With the New Teaser for The Deuce, the Pieces Start Coming Together

The Deuce, David Simon’s HBO series about the rise and fall of the pornographic film industry in New York City, is coming on September 10, and the second teaser for the show gives us a much more substantive idea of what to expect. (The first, released in May, offered little more than a quick look at the characters.) We can see James Franco’s twin brothers—based on real historical figures who served as a guide for Simon and co-creator George Pelecanos—getting into the money troubles that will drive them into more remunerative forms of work; Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Candy, a Times Square prostitute, confidently instructing a new arrival how to take care of herself, and later sporting sunglasses and a split lip that will presumably convince her to stop working the street. The pilot, which was screened at the Split Screens TV Festival in June, confirms that The Deuce is the kind of big-canvas show we’ve come to expect from the creators of The Wire, and as with his last HBO series, Tremé, Simon will be making the entire first season available to critics before it airs. (The plan is for three eight-episode seasons spanning 15 years, which is why 37-year-old Margarita Levieva starts off playing a college student.) But even after that hour, which is largely devoted to introducing the show’s huge cast of characters, most of what we see in the teaser hasn’t happened yet. Say this for David Simon and co.; they’re not afraid to make people wait.