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It’s fitting that the title of this episode explains what this show is to me: it’s my greatest love. TV wise anyways (can’t forget about beef jerky). For my money, this is by far and away the most interesting, important, and significant show on TV today, and has been since for a while. And in what is so far the best part of season 3, I’m reminded of two things: how much I appreciate the cast, crew, writers, and show runners, and also that this is the last full season we’re getting. Which makes me incredibly sad, because I really hope Treme takes off post mortem like The Wire did after its untimely end. As Mr. Potato Head once said, a man can dream, can’t he?

We start off with some much needed humor, because man does it gets quite somber after the first five minutes. Antoine is back at his job, and we get a great punch line with the trumpet kid (is that a trumpet? I’m not a musician, I’m a writer). The head teacher though (whose name I don’t know) reminds Antoine that “everyday counts”, and really I think he’s somehow channeling Chief Lambreaux when he tells him that, but I’ll get to him soon enough. I can always count on Antoine to bring the laughs, and he had a relatively light story line this week. We basically see his interactions with the kids, and him with Desiree for a bit (I could watch them stuck in a taxi every week), and it’s just nice to see Antoine being a nice guy instead of cheating on his wife. Mostly, Antoine was used in some great transitions between scenes, sort of doing meta commentary on the other protagonists. It was all very Altman-esque, like David Simon watched Short Cuts and took notes. We see Delmond having to deal with paperwork, and then we cut to Antoine stuck in the same situation. Also, after a certain, shall we say intriguing scene with Terry, it smash cuts to Antoine saying “that shit was wild”. It definitely was, and I thought the interplay of storylines was something of note. Rarely does a show impress me with its editing, but if there was any show that could do it, it would be Treme.

Davis and Annie also helped to make the opening very funny with some racial humor and Gremlins references, as we quickly find out what the best part of his day is (hint: it’s not laundry). The two start off together, but they don’t stay that way for very long, as again another performance rips Annie apart from Davis, and we are left with just the saddest shot of Davis I’ve ever seen. It would crush me to lose both the Chief to cancer, AND my favorite onscreen couple in the same season. It doesn’t help that Annie is doing very well for herself in the big time now, and also sort of kind of flirting with her manager. Maybe. This kills me to watch, but I have faith that she’ll stay with Davis and not get sidetracked with a possible “career” or sign a contract. Isn’t the music industry dead anyways? It is a post Napster world, but whatever. She’s also struggling with writing original material, which sounds like a pain in the ass, just like writing reviews for TV shows (just kidding guys). Davis, on the other hand, is struggling to even put a band together, because he’s aiming high. His superstar jazz opera mega group is either going to implode or shine, and I don’t know which one it’ll be yet. There was one thing I noticed about this episode, and that’s the reoccurring theme of the police presence. Almost all of the characters are dealing with the cops, in one way or another, and the story of how the NOPD beat the jazz out of Sugar Boy Crawford is just another addition to what was already going to be a pretty harrowing look at the police in the city.

There was no Sonny this time around, which is bad if you’re a Sonny fan. Or it can be good, because then he can’t cheat on Annie or do more drugs. I know it was like three years ago, but I haven’t gotten over it yet. Anyways, my main man Nelson has a fairly big episode, not in terms of screen time, but he opens up in a way we haven’t seen before, and he really lets us know his feelings on New Orleans. Is Nelson going to leave? Are we going to follow him back to Texas? Can he help out the city and clean up the mess, or will he move onto other disasters like he put it? All I’ll say is I want the finale to just be him dancing for an hour, because I could watch that forever. It seems there are a lot of bottle episodes waiting to happen, and I could see an Antoine Desiree spin-off sitcom, or a new cop thriller with Terry, or a dancing show with Nelson, and a drama about LaDonna and the Chief owning a bar together. I’m half joking, and these things will never happen, but the show is ending soon, so why not suggest them? Speaking of LaDonna, she also got only spare scenes thrown her way, the highlight being the aforementioned conversation with the Chief, which is Fred and Ginger big in my opinion. Her time consisted of being in montage of house hunting inter-spliced with Janette’s quest for finding a new staff. In a way, they’re both interviews, except houses don’t talk. But what does talk is that great smile LaDonna gives as she lays eyes on the perfect house. It always makes me happy to see her happy, and I guess that’s because she’s usually angry with somebody.

Delmond’s performance was a nice break from all of the tension going on, up until another damn producer shows up to pitch something. Where do all these producers and agents come from? Do they breed like mosquitos? Haven’t they heard the music industry is dead? In any case, I will always have fun watching people enjoy good food, as it makes me want to visit New Orleans one of these days. The potential job Delmond can get seems to be a fantastic way to honor his heritage, the tribe, the Big Easy, but most importantly his father (who will die soon, I have to mentally prepare for it everyone). And I think the Chief knows it too, since we see the gears turning in his head on changing up the tradition for the Guardians (of the flame, not the galaxy). He keeps doodling, and I really want to know what he’s drawing. It’s no doubt going to be one of the last impressions he has on his immediate family, and it’s heartwarming to see him admit his cancer to Delmond, and say “good to have you here, son”. They’ve both been through a lot, and now that the end is near, the last thing we want to see is for there to be some lingering conflict. I just like these characters too much, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to them. I understand that’s not really the point of storytelling, but I don’t care.

I saved the best for last, that’s everything involving Toni, Sofia, Terry, and LP. They’re all connected, so I’ll throw them into one big paragraph. Terry, who halfway through the episode I declared the saddest character on a David Simon show, gets some hot loving. I don’t know exactly the relationship between Terry and his lady friend, but there was enough subtly to let the audience know they had some sort of a past, without any information dumps. And good for him getting some action, which completely took me by surprise. I mean, I sensed the sexual tension, but damn! It hit me like a brick wall. What a 180, from being in a FEMA trailer and drinking by the train tracks (Wire reference?), to being in the top suite, if you know what I mean (I mean sex). So that was all unexpected, and so was my reaction to LP’s plot. I’m happy to finally say that I am now officially in the LP camp. He won me over this episode, and now I’m looking forward to seeing exactly how big the pile of shit he stepped in really is. Everything with him worked, and the best part of the episode was him and Toni getting into some All the President’s Men type stuff, with CD ROMs and secrets and a looming sense of danger. Lying, cover-ups, arson, it’s all downhill from here, and it looks to get into the darker side of the Katrina aftermath. I knew something was up when he started getting creepy looks, but then it turned into a Lt. Daniels vs. Avon Barksdale style stare down with the cops. Not to mention the entire last ten minutes, which was filled with all sorts of good shit. Sofia and her boyfriend was one that jumped out at me, since she wasn’t in last week’s (27? Jesus Christ teenagers and their hormones. He better not meet Toni, or else he’s castrated).

To me, a perfect episode of Treme is basically that one Mardi Gras where Annie met Davis, or the one where John Goodman killed himself. While it wasn’t quite there, “The Greatest Love” did feature some great moments, some good laughs, and plenty of drama. It also contained the best line of dialogue the show has produced, which is “motherfucker ain’t coming, he ain’t coming”. That scene, and Toni crying, was so heartbreaking and powerful, it makes me want to fly there and watch that play right now. I also got LP giving me a new metal band to check out (him and I know where it’s at with music. I mean, his name is LP for crying out loud, he should know what he’s talking about). All I know is that I’m going to be ruined when this show ends, so HBO please give David Simon and these talented people another show when this all ends.

-Jared