We sidled up to our friend and neighbor’s couch to watch the premier of Treme. I came to the show with trepidation that New Orleans is in essence an enigma and hard to capture, but willing to suspend my disbelief to join in the fun. Half way into the plotless story I had this weird feeling that someone was staring into our daily life here in New Orleans and viewers would need a translator because it was all the esoteric stuff that comes from living in an enigmatic city with customs and steeped in traditions that even we don’t sometimes understand. I cried twice at remembrances of Katrina and identified more with the past suffering I knew of rather than the specific characters being drawn on the screen.
In the end, the panel of bayou experts gave the show a 4 out of 10 even though we loved seeing one of our own (Rio) in a cameo role. The cinematography was good and my favorite line goes to Kermit Ruffin himself when asked if he was going to stay in New Orleans and smoke pot, play his trumpet and grill and he said that sounds right. But I can’t imagine someone from Kansas watching this show and having an inkling about what it means to be in New Orleans, or for that matter caring.