Six Feet Under Season 4 Episode 7

This was another great episode. Even better than the previous one. I liked the breath of fresh air that seemed to be the "theme" of the episode for me. Every storyline seemed to have a freshier feeling. they've been left going in a linear direction for too long, it was definitely time to shake things up.





I mostly enjoyed David's paranoia which I thought was very realistic. Also Claire's odd lesbian desire.... it's really weird but fits well with her character and it's actually interesting.





Ruth and George visits Ruth's sister and George just doesn't seem to fit in. I loved every minute of this, it was so awkward, it was good.





The random visions of Lisa were funny too, especially the part where she tells Nate that the only reason she wants Nate to hook up with that random girl is so he won't be meeting Brenda. Overall this episode was what Six Feet Under should be all about. ... Not. Still missed the "death"! I mean, I want more dealing-with-the-dead scenarios!

Of course, I liked this. I won't go on for too long. I thought David's story was enjoyable and realistic due to his trauma. The way he kept thinking people were after him, this was fairly dark. And how he nearly had sex but even that reminded him of his kidnap. Keith's story was good too, I thought that the guy he words with could turn out to be gay but who knows. I liked this, it was amusing, Keith's confession about being gay 'I have lots of sex, and it's really gay'.





Claire liking Edie, an interesting storyline. I liked how it was handled, that Claire was confused. The art class was good, that student at the back was not so nice. I liked how it ended, Claire telling Edie that they should just have sex. Ruth was funny as always, her tiff with George is proofing to be amusing. Great seeing her sister again and Bettina, she added lots of humour.





Rico and Vanessa, I loved there confrontation, how she attacked him, well deserved, but then he went and sleep with Sofia, tut tut. Nate and Brenda, I'd like them just to be together. I'm glad that Nate ended there affair but I felt sorry for Joe when Brenda told him she sleep with someone, I stress someone, she didn't say Nate.





The things with Lisa were funny but sad in a way. So as always, this was great!

Sometimes I wonder why I keep watching "Six Feet Under". I can't really say that it's bad or anything, but every episode manages to annoy me, bring me to tears and activates my brain. It is the strange mixture of stereotypes and unconventionalities that stirs up my feelings from episode to episode.





One of the problems is that when a character develops an annoying behavior, it is always played out until it becomes almost unbearable, as it happens with George's self-isolation or Rico's pseudo-adultery. They just go on and on doing things everyone knows are stupid and hurtful. Sometimes I just get the feeling that the characters are complete incapable of learning something from their mistakes. Is George really so arrogant to assume he can go on marrying new women, until he finds one that is passive enough to ignore his self-absorbance?





Rico's stupidity with Sophia is even more annoying, because he throws away everything and is aware of it. The worst of it all is how obvious Sophia is just using him, so that there is no doubt about her motives. I hate to see characters going downhill, when they are the only ones who don't see what they get into.





What also bothers me, is how blantly the characters declare their central problem all through the seasons, over and over again. At least every second episode someone complains that no one in the family is able to express his or her feelings. And they can't! You would assume that they should have learned a thing or to, and sometimes they suggest they do, but then something happens again and they again get into defense and torture themselves instead of seeking help from their willing family members, as it is now the case with David.





But of course, overall the show still is great. Oddly, I am not yet annoyed by Nate and Brenda, because I can relate to their resistance to get back on the paths they know so well. Of course they still love each other, but sometimes this is very hard to admit.





I still go on watching the show, because it always manages to move me in some way. Often it is disturbing, sometimes it's horrifying, sometimes just great.





Least favorite moment:


- Vanessa getting really upset because of Sophia's cupsize





Favorite moments:


- Bettina being very obviously bored by George


- Claire asking Edie to just finally have sex with her - after she has brushed her teeth!

With their snogging session at the end of "Terror Starts At Home", it appears that Nate and Brenda are having an affair on the sly, booking into rather seedy looking motels and lying about taking Maya to daycare to steal a few private moments with each other and while you would normally be pleased to see the pair back together, it's made abundantly clear that they are with each other for the wrong reasons.





Nate even concedes that himself when he insists that Brenda should try and work things out with Joe after a visit from Lisa, who encourages him to forget his former girlfriend in favour for pursuing a former co-worker from the kennels, although it is hard to figure whether Lisa's advice was genuinely meant to be unhelpful or not, but either way, her appearance on this episode does keep faithful with her character and I always knew that we'd see her in this capacity for Nate, assumng the sort of role Nathaniel had for the eldest Fisher in the earlier seasons of the show and while it won't make her endearing to those who couldn't stand her when she was alive, at least it won't make you dislike her any further too.





However, getting back to Nate and Brenda before they decided to break off their unwise fling, the latter's all too documented fear of commitment is constantly prodded at with Nate comparing himself to Joe (hey, remember you also weren't Mr Faithful while you and Bren were together even if it was only Lisa you slept with and impregnated) and with Brenda unable to escape the fact, she decides to tell Joe but leaves out who the mystery man is/was. Not that it matters, Joe is probably articulate enough to hazard a guess. His reaction of indifference though is a tad baffling. I had hoped for some shouting and fireworks but the lack of such is fortunately compensated by his touch and go indecision of whether to take her back or not. Even if he does, it's fair to assume that this is the beginning of the end for the pair, which is a bit of a shame because although some people may beg to differ Brenda and Joe were actually a lot more preferable compared to some of the couplings we've had this season. Especially a recent marriage that is cracking ...





You'd think that over the past couple of weeks of learning more about your new husband's checkered past and putting up with his childish behaviour that that would be enough in terms of fossil hunting for Ruth. But when her and George do it for real in Topanga, he still manages to grate on your nerves just that extra bit more, especially during their visit at Sarah and Bettina's when he ignores all three women in favour for the TV.





Thank God for Sarah and Bettina. After what it seemed like ages, the pair are finally back and as wonderful as ever and it's high time Ruth had people to talk and it was nice to see her and Sarah on more pleasant terms with each other for a change too. Sarah was actually more intriguing than bettina here, due to seemingly new found stability and rather perceptive comparisons to both Nathaniel and George finally seemed to drop the penny for Ruth (or close enough to it) regarding surly Sibley's beastly behaviour just of late and hopefully this is enough to force Ruth to snap him out of it for the audiences sake as well as hers.





Meanwhile David's desperate attempts of coping with life post attack continue to crumble as I had expected. Last week's episode of him keeping things in order was hardly a successful feat when he got a panic attack and here he further fails miserably when he tells Claire he doesn't need her staying with him and unwisely wanting to have sex with a bartender in an ill-conceived stab of numbing his feelings of helplessness. Thankfully, all these setbacks do force him to face up to his anxiety as well as telling Keith that he doesn't want to continue with the open relationships in a scene that will have fans sighing with relief.





As does Keith finally fessing up to his sexuality in which Celeste informs him that Javier (the bodyguard who put the word out about Keith beforehand) is also gay and for the first time the sixteen year old mini-brat shows a spark of likeability, although her sudden sweetness does hold some suspicions. And while i'm glad that Keith is finally out, it's only when he tells David about Javier's note of wanting to sleep with him that the open relationship ban comes into play. And while i'm also happy about that it does feel a little one sided and seems to stem more from David's need to be needed right now rather than him and Keith progressing as a couple and let's face it, David is in a bad place at the moment. Still happy about 'No Open Relationship' thing though.





Speaking of bad places, the shit finally hits the fan big time for Federico and while he may have done the right thing at first by ending his non-sexual affair with Sophia, it still wasn't enough to placate Vanessa's understandable rage and her turfing him out of their home and smacking him one, clearly demonstrated showing she's no woman to cheat on, even if it is emotionally. Although I would preferred Sophia to have been on the receiving end of that shiner. Unfortunately, Rico the idiot then cheats on her for real by actually bedding the potential bunny boiler when he has no option but to live with her. There are well above par performances here from both Freddy Rodriguez and Justina Machado, with much praise also for Idalis DeLeon as Sophia further sinks her claws into the hapless Rico.





It's been looming for weeks, with hints dropped rather subtle but obvious at the same time and the build up has been intriguing as Claire's sexy photos of Edie not only earned the praise she deserved this season for anything she's done artistically, but also assumptions from another student that the pair are lovers and before some viewers prattle on about how contrived this plot appears to be, here's why I think the Claire/Edie attraction necessarily isn't. First of all, it was actually Edie who made the first move and keeping in character, Claire initially balked, despite her confused feelings. The build up towards an inevitable sex scene is actually done rather nicely and even Ambrose and Suvari seemed a little more at ease with it than most actors would be. You also have to take into account that Claire didn't confirm whether she was bisexual or not, so as far as i'm concerned and until proven otherwise she's straight. And it wouldn't be the first time we've seen straight characters sleeping with members of the same sex on the show. Both Billy and Russell slept with Olivier (who will sleep with anyone, but that's beside the point). Speaking of Rusty, apparantly him and attention seeking Anita are sleeping with each other. Fantastic, but i'm more interested as to how they'll react about Claire and Edie. I'm betting Russell won't be thrilled but seeing as he did it with Olivier while he was supposed to being in a committed relationship (that phrase almost feels like a character of it's own the more it's used) he won't be one to pass judgement. Anita, on the otherhand I can see blowing a gasket.





Also in "The Dare"





The handling of this week's death - Joan Morrison died off screen of a tumour was probably the most subtlety conveyed for a good while.





David:"Did you hear those two cats having sex in the alley last night?"


Claire:"They were worse than Mom and George".





Federico (to Nate):"I get it. Having to admit fucked shit about yourself fucking sucks".





I'm guessing that shiner really did have to hurt Freddy Rodiguez and Justina Machado looked like she had a lot of fun doing that scene.





Vanessa:"Oh my God. Rico's charity has a Double-D"


Angelica:"I will crush his balls off".





Keith: "Javier, i'm gay. I have a boyfriend okay. I sleep with men and the sex is really, really gay".





Since when did Sarah own a TV? I don't remember seeing one in either Back To The Garden or You Never Know? Patricia Clarkson looked really beautiful in this episode making Sarah's fresh from rehab look even more plausible.





Ruth (re paper monsters):"That one is really hideous"


Sarah:"Oh that's mine".





Grossest moment - Nate fiddling with his condom. Or maybe i'm being oversensitive here.





Celeste (to Keith):"Why didn't you tell me you were gay, bitch?"





Edie:"Claire, what's going on here? I feel like maybe you're into me but you're confused, right? Cos I could be into you if I knew you were into me".





Chronology wise, it's February 2004, so two weeks has passed since "Terror Starts At Home".





Vanessa (to Rico):"I sat outside that house! I saw her face, I saw what the fuck it is you left for her. She loves you!"





Nate:"This is giving me a really bad feeling"


Lisa:"Uh-oh. I'd be careful if I were you. Might be a tumour".





Loved Lisa dressed as a flower and chucking onions at Nate and did anyone else notice "I'm A Lonely Little Petunia In An Onion Patch" (this episode's standout music) being sung by two different artists? Nate has to be the petunia, right?








Initially I wanted to rate this episode really high, down to the reappearances of Sarah and Bettina but this episode is good it was impossible not to like it and the plot threads are really put through the ringer here with some truly sparkling dialogue and character moments as well as the excellent use of camera work here. You definitely won't be bored with this one.

"I get it, having to admit fucked up shit about yourself fucking sucks."--Federico





Six Feet Under has never ceased to amaze me when creating colorful, creative storylines and their character development for the characters on the show.





This week's episode, The Dare focuses a lot on relationships with the opening death tying in. The dominant storyline this week seems to be Claire's.





Claire is spending large amounts of time at David's after hearing his confession which he eventually tells her to go home. One evening after the movies with David and Edie, Edie drives Claire home and a kiss ensues. Claire backs away but is soon enticed by the episode's end.





Other important events in "The Dare"...


*Death of the week: a husband and wife visit the doctor when she learns her cancer tumors have grown significantly. You can tell Mrs. Morrison didn't wanted to acknowledge the fact and pays the price by death.


*David is still in trauma from his carjacking as seen when he refuses to do intakes, seeing a movie preview that relates to his fears and finally going to bed with a handsome bartender who then asks for a BJ.


*Keith comes out to Celeste and the staff when Javier announces to Keith that Celeste will be wanting to go to a gay bar and if he's okay with it.


*Nate continues his little affair with Brenda until something inside maybe something outside like Lisa tells him not to. She tells him to have a realtionship with Maile from the canine retreat but finds they have little in common. Lisa then tells Nate to go back to Brenda but asks him to remember her.


*Ruth goes on a fossil hunt with George. Soon after Ruth gets bored and learns they are in Topanga Canyon which is right near Sarah's house. The two travel to Sarah's home where an emotional reunion ensues. And then there's BETTINA! Loved her storyline this week.


*Federico's affair makes headlines with Vanessa when she follows him around and learn he still giving things to Sophia. By the end of the episode, the two are separated when Federico runs into Sophia's arms and passionately makes love to her.





*Loved George's six wives heads in the glass jars, very amusing.


*Enjoyed the Lisa in her Petunia costume throwing onions at Nate very amusing.





Overall a great episode!