Six Feet Under (TV Series) It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (2002) User Reviews

Live Every Day As If You Might Die Tomorrow

[claudio_carvalho · 10/10 · 17 October 2006]

While driving his motorcycle for a temporary work as Santa Claus in a mall, the biker Jesse Ray Johnson waves to three children on the sidewalk and dies in a traffic accident. His beloved wife Marilyn Johnson and two friends of Jessie hire the best services of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home for the funeral, but under the condition of using the place for a party with their bikers' friends on the Christmas day. Rico is pressed by Vanessa and tells her the truth about Ramon, and later Vanessa discloses the secret to Ramon's wife Graciela. Ruth invites the whole family to have Christmas dinner together with their mates. Claire invites Toby; Nate and Brendan and David invites Keith and Taylor. Each member of the Fisher family recalls a moment with Nathaniel. Nikolai has two broken legs in a burglary to his store, and without health plan, is treated by Ruth. The unstable Brenda flirts with a man in a store, and later she tells Melissa. Brenda and Nate are invited to dinner with Margaret on the Christmas Eve, and surprisingly Billy is there, invited by his dysfunctional mother, affecting Brenda. Nate has a siege and finally tells Brenda about his AVM. Claire is corresponding through e-mails with Billy. Taylor's mother returns home.

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a great episode of this second season. Nate has a lesson of life with the widow Marilyn Johnson. The intriguing and unstable Brenda now has to face Billy and her mother, and becomes aware of Nate's illness. The close destructive contacted of Claire with Billy is a question mark in the story, and the return of the addicted mother of Taylor in a moment where Keith is disturbed is also very intriguing. The consequences for Rico of the revelation of Vanessa to Graciela may also bring serious consequences. The beautiful pray of Keith is one of the best moments of this episode. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Época Mágica" ("A Magic Time")

Wow.

[jdjc001 · 10/10 · 11 July 2020]

What a beautiful episode.

There were so many meaningful and moving scenes that it would be impossible to just pick a few. It quite honestly shocks me to see only one other written review but it's definitely a testament to how severely underrated this show has become.

Also contains possibly the most poignant use of 'Don't Fear The Reaper' I've ever heard!

It's hard to describe....

[parsanajigarshasp · 10/10 · 23 July 2021]

It's so hard to describe how much this episode is great....this is great in all directions: its writing is stunning, its direction is faithfully and acts are admirable. It's weird the number of reviews and How much this great tvshow is underrated.

It's the Most Wonderful Episode of the Season

[musabbircan · 10/10 · 15 August 2022]

Not much thing to say it is very very great and goddamn it is like a brillant beautiful little movie in the show . I could classify this as a masterpiece . I admire everyone who worked on this episode .

Sweet Home

[Seras11123 · 9/10 · 19 March 2021]

A group of bikers host a funeral, every character gets together for a Christmas Dinner and Mr. Fisher is remembered by each character on the anniversary of his passing. I like that we see the Bikers showing probably what is one of the most uplifting and heartening funerals in the whole season. In mirroring a philosophy similar to the Mexican Day of The Dead tradition, it's a celebration of life; not a loss of one. The widower of the dead biker imparts valuable wisdom to Nate and it's awesome just seeing the whole family together. In a normally morose show, we get a good dosage of happiness and the plotlines could develop in any direction.

Good Reason Why This is One of Highest Rated Episodes

[nlytnd_1 · 10/10 · 24 April 2024]

It's also the highest rated episode until this point in the series and it deserves to be. Impressive feat considering that one of the main central characters doesn't die and/or something potentially tragic or unexpected happens in one of the central storylines. I always wonder how a TV series with rotating directors decides which director gets the lucky break of getting a lead character death episode (maybe it's random, maybe they earn it, etc), I digress. Only point being is this episode pulls it off without having to utilize any of the usual tropes.

I've also watched the series multiple times around, but I've never focused on this show on a per episode basis, but this episode was so excellent I took note and I may try from this point forward. For first time viewers, I recommend the opposite, because truly good shows like this one don't feel episodic as far as the central characters go. The different schmo deaths on an episodic basis is a really cool touch and is obviously episodic, but the central characters journey feels continuous/smooth, which only the best shows pull off. Not easy with multiple writers and directors, it requires a lot of collaboration.

Spoilers Below

And possibly the best moment of the episode is the bike gifted to Nate, which the writers/directors pulled off. I'm curious to know how everything came together. At face value gifting a funeral director a bike doesn't work, so did they have one idea before the other and did they figure out a way to make it fit or did a good idea simply fall into place? It just so happens (or does it) to fall on Christmas Eve where a biker group has lost a loved one and will spend whatever it takes to honor and celebrate their friend. Maybe the person/people paying for it have money to spare or maybe they live each day as it comes and aren't planning for their retirement fund. And once again what funeral home is going to be open on Christmas Eve into Christmas day and the Fishers are no exception, but we'll pay whatever takes makes it happen, which fits in with everything. Nate ends up staying with the group through the night and at one point has a really nice conversation with the widow. So the next day there's an envelope left from the widow with the keys to her deceased husbands bike and it's believable. (earlier in the episode we found out that Nate had a bike for a day but he rolled it and sold it)... so Nate rides off into the sunset... actually not the sunset, perhaps that would have been a little too heavy handed or simply not accurate since Nate is perhaps beginning a new perspective with still a journey ahead.

This is a very big episode. It's essentially the one year anniversary for our introduction to the characters in the show, which makes it Brenda's and Nates anniversary or is it the other way around, which makes it Nathanial Fishers death anniversary.. Brenda finds out about Nate's condition. It could just as easily be the first or last episode of a season. And there are parallels to the first episode of the show... we get to know the father a little better in flashbacks, who we further see his lackadaisical whatever attitude (at the very least in his later years did). I would go so far as to say that he didn't care enough to live each day as though it were his last, because that would require too much planning. He seems to have had similar characteristics to Lester Burnham from American Beauty after Lester has a self realization (to the Laymen Alan Ball wrote that as well). Nathanial Fisher seems like a great guy, but not a great father, especially to Claire (similar to Lester and his daughter Jane), who we find out barely knew her... In a flashback with Nate and Claire. His only acknowledgment towards Claire was, thanks "kid"... very non affectionate and distancing. And it just so happens we see Claire continue and or revert back to seeking a potential relationship with Billy... a bad boy type who needs saving (perhaps it's daddy issues). Poor Claire... with a stranger for a father and a mother like Ruth and her closet brother Nate moving away before moving back (Nate is flawed but for Claire he's probably her best source of guidance). There are certainly worse hands to be dealt, but far from ideal. The show overall maintains what seems like a genuine true to life psychology in it's characters journey's and their storylines, which is certainly apparent in this episode.