I loved Six Feet Under. Sort of. By the end of the series, I was frustrated with the show, simply because nothing good was ever happening to the characters. Things were predictably bad for almost every character on the show. One thing that I couldn't say about the first couple seasons of the show was that they weren't at all predictable, so this was disappointing for me. I also missed a majority of the fourth season, for no discernable reason except that I was sick of the bad things happening. I wanted these people to be living real lives, if a little surreal.
However, I returned to the show this year, and overall, really loved it. And now that it's over, I've been reading many of the reactions to the show's demise, and many overall reactions to the show. (Have you seen the obituaries at HBO, for the main characters? Interesting.) One of the things I don't understand about all the reactions to the show is how much hatred was aimed at Nate. Even though he cheated on Brenda--and don't get me wrong, that's bad--I couldn't muster an ounce of hate for him. Maybe because I'm a sick, incurable romantic, I thought it was fantastic that Nate found love in his last moments. I normally don't think that cheaters should be commended. I'm very against it. But for some reason, Nate's case felt sympathetic to me. I can't explain it; quite a few people have said that they weren't really saddened by Nate's death, but I was close to tears. He'd just met the love of his life; it seemed so unfair to me. I don't know what that says about me.
I also will miss seeing Frances Conroy on TV. I'm not sure what it was about her, but something about the way she acted Ruth Fisher made me feel in some ways that she was an 'everywoman'. I just can't forget that scene at the party, when she dumped her famous potato salad in the toilet, and she was the odd one out, the frumpy one, the alone one. People don't talk about Ruth Fisher much, except to say that Frances Conroy is a marvelous actress who brought so much to the role. Perhaps because I am a daughter, perhaps because my mother and I aren't at all like Ruth and Claire, perhaps something else; whatever it was, my favorite part of most shows was Claire and Ruth, Ruth and Claire, and the ways in which they interacted. I also just loved watching Ruth change from mother to individual, which I think definitely happened in the course of the show.
I think S and I are going to start renting the first season of 6FU, because he hasn't seen it, and I really, really want to see it again, and remember the excitement of that first season. Because I remember thinking, while watching it for the first time that it was something different. And I think I was right. It was.
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