Ok, so I watched the first episode of Treme on Tuesday and I've pretty much spent the past few days thinking about what to make of it. I know from experience of previous David Simon pieces (The Corner, Generation Kill & The Wire) that the first episode of his works is going to be a slow build that throws you into a story that feels like it's already in progress.

The Wire - Simon's 'head and shoulders above all else' show - was a show which took me exactly fourteen episodes to click with, until the start of the second season I was wading through a show with a dense plot and hard to understand dialog that occasionally was unbelievably brilliant and at other times real hard work to keep up with. Of course, I'm now at the point where I can pretty much name all of the minor bit part players by sight - thanks to repeated viewings and of course my Watching the Wire series (currently on hiatus).

The first, and most important thing, is to immediately familiarise yourself with the characters. Lets face it, you're not going to get anywhere if you're only able to name the actors by either their own name or the names of the characters they've played in the past.

So here's the core cast introduced in the first episode (HBO Page here):
Ladonna Batiste-Williams - Khandi Alexander (Fran - The Corner)
Toni Bernette - Melissa Leo (Kay Howard - Homicide: Life on the Street)
Albert Lambreaux - Clarke Peters (Lester Freamon - The Wire)
Antoine Batiste - Wendell Pierce (Bunk Mooreland - The Wire)
Davis McArly - Steve Zahn (He's one of those guys you'll recognise without knowing where from)
Creighton Bennet - John Goodman (The Big Lewbowski, amongst others)
Annie - Lucia Micarelli (First appearance)
Sonny - Michiel Huisman (De co-assistant, no I haven't heard of it either)
Janette Desautel - Kim Dickens (Deadwood)
Delmond Lambreaux - Rob Brown (Finding Forrester)

If you're going to follow the series you'll need that list - I know I will, Simon doesn't give traditional character introductions, he just throws you in there and expects you to swim. Which, I must admit, was a little tough with Treme. There's no doubt already that it's a fantastic show that's going to bloom into a must watch for critics and culture vultures, but there's also no doubt that it's a show which is going to be inaccessible to many viewers. I'm OK with that, but it is a shame that so many viewers will miss out because they're unwilling to put the effort in.

Treme is also a little bewildering at this stage because I don't know much about the city, the neighbourhood or the disaster. I know I can trust David Simon's writing to change all of that, he's an authentic storyteller with a real eye for enlightening and bringing home truths to the viewer.

Until that point I'm just going to enjoy watching Clarke Peters dressed up as a Mardi Gras chieftain.


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First up, (as the title suggests) there's a bit more info about Treme from the good people of Crimespree. There are a few shots from the show and the HBO Q&A.

It's all here.

"TREME is about the history of New Orleans since the storm in 2005. What has come back, what has not. What has changed, what is timeless."

I very much approve of The Wire as a television show, it holds my personal second place in the world of "best shows" behind The Shield. Only losing out to the latter due to accessibility issues and the fact that the fifth season of The Wire failed to succeed at my cardinal rule of a long running show - which is 'Each season should be better than the one which came before it'.

That said I've watched everything David Simon has been involved in and adored it - mostly due to the way he approaches the medium of television, in my opinion he's found the correct way to present a show and as such I'm confident Treme will deliver everything I want from it and more.

It doesn't hurt that Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters are involved in the project as actors either.

There's more about Treme's pilot episode cast list here at the IMDB, HBO's Treme Homepage is up here and the wikipedia article (here) contains more information while remaining (currently) spoiler free.

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Baghdad, Iraq, 2003. Mission: Unclear. Enemy: Unidentified. Duration of Tour: Unknown.

It was impossible for the Marines of the First Recon Battalion to anticipate what would occur during those first 40 days of the Iraq war as they found themselves struggling with shoddy supplies, frustrated by the chain of command and questioning the mission at every turn.
---Generation Kill

Generation Kill is the latest offering from David Simon, Ed Burns and HBO, the team which previously brought you The Wire. Generation Kill is based on the book of the same name by journalist Evan Wright, who travelled with . It stars Alexander Skarsgård (Tru Blood), James Ransone (The Wire - Ziggy), Lee Tergesen (Wanted, Oz), Jon Huertas (Castle), Jonah Lotan (CSI:NY), Stark Sands and Billy Lush (The Black Donnellys) to name a few (there are twenty eight starring members in this).

The miniseries follows the members of Bravo Company's advance squad and the reporter who was assigned to travel with them (Evan Wright was this man in actuality - but he's not identified as such here), the members of this squad are Sergeant Brad 'Iceman' Colbert, Corporal Josh Ray Person and Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley. The reporter joins them and we follow them throughout the first phase of the Iraq war.

The themes of the miniseries are clear; the series highlights the difficulties which the marines faced during their time. Problems and challenges which came not just from external sources but also from within the company itself. Issues with the chain of command, incompetent superior officers, food supplies, equipment and much more all stand in the way of Bravo Company and this is without considering the Iraq army intent on defending their homeland.

This is a series which is merciless in depicting the harsh reality of war, this is no heroic war movie designed to make the Americans look like the liberating heroes fighting the cardboard villainous 'bad guys'. The Iraqi forces are often outclassed by the Americans and have little chance. The consequences of war reverberate throughout this series with the sound of mortar shells.

Generation Kill doesn't shy away from depicting the atrocities which were commit ed during this war, but it also doesn't vilify the marines. They are depicted as rounded human beings put into an insane situation, they deal with the situation as best they can. Whether it's a troublesome Captain who has a gun hoe attitude and the awareness of a young child or orders to abandon civilians they react and deal in a very human fashion. Generation Kill manages to walk that tightrope, able to show the terrible things which happened in the war without dehumanising the marines either.

Before finishing up I'd like to just say that the performances in Generation Kill are all uniformly superb but it is worth noting especially how fantastic James Ransone is in this. The character of his I'm most familiar with - Ziggy from The Wire - is often lauded as a (deliberately) irritating and unsympathetic character - something I don't entirely agree with, but I do see the sentiment. His performance in Generation Kill is so distant from this previous form I didn't even realise he was the same actor at first, it took a while to make the connection.

Generation Kill is not only an enjoyable and entertaining piece of television, but it's also an eye opener. The authenticity of this series is a palpable thing and the messages it delivers, while mixed, are powerful.

Extras:
Generation Kill is quite literally bursting at the seams with extras, my copy is so physically full that the set itself bulges. This is because the "Basic Training" book included with the set is so large it doesn't quite fit inside the case properly alongside all of the DVDs.

This book is an essential read and should both be read before watching the series and also kept handy nearby. This is because Generation Kill has highly authentic dialog and uses Marine terminology and call signs throughout the series without providing much in the way of explanation. I did find myself wishing there was a set of subtitles which would put the "translation" up when terminology was used. But you get used to it all quickly enough.

Also included on the set are the following:
Generation Kill: A Conversation with the 1st Recon Marines
Making Generation Kill
Eric Ladin's Video Diaries
Audio Commentaries

Details:
Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Run Time: 451 Mins Approx
Languages: English
Hearing Impaired: English
Subtitles: English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Region: 2
Rating: 15
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The Corner is an Emmy award winning six part mini-series which was first broadcast on HBO in the year 2000, it's based on David Simon and Ed Burns's 1997 book 'The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner City Neighbourhood' and was adapted by David Simon and David Mills for the small screen. Now finally the complete DVD set is available for general consumption in the UK, having been released on the 6th April, 2009. Just a meagre nine or so years after it first aired.

The Corner contains an unrelenting and direct look at a part of America which is often ignored or sometimes even villanised by popular conception and the media. At its heart it follows and chronicles the lives of a small family living in West Baltimore, near to the corners where drugs a sold openly to those who want them. The three core characters are Garry McCollough (T.K. Carter), his ex-wife Francine "Fran" Boyd (Khandi Alexander) and their son D'Andre McCollough (Sean Nelson). Each of them lives a life where drugs are not only a fact but an essential ingredient of everyday life. Garry and Fran are both addicts, having fallen from a reasonable life almost directly due to the influence of drugs, D'Andre on the other hand doesn't use drugs but he does deal them on the corners.

Often people like this are portrayed as being low-life, barely human scum. Existing only to be shaken down by a hard boiled cop needing information, to get shot and murdered or to murder someone themselves. They are dehumanised and used as little more than plot devices to drive the narrative and satisfy the stereotypical views of drug users. But The Corner refuses to accept this as the only version of events, it turns around and holds up the lives of these people to the harsh light and says to the viewer :

"Here they are, here are the people who are struggling with the drug problem in America every day. Don't hate them, don't pity them. Many of them seek to overcome their situation and better themselves.

See them, understand them, accept them. These are the people in the front line of 'the war on drugs' "

The Corner brings a great deal of humanity to the characters portrayed, not just the McColloughs but also the people who surround and intertwine with their lives. The dealers, users and working class individuals who all struggle with daily life in the inner city. The Corner introduces us to the lads who run with D'Andre, fellow users and dealers and much more. Providing not just a picture of one family but a portrait of the entire neighbourhood they exist in. Of particular note is the character of Fat Carl, portrayed by the always fantastic Clarke Peters as a run down dealer/user reaching the end of his days.

There is a lot in The Corner which have influenced sections of Simon's later masterpiece 'The Wire'; D'Andre is clearly the inspiration for D'Angelo (and not just in the name) and much of the message of the streets in The Wire is echoed in The Corner. Also several actors who would later appear in The Wire are present in The Corner, most notable is the aforementioned Clarke Peters (Who would later play Lester Freamon in The Wire), but also present are Clayton LeBouef (Orlando), Lance Reddick (Cedric Daniels), Delaney Williams (Jay Landsman) and Corey Parker Robinson (Leander Sydnor). Clarke's performance in particular is breathtaking but each one of these shows their acting chops off magnificently.

I knew going into watching The Corner that it was going to be a heartfelt and honest account of inner city life, previous experience with David Simon's work has taught me that he understands his characters, the situations they are in and cares about them as well - so I knew this was going to be an enjoyable watch even before I started. But it turned out to be much more than that, franklt this is a work which is essential viewing for anyone who enjoyed 'The Wire' and it's a real eye opener for anyone else. You can't claim to have a valid opinion on the 'war on drugs' until you've seen this masterpiece of contemporary media.

Extras:
None.

Details:
Audio: 2.0 Dolby Surround
Aspect Ratio: 1:33:1 Full Frame
Run Time: 335 Mins. Approx.
Languages: English
Hearing Impaired: English
Subtitles: English, Croatian, Dutch, French, Greek, Norwegian, Portugese, Slovenia, Swedish
Region: 2
Rating: 18
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