April 7, 2006

SIX FEET UNDER: The Complete Fifth Season (HBO)

By Veronica Mixon

I knew Alan Ball was talented but as I watched the fifth and final season of "Six Feet Under," I truly began to appreciate the remarkable series that Mr. Ball and his fellow writers, director and actors had created. Mr. Ball managed to smoothly and dramatically conclude the adventures of the Fisher clan, a family whose business revolved around death and servicing people who were dealing with death in their lives.

Six Feet Under managed to showcase a profession that had been largely hidden and to create drama out of the dark and deeply sexual elements of human life. It didn't coddle audiences and audiences loved that. Life is messy and complicated, and the show embraced these elements. Initially, the show zeroed in on the return of the favorite renegade son, Nat (Peter Krause) for a visit to California and his disaffection for the family business just as his father in unexpectedly killed. Immediately, Nathaniel Sr. (played with a rye humor by Richard Jenkins) becomes a ghostly presence around his family and Nat Jr. slowly converts into semi-responsible son, husband and father over the next five seasons. Meanwhile, the entire family -- and the series -- explores the loves, lusts, professional ambitions, loneliness, misfortune and relationship betrayal among the characters in the show. Six Feet Under is brilliantly funny and touching with get insight into human nature.

The fifth season has a blossoming Claire (Lauren Ambrose) making the fatal mistake of returning to the arms of Billy Chenowith (Jeremy Sisto), the schizoid who teaches art when he can't make it. David Fisher (Michael C. Hall) and Keith (Matthew St. Patrick) grapple with starting a family. Keith wants his own child while David is willing to adopt. Frederico (Freddy Rodriguez) and his estranged wife, Vanessa (Justina Machada) find the single life not as alluring as either imagined as they pursue their divorce. No one could imagine after Nat survived the murder of his wife (Lily Taylor)-- a wife he didn't completely love -- that he'd find complete happiness with sexual wild child, Brenda (Rachel Griffith), but they give marriage and baby making a try. And, lastly, watching Ruth discover that she's been foolish to rush headlong into marrying George (James Cromwell) only to discover that he has had a long history of mental illness is incredibly honest and brave. One of the show's hallmarks is exhibiting a characters unabashed anger at life's nasty turns. When Ruth goes mental over her husband's condition, I was stunned but also pleased. Women characters almost never get to exhibit such behavior. Just as American culture doesn't like to deal with death, nor does it like to deal with women's emotional disappointment in men. And, of course, when the family loses Nat, Ball has everyone go justifiably bonkers! Furthermore, the closing episodes of the series are heartfelt, moving and satisfying.

I can't imagine experiencing a more illuminating show as Six Feet Under because you feel like one of the family. During the course of five seasons, Ball and his incredibly talented cast has created creditable gay, Hispanic and African American characters who struggle with life's challenges as do Caucasians and that's admirable indeed. He also gives as much attention to the sexual shenanigans of middle-aged people as he does youth. But, mostly, the series illustrates the never-changing importance of family.

The five-disc set includes the finally 12 episodes plus three wonderful documentaries. There are several audio commentaries on various episodes and the critically acclaimed featurette, Everyone's Waiting. The other features include in-depth retrospectives of the Six Feet series from 2001-2005 and the enormous impact that the show had on the American scene. Fans will absolute adore these documentaries and the complete fifth season set!

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