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Treme Review: “Careless Love” (Season 3, Episode 6)

Prologue: It's a weird kind of poetic irony that my review for this week's episode of Treme was postponed because of a hurricane. Even though we on the East Coast had all manner of warning coming at us, somehow I knew it could never be as bad as Katrina was for the Gulf, and this colored my eyes action. Still, the few vague inconveniences that we have suffered here in Washington, DC have opened my eyes to the true effort that goes into preparing for, enduring, and recovering from a storm, even if it isn't as bad as Katrina. Sure, I filled my car with gas, stocked up on food, and watched the Weather Channel with religious fervency beforehand and have had to deal with blackouts, downed trees and minor flooding afterward. But in the context of the damage we've seen on Treme this is all just a drop in the bucket.

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Albert is still doing his best to soldier through his cancer diagnosis with his typical hard-nosed obstinacy. He is refusing to take any chemo treatments until after Mardis Gras, since the weakness associated with his decreased blood cell count would keep him not only from marching, but from even completing his costume. Of course this doesn’t sit well with his daughter, who storms out upon hearing the news. Del, on the other hand, understands his father’s passion, and lets the odd decision slide.

Chief, meanwhile, is enjoying the new practice space, and his after-hours conversations with Ladonna, who is also enjoying her new house and the return to New Orleans with her family, even if her boys are less than enthusiastic to be back. Antoine, likewise, is filling the gap left in his life by his kids’ lack of enthusiasm for music by mentoring one of his younger students. It turns out she has a learning disability and can’t even read. However, the public schools don’t have the resources to help her, and the waiting lists for the charter schools is insurmountable. Still, he takes her to go see a jazz performance, and tries to help her out in any way he can. Antoine was fun as a roving dog, but he’s transitioned so smoothly into a loving father figure for this young woman that it’s a testament to both the writing on the show and Wendell Pierce’s performance.

Davis and Annie are making their lives work together, and while there isn’t much new information to their stories this week, though they do share a sweet moment together on Davis’s radio show. The nepotism of Davis helping Annie on the air, however, rubs his station manager the wrong way, but this time Davis simply quits instead of getting fired.

Toni and LP travel outside the city to meet a possible lead on the case of Henry Glover in the second true-to-life-maybe story from this week’s episode. Unfortunately, leaving Sofia alone offers plenty of opportunities for her to trip up and get in trouble. We know, from a single scene with Lt. Terry Colson, that the police are now looking at LP on top of Toni, that their rabble rousing is turning heads. Sofia make a few unwise choices. Like letting her much older boyfriend talk her into driving to the abandoned Six Flags, during which he tries to light up a joint in the car. This rubs Sofia the wrong way, rightly. It does, however, free up Sofia to spend some time with LP at an Eyehategod concert to celebrate.

Celebrate what? The doctor they travel to see confirms for them their worst suspicions. The wounds and condition of Henry Glover’s body should have launched a full scale criminal investigation, and Joseph – the victim from last season – should likewise have served as a cause for further investigation. This is the proof of cover ups and general malpractice that they feel they need in order to really make their case sing, especially with the testimony of a witness to Wilson’s troublemaking.

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