Katrina: Contra viento y marea

While good and informative for E1 & 2, E3 dragged. I learned more from watching the National Geographic doc, "Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time." Some crossover with interviews of same people. Still, being a fan of NOLA and visited many times, I learned a lot. I found it especially interesting about the "recovery" of the area. And Commander Honore' is my new favorite person. He was a bad@$$.

I think this series is worth watching but as a whole it comes off very disjointed. The first two episodes feel like they came from a different series altogether from the third.

The first two episodes are telling the historical story of hurricane Katrina and the failures afterwards. The points made by the third episode revolve around the systemic cultural failures that occurred during the rebuilding process are very valid. But it comes off as almost a PowerPoint presentation in parts. The editing style and approach are very different from the other two episodes. It comes across as a series a jumbled narrative of interviews that kind of tell a story, but one that could have been handled better stylistically. Also felt like the dead of Katrina get left behind in the series. The identification and stories of them get ignored for the most part.

Episodes 1 & 2 paint a vivid picture of the hurricane's prelude, impact and immediate catastrophic aftermath, largely through survivors' own eyes via camcorder footage.

Episode 3 feels like Spike Lee watched those episodes and decided he had to do it all himself. Thus, interviewees are reintroduced and events recapped like the previous two hours never happened.

Like, weren't they blunt enough for him? For me, they did an exemplary job of showing systemic racism permeated every aspect of this disaster without needing to put the words 'systemic racism' onscreen, as if anyone watching might've missed that point somewhere along the way.

"Katrina: Come Hell and High Water" provides a deafening look at the catastrophe that overtook New Orleans in 2005. The first two episodes provide a laser-sharp analysis of the disaster - before, during and after. I re-learned a lot I had forgotten about, especially how some people had no recourse to leave. The results obviously were devastating. I was amazed by the resiliency of the people of New Orleans, a city I love. The third episode gets muddled in some racial and who can we blame sidebars that have little to do with the hurricane. That said, it is an important documentary about the forces of nature and the fabric of society which when weakened easily tears.

This is a mostly well-made and well-paced documentary that powerfully details the devastating and moving stories of what happened during Hurricane Katrina.

The first two episodes are excellent, but the third feels like a letdown-shifting focus to hype a climate agenda and overshadowing the other important points that key voices are trying to make.

And Brad Pitt... fix the shoddy homes you built for people.