Six Feet Under's Final Season
June 17, 2005
The new season of Six Feet Under has started. I can't help but reflect that there is no other show in television history that has so many crazy people that you actually pull for. In fact, just about everyone has at least the occasional conversation with dead people. On top of that, they all have their own insanities and hang-ups. There is rarely a scene without at least a hint of someone about to go over the edge.
| Character | Why He/She Is Crazy | Why We Like Them Anyway |
|---|---|---|
| Ruth | Let us count the ways: boyfriend hopping (no shortage of men for this homely old lady), new-age self help, self-tourture over how difficult life is and over lack of closeness with her children. | Frumpy house dresses, ankle socks, and lack of lipstick. |
| David | Neurotic worrier. | He's nice to the people with dead loved ones. He wants a normal family life, albeit a homosexual normal family life where the swinging is kept to a minimum. |
| Nate | Lots of anguish, week after week. | Life deals Nate some bad stuff. He almost died, only to have his new wife actually die just a season later. |
| Claire | She's a little wild, uses drugs, dropped out of school, and picks bad boyfriends. | She stays pretty cheerful. We could hang out with her and have a good time. |
| Brenda | Was so mentally messed up, that she was actually in a textbook. Will have sex with just about anyone. | Not much really goes right for Brenda. She deserves a break. Our liking Brenda is the least she deserves from fictional life. |
| George | Confused old man in la la land. | His insanity is real mental disease, and he is just an old man after all. Besides, confused old men in la la land are kind of amusing. |
| Billy | Prone to fits of rage, and tried to get it on with his sister. | Prone to fits of rage, and tried to get it on with his sister. |
| Brenda & Billy's mom | The almost stereotypical over-controlling mother trying to manipulate the grown daughter. Sound familiar to anyone? | We really don't. |
| Rico | Lost wife because of decision to embrace a flirtatious but non sexual relationship with a bimbo who used him. | Not really a bad guy, just kind of a dumb ass. Still prefers his wife to his dates, and really isn't any good at the dating thing. |
| Keith | Previous season anger issues have pretty much gone away. Keith is probably the least crazy of all of them. I don't even recall a scene where's he's interacted with dead people. Come to think of it, what is he doing with the rest of this group? | Acts tough, but always proves himself to be a nice guy in the end. |
This is the final season, and I have some hopes for how they wrap things up. Here are some things that I hope to see:
- Some sort of knock down drag out fight between Brenda and Nate's dead wife Lisa. If Brenda has to die to make it happen, so be it.
- Ruth's friend Kathy Bates (whose character name I forget) shows back up and causes some chaos. Maybe she could even run off with George after sticking around for a few episodes.
- Rico and his wife get back together.
- Claire gets a book deal, takes her money, and gets out of the world of dead people.
- Keith and David live happily ever after, but they don't French kiss while on camera any more.