Sunday July 24, 2005
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Claire attends a LAC-Arts benefit show with new friend, Ted. Brenda gets news from her doctor. Ruth babysits for Durrell and Anthony. Nate and Brenda attend a service at Maggie's church.
Write a Recap »The End is near..... hide show
What a superb episode. It felt like a series of mini episodes as every storyline had a certain amount of conclusion to it. Excluding Nate and Brenda, all of the storylines were basically wrapped up in a way that if the show ended with this episode i'd be fine with that.
I hated Ruth in the past couple of episodes but it doesn't take much for the writers to make me accept her again as her normal self is okay. Its just that, for my liking, she was very out of character. The way she treated George. She got back together with Hiram and was actually happy and not a nitpicking sadistic witch. Great. Claire's storyline wa snever better, meeting all of her art buddies once again on an exhibition.... man.... what a great way of showing how mature Claire got in this season. And oh boy, it is much better. Really enjoyed all of the scenes there, excellent comedy, especially with Olivier.
Then, Keith and David.... oh that was great too. It's nice to finally see them resolving their problems with the kids. I was really happy for them. They really deserve happiness. This storyline was rather funny too... especially the dinner scene with the plastic knives... lol.
Rico finally told Vanessa what he felt and oh boy, was it about time?! They are starting anew, so there's not much to say about them. May they succeed with it.
Really, there's only one arc left... Nate and Brenda. Nate sleeping with whatshername wasn't too surprising but his sudden passing out was. It's pretty obviously something wrong with his brain. I wonder if this means... well... with only 3 episodes left... does this mean.... Nate dies...? Oh god. I gotta see the rest of the show. Now.
Brilliant episode. Every arc was superb, and the ending truly shocked me. Buut it will certainly be better, as the end is extremely close, so im holding off with the 10.
A brilliant instalment, talk about a shocking end! hide show
With only five episodes left I was sure that Six Feet Under would deliver excellent final instalments and so far I'm right. 'Singing For Our Lives' was a brilliant episode that left you wanting more. I think I'll start with Nate's story.
He and Brenda are still having great difficulties in their marriage and the fact that Nate is drawn to Maggie doesn't help.
We've been expecting it for ages now and they finally do it, Maggie and Nate sleep together. They seem to connect, something that Brenda and Nate have trouble doing. The whole thing was done very well, the Quakers church was at first amusing due to Nate standing up and Brenda being obviously not into the idea.
They get into yet another fight when Brenda makes her feelings about the whole thing clear. She is right, I think Nate is doing it to escape. But then her friends bluntly tells her to get over herself and do something about it, which is what she does by going to the Quakers church. But Nate, who was meant to be there with Maggie, is no where to be seen.
After getting dressed Nate tells Maggie he didn't plan on this and then out of no where he makes a complaint about numbness in his arm and within a minute he's dropped to floor, I immediately thought AVM but how evil were they to then end the episode. I seriously couldn't wait to see the conclusion to this, luckily I watched the next episode straight after.
On a much lighter note, Ruth pursues Hiram, the man she was having an affair with while married to Nathaniel Sr. This was very amusing and at times hilarious. It was brilliant to see her so happy and shown to be having fun. When she asked Hiram up to her bedroom I was nearly in fits. Ruth then suggests going camping, which Hiram agrees to.
Claire's story was probably my favourite of the episode because I'm just so glad to see her back to her old self. She obviously hates her job but at least she's trying. There definitely hinting that Ted could be the one for her and to be honest I'm okay with that. Basically every guy she's dated has turned out badly so she needs a break.
I love that she bumps into Anita and her old life comes back to haunt her in a sense. Not really because she's happy to go to an art show when Ted says he'll come along if she'll go somewhere with him. She agrees and we soon see them in a bar chatting away. The art show itself was great, old faces like Russell, Anita, Jimmy and others appear.
Russell seemed more messed up than usual and it was amusing to her Anita's story about him being in love with Jimmy after a drunken scenario. After a talk with Olivier she realises that nothing has changed which makes her quite happy. She says her goodbyes and they leave. The next day, Ted kisses her in the supply closet, which was good.
Now David and Keith, its an amusing storyline but also interesting. Ruth babysitting was humorous and how she left was even better. Why David hid Durrell's problem with the car from Keith is above me, just tell him. This soon leads to Keith finding out and Durrell putting a knife on him.
It was quite funny to see Keith hide all the knifes and for them to be replaced with plastic ones was brilliant. But Keith soon realises that the kids think that they'll be sent back soon. So he makes it clear that that's not the case by mentioning a family holiday. I'm glad it's working out for them.
Finally Rico still has problems with Vanessa, who really does treat him like crap. But he confronts her when she tells him she does love him but can't forgive his 'affair'.
This episode really was brilliant, the next four look promising!
This is the Six Feet Under that I have craved since the start of Season 5. Season 5 has been good dont get me wrong, but I feel this is the first time that back to back episodes have been amazing just to watch.
The return of Hirum was great as I think that Ruth can really find a future with him. I could see her being happy with him and for the most part with only a handful of episodes to good I think hat Ruths storyline is over. David and Keiths storyline is also just about over, with the kids now knowing they are there to stay.
That leaves Claire and Nate, the heart and soul of the series. Nate fooling around with Maggie and then dropping dead was the best ending the season has had so far. Claire and Ted dont seem like a together forever couple but you never know...we have 4 episodes left to judge that.
Valentine's Special? hide show
Wow, after some dull recent episodes the pace has finally picked up in the new series of 'Six Feet Under' and it appears that cupid's arrow has hit a few hearts! Claire, Ruth and Nate all have a fling. As for Nate, looks like he was going to get sprung by Brenda but does a new fainting spell save the day? Will Frederico and his wife ever patch things up completely. Hope the new kids can adjust, looks like things may chandge there. Had to laugh when Tirrel said Ruth looked like a witch! Guess he did her a favour, heading into the hands of an ex lover! Hope next weks episode is just as good.
That Awful Sound
Written by Scott Buck
Directed by Matt Shakman
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All I can say is what the hell as I reattach my jaw to the rest of my head. Nate and Maggie did the naughty we’ve been expecting them to do for weeks now, got dressed and the former got struck down and hit the floor with a defiant thud. Is he dead? I’m really going to try and not guess or assume anything but I do think that AVM from Season Two could be resufacing once again and boy, is that final scene replaying in my head like crazy or what?
Before the shocker of a denoucement the episode pretty much went out it’s way to keep Nate and Brenda on opposing paths on virtually everything. Brenda was so turned off by Nate’s negativity regarding their baby, she took Jackie to her ultrasound instead of her husband. The baby by the way is a girl, defying the vision of her and Nate with a son that we saw in “Perfect Circles” and is looking far more likely to be healthy than her ill-fated father. Jackie also got to shine by telling Brenda to shut the fuck up and essentially meet Nate halfway. Not entirely the best advice but the way she delivered it was straight to the point.
Then there’s the Quaker storyline. Nate for all his faults did genuinely seem to be embracing the faith and I can see why he buys into it. Brenda’s cynicism about Quakerism was a little disrespectful even if she was right about Nate using it as another ruse to avoid her. Her complete contempt fro being dragged to a service was probably similar to how Nate probably felt with the marriage counselling session but when it comes to self expression, these two have always been chalk and cheese. She’s a thinker, he’s a feeler and that could be part of the divide between them.
As for Maggie (or if you’re going by Brenda’s dubbing of “sappy little ferret”), I still refuse to hate this woman. Yes she and Nate had sex, they shouldn’t have, both of them knew better etc, etc but it takes two to tango and online, Maggie seemed to have been more villified over it than Nate but it’s not like either of them did out of spite nor did either of them gain any enjoyment from the experience. Peter Krause, Rachel Griffiths and Tina Holmes were all exceptional tonight but out of three I fear more for Maggie. Nate could die and Brenda could become a single parent but Maggie will probably have to face the wrath of the Fishers and Miss Chenowith as well as her own father and that’s just as bad seeing as the girl essentially is a loner. She made a mistake by sleeping with a married man/step-brother but for crying out loud the way some viewers are going on, you’d swear she was evil incarnate. Give the poor girl a break already.
Speaking of breaks the least demanding but still fun storyline involved a newly single Ruth meeting up with Hiram. Yes he’s back and I was surprised to see him to and while him and Ruth never riveted me as a couple, at leaset we got to see the fun and spontaneous Fisher matriarch we love so much. Her flirtatious banter with Hiram is amusing and the camping was a nice nod to their past common ground. It was nice to see her having the time of her life just around the time Nate is close to death. This plot made up for the unsuccessful babysitting fiasco with Anthony and Durrell.
Yes, Durrell quite the troublemaker manages to steal Keith’s jeep while their new Grandma was baking cookies. Ruth and David’s argument was pretty petty on both fronts. She wasn’t to blame for Durrell’s antics and David was incredibly stupid in trying to hide it from Keith. When Keith did find out it lead to an extreme showdown with him and Durrell. The kid behaved like an asshole, expecting Keith to pay for damages he caused and then pulling a knife on him. I have to say Keith handled the situation appropiately but him and David need to band together and come with compromises and solutions on disciplining the boys.
However one thing they now agree on is keeping the little bundles of joy as Keith makes stealthy arrangements for family holidays during the later months. Quite a generous stroke on Keith’s part after what Durrell tried to do to him but will it be enough to curb his behaviour? Probably not at first but the writers are continiung to sell me onto what could have been a cringe-inducing thread as I’m happy to say I’m enjoying David and Keith as parents (now can we have some sex with them?). They’re not perfect at it but they’re learning and are doing a lot better than expected.
While we’re on improving plotlines, Claire’s are still getting better and better. Okay so now she’s going on coffee rounds for her co-workers which is never fun but the return of her art buddies and the fruition of her relationship with Ted speed things up nicely. Tackling the first part, revisiting Claire’s art stuff from last season was so much fun on different levels. Anita and Jimmy were genuinely glad to see her and the former didn’t annoy me once. There’s also a truly priceless conversation with Claire and Olivier replete with some honest insights of the state of their own creativity. Russell’s appearance (despite the apology Claire gives him over the collages) was going fine until he went berserk on Jimmy’s piece and still proved to be a wimp. Ted, meanwhile is still a question mark. Everything we learned about him in this episode most of us could’ve written but he does seem to be nice enough guy. Whether or not he’ll be a good influence on Claire remains to be seen.
Rico, menwhile, also got some terrific moments in tonight’s instalment. First of all with the Latina funeral of the week giving Freddy Rodriguez some brilliant character pieces. He dominated the funeral arrangements, had something of a racial fantasy sequence after unfairly branding Nate a racist. Just because the guy is ingnorant of Latino culture does not make him a racist. Rico acted a little too much like the disgruntled employee and his attitude towards cremation is somewhat outdated, even for him. I'd personally opt for cremation myself and a lot of people do. It’s down to people’s personal wishes and even if Rico doesn’t like it, he should at least respect it. Thankfully the plot picksup with him and Vanessa finally reaching a truce when she reveals her inability of getting over her husband’s infidelity. They’re not out of the woods yet but at least progress is being made.
Also in “Singing For Our Lives”
Death of the week: Pilar Sandoval getting hit by a car while walking dogs on rollerblades. Thrillseekers beware.
Durrell: “You look like a witch”
Ruth: “I assure you I’m not”
Durrell: “I didn’t say you were one. I said you looked like one”.
Was it me or did Anthony barely speak above a whisper in this episode? Then again, so did Brenda in a few scenes.
Rico (re cooking): “Oh right”
Vanessa: “Don’t give me that look. You have one night a week, I have six”.
Nate (re church): “I just wanted to say how good it feels to be here. All day long I deal with death, stress and it’s nice to be in a place of peace. That’s all I wanted to say.”
David (to Nate): “I’m sorry but a world that I’m broke in doesn’t seem better to me”.
The guys ideas for the bonus funeral money were – David: a crematorium, Federico: another Spanish speaking employee and sponsorships in the Latino culture and Nate: natural burials, Lisa style. I would’ve gone with David’s on this one.
Claire: “Actually Ted was admiring your photograph”
Anita (to Ted): “Oh I got a whole box of them in the car. Really, please buy them. I need clothes and drugs and shampoo”.
Jimmy’s lollipop piece was cool, Anita’s piece was a bit blah, Russell looked like a wino, Billy has quit LAC Arts and why the hell didn’t Edie appear in this episode since no-one else has mentioned it?
Pilar (to Rico): “You need a nice Mexican girl. Not those Puerto Rican bitches that come with razor blades in their pussies”.
HBO had no previews for the next episode. How audacious is that?
Ruth: “I was thinking we could take it upstairs to the bedroom”
Hiram: “What?”
Ruth: “All the way back I was practising how to say that”.
The timeline (I don’t speak Spanish) I think is May 2005.
Jackie: “Now can we talk about something meaningless like last night’s episode of American Idol”
Brenda: “I’ve never watched American Idol”
Jackie: “Well let me know when you have”.
Nate: “My arm is numb. Numb arm. Numb arm. Narm! Narm!”
Maggie: “Nate! What’s the matter? Oh my God”.
Standout music in this episode ws the quaker friends singing the episode’s title, Subnoize’s Souljaz “Let’s Ride” and Rick Marvin’s score which closed the eerie episode.
“Singing For Our Lives” is a total jawdropper. The final scene excluded, this episode excelled from start to finish proving once again that there’s more quality, complexity, shocks and realsim in this series’ than any of the this year’s hot new favourites. Every thread demanded and maintained full attention, every actor shone. Hats off to Scott Buck and newcomer director Matt Shakman for this unforgettable hour. The final four cannot come quickly enough.
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