Everyone's Waiting (21 Aug. 2005)

Nate and Brenda's daughter Willa is born, but 2 months early and at only 2 lb. 4 oz., requiring a prolonged hospital stay. Nate is convinced she won't make it and insists that he can't ... See full summary »

Director:

Alan Ball

Writers:

Alan Ball (creator), Alan Ball

Stars:

Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Krause	...	Nate Fisher
Michael C. Hall	...	David Fisher
Frances Conroy	...	Ruth Fisher
Lauren Ambrose	...	Claire Fisher
Freddy Rodríguez	...	Federico 'Rico' Diaz
Mathew St. Patrick	...	Keith Charles
Justina Machado	...	Vanessa Diaz
James Cromwell	...	George Sibley
Rachel Griffiths	...	Brenda Chenowith
Kathy Bates	...	Bettina
Jeremy Sisto	...	Billy Chenowith
Joanna Cassidy	...	Margaret Chenowith
Richard Jenkins	...	Nathaniel Fisher
Tina Holmes	...	Maggie Sibley
Peter Macdissi	...	Olivier Castro-Staal

Storyline

Nate and Brenda's daughter Willa is born, but 2 months early and at only 2 lb. 4 oz., requiring a prolonged hospital stay. Nate is convinced she won't make it and insists that he can't accept it if she does and is "damaged", shaking Brenda's own confidence. Rico encourages David to sell the funeral home but instead he and Keith buy out Rico's 25% so he can start his own. David agrees to temporarily leave home, and goes to the funeral home. There he's confronted by Nathaniel about considering leaving the business and for his gayness, and is forced to fight his mysterious attacker back, then finally sees his face. Maya is returned to Brenda and Ruth has to face her own problems, until Maggie reveals Nate did see her, happily, as Brenda insisted. Claire takes up photography (of Ted) again and gets a job offer at a New York photo production company, but offers to be there for Ruth until she insists she go and unfreezes her account. Brenda gets a surprise visit from Nate, who finally shows...

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Plot Keywords:

birth | ghost | driving | listening to music | cartoon on tv | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 August 2005 (USA)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min 67 min (DVD)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although her character Brenda gives birth at the beginning of the episode, Rachel Griffiths was still, in reality, 8 and a half months pregnant with her own child. To disguise this fact, the costume and prop department had to devise numerous ways to hide her belly. These included dressing Griffiths in outfits with big shawls or capes, or having her hold a large purse between her body and the camera. One of the concerns when filming Brenda giving birth to Willa was that Griffiths would actually go into labor for real. Griffiths gave birth to her second daughter 3 days later.

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Goofs

In one scene, Ruth finds Maya's stuffed monkey lodged between the refrigerator and the wall in the kitchen, but in all previous shots of the fridge (after Maya has left) the monkey isn't there.

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Quotes

Claire: I feel like I'm trapped underwater.

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Crazy Credits

In every episode, the end credits appear in white lettering over black. This is the only episode in which the end credits are in black lettering over white. This is also the only episode after the second season which features rolling credits as opposed to title cards, and the only episode in which all of the end credits are in scroll (seasons one and two feature a mix of cards, followed by a scroll).

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Connections

Featured in TV's Most Unforgettable Finales (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Empty Space"
(uncredited)
by Lifehouse

User Reviews

Holy Mackaral

I've watched plenty of show finales in my lifetime. Many had great endings and some had decent ones. I recently finished watching every episode of all 5 seasons of this amazing show while deployed in Iraq. From start to finish, I was completely captivated by the characters as they went about their every day lives. After the credits commenced to roll in Season 5's Series Finale "Everyone's Waiting". I just sat there in my chair completely flabbergasted at "Alan Ball's" incredible and yet honest ending. Of course, that is after I wiped the tears from my eyes and took an enormously deep and saddened "SIGH". I replayed that ending over five other times and still felt the same chills as though it was the first time. The Series finale has inspired me to regain my artistic composure, which I had temporarily lost for the last year and a half. It motivated me to call my wife and kids every day to tell them I missed and loved them so much. It very well has changed the way I look at life itself. I know it sounds kinda weird but it did. "Everyone's waiting" is the best ending I've ever seen in any medium of entertainment.