Six Feet Under – Nostalgia Central

2 0 0 1 – 2 0 0 5 (USA)
63 x 60 minute episodes

Debuting when it did, Six Feet Under was part of that first wave of heavily authored, critically lovebombed cable shows. Like The Sopranos.

HBO’s Six Feet Under was about family, in this case, the Fishers.

After the sudden death of their father, Nathaniel (Richard Jenkins), in a car crash on Christmas Eve, brothers Nate (Peter Krause) and David Fisher (Michael C. Hall, who would go on to greater fame in the titular role in Dexter) took over the family’s independent funeral home (Fisher & Sons) in Los Angeles.

The family, still in shock after Nathaniel’s death, reacted in different ways: Sullen teenager Claire (Lauren Ambrose) headed to college to study art. Mother Ruth (Frances Conroy) sought some joy for herself as a widow. David, already in a relationship with police officer Keith (Mathew St. Patrick), finally found the courage to come out to his family. And Nate began a relationship with a woman he bumped into on his way back home from his dad’s funeral.

He was ultimately forced to confront his own mortality when he discovered he had a dangerous, underlying brain condition

Federico “Rico” Diaz (Freddy Rodriguez) was the talented, ambitious master embalmer who eventually bought into the business to become a partner.

Created and occasionally written by American Beauty director Alan Ball, Six Feet Under was both sophisticated and character-focused. It broke boundaries by placing death at the centre of the series and dealing with themes of grief, depression, existential dread, infidelity, sexuality, and the commercialisation of the American death industry (contrasting the independent Fishers against a cold, massive corporate funeral conglomerate called Kroehner Service Corporation).

Stories of the week mixed with lengthy ongoing plot lines for the regular characters, with many surprising events and shocking character developments. Every episode opened with a specific death (ranging from freak accidents and sudden illnesses to old age), with the corpse brought to the Fisher home.

The weekly death served as a thematic mirror for the specific emotional or psychological crises the family members were experiencing in that episode.

The last episode – “Everyone’s Waiting” – which jumped forward in time to show the final moments in the lives of all its leads, reinforcing the show’s core message that death is an inevitable, beautiful part of life – stands as one of the greatest finales in television history.

Nate Fisher
Peter Krause
David Fisher
Michael C. Hall
Ruth Fisher
Frances Conroy
Claire Fisher
Lauren Ambrose
Federico ‘Rico’ Diaz
Freddy Rodríguez
Keith Charles
Mathew St. Patrick
Brenda Chenowith
Rachel Griffiths
Vanessa Diaz
Justina Machado
Billy Chenowith
Jeremy Sisto
Maya
Brenna Tosh (1)
Bronwyn Tosh (2)