Six Feet Under.

Two years ago was it? Not sure. It was back on the old forums when I first saw my first video of Six Feet Under. Rex posted up a link to a video showing the ending sequence to this series. I believe we then got into a small discussion as to why it was sad and the different elements that make things in movies/TV sad. I think. How I remember this? Hell if I know. But I think it had to do with the video. I remember thinking it was beautiful and sad.

Now that I have seen the series in full I have a greater appreciation for the ending. But before I discuss that I should probably tell you a lil about the series if you are new.

Six Feet Under is a tv series about two brothers who grew up in a funeral home and would later become funeral directors themselves. David had stood by his father and helped him run the business while Nate, the older brother, moved to Seatle pretty much vowing to never become a Funeral Director.

When the father dies Nathaniel is convinced to stay home for awhile and gets caught up in the business. With the variety of different aspects of these characters lives, who they are and what they are, the series primary focus tends to be on Death.

Each episode opens up with a death. It happens in a variety of ways from murder to suicide, to Erotic asphyxiation and just about everything else. I really enjoyed trying to guess who and how someone will die in these opening scenes. Sometimes it was obvious and sometimes they set things up. Sorta like the time where two guys were blowing up blow up dolls to bring to some porn award ceremony. That one was hillarious.

Despite the show revolving around a funeral home it was really not all that depressing. Not as much as you might think. Which in my opinion made relating to Nate towards the end of the series sort of annoying. After awhile the funeral and the whole death thing took a backseat... the far back kind. The kind where you will arive at the destination a few hours earlier then the back. lol

The acting was a great and the characters were all interesting for me.

Also throughout the show the main characters will not only see but talk and sometimes interact with the dead. Its left ambiguous as to whether or not they are just all insane or trying to mentall sort issues out or if they really are talking to the dead. In some cases it seems very obvious that they are talking to the dead while in other cases it feels more like the character is just trying to deal with personal issues.

Maybe it was never meant to be them talking to the dead. But thats how I often viewed it. Especially during certain scenes where characters were given info during these 'Ghost Visions' that they could not possibly know otherwise. But even this information maybe more or less linked to the characters subconcious.

But it was pretty much up in the air and left for the viewers to decide themselves on what they want it to mean.

David and Keith.

Not usually into the guy/guy relationships of shows but I loved this pairing. It showed them at their best and at their absolute worst and they were great together. I also liked how Keith was very much what you might consider a tough guy while David wasnt all that much. For the most part they didn't rely on gay stereotypes. They treated their gay characters like any other human. Which is always great.

Though I had to admit when Claire wasn't sure about her own sexuality I was sorta annoyed... storywise anyways. I think it was around the time when Arthur's(god he was a creepy character) sexuality was being called into question. So yeah.

Nate and Brenda. I actually really liked this pairing. I thought when things were good they were great together but when things got really bad. But towards the end it sorta felt like a 'Wait not again!' because it felt close to them trying to repeat something that already happened. Of course that took a very very different turn.

The Ending.

I honestly didnt remember to much about the ending until I saw it. I knew it showed one of the characters driving to New York and leaving home followed by a series of scenes in montage fashion of the life of the characters after wards and how they died. Watching it after seeing the rest of the series really did improve how beautiful and happy and sad it all was.

When I first watched I half expected Claire, the one driving, to end in a crash. I guess I was suffering from a blonde moment because it clearly shows her in the various scenes. But I also hadn't known these characters so alot of the time the characters before dying would see the one person they loved was also lost on me.

I loved how it started off happy showing some of the great moments in the characters lives after the events of Claire leaving home and then just started showing how these characters die.

I wasn't teary eyed until the very end though as you watch Claire laying in a bed blind at the age of 102. It was both happy and depressing. She lived for a long life and probably saw lots of it. She saw her all of her immediate family die, but probably saw her great grandchildren, and her great grand nieces and nephews and such. Or well whatever she'd be called. She probably outlived David and Keith's kids.

I dunno. I thought it was a really beautiful ending. Perhaps one of the best endings I have ever seen. Hard to describe though. lol

I love Six Feet Under; it's easily one of my favorite shows.

I vaguely remember the thread you're talking about on the old board. It was the first time I had seen the ending; I could never remember to watch it when it was on TV. I think the ending was one of the beast I've seen. It pulls everything together perfectly...And it was just..emotional. Shows don't get me emotional. Almost had me tearing up. Almost.