Six Feet Under

[Deleted]

The flight of birds on the television in the hospital sent Nate to his sweet eternal rest. I was a little surprised that there were no seagulls flying over the ocean when he dove in. And diving in the ocean---how Lisa of Nate!

That conversation between Claire and Ted in the restaurant---earlier this evening I had the same conversation with some friends in a restaurant. I am on the watch for birds. If I see them, I know the great anvil is falling on me.

I don't think that the AVM or embolism messed with Nate's mind---it was Nate the Joy Killer to the bitter end. He breaks up with Brenda and goes after Maggie. He broke up with Lisa and went after Brenda....Nate is the serial marriage killer. Always chasing whatever is beyond his ken and the horizon and the sea.

So was that dream at the end an ecotone between David and Nate? It started out as Nate's dream and ended up as David's? This show this season has continually surprised me. I like that.

[shawnalanne]

huntergrayson said:

So now that he did (die), are we all pleased?

Yes. Yes, I am. What great writing. I was happy to see him die when he did.

[huntergrayson]

That seems to be the consensus on the TWOP threads. Plus, the sequence suddenly got really dark (cinematographically, not metaphorically), which I think is the moment that the dream switched.

Now that she has changed and is going the more conventional route with marriage and kids, she expects Nate to just go along with her program and do what she wants.

Thankfully, as Brenda herself pointed out, Nate showed up bloody and crazy on her door and proposed marriage and kids to her. It's what he wanted as well. Two weeks ago, she came to Nate willing to change her mind on the abortion (a situation where Nate just wanted her to do what he wanted...never asking how she felt) and one week ago she went to the Quaker service to support him.

I thought, all considering, Brenda was amazingly understated this week. Good god, Rachel Griffiths can act the hell out of a scene.

On a lighter note -- it's so nice to see that Cougar getting more work after 24.

[zacandmax]

Yes, Rachel Griffiths can act her ass off. And I know Nate wanted to marry and have more children, but I believe he thought that Brenda would still be crazy Brenda. Once they married, she immediately turned into a whiny nag. I am not on Nate's side; he was wrong for cheating. But Brenda is not without blame. She is very self-absorbed.

[snacktastic]

I am very traumatized by this whole episode. I would like to comment, but goddamnit. Anyway, good show Alan Ball.

[Britty]

Seriously, I kept saying to myself, "who is that guy and what does he have to do with Nate's coma?" It took me a full minute before I realized that it was David. Amazing.

It took me a few minutes, too. I knew LateNate would be driving, but I was surprised to see StonerDavid.

But Brenda is not without blame. She is very self-absorbed.

WORD. I always thought that Nate and Brenda were both pretty horrible people. They each had their moments, but overall they sucked. Brenda has come a long way, but even her work friend was telling her that she needed to communicate with Nate more. This was prior to telling her to shut the fuck up.

Rachel Griffiths deserves many awards for performance in this episode. She was perfect.

[Deleted]

You know, on the bus home today I was thinking more about this show and it hit me. Nate Jr. would have died no matter what because of this brain problem. Sooner or later, it would have hit him and killed him. Nate Sr. had a sudden crappy death that disturbed everyone but without that death, Nate Jr. would not have moved back home and no one in his family would have had a relationship with him before his death. I know that this is fiction and Allan Ball wrote it that way but it's definitely one of those "Everything happens for a reason" moments. Nate Sr. had to die so that Nate Jr. could have a relationship with his family.

[zacandmax]

Ok, I watched it again on On Demand and I noticed a few things that I didn't last night. For one, at the hospital, Brenda has on the poncho that she brought at the end of last week's episode. Two, David seemed just a tad bit annoyed at Ted, who while he has asking great questions, seemed a bit out of place. Three, David thinks about crack a lot more than any of us want to admit. Four, in the great tradition of excellent acting, that little Maya is quite the actress.
Her "Dad-Deee" line was one of the best delivered.

And *small voice* I felt sorry for Maggie.

[snacktastic]

I do feel sorry for Maggie too. Don't use a small voice (shout it out). I like Maggie. She seems like an interesting person. I find this whole storyline traumatizing. I think it hits me what it's like for my cousin, who has the same abnormality of corpuscles (or the clusters of cells or whatever) and what it must be like to live under the imminence of death. I mean, I don't really know, but it makes me ruminate. And the Narm!comment, as snarkworthy as it may appear, disturbs me to no end. It makes me ruminate.

Btw, I like all the stuff about Quakerism. I felt like Brenda when I went to the service. Especially when my friend said, "You feel moved to speak to God, some people are moved every week, apparently." But I can see why it provides something too. Interesting if they had explored it further.

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zacandmax said:

And *small voice* I felt sorry for Maggie.

I'm no Maggie hater either. I just wish that she would occasionally wash her hair. Not that I don't understand that dirty hair uses its own natural oils as a slickening mousse to pin and mold itself to its owner's scalp. And this bio-natural dirty hair mousse does not pollute the environment outside of my mind. I understand her Friendly Envirionmental concerns; but I don't like the urges that I get to squirt her with shampoo, that would be wrong and it would be a cleanliness assault.

Right now, I am not very happy with Ruth. You picked all those men who let you down, Ruth. You chose failure and if you don't like it; stop doing it. But that is also another thing I like about this show. One week, I can't stand a character and they irritate me no end. Then a week or two later; they do something and I like them again. It's just like life, in that way.