The first scene of "Slip Away," the funeral of Dinerral Shavers is a wonderful representation of what Treme is about. The funeral is for someone we've never even seen, something that would normally be awkward and possibly bad on another show. But David Simon knows exactly what he's doing. The cohesive and communal culture of New Orleans has been well-developed enough that we understand the significance of the event. Coupled with the direction, the scene works incredibly well even if we only see glimpses of the characters.
"Slip Away" is a pretty interesting episode in that we see the potential for the characters to grow through the rest of the season. Delmond shifts his music towards New Orleans, Janette gets another job as a chef, Davis's record company is kind of moving, Annie tries to write her own songs, and Sofia is revisiting the place where her father died. The overarching theme of the episode is the violence that has gone on in the city, and the community changes as well, shifting from a passive to active stance, deciding to march against the murders.
Score: 9.0/10
