The greatness of Six Feet Under (HBO) can never be overstated

It's amazing (but not surprising) that we wish to view death this way.

For an exegesis on the Western way of death and dying, it does quite well to reinforce the distorted view on the matter of death and how we get there.

 

One thing I found interesting about the show. Conservative viewpoints were promoted at times, such as anti-abortion advocacy. One might think that the cutting edge, daring show would be consistently liberal in its views. That was not the case.

 

My older sister got me watching it with her, but I didn't start until Season 4. I watched the finale with her.

Then I went back and watched the show from the beginning. Exceptional throughout, and a show that I think really kicked off what could be done on cable TV with a long-form narrative.

 

I enjoyed the show but like many series, it went on a little too long and some of the characters really became a chore to watch. And I'm not embarrassed to say I wept at the final minutes of the finale. More than once. Say what you will about Sia, her Breathe Me was and still is breathtaking.

 

Well it sounds like I have to watch this now. I missed the first run b/c we didn’t have premium cable at the time but I was aware of the rave reviews. I skipped over some of the posts that gave off spoiler vibes so I can start off as a relative newbie. Now I just have to find the time…

 

That is fair. That is what I loved about the show, that the characters were all deeply flawed, yet there was a lot to like about all of them depending on your POV and preference.

I think Ball held back at first thinking that he couldn't make it too f'd up, but once HBO gave him the green light to do what he wanted, he ran with it. That is what I thought it was, IIRC.

Yay! Feel free to use this thread to talk about it as you move along, if you do indeed watch it.

 

One thing I do want to mention about the show. The episode in which David was kidnapped and terrorized by a stranger was one of the most powerful and disturbing works of film I have ever seen.

Also, this is one of the few shows in which the most appealing character by far, died in the first part of the first episode.

 

Spot on.

 

I love how you learned more and more about that character as the series went on.

 

I haven't been able to watch that episode for a second time. Absolutely brutal. The editing of that episode was brilliant as well, as it bounced from story to story, character to character, like it always did, but once David was kidnapped, you saw nothing else the rest of the episode except him and his captor. Just fantastic and gripping television.

 

Don't watch the last five minutes if you haven't seen the series and don't want the ending to be spoiled!

 

I watched the whole series a few years back and it is a fantastic program. I didn't really care for how they turned Nate's character in the final season, but the finale wrapped things up well. I'll have to revisit this program at some point.

 

Can you elaborate on this? I am curious as to what you mean.

 

I'm a mortician, and I'll tell you that this show is very well-regarded in the industry.

 

Sure, I'll put it in spoilers just in case someone hasn't watched the whole program.

Spoiler

I get that the program was going for the whole troubled dilemma angle with Nate's character. Basically being forced into something he didn't want to do and keep the family business going. But I absolutely hated how much of an **** he became when he started the whole affair with Maggie. Just his life ending on a really sour note and then they try to push this likeable angle with the dream sequence song and dance parade, I found that unnecessary and cheesy to be honest.

 

Thank you for elaborating. I will put my reply in spoilers as well.

Spoiler

I thought Nate was always a bit of a jerk, so I didn't feel this behavior in the last season deviated that far from his normal, but what was glaring was how miserable he and Brenda were together. Even at their wedding, they didn't look like a happy couple. I obviously will not excuse him cheating on his pregnant wife with Maggie, but it felt like he finally had found someone with whom he had made a real connection (Maggie), and then boom he dies, which feels like a big takeaway from the show, as so many of us do what we feel others want us to do, often at the expense of our own happiness, and maybe we should do what makes us happy before it is too late. If you look at Nate's entire arc on the show, he was almost always doing what he felt he should do, from getting into the funeral business to marrying Lisa to giving Brenda the baby she wanted, and once he finally found a bit of happiness, he was dead within 24 hours. Glaring were his expressions between after he woke from the coma and when he died. He still didn't look happy except when he had his last conversation with Maggie, and his eyes almost sparkled at that scene. It's a tragic scene to watch in retrospect knowing what happens shortly after that. Even in his last scene with David and Claire in the hospital room, he almost seems at peace with what his fate becomes minutes later. He had said to Brenda, "I am so tired of fighting," meaning with her, but in reality he was just tired of fighting in general, and it was almost like he just let go and willed himself to his own passing.

I didn't mind the likable angle after his death in the dream sequences because that was how Claire was remembering him, and I find it satisfying that for as bad as their relationship was at the start of the show that they had gotten close enough to where she had fond memories of him.

 

I'm now almost half-way through season 4 (don't have the patience for binging, and like to take my time). I think I've just passed the point where I stopped watching during the original run. I'm really enjoying it again, and plan to make it to the end this time.

Thanks to those who challenged my bad memory about Rico's role in the show. He had a much larger part, and with many interesting subplots, than I remembered.

It's fun to spot many young actors who later became famous. I always have that "who is that familiar face?" moment. Then, it either hits me, or I have to look the person up, and have that "Wow!" reaction.

 

Rico's overall self-righteousness was less annoying to me on the re-watches. I didn't like him at all on the first run through.

 

One of my few complaints about the series on the 2nd viewing is that characters sometimes change from one episode to the next. In your example, Rico was a self-righteous Christian spouting homophobic comments, and seemingly an episode or two later he was calmly listening to David's gay stories without batting an eye.

There were also times where a subplot was raised, then disappeared without a trace. I wish I could think of an example right now.

 

Keith I remember being consistently a meathead, lol.

I watched the series twice, and they really drag the characters through the wringer around seasons 3 & 4. Guess that was the kind of the point of the show? David's encounter with the hitchhiker was particularly difficult to watch, as was Nate's spinning into near-total destruction.

 

Tremendous series with a chemistry-driven cast fortunate to have well-written scripts from which to work. I had just graduated high school when this series premiered on HBO in June 2001--I missed the pilot; can't remember why, but I saw the pilot on Wednesday night, back when HBO on conventional format television would air the Sunday Night Original on Wednesday for viewers who missed it the first time around. This show deals with both the dark and the light sides of the human heart, and it sucked me in from the getgo. In particular, I will never forget when Nate, Jr. introduces Brenda to David and Keith as his girlfriend, and she interjects, "actually, I prefer the term F#ckpuppet." Charles Bronson was once described as "a hand grenade with the pin pulled." Well, Charlotte: Light & Dark is the grenade upon detonation.

I don't believe that this series' finale will ever be topped. It is both satisfying, and absolutely heartbreaking--and you will get misty-eyed. I am forever grateful to Alan Ball for this series, and for giving Michael C. Hall His big break in acting--He successfully transitioned to Dexter in a wonderful performance of a character totally opposite David Fisher.

Fun fact: Billie Eilish's mother (Maggie Baird) plays a neurotic woman who suffers a gruesome domestic impalement and thus becomes a client of the Fisher funeral home in the Season Five opener.

- siyt

 

Top 3 show IMO. Best show ending ever.

 

I tried a couple of episodes when it first came out, and while it wasn't bad, it just never caught my fancy, even with Rachel Griffiths.

 

The finale was quite good I thought. In stark contrast to several other shows' lackluster endings.

 

I never mind if a subplot came and went, as that is how life can be sometimes. Sometimes stuff just happens for no reason and we move on. Just like death can be random, as the show showed us.

I have still never watched the hitchhiker episode a second time. That was terrifying to watch the first time, and I refuse to watch it again.

"I think David is gay."

"I think David is lucky. Did you get a look at that guy?"

LOLOLOL. Brenda was such a great character.