Treme – David Simon’s HBO series about post-Katrina New Orleans returned for a second season this week. Picking up almost a year after Season One, we see that life has continued on for the survivors. Interestingly, there is only one outright mention of Katrina in the entire episode, even though it’s an implied part of nearly every scene. They’re trying to pick up the pieces, and they can’t afford to spend their time dwelling on the past. There’s a heartbreaking
montage that opens the episode, showing various cast members visiting the graves of their respective loved ones – some of them Katrina victims, some gone for years. Catching up with the Bernettes after the apparent suicide of husband and father Creighton last season was devastating, and while her tragedy was on a smaller scale, it was hard to watch Kim Dickens’ Janette who kept her restaurant open against all odds last season. Eleven months later, she’s a line chef working under a temperamental fruitcake.
