It’s Mardi Gras!
Toni’s still working hard on the Abreu and Glover cases. She gets an emergency court order preventing NOPD from throwing out investigative files before she can look through them (or something).
Sofia’s broken up with the boyfriend. She’s clearly into LP but he’s valiantly fighting their growing attraction. He thought her boyfriend was too old for her, and he’s the same age, so obviously he’s going to do his best to avoid anything happening between them. Don’t see that lasting.
Janette is having trouble reconciling herself with making traditional New Orleans fare for a bunch of tourists. She eventually realizes that it’s not just about her – the more PR work she does, the more likely it is that the restaurant will be a success and that her staff’s jobs will be secure – and goes on The Today Show with Al Roker.
A friend of Delmond and his sister is heavily involved in a documentary that showed at Sundance. Mid-way through the episode, we see the Indians watching it. This part of the episode moved me to tears. It’s so easy to forget when watching Treme that all of this really happened and it happened to real people. Now that the show’s New Orleans is moving on, we forget about the tragedy that started everything. This brought it back home with a bang as we heard a recorded conversation between an elderly woman trapped in her attic as the waters rose and the emergency services who told her help wasn’t coming.
But as is always the case with Treme, the misery never lasts long – this is a city that refuses to bow (as the tagline so proudly proclaims) and is even less likely to do so on Mardi Gras. Things move on.
Antoine’s students finally march in a parade and, in a sweet moment, have a jamming session with the Marine band.
Nelson’s in DC to meet with a contact who invites him to the DC Mardi Gras party to meet some Louisiana big-wigs. Annie is playing at the party. The crowd isn’t what she’s used to – talking over the bands, ignoring the importance of the lyrics. Which is probably why she’s less than happy when her manager tells her he’s booked her for shows on Mardi Gras day and she won’t be home in New Orleans for the whole day of festivities.
Which is unfortunate because if she was maybe Davis and Janette wouldn’t have fallen back into old habits.
There’s a nod to Harley as Annie and his sister scatter his ashes into the river at the end of the Ste. Anne parade, and then Annie is whisked back off to her new life with a sad look in her eye.
Albert marches, just like he wanted. He doesn’t look too well after the parades, though. Mardi Gras definitely took its toll. Has he left enough time for the chemo to do its job, or has his stubbornness walked him into an early grave?
Sonny’s been sober for two weeks and even manages to stay clean on Mardi Gras.
Terry is becoming even more disillusioned with the NOPD in the wake of a Mardi Gras full of beatings and excuses, and sees their downfall coming, just around the corner.
Mixed bag of Mardi Gras fun and misery. I guess that’s just the Treme experience in a nutshell. – K
Quoteworthy: “Something is coming, Tony. Something big, and ugly, and overdue. … Keep yourself clean. … Something is coming, so stay clean of this shit.” – Terry
Pond Hopping Girls 