I’m a fan, not a critic. Here’s my sort-of review:
Episode 4: At the Foot of Canal Street
It’s Christmastime in New Orleans, and we’re starting to see which characters are slowly resettling into what we assume to be their old, pre-Katrina patterns and which are creating new ones.
(Photo: HarshLight)
Antoine: New Orleans > Sons (or Daughters)
Who knew Wendell Pierce could sing?
Last week, Antoine’s spur-of-the-moment street performance with Annie and Sonny ended in an arrest by overzealous police, and this episode opens while another impromptu song, this time while waiting in the emergency room to get his mouth injury looked at. Very little seems to matter to Antoine except his music and his city. He basically has to be forced to go visit his sons in Baton Rouge and even then, he only goes when Ladonna bribes him with Larry’s practically free dental services to correct his embouchure and leaves him no excuses.
His priorities couldn’t be more clear at the end of the episode when, after he says goodbye to his sons in Baton Rouge – and remember, it’s the holidays – he tells the passenger in the bus seat next to him that he’s headed to New Orleans for pleasure, not business.
“Hamsterdam”
Cross-references in the David Simon universe = Love
Creighton Turns to YouTube
If there were ever a fictional character tailor-made for a real-life Internet phenomenon, it’s this one. Creighton’s blustery rants (based on a deceased New Orleans blogger, Ashley Morris), so irritating in the pilot and in every other context on the show, turn hilarious when he sits down to record a YouTube video over winter break. So perfect, too, the way he curses and shouts at his Internet audience but is still self-conscious enough to keep looking behind his shoulder to make sure no one’s eavesdropping while he records.
Ladonna is Officially My Favorite Character
First, she puts Antoine in his place about visiting their sons and even gives him money to buy them presents, making it impossible for him to refuse. She gets the best line of the episode in this scene, too, when she tells her ex-husband,
Cry a river, you feel the need. It’s not gonna get you back on your feet.
This is the heart of her character and it’s the kind of thing Khandi Alexander does so well. Compassionate when she needs to be and especially for the sake of her children, she’s also tough, relentless, and intolerant of pity.
Davis is an Idiot
This character bugs a lot of people. Reviewers are weary of his constant “real” New Orleans and “real” music diatribes, but I dunno. I feel like David Simon’s having fun with him. We’ve all known this type of insufferable personality, haven’t we? I had this one friend in college back in Florida who used to spend all his free time in the local record store, searching out old, obscure vinyl for hours. We used to hang out all the time, but the moment he started talking about music, I’d change the subject. That’s how bad it was.
Davis is maybe the least self-aware character I’ve ever seen. While Creighton’s venting his frustration on YouTube, of course Davis is turning to local politics. Of course he is.
On the Other Hand, Janette
I like to cook. I like stories about cooking. I like Kim Dickens, and I love to eat in New Orleans. But I can’t get into this character. She bores me.
Albert Lambreaux’s Tribe is Growing
Hopefully, this means even more chanting/practice/ceremony scenes, especially with Mardi Gras on the way.
The Gulf Between Sonny and Annie Widens
It was Sonny’s dream to come to New Orleans, not Annie’s, so as new gigs open up for Annie while the possibilities for Sonny keep shutting down, he turns to drugs. Or drink. Or both.
Sonny’s vision for himself, of who he wants to be, will never materialize because he doesn’t have the talent. That much becomes clear in the Houston roadhouse where he gives up the keyboard to a much better pianist.
Slim Charles Finally Has a Name
Turns out Kevon White (Anwan Glover), a violent criminal with a murder change pending, traded bracelets with David Brooks as the price of protection during the chaos of the Katrina aftermath. Apparently going through withdrawal, David ended up on a bus to who-knows-where, so he’s still missing.
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Don’t miss Treme Explained by the Times-Picayune’s Dave Walker, for explanations of New Orleans references.
