Diary of a Six Feet Under Virgin – Things just got a whole lot heavier

(Season 2, Episodes 11-13)

Six Feet Under has been heavy from the get go, particularly the first few episodes, but the end of this second season has been rough. I have to say, though, that it has also been really, really excellent. For a while there, things seemed to be just sort of trucking along. It was just a constant stream of dysfunction and arguing (Brenda yelling at Nate, Keith yelling at David, Rico yelling at his wife, Ruth yelling at Nikolai, Claire yelling at Ruth, etc, etc), and it was getting a tad daunting. My enjoyment of the show wasn’t really waning, but I was happy to see some real hard drama enter the picture.

“The Liar and the Whore”

I officially don’t get the Brenda character. Is she supposed to be a sympathetic character? Are we, as viewers, supposed to hate her? Are we supposed to be rooting for their relationship? I just don’t understand what purpose the character is intended to serve. I think I may be trying to simplify things a bit, but she’s just so damned unpleasant, I would really like her to go away. I’ve just about lost any sympathy that I had for her, and I find myself taking morose pleasure in watching her relationship with Nate crash and burn.

“I’ll Take You”

This episode (and the finale) really blew me away, and were easily the best two of the series to date. I loved the huge argument between Nate and Brenda when everything came out (“Did you fuck your brother?”). I can’t believe Nate actually went there, but I had been wondering the same thing given the bizarre chemistry between Brenda and Billy.

There were other really great moments in this episode. I loved seeing Rico’s flashbacks to when his father died and he became interested in the funeral business and befriended Nathaniel Fisher. There were also some great Claire moments as she found that she really cared about going to art school. I certainly hope that things work out for her.

“The Last Time”

I just don’t know about Keith and David. It seemed like they were meant to be together in the first season, but now everything seems to have gone to hell. The writers have done a nice job showing everything going wrong for Keith, giving him proper motivation for being such a jackass, but it’s still no fun to watch. I hope something changes there: either things improving for Keith, or David wising up and dumping him.

This episode was really all about Nate and his brain, though. Peter Krause really put in an amazing performance with his struggles over his brain disease. There was an amazing, touching scene when he was going over his funeral arrangements with David and said to his brother: “I wish you could come with me.” David thought he meant to the hospital, but he was just afraid of dying and what waited for him on the other side. It was really heartbreaking.

The ending was interesting, with Nate going into surgery, entering in to a dream, running along side a bus. It was a bit ambiguous, perhaps indicating that Nate died. However, with three seasons left, I’m figuring Nate is going to pull through. Luckily for me, I don’t have to wait all summer to get the answer, either. On to season three!

Clacked by Bob Degon
on May 21, 2009 @ 11:04 EST5EDT