The death at the beginning is by far one of the saddest. A perfectly fine, sweet young man is murdered because of one very simple, but unfair reason: Being gay.
Scared of what might happen if he comes out as gay himself, this relates very personally to David. He's constantly struggling with guilt, questioning if his sexuality is sinful and worried he might suffer the same fate as Marcus. It's handled with great care, and says something about how fearmongering attitudes makes people scared to be themselves, not even able to go out on the streets safely.
David unable to open up about his sexuality since he's afraid his friends and family members will stop loving him, or love him but with reservations is something many people go through, including some of my closest friends. Things don't go so well for example when Federico makes a homophobic comment and David follows that up by saying he's gay. Federico's reply that you should just keep it to yourself and not talk about it if you're anything but straight is shocking coming out of the mouth of such a likeable character, but it shows that even those who generally act like good people can still have bigoted views.
Ruth responds to David being gay much more lovingly, but is still disappointed he didn't tell her earlier. Both of their perspectives are understandable. David has good reason to not want to admit it to her, pointing to how unaccepting his father would have been of it, while Ruth puts you into the role of the parent whose child is becoming a stranger to them, who doesn't confide in them as much anymore.
The ending with David in bed still pondering how his sexuality conflicts with his religion, praying for God to help him is very beautiful.
The subplot with Brenda's brother spiraling out of control is excellent too. I've loved Jeremy Sisto as an actor since One Point O, and his role as Billy is possibly the best. This guy creeps your f'ucking guts out more and more each episode, this time threatening Nate personally and trying to carve off a piece of Brenda's skin to remove a piece of memorabilia. Your feelings range from frustration to empathy. You're frustrated at Brenda because she lets Billy off the hook all the time, letting him ruin her relationship with Nate and ignoring the fact that he's dangerous. It's not until he attacks her that she finally sees how serious the situation is and submits him to a psychiatric institution. Yet when you see the pain her eyes as she tells Nate she's done what's neccessary with Billy, you emphatize with her since at the end of the day, he's still her brother. Nobody likes to admit their brother is capable of violent and possibly even murderous actions. Rachel Griffiths portrays Brenda's internal conflict perfectly.
Poor Nate though. He's been getting toyed with enough, it must be hard on him dealing with Brenda's ups and downs. She must have broken up with him then regretted it and given him another chance at least three times now.
Six Feet Under at its most gripping.
The ending with David in bed still pondering how his sexuality conflicts with his religion, praying for God to help him is very beautiful.
The subplot with Brenda's brother spiraling out of control is excellent too. I've loved Jeremy Sisto as an actor since One Point O, and his role as Billy is possibly the best. This guy creeps your f'ucking guts out more and more each episode, this time threatening Nate personally and trying to carve off a piece of Brenda's skin to remove a piece of memorabilia. Your feelings range from frustration to empathy. You're frustrated at Brenda because she lets Billy off the hook all the time, letting him ruin her relationship with Nate and ignoring the fact that he's dangerous. It's not until he attacks her that she finally sees how serious the situation is and submits him to a psychiatric institution. Yet when you see the pain her eyes as she tells Nate she's done what's neccessary with Billy, you emphatize with her since at the end of the day, he's still her brother. Nobody likes to admit their brother is capable of violent and possibly even murderous actions. Rachel Griffiths portrays Brenda's internal conflict perfectly.
Poor Nate though. He's been getting toyed with enough, it must be hard on him dealing with Brenda's ups and downs. She must have broken up with him then regretted it and given him another chance at least three times now.
Six Feet Under at its most gripping.