Jamie and I have been having a Six Feet Under marathon for the last few days.
In case you've never heard of it, it tells the story of the family that runs a funeral home in California. The very first episode begins on Christmas Eve, with the patriarch, Nathaniel Sr., being killed by a city bus.
I started watching it shortly after Dale passed away and I was hooked! After that, Jamie gave me each subsequent Season for Christmases and Birthdays and we'd spend days watching all the episodes. The one thing wrong with my collection was that the very first season was on VHS, while all the others were on DVD. She remedied that last week when she saw Season One for $18.88 at Wal-Mart, and that started a whole new marathon. Well, that... and one of my favourites, Sas, posted the final scene of the series.
Six Feet Under was the best show ever created for television, particularly in terms of keeping it real. The characters were awesome, the storylines were fabulous, and the actors were incredibly talented. I couldn't believe some of the stuff they were doing - the mental illness alone was so real. The family dynamics, the mistakes people make, the way businesses are ran...and underneath it all, there was always a storyline about the family and friends who mourned the loss of their loved ones. Freak accidents, gang shootings, drownings, electrocutions, even one man who perished inside a very large commercial bread mixing machine. You'd think I wouldn't want to watch that, but it was very freeing for me.
It made me realize that as much as we are all alike, we are also very different. It was validating.
Oh, here's one of my favourite lines from the series so far: the female Rabbi is sitting with Nate, who has said, "I don't even know what a soulmate is, do you?" and she says "the person who makes you be the most you that you can be. Maybe your soul mate is the person who forces your soul to grow the most. Not all growth feels good."
I think she's got something.
I watched SFU for a season and a half, but it was hard to follow it around the cable chanel, and I eventually stopped watching it.
ReplyDeleteI liked the epi where the daughter stole a foot and the young mortician had to make one out of a chunk of lamb.
I loved that show. Hated to see it end. Have you watched Weeds? I watched the first two seasons on DVD and loved it.
ReplyDeleteI have the boxed set. It is some of the most intelligent, human and humane drama on television. And how funny is it?!
ReplyDeleteI think we'll tackle the back to back series over winter as Science Guy has not seen it.
You've inspired me!
I have never watched it since it was on one of the German stations I never tune in, and add a bad time of day as well. I've seen the dvd's at the store so I may just pick up season one and try it out. The advantage of getting the dvd's... I can watch the original ENGLISH version (the Germans dubb everything)!
ReplyDeleteI loved that show too! So much truth in the script. Great, real characters. Hard to find such a thought provoking show on TV these days.
ReplyDeleteI could never get hooked.
ReplyDeleteLoved that show.
ReplyDeleteOnly watched a handful of episodes..guess i just let life get in the way. I went to high school with Jill Soloway actually, one of the writers for SFU. What a talented amazing lady.
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