The Fisher clan wrapped up their third season on HBO's Six Feet Under last night with an episode that captured both the highs and lows of this erratic, but enjoyable dark comic soap. After a season opener that promised more than the full season delivered (creator Alan Ball playing wittily metaphysical with Nate Fisher's near-death brain surgery), this year's remaining offerings steered too close toward serial melodrama, often at the expense of the show's trademark caustic humor.
Sunday's capper, written by Jill Soloway and directed by Ball, had its good moments, both comic and dramatic. Among them:
- the opening death sequence, which neatly played with audience expectations (every time you thought you knew who was going to buy it, the sequence went onto someone else) and capped its initial reference to bird droppings with Big Bird Droppings (blue ice!);
- the way Nate Fisher (Peter Krause), still guiltily ultra-stressing over his missing wife, totally blew a grieving husband out of the funeral home;
- brother David Fisher (Michael C. Hall) and business partner Rico's (Freddy Rodriquez) moment of bonding and commiseration over the dead woman's body: the comic disconnection between the two big points of conflict in each man's life (one thinks his sister-in-law is ruining his marriage; the other worries that his relationship with ex-cop Keith is obliterating his "entire sense of self worth");
- David's admission to estranged lover Keith (Mathew St. Patrick) that one of the first things that attracted him was the thought of a cop as protector (which shed extra light on the reason he freaked once Keith started indulging in sexually risky behavior);
- the repeated visitations by the ever-entertaining late Dad Fisher (Richard Jenkins), each tailored to the respective visitant's emotional state; favorite moment: when Nathaniel matter-of-factly discusses his widow's impending marriage ("That man is alive, and I'm dead. I think that means he wins.")
- Claire Fisher's (Lauren Ambrose) vision of the afterlife as one great big outdoor fair; Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
I had to do the 'net equivalent of putting my hands over my ears and going "la, la, la, can't hear you" since this ep hadn't aired in Canada yet.
Now that I've seen it (and haven't seen season 2 except for 2x13) a couple of thoughts.
I'm not bothered by the other characters appearing and disappearing since that breaks the omniscient illusion of other teevee series (and movies). As the viewer, you are really only privy to what the main characters know and experience. This makes it more untidy and more realistic.
I really liked how Nathaniel appeared as a reflection of each characters' thoughts, telling Nate if he was going to self-destruct to go big or go home, showing Claire not everything is misery, and the near last scene as Ruth moves on with a new husband.
I was relieved the season didn't end on a cliffhanger, but also didn't try to resolve everything, or much of anything. It didn't feel like a cheat, it was satisfying, yet left me wanting to know more.
2 - Jim Carruthers
One other thing which comes from your article title, Bill, is how well Six Feet Under uses music, especially the score. While "The Sopranos" makes great use of songs for counterpoint or to compliment what is happening on screen, SFU uses original score music very well.
An outstanding example of this is in "I'm Sorry" with the scene where Claire is going to the cemetary to see her father's grave, and experiences the outdoor fair. The music is a variation on the title theme, but with a faster tempo and more bright and fun. Really wonderful.
3 - Bill Sherman
You're right on that score, Jim. But the show's pretty strong when it comes to utilizing individual pop tracks to reflect characters, too. (Claire, for instance, almost always plays sensitive collegiate rock in her room - unlike Meadow Soprano, who as a freshman still had a boy band poster up on her dormitory wall.) And then there's Arthur's keyboard compositions. . .