It took me a long time to switch gears. Going from The Wire to Treme is kind of like switching from Windows to Linux -- the hardest part is unlearning what you already know. In my case, I kept expecting Treme to be more Wire-esque. It isn't, at all. It's its own show, with its own characters, in its own city.
What it has in common with The Wire is that its characters are richly crafted, and they're whole characters. Nobody in any David Simon show is a throwaway character, and that might not ever have been more true than in Treme. Also, the acting is exceptional, in every scene, and in every case. Another commonality is that of the failures of people, and of the institutions that ostensibly aim to protect them. Like The Wire, Treme is filled with a panoply of people all attempting their best in every task, but as in life, those people sometimes fail, and often those failures come at the expense of somebody else. Just as in The Wire, we often get to see the impact of those failures up close and personal, and we get to feel the hurt it causes, while sympathizing with those who made whatever mistake caused the failure, and far too often to be comfortable, we get to pick which one of those people we prefer.
There are big differences, obviously. The Wire is, at its core, a cops and robbers drama, with some other stuff going on. Treme focuses more on the people, and less on the game they're playing. Music plays a much bigger role in Treme than in The Wire, but that's a commonality too, as David Simon works tend to feature the city as a character, and Treme's set in New Orleans, and that music is part of New Orleans' character.
The narrative in Treme meanders around A LOT. It all basically wraps itself up by the end, but while The Wire managed to tell a basically cohesive story each season, Treme's big plot is spread out, with blurrier lines. It gives you the feeling of closure with each season finale, but the collection of tales being told don't, and really, keep going well after the show's end.
At the end of the day though, the main difference is that narrative draw. If you need one, maybe Treme isn't for you. Sure, it has political corruption, and criminal investigations, and the occasional legal proceeding, but at its core Treme is really just a window into the lives of a couple dozen folks making their way in post-Katrina New Orleans. We get to see how the storm affected them, and how the city affected them, and sometimes, how they've affected the city -- whether by making their mark on it, or succumbing to its ways, or in some cases, getting out while the getting is good. It isn't about anything that I could wrap up into a few sentences, but it's a deep cultural exploration into a culturally rich and beautiful people, and it's a showcase for some of the best damn music around, and it's an expose into the triumphs and troubles of people just trying to make it work in a city at a time when nothing's working as it should. It's also the inverse of that, in true David Simon form, so -- yeah, nobody can fault you for having a hard time making an adjustment, but it's worth adjusting if you can manage it.
bmelton|8 years ago
What it has in common with The Wire is that its characters are richly crafted, and they're whole characters. Nobody in any David Simon show is a throwaway character, and that might not ever have been more true than in Treme. Also, the acting is exceptional, in every scene, and in every case. Another commonality is that of the failures of people, and of the institutions that ostensibly aim to protect them. Like The Wire, Treme is filled with a panoply of people all attempting their best in every task, but as in life, those people sometimes fail, and often those failures come at the expense of somebody else. Just as in The Wire, we often get to see the impact of those failures up close and personal, and we get to feel the hurt it causes, while sympathizing with those who made whatever mistake caused the failure, and far too often to be comfortable, we get to pick which one of those people we prefer.
There are big differences, obviously. The Wire is, at its core, a cops and robbers drama, with some other stuff going on. Treme focuses more on the people, and less on the game they're playing. Music plays a much bigger role in Treme than in The Wire, but that's a commonality too, as David Simon works tend to feature the city as a character, and Treme's set in New Orleans, and that music is part of New Orleans' character.
The narrative in Treme meanders around A LOT. It all basically wraps itself up by the end, but while The Wire managed to tell a basically cohesive story each season, Treme's big plot is spread out, with blurrier lines. It gives you the feeling of closure with each season finale, but the collection of tales being told don't, and really, keep going well after the show's end.
At the end of the day though, the main difference is that narrative draw. If you need one, maybe Treme isn't for you. Sure, it has political corruption, and criminal investigations, and the occasional legal proceeding, but at its core Treme is really just a window into the lives of a couple dozen folks making their way in post-Katrina New Orleans. We get to see how the storm affected them, and how the city affected them, and sometimes, how they've affected the city -- whether by making their mark on it, or succumbing to its ways, or in some cases, getting out while the getting is good. It isn't about anything that I could wrap up into a few sentences, but it's a deep cultural exploration into a culturally rich and beautiful people, and it's a showcase for some of the best damn music around, and it's an expose into the triumphs and troubles of people just trying to make it work in a city at a time when nothing's working as it should. It's also the inverse of that, in true David Simon form, so -- yeah, nobody can fault you for having a hard time making an adjustment, but it's worth adjusting if you can manage it.
devuo|8 years ago
emmanuel_1234|8 years ago