Wow. After starting Season 5 I decided I would review the last four episodes rather than just the finale as I have been doing, mostly because I had heard the conclusion of Six Feet Under was supposed to be magnificent and that this episode was one of the top three rated on IMDb. After the final shot of the previous episode 'Singing for Our Lives' I had a sense of what was coming, but... wow.
The majority of this episode takes place in the hospital after it is revealed Nate developed another AVM. Maggie Sibley is forced into the complicated situation and it seems inevitable that Brenda is going to find out about their (almost) affair. As for the other Fishers, their hospital stays explore the development of their current relationships: David and Keith reach a new understanding with their adopted boys, and it starts to finally feel like their situation might work out after all, and Claire improves her relationship with Ted, though the scenario seems eerily familiar to the beginning of Nate and Brenda's relationship. Ruth spends the episode in the countryside with Hiram, which I am sure is going to turn out in a devastating blow for her next episode, having lost both Nathaniel's that she loved, a husband and a son. However, and surprisingly, her subplot retains some of the comedic elements of the show - and one of my favourite moments when she cartoonishly fires a shotgun at each of her past loves.
Make no mistake, though. This episode is Nate's. I don't know if I have felt as deeply connected to a fictional character as I do to Nate Fisher. It feels like we have seen his entire life, his dreams and his fears and his deepest, darkest desires. It is a most crushing blow from the writers to finally let Nate realise how he can be truly happy with Maggie, and how he and Brenda just aren't meant to be, no matter how much they tried and we as viewers approved or disapproved. I want to say that he was taken too soon, but thinking about how life works, and certainly how life in all its forms and its unpredictability take center stage throughout the show, I don't think I can. I think it is important that Nate does die in this episode, before he can finally set his life and his love in the right direction. He remains as an amalgam of countless life lessons in culture and in our thoughts and to prepare us for something equally cruel and unfair in our own lives. I think the writers knew this, and wanted to elevate Nate Fisher to be more than just a character, and to teach us. Of course, it wouldn't have been possible without the show being of a great quality in its writing and its composition, and Peter Krause's outstanding performance, but I think doing this, and ending the show with this in mind, it achieves the highest honour that a fictional property possibly can. Nate Fisher will stay in my mind for as long as I live, and I'm sure he has been for many people since 2005 and hopefully for all new viewers to come. Rest in peace.
The majority of this episode takes place in the hospital after it is revealed Nate developed another AVM. Maggie Sibley is forced into the complicated situation and it seems inevitable that Brenda is going to find out about their (almost) affair. As for the other Fishers, their hospital stays explore the development of their current relationships: David and Keith reach a new understanding with their adopted boys, and it starts to finally feel like their situation might work out after all, and Claire improves her relationship with Ted, though the scenario seems eerily familiar to the beginning of Nate and Brenda's relationship. Ruth spends the episode in the countryside with Hiram, which I am sure is going to turn out in a devastating blow for her next episode, having lost both Nathaniel's that she loved, a husband and a son. However, and surprisingly, her subplot retains some of the comedic elements of the show - and one of my favourite moments when she cartoonishly fires a shotgun at each of her past loves.
Make no mistake, though. This episode is Nate's. I don't know if I have felt as deeply connected to a fictional character as I do to Nate Fisher. It feels like we have seen his entire life, his dreams and his fears and his deepest, darkest desires. It is a most crushing blow from the writers to finally let Nate realise how he can be truly happy with Maggie, and how he and Brenda just aren't meant to be, no matter how much they tried and we as viewers approved or disapproved. I want to say that he was taken too soon, but thinking about how life works, and certainly how life in all its forms and its unpredictability take center stage throughout the show, I don't think I can. I think it is important that Nate does die in this episode, before he can finally set his life and his love in the right direction. He remains as an amalgam of countless life lessons in culture and in our thoughts and to prepare us for something equally cruel and unfair in our own lives. I think the writers knew this, and wanted to elevate Nate Fisher to be more than just a character, and to teach us. Of course, it wouldn't have been possible without the show being of a great quality in its writing and its composition, and Peter Krause's outstanding performance, but I think doing this, and ending the show with this in mind, it achieves the highest honour that a fictional property possibly can. Nate Fisher will stay in my mind for as long as I live, and I'm sure he has been for many people since 2005 and hopefully for all new viewers to come. Rest in peace.