Six Feet Under - 6/1/03 - Season Finale (1 Viewer)

Ah damn, the season wasn't a Nate dream. Poor Nate, he's stuck with this reality. Sucks to be him.

Am I the only one that thinks Brenda looks a bit like John Cameron Mitchell (in drag) from "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"?

Finally, we get to lay Lisa to rest (about damn time!).

Ruth's quickie marriage seems rash. Claire's emotional blubbering at the ceremony was a bit strange.

Glad David and Keith are giving it another shot. They lowered their fences a bit more between them.

Brenda's world is going to be complicated with Nate back in the mix, and the new neighbor.

Claire's decision to abort her pregnancy hit home in a sudden way as Lisa told her she'd be looking out for him. Claire got to make some peace with Gabe.

Nathaniel was downright scary riding shotgun with a battered and confused Nate. Nathaniel almost curling up in the fetal position in front of Ruth is a bit indicative of how the living moving on can still inflict some pain on the dead.

Don't forget about Rico and the stripper!

I thought this was a good way to wrap the season. I just wish the emphasis wasn't almost totally doom and gloom like it has been. I know Ruth is in a good place but it may be just me but it doesn't feel right.

I actually liked Keith for the first time in a long time tonight.

I thought Nate was going to die. And had no clue he would end up where he did.

And that was funny about the falling ice, even though it shouldn't be funny the jokes Rico and David were making, but I still laughed.

And I would say that I knew it wasn't all a dream. But as far as I know, they could start season 4 with him waking up from the dream. So I will not say anything.

Classic line, "f--- you car, you're locked!"

Good episode, but my wife pointed out something that, for me, finally identified what's been missing this season.

The death from falling blue ice wasn't an integral part of the episode. At most, it provided yet another opportunity for Nate to show how badly he's losing it. And as I think back over this third season, that's been typical of the episodes -- a mark of how far into the background the funeral business has retreated. During the first two seasons, we had the Kroehner rivalry, first through Matt Gilardi and then through Mitzi Dalton-Huntley, both memorable characters. We had Nate getting his license, a visit to a convention, numerous side trips into the economics and mechanics of the business -- and all of it provided an essential background against which the Fishers' various struggles unfolded.

That element disappeared almost entirely this season, which I suspect is the reason that season 3 has been criticized as little more than soap opera. With occasional exceptions (e.g., the first episode), the death that begins each episode has played only a perfunctory role in the episode itself, and even when the death was more integrally connected (as with Brenda's father), it felt more like a plot device (we need to have Brenda stay around) than an essential element.

The entire arc leading to Lisa's death has had an arbitrary, mechanical feel to it. It's as if the writers painted themselves into a corner by marrying off Nate, and now they have to do something abrupt and credibility-straining to break themselves free, so that they can fulfill the audience's desire to see Nate go back to Brenda. We're falling back into the TV drama formulas that Alan Ball was so determined to break.

I think I'll go back to watching my season 1 discs now.

M.

Good points, Michael. For me this series has never been quite as good as it seemed on the surface. Which seems a bit of a contradiction in logic. But, for me the acting (and sometimes the directing) is so incredibly fine and consistent, that I feel the writers get away with some things that they might otherwise not. This just became more apparent this season.

"Ruth's quickie marriage seems rash."

I firmly believe that the writers intended to take the Ruth-Arthur relationship further, but decided mid stream that it just wasn't going to work. The overall plot still called for Ruth to be happily involved, so they inserted the James Cromwell character late.

Lew, I do think the first season holds up very well on repeated viewings, in large part because both the writers and the actors were exploring a world not previously seen on TV (or, for that matter, in mainstream movies) in addition to characters who were layered and interesting. This season, it's as if the writers have lost interest in that world.

Rico is an excellent example. He was much more interesting as a talented restorer trying to get recognition for his work (in seasons 1 and 2) than as the frustrated husband of a manic-depressive wife with an obnoxious sister-in-law. The latter character feels like someone we've seen; the former was all new. This is not to take anything away from Freddy Rodriguez's work, which has been consistently excellent. It's strictly a criticism of the writing.

M.

But, you have to wonder with Nate's brain surgery, things about the funeral home biz were placed on the backburner, and the focus was about Nate's choices (the baby bomb from Lisa is the life-changer), which did totally exploded in this finale when Nate tries to blame his predicament on Ruth asking him to stay with the family business in light of Nathaniel's sudden death. Nate went from free and breezy to shackled by family in a more intimante/personal way that leaves him very little in options IF he desires to do the right thing.

Nate struggles for an entire year, even with the new lease on life with "successful" brain surgery, with doing the right thing w/r/t Lisa and his child. And like many people who are simply human, and not totally capable with handling these new life developments, he makes mistakes, a lot of them. And just when he sort of make peace with himself and his predicament, life winds up and thrown him yet another curveball. Nate's a flawed human being. He's both likable and loathable.

I don't mind the focus of the deaths this season having just tangential impact to the Fishers. Otherwise, the show gets into a more predictable rut, mining the same area over and over again. This is not to say that the 3rd season didn't bring the viewer many more soap opera elements into the mix, but it never gives into easy solutions without showing us the repurcussions of those choices.

It dawned on me this AM that Claires outburst during the wedding was the emotions from the abortion finally hitting her, after "seeing" her son with Lisa in the mausoleum.

I think Nate may be nominated for an award this season for various scenes recently.

I thought that this was an excellent ending to an excellent season. I lost interest in the show last season (not really sure why) but this season pulled me (and my wife) back in. The whole dream sequence with Claire was great and it was good to see Gabe. I've been wondering what happened to him. Did anyone else notice that Claire's baby looked really sad while everyone else there was happy? I also loved the scene with Nate racing down the road with his dad in the car telling him to kill himself and Nate screaming "I don't wanna die!".

Great episode, indeed.

But, I think Michael is right...the season, on the whole was missing something, and it may well have been the funerial tie-ins.

I think Claire's balling at the wedding is indicative of the change we see in her character in this episode. She has always been the stereotypical shut-off, defenses fully in place, rebellious teen. She felt like an outsider, and as such chose to keep everything at a distance. Now, she seems to have allowed herself to open up and be emotional. Telling her mom she loves her, visiting her dad's grave, etc. I LOVED seeing this change in her character.

Plus, how does this show get such great actors? Kathy Bates (who also does a lot of directing), Cromwell, and now Justin Theroux (a fine character actor). I'm sure we'll see him next season in the neighbor/Brenda/Nate triangle.

I found it fitting that last season Brenda hit rock bottom and this season it is Nate. They can finally understand each other on more than a carnal level.

And...beware Arthur! This dude has always been scary. I think Cromwell may be in for some trouble from our friendly neighborhood psycho intern.

One of my favourite exchanges from this ep (paraphrasing):
"Gabriel's dead?"
"How should I know? It's your thing."

I loved the episode, though the end, with the intercutting of Mom's mania, Rico's drunken dalliance, Claire's weeping and Nate's self-destruction was surreal to the point of being 'Twin Peaks-esque.' Did anyone else get a distinct Rocket Romano vibe off Nate's descent? How 'bout a Magnolia opening credits vibe off the ice block death? I thought Arthur's announcement that he'd 'enjoy his cake back in his room' was picture perfect.

Kieth and David had me ROFLMAO! "Now your ripping on my style!" -Kieth to David.

I absolutely loved the exchange between Nate and his Mom. Reminded me of the Tony and Carmella exchange when we saw them last. Great acting.

This was indeed my fave episode in quite some time.

Side note: The only thing Brenda's got going for her IMO is her girls. She's not all that.

I thought Nate was going to open a can of whoop-ass on that dude in the bar. Too bad.:frowning: He just kept getting up.

Too bad I also missed the first 15 minutes of the show. I'll have to catch an encore.