“This is for New Orleans in her hour of need.” – Davis
Over the last few episodes, Treme has shifted into darker territory, exploring the real world tragedy and struggles that came out of trying to rebuild lives and homes and communities in post-Katrina New Orleans. “Shame Shame Shame” brought back much of the exuberant spirit that we saw early on – replete with music and dancing and celebrating and welcome good tidings for several major characters – only to turn dark again in the final moments.
Davis (Steve Zahn) uses his restless energy and stoner con man’s eloquence to talk a bunch of his local musician buddies (including Kermit) to record one of his alcohol and pot-inspired anthems. The result is “Shame Shame Shame,” a charming and funny and biting retort to “Dubya” and the failed government reaction at multiple levels to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Creighton (John Goodman) gets into the act in his own way, lowering the wattage on his now popular YouTube proclamations but upping the intensity to intoning President George W. Bush to, “Keep your f—ing promises.”
Janette (Kim Dickens) and her struggling restaurant get a break when a who’s who of celebrity chefs waltzes in the door (Tom Colicchio of Top Chef fame, Eric Ripert, Wylie Dufresne, and David Chang all playing themselves). I felt like I was rooting along during a Top Chef competition as Janette and Jacques (Ntare Mwine) scramble to cook the best meal of their lives. Even Antoine Batiste (Wendell Pierce), who has been down and out of late, gets a boost from an exotic corner of the globe when Koichi Toyama, a jazz musician and wealthy tourist, shows up and buys him a new bone.
The good feelings coalesce when a second line forms for ReNew Orleans, a parade that took place in real life in 2006. It both showcased a city that yearned to be whole again, dancing and partying and drinking through New Orleans winter city streets, and presaged the darker tidings to come in the fact that three people got shot at what was otherwise a celebratory event. Toni’s (Melissa Leo) conversation with a corrections officer (David Morse, I believe) allowed for the message to get delivered: with people returning to New Orleans, there is a wave of crime and disorder coming that a beleaguered (and demoralized, in some ways) police force is in no way equipped to handle. Antoine’s confiscated trombone, which shows up at a music store, is a microcosm for the current state of affairs.
As with the last few weeks, there are number story threads running at once. Sonny (Michael Huisman) is on the drugs again, and Annie (Lucia Micarelli) is onto him. Albert (Clarke Peters) is angrily working on putting the crew back together, but seems to be happy with his new lady friend, Miss Lula. And Ladonna is busy serving notices to those who cross her while continuing the search along with Toni for Daymo.
It was a good but somewhat uneven hour of TV overall. I’m guessing we’ll get payoff on some of the smaller storylines we’re seeing, but it can be distracting and a bit overwhelming to see so much packed into the last few episodes.
More thoughts on “Shame Shame Shame”:
* Looks like Creighton’s meeting involved the real life Krewe du Vieux, which is “one of the earliest parades on the New Orleans Carnival calendar. I love that they have a serious conversation about how the parade is meant to mock the serious. Creighton adds that he’s at his most serious when his tongue is in his cheek.
* “Captain, a respite to appreciate the second line?” – Creighton
* Davis has a nice but small moment of character development when he removes the speakers from his windows. Looks like the gay neighbors will be spared his racket for a while after taking him in off the street after getting beaten up… for saying the “N word.” Treme street cred can only go so far!
* “I am telling you Toni, the wheels are off the cart.”
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.