Feste, Bottom, Falstaff, and so many other of Shakespeare's great fools all rolled into one. Sometimes he's the narrator, verbally and/or visually framing the stories, which makes him a bit of a Robin Goodfellow. He's always got some high-minded and yet also hare-brained scheme that never quite works out as he expects, largely because of his over-estimation of his own abilities, which is not unlike Bottom. He is still musically gifted, but his strength is in finding the absurdity in life and exposing it, which makes me think of Feste. He revels in debauchery like Falstaff and Sir Toby Belch. And yet -- like so many of Shakespeare's fools -- there are times when we realize he just might be the wisest one in the whole damn play.
DJ Davis is such a great character, and I don't know if there is an actor that has walked this earth more suited to play him than Steve Zahn.

What an incredible show. I’m a huge fan of The Wire, and I honestly think this is the stronger of the two as far as the complexity and overall coverage of the subject of the place and time.

The characters and storylines drew in and seduced me as the show went on, I found it impossible to stop watching when I hit the last 10 episodes. Absolutely amazing work. David Simon is the GOAT.

I just finished a Treme re-watch, and like many, I was dismayed to find that the links to Dave Walker's "Treme Explained" column have disappeared from the internet after a Times-Picayune purchase and site redesign. Here are some useful links I found from spending a lot of time digging through Wayback Machine crawls.

Convenient page with a sidebar containing links to all Treme Explained columns through season 3

Season 4:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5

This seems to be every episode in one place. If I missed something or this can be improved upon, let me know and I'll edit accordingly!

Just watched the first two episodes of the documentary on Netflix it's called Hurricane Katrina Hell or High Water. Thought I'd post here as it will be of interest to the sub. Maybe you have already seen it.

Excellent interviews with survivors, several of whom are from our favourite neighbourhood. What those poor souls went through is unbelievable.

I'm watching for the second time and still in S1. Because she endures so much more in the next season, I forgot the way she refused to tell anyone about Daymo being found for almost a week. IDK if I think it was the right thing to do; I don't believe in judging people's reactions to situations like that, I just admire the way she stood up to the officer from the coroner's office, and I find it incredible that she held on to that secret. I understand why she wanted to keep it from her mother, but I expected her to tell Larry, at least. It's one of the wildest storylines I've ever seen in anything, and Khandi Alexander knocks it out of the park.

Neither the corner or the wire represents life this real. A must watch hbo masterpiece for me.

I'm doing another rewatch - I have it on in the background while I'm working on hobbies. I really could have gone with a couple more seasons. I like slice of life dramas - I don't need the entire world's problems resolved in 30 minutes. Long arcs are fine by me.

I still can't understand how dumb CSI type programs or brainless reality dating shows get so many seasons. I'm frightened for what it says about us.

I played some songs from the soundtrack for a friend recently and they were flabbergasted to hear many folks complained that the music was a turn off. Too much music... Sigh. I suppose in the future everything will be a quick TIKTOK video.

My thanks to the folks who made this series possible.

Trigger warning

https://www.tmz.com/2025/12/21/the-wire-star-james-ransone-dead/

I just freaking love this thing. L.O.V.E. it! Finishing second season. Ladonna my soulmate!