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Six Feet Under

Familia

Season 1, Episode 4, Aired 6/24/01

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Manuel Pedro Antonio Bolin "Paco"

''February 6, 1980 - February 15, 2001
''
''

The Fisher family wonder if Claire might have some part to play in the blaze across the street. Nate has Brenda over for dinner and it does not seem to go as well as expected. Nate is dealing with issues from every side, including a feud between a deceased's family and gang about how to handle his services. David tries to gain enough courage to stand up to Gilardi and handle issues with Keith and the clients.

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9.0

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Cast & Crew

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Peter Krause

Nate Fisher
Mathew St. Patrick

Keith Charles
Frances Conroy

Ruth Fisher

Fan Episode Reviews (9)

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David Fisher becomes a man

8.5

"Great"

By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Jun 24, 2011 Report Abuse

One thing that I've tried to do while watching this show is not compare these actors to any of their current shows, movies or projects. It's tough to do though. Looking at Michael C. Hall, it's impossible not to see the seeds of Dexter being planted. And if there's any episode that showed the similar dark tendencies of both David Fisher and Dexter Morgan, this was it. And I mean that in a good way. This episode, as the title says, was a lot about how family functions, whether it's a gang member's or the Fisher's, but it also acts as a showcase for how much David is growing as a character.

We get a follow-up, albeit a quick one, to the ending of last week's episode where the house that Krohner bought across the street from the Fisher's burns down. The entire family believes that Claire burned it down, although the fun in the episode (or at least part of the fun) is figuring out who did it. That's just a minor plot of the episode though. Most of the episode focuses on the Fisher family taking on a client that was involved in a gang, which means while planning his funeral, they have to cope with the somewhat intimidating gang leader named "Powerful," all the while using Frederico as someone who can properly communicate in terms of toughness.

The gang funeral is just a backdrop for the growth of David Fisher as a character sure, we have some fun Nate and Brenda moments (Brenda is quickly becoming one of the stranger and more indecipherable characters I've seen on the show, but I'm sure we'll get some explanation soon enough), but Michael C. Hall deserved awards for the performance he's given in the last few episodes. We get a look into how David is a coward, mostly because of the fact he's closeted. That's why when a random person at the grocery store calls David and Keith a gay slur, David ignores it and Keith gets aggressive. Keith is mad that David doesn't let that stuff bother him and doesn't stand up and fight for himself. We get more views into this via Paco, the man that died and that David sees visions of. When we see David get called a "b*tch," it's the truth. David can't stand up for himself, and that's why the end of the episode works so well when he snaps out of it.

The final scene where David, Nate and Krohner meet for dinner was superb. David saying that he won't kill Krohner but will hurt his loved ones was Dexter-esque in its creepiness and comedy. I want to see more of David branching out and coming into himself. I also liked all of the supporting characters more than usual here Keith is quickly becoming an interesting and good character, while Claire is definitely becoming more interesting as the show goes on.

The final moments with Nate and Brenda are intriguing does Brenda truly love Nate enough to burn down a house for him? I suppose we'll see, but this was a good episode for the time being. Not as good as the previous three, but good nonetheless.moreless

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Familia

9.0

"Superb"

By Canogaparkcindy, Dec 12, 2010 Report Abuse

Familia is an episode of Six Feet Under you don't want to miss. All the story lines remain to be intriguing as ever, and at this point, this show is almost addicting with dynamic characters, interesting transitions like fading to white instead of black, or just great story lines that make the 51 minutes fly by. My only complaint is that I wish Claire got a bit more screen time, but that's about it.

David is becoming one of my favorite characters on television. He's very complex. Like him talking to dead people so to speak, really only talking to himself. His insecurities and his struggles with his homosexuality. Anyways, he just shined in this episode. Rico was also great too with convincing the gang member to back off.

Was anyone else cheering for joy when David had his revelation when telling off the guy from Crowner? I know I did. Who started the fire? We know it's not Claire, but now there's a twist. It might be Brenda, and so the plot thickens and I am so ready for the next episode of Six Feet Under. Overall a very satisfying episode of Six Feet Under, sad ending too.moreless

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Family Ties Written by Laurence Andries Directed by Lisa Cholodenko

7.0

"Good"

By shawnlunn2002, Dec 12, 2010 Report Abuse

Four episodes in and there is usually one per season of Six Feet Under that doesn't neccessarily hit the mark and for Season One, "Familia" would be that episode. Okay so there is a boat load of some goodies but some of the stuff feels a little underwhelming in comparison to what the show usually offers. I'll divide this into...

What worked for me with the episode would definitely include Brenda and Nate's interrogation at the police station referring to the burned building in the previous episode provides some neat comedy when the dynamic duo (hey, Batman and Robin aren't the only tag team to warrant that title, y'know), delve into what they got up in the house. David standing up to Gilardi and it was about damn time. The little weasel has been such a bug up the ass, he's easily the worst character from Season One. Everytime he's appeared on screen i've just either David or Nate would deck him. Thankfully Paco, who gets likeable surprisingly quick encourages David to put Paco in his place and resolve his argument with Keith.

Then there was Federico who was just great in general. Sure, he's not neccesarily my favourite character in the series but the writers really allow him upon his dealings with Paco (the death of the week) two families - biological and gang related. Oh and it's revealed he's Puerto Rican. Brenda and Ruth interactions with each other in this episode is inspired, especially at the beginning when Ruth walks in her and Nate fooling around. Definitely something a mum never wants to see or her grown up kid either. Although was it me or did Nate seem less embarrassed than you would have expected?

Now onto the cons of the episode and even though she's one of my favourite characters, Claire's attitude really got my nerves especially towards certain people in the episode. And while it's nice to know that she didn't start the fire the revelation to that is a bit unsatisfying. I'm betting Gilardi is responsible.

It was hard to sympathise with death of the week at first but by the end of the episode I found myself really respecting Paco's honest approach to life. His closeness with his two families also make you realise how distant the Fisher's really are from each other, especially when Ruth show how unaware of her children's private lives. Then there was David and Keith.

Yes they resolve an argument they have in the episode but it does raise a lot of questions about their relationship and David's own attitude towards being gay. Could he be a tad homophobic himself?

Also in "Familia"

Death of the week: Manuel Pedro Antonio Bolin (Paco) was shot by a rival gang I think.

This was the first episode to use reprise theme for the Previously On segment. Better than what the used last episode.

Detective Shea:"Could you be a bit more specific as possible? Just to establish timeline"
Brenda (re Nate):"Well he went down on me for a while. He's really good at it".

Keith's concern for Claire was nice. They haven't much scenes since last episode. I also take it she's not on police file.

David and Nate played Addams family as kids. Don't know why I found that interesting but I did.

Does Tracy actually know any of the people whose funerals she attends or was she there to cruise to David, who in one scene was trying so hard not to cruise one of Paco's friends.

Paco:"You gotta apologise to your boy Keith. Otherwise you're just a born bitch"
David:"You're speaking like this at your own funeral?"
Paco:"Damn straight. I say whatever I Goddamn please. I've been to a ton of funerals. You see one, you see them all. Even mine".

David (to Gilardi):"I'm not saying anyone's gonna die. They are tragedies far worse than death. Things you couldn't even dream of, you spineless, candy ass, corporate fuck. Just give me a reason. It's your decision. Are we really worth the trouble, Mr Gilardi? Lunch is over, now get lost".

Chronology is February 2001, a month from last week's episode.

Standout music included Shuggie Otis' "Inspiration Imformation". I love that song.

"Familia" is an intriguing exploration between all kinds of families, both gang related and biological and it's great that writer Laurence Andries evenly explored both. I did find it strange that the Fishers didn't know Federico's origins or that Ruth referred to Keith as "the black man". I know no racist undertones were meant but it was strange given that they live in such a melting pot like LA they seemed hesistant/unaware of other cultures. It's not neccessarily a great episode, but it's far from lacklustre and much better than your average "off" episode in any other series.moreless

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Only 4 episodes in and the show managed to produce an almost flawless episode...

9.5

"Superb"

By PabloExobar, Jul 12, 2008 Report Abuse

I know it's early to say but David is my favourite character by far. Until this episode Nate and David were pretty much on the same level with David being a little more interesting, but with this... wow... Of course I'm sure once a Nate-"centric" episode comes around I'll reconsider this, but until then...

This episode was epic, and while there were some clich moments, I just didn't notice them until I started to think about the episode.

Really, the only thing keeping it from a 10 is Brenda's character, but even that, by the end of the episode, got very interesting.

I just can't stand her. But now it appears she burnt the house, there finally is a reason for her to be in the show...

The funeral of the episode was great, but it wasn't so much the funeral itself, but David having visions of the guy who died. It was done very well, as he acted some sort of "mentor" of David, which he needed to "grow up". Finally learned a different side of David, and his character suddenly feels much more complete. I like that.

Quite emotional, and lots of great character development - just what I want from this show.moreless

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Review

9.8

"Superb"

By cavanagh15, Dec 23, 2007 Report Abuse

Very well put together episode with David getting a lot of character devolopment in this episode that I really enjoyed watching. I loved the dead Paco seeming to be a mentor of sorts to David. I know that everything that Paco was saying was only in Davids imagination, but the writing of this show continues to impress me week in and week out and so far I am loving this show. Nate and Brenda helped their relationship, though having Ruth catch them in the act was a bit unexpected and I didnt really see that coming. Rico is an interesting character and I really dont know what to make of him quite yet. He seems to be such a minute character, but his wife has been introduced and I think he may get a character devolopment episode here too. Overall, this was the second best episode of the young series so far with the very emotional pilot epsiode being able to draw my attention a little better.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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Notes
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- Goof: According to Paco's dates of birth and death, he had just turned 21. However, his own parents say he was going to soon turn 21. Edit
- Music featured in episode: Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information, Coinmonster - Body of Binky, Piotr Tchaikovsky - Sleeping Beauty, Mariachi All-Stars - Sufriendo A Solas, Franz Schubert - Ave Maria, Antonio Vivaldi - Four Seasons: Winter, Donna Fargo - Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A., Pete Yorn - Life on a Chain, The Herbaliser - A Mother for your Mind. Edit
- - German title: "Familienbande" (="Family Ties"); - Italian title: "Consulente dall'altro mondo" (= "Consultant From the Other World"). Edit
Quotes
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- Paco : You gotta apologize to your boy, Keith, otherwise you just a born bitch. David : You're speaking like this at your funeral? Paco : Damn straight. I'll say whatever I Goddamned please. And I've been to a ton of funerals. You see one, you see them all. Even mine. David : No gunfire. No fights. Paco : No Sharks. No Jets. Just like any other funeral. You let down, huh? David : A little. Edit
- Brenda : There's a lot of sadness in this house. Nate : It's a funeral home. Edit
- Nate: Claire, are you okay? Claire: No. My pimp's threatening to beat me up, because I can't turn enough tricks. What's worse is, he's threatening to take away my smack. It's hell! Edit
Allusions
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- Brenda (to Nate): I'm burning up...burning up for your love. This is a line of a song by Madonna called "Burning Up". Edit