I’ve been catching up on several premium-channel television shows through Netflix, among them, Six Feet Under. Before going on though, if you’re also watching the DVDs and you’re only on season one or two, you may want to stop reading as there’re several spoilers below.
One of the luxuries of watching a series on DVD is that I can watch the last episode of a season and, after swapping discs, move right on to the first episode from the next season season (so far, so good). In any case, at the end of the second season of Six Feet Under, Nate is about to undergo brain surgery for his condition, his engagement to Brenda is going through a rough patch, and his past fling Lisa has revealed that she’s pregnant with his child. Then, in the first episode of the third season:
- The operation goes awry and Nate dies…
- … then, nevermind, he’s not really dead.
- Brenda is out of the picture…
- … and, voila, he’s all lovey-dovey with Lisa, the woman with whom he earlier wanted hardly anything with which to do.
Did I play the wrong episode by mistake or something? I thought he really liked Brenda and their un-gagement was only a knee-jerk reaction to the disagreement that they were having at the time (?). And I guess Nate’s “death” was really just a hallucination while he was anesthetized? (Don't get me wrong, I really like the show — but it was as if LeVar Burton snuck in as guest-director-of-the-week or something.)
I think your reaction is the correct one. That show warped my mind on many occasions. :-)
I’m glad it’s not just me. As long as the writers stop dropping acid, I’m sure it’ll get back on track ;).
I agree – it is great not having to wait to start the next season. I’m working my way through the Sopranos DVDs from Blockbuster Online and I remember folks complaining that the Sopranos had really long breaks between seasons.
I watch DVDs while on the treadmill and am thinking the pace of Six Feet Under might be a little slow for me (although I’ve never seen an episode).
Jeremy: I’ve been keeping up with the Sopranos too — I typically catch up on DVDs as I make my lunches for the week on Sundays (in addition to other times during the week). In any case, I think you’d probably enjoy Six Feet Under — give it a chance :).
That is indeed what happened in that episode. There are more crazy hijinx in store for the rest of the characters too. The show lost me during that season and I didn’t return till the last season.
Matt: Do you regret giving up on it, or do you think that the show lost its way during that time period?
I’m watching season 3 right now.
I was also confused by the first episode. If you listen carefully though, Nate reveals that 7 months have passed since his surgery when he’s talking to his friend at the barbeque. A lot seems to have happened in that 7 months. That is one of the slightly annoying things about Six Feet Under, and even some of the other HBO shows. Since there are fewer episodes, they tend to skip a lot of story time in between. I suppose it makes everything more economical, but sometimes it can get a little hard to follow.
Ooh, that makes more sense now, Julie. When Nate mentioned the 7-month thing, I figured that was still part of his dream sequence.