Six Feet Under
Dark, surprisingly humorous, thought-provoking, brutally honest, pretty unique.
Excellence/Greatness [10]
10.0 : Perfect, flawless (*****)
9.9 : Pretty much perfect, flawless (*****)
9.8 : Phenomenal (*****)
Superior Quality/Classic [9]
9.6 - 9.7 : Sensational (**** 3/4)
9.4 - 9.5 : Superb (**** 1/2)
Excellent Quality/Significant [9]
9.2 - 9.3 : Outstanding (**** 1/2)
9.0 - 9.1 : Excellent (**** 1/2)
High Quality/Noteworthy [8]
8.8 - 8.9 : Great (**** 1/4)
8.6 - 8.7 : Very Good (**** 1/4)
Quality/Respectable [7/8]
8.4 - 8.5 : Good (****)
8.2 - 8.3 : Solid (*** 3/4)
8.0 - 8.1 : Fine (*** 3/4)
Average/Watchable [6/7]
7.8 - 7.9 : Decent (*** 1/2)
7.5 - 7.7 : Fair (*** 1/4)
7.0 - 7.5 : Average (*** 1/4)
Mediocrity/Avoidable [5]
5.0/6.0 : Mediocre (***)
Poor Quality/Not Recommended [3/4]
4.0 : Bad (** 1/2)
3.0 : Very Bad (**)
Unworthy/Unwatchable [1/2]
2.0 : Garbage (* 1/2)
1.0 : Utter Garbage (*)
Excellence/Greatness [10]
10.0 : Perfect, flawless (*****)
9.9 : Pretty much perfect, flawless (*****)
9.8 : Phenomenal (*****)
Superior Quality/Classic [9]
9.6 - 9.7 : Sensational (**** 3/4)
9.4 - 9.5 : Superb (**** 1/2)
Excellent Quality/Significant [9]
9.2 - 9.3 : Outstanding (**** 1/2)
9.0 - 9.1 : Excellent (**** 1/2)
High Quality/Noteworthy [8]
8.8 - 8.9 : Great (**** 1/4)
8.6 - 8.7 : Very Good (**** 1/4)
Quality/Respectable [7/8]
8.4 - 8.5 : Good (****)
8.2 - 8.3 : Solid (*** 3/4)
8.0 - 8.1 : Fine (*** 3/4)
Average/Watchable [6/7]
7.8 - 7.9 : Decent (*** 1/2)
7.5 - 7.7 : Fair (*** 1/4)
7.0 - 7.5 : Average (*** 1/4)
Mediocrity/Avoidable [5]
5.0/6.0 : Mediocre (***)
Poor Quality/Not Recommended [3/4]
4.0 : Bad (** 1/2)
3.0 : Very Bad (**)
Unworthy/Unwatchable [1/2]
2.0 : Garbage (* 1/2)
1.0 : Utter Garbage (*)
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- DirectorAlan BallStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyWhen the funeral director is killed in an accident, the family comes together to mourn and decide the fate of the funeral home.On Christmas Eve 2000, patriarch Nathaniel Fisher, owner of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home, is hit and killed by a bus while driving his brand new hearse. His death throws his immediate family into emotional chaos as they attempt to deal with their grief. ***
Nathaniel's death casts a pall over the return of his older son Nate, who was hoping for a relaxing vacation before returning to his home in Seattle. On the flight, he meets and later has sex with Brenda Chenowith. **
Dutiful son David is struggling to keep his true sexual identity and his new boyfriend Keith from his family. ***
Matriarch Ruth has her own secrets to keep, while youngest child and only daughter Claire has her first taste of crystal meth before finding out about Nathaniel's death and must now go through the experience while tweaking. **
Meanwhile, Nathaniel's spectre repeatedly appears to each member of his family and forces them to face their own anxieties about life and death. ***
9.0 (Excellent) - DirectorMiguel ArtetaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyThe family attends the reading of Nathaniel's will. A widow is unable to pay the funeral bill after her late husband leaves her with a mountain of debt.Chandler Swanson, the inventor of a large-scale pyramid scheme, is killed when he hits his head on the bottom of the pool. **
His young widow is shocked to learn that her husband’s business was actually a scam and that she has inherited massive debts. *
Meanwhile, the reading of Nathaniel’s will drives a wedge between Nate and David when he leaves them each half of the business. *
Claire, angry that she must either go to college or wait until she is twenty-five to get her inheritance, starts getting closer to Gabe, the boy who got her high the night Nathaniel died and they have a close encounter involving Gabe’s toe. *
Ruth goes on a hiking trip with her boyfriend Hiram and decides that from now on, she does not want to be involved with the family business, leaving all the responsibility to the brothers.
David reconnects with his ex-fiancee Jennifer while pushing Keith away. *
Brenda helps both Nate and David deal with their grief and reconnect with each other in a surprising way. *
8.2 (Solid) - DirectorJohn PattersonStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyThe family considers selling the business. Their latest client had an unfortunate accident with an industrial dough-mixer.Thomas Alfredo Romano is cut into pieces and killed when the dough mixer he is cleaning is accidentally turned on. *
Nate persuades the others to sell Fisher & Sons to a large chain, Kroehner International, but Nathaniel’s presence gives him second thoughts. *
Claire is humiliated when her car is vandalized at school with phrases like “toe slut” and “this little piggy lover”. She takes her revenge by stealing one of Romano's severed feet and putting it in Gabe’s locker. **
Nate must make a choice between taking the money and running from the business he hates and fears, or staying and using his gifts to help people. He and David decide to turn down Kroehner, but their refusal has serious consequences when the large corporation plans to open a cheap cremation house just across the street.
Ruth decides to have a little fun and ends up losing $25,000 betting on horse races.
The family discovers that Claire stole Romano's foot and events take a surprising turn when Kroehner's new property catches on fire. *
8.3 (Solid) - DirectorLisa CholodenkoStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyWhen a gang member is shot, his family requests that he is buried, but the gang's leader wants it done a different way.A gang member, Manuel "Paco" Bolin, is shot to death by a rival gang and Fisher & Sons arranges his funeral, but Nate and David have to turn to Federico, their restorative artist, to help with the interference of gang leader Powerful. *
Meanwhile, Nate and Brenda are questioned over the fire, but Nate is more suspicious of Claire, given her recent behavior. *
Ruth hosts a dinner to meet Brenda, but walks in on Brenda receiving oral sex from Nate. **
The police rule the fire was started by "causes unknown", letting Fisher & Sons off the hook.
An incident involving Keith forces David to confront his self-loathing. ***
David is antagonized by the spectre of Manuel about his "run-and-hide" attitude toward life.
8.2 (Solid)
Don't call Keith a faggot
David mans up
David : "You're Puerto Rican !?"
David : "You have the entire Kroehner organization behind you, and what do we have? You. Because one day when your mind isn't on Fisher & Sons, I will find you or someone you love. [Gilardi laughs.] I'm not saying anyone's going to die. There are tragedies far worse things 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 worth the trouble, Mr. Gilardi? [Gilardi looks nervously at David.] Lunch is over, get lost."
Nate is caught by his mother going down on Brenda
Nate presumes Brenda burned the house - DirectorKathy BatesStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyAn adult film star electrocutes to death in her bathtub, which leads to a memorial service that is anything but ordinary.Viveca St. John, a famous porn star, is electrocuted in her bath tub, bringing much needed business to Fisher & Sons, but her less than conventional circle of friends makes for an interesting funeral and shocks Ruth. *
Elsewhere, David is invited to be a deacon at his mother’s church and this causes problems with Keith, who wants David to keep coming to church with him. *
Nate is introduced to Brenda’s psychiatrist parents Margaret and Bernard, who reveal a few of Brenda’s darker secrets. *
Acting on the advice of Claire’s guidance counselor, Ruth tries to form a closer relationship with her daughter, which does not go as planned. *
David comes out to Nate, but when he refuses to let Keith come to church with him, Keith accuses him of being a coward and breaks up with him and David later denies his sexuality to his brother. *
Nate meets Brenda’s brother Billy, who is unstable and suffers from bipolar disorder.
8.1 (Fine)
Ruth : "She seems nice"
David : "She seems nuts"
Brenda: "Yeah. We live, we die, ultimately nothing means anything.
Nate: How can you live like that?
Brenda: I dunno, sometimes I wake up so fucking empty I wish I'd never been born, but what choice do I have?"
Claire : "I know stealing a foot is weird. But, hello, living in a house where a foot is available to be stolen is weird."
Nate: "Oh, my God, I think David is gay!" - DirectorRodrigo GarcíaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyAfter a woman passes away in her sleep, her husband proves to be a very demanding client.Mildred “Hattie” Jones dies in her sleep, leaving her husband to arrange the funeral. ***
Nate discovers some irregularities on the Fisher & Sons books, and discovers that Nathaniel used to trade funeral services for favors, such as getting marijuana from a local businesswoman and renting a room above an Indian restaurant, leading Nate to ponder just how well he really knew his father. **
Claire takes an interest in Billy, but when he later rejects her, she takes little comfort from Brenda’s kind words.
Tracy, a woman who has been aggressively pursuing David, makes him realize how lonely he is without Keith and he takes to trolling gay bars for companionship. *
Mr. Jones himself dies at his wife’s side after her viewing. *
Ruth reignites her romantic relationship with Hiram the hairdresser.
8.4 (Good)
M. Jones: "Help ! Help ! There's a white girl trying to cripple an old black man !"
M. Jones: "Let go off me ! What're y'all doing ? Trynna steal my watch ? I'll call the goddamn cops"
M. Jones: "Everybody's alone. You're born alone, you die alone, goddamn it."
M. Jones: "You sell that shit to somebody who's buyin' it cause I ain't. You don't know nothin' about love. Some pretty little thing catches your eye, and the next thing you know it's been 56 years and you've shit all over yourself in the movie theatre, and she the only one to help you clean it up. That's love."
Nate: "I don't wanna be somebody who when I die nobody knows who I was.
Brenda: So don't be."
Nathaniel, Sr.: "Life is wasted on the living." - DirectorJim McBrideStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyThe family must persuade the angry brother of a war veteran who died of lung disease that his brother should receive a military-honoring burial.A young veteran, Victor Kovitch, dies from supposed Gulf War syndrome and his brother Paul, who refuses a military service because he and Victor were fighting the Army for compensation, arranges the funeral.
Nate soon discovers that Victor loved the Army and wanted a military burial but had never wanted to cause trouble with his brother.
Nate and Brenda plan a trip away for the weekend, but their plans are interrupted by Billy, who is having an emotional crisis.
David interviews a progressive priest for a position at the church, which forces him to consider his own place within the congregation.
Ruth brings her boyfriend Hiram over for dinner and introduces him to the family. *
She takes a job working for Nikolai at his flower shop.
Fisher & Sons holds a funeral for Victor without Paul's permission but Nate manages to convince Paul to give his brother the funeral he really wanted. *
7.9 (Decent)
Father Clark: "The hardest part about my work is the fact that most people don't want a real relationship with God. Yeah, sure, they'll pray to a man nailed to a cross, but they'll--they'll ignore the gay kid who gets strung up, or the black man who gets dragged behind a car, or someone's mother living in a box."
Claire: "Maybe if you talked about something that was usefull to me I would (listen)
Teacher: "Oh algebra is useless ? Not for physicist
Claire: I don't wanna be a physicist
Teacher: Algebra forces your mind to solve problems logically. It's one of the only perfect sciences—
Claire: You think the world runs on logic? Come on. Open your eyes."
Nate: "I love you David, I always will... I could get hit by a bus. I just want to make sure you know" - DirectorAllen CoulterStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA divorced woman meets an unfortunate end while partying with her friends, and the family discusses renting out the home to a seniors' dancing group.It's a dry season in the funeral business for the Fisher family, and Rico takes the opportunity to test his skills and his income by freelancing with Kroehner.
Business is so slow that Nate and David rent out their slumber room to a seniors' dance class, and David finds a short-term, drug-laced romance in the class's young male dance instructor. *
Nate is angered to discover Brenda's Australian friend is staying at her home and sleeping in her bed. He gets high and blows up at Brenda but the two later apologize for their erratic behaviors toward one another. *
Claire gets herself kicked out of a school trip after the leader finds marijuana in her bag. She befriends a classmate, Parker, and learns that people are not always what they seem. *
Ruth finds herself torn between the comfort that Hiram offers her and the spirit of adventure she finds in Nikolai. *
8.0 (Fine)
Nate: Come on, Dave. I watch Will & Grace. I have gay-dar.
David: Okay, don't say gay-dar. - DirectorJeremy PodeswaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA boy accidentally shoots and kills himself while playing with a gun, and his mother is nearly comatose with grief.When Gabriel's six-year-old brother dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Claire finds herself softening toward her ex-boyfriend. *
David hits the dance clubs with his new lover and discovers the joys of ecstasy. He later runs into Keith and his new boyfriend at a club and ends his relationship with his lover when he tries to coax him into a threesome. *
Ruth takes the pills that David left in the aspirin bottle. While under the influence of ecstasy, Ruth dreams of reuniting with her husband, Nathaniel. *
Brenda comes up with a scheme to improve Nate's management abilities by taking a whirlwind tour of some rival funeral homes after he flunks the funeral director's exam. *
8.4 (Good)
Brenda: You know what I find interesting? If you lose a spouse, you're called a widow, or a widower. If you're a child and you lose your parents, then you're an orphan. But what's the word to describe a parent who loses a child? I guess that's just too fucking awful to even have a name.
Brenda: Everybody dies, we all die, everything we ever care about will disappear, so what's the fucking point of living?
Ruth Fisher: We were such children when we met. Then we watched those children disappear.
Nikolai: Are you going with your little friend, the one with the funny car?
Ruth: It's an electric car and it's very good for the environment.
[Nikolai laughs]
Ruth: Why are you laughing?
Nikolai: Because you're not. - DirectorKathy BatesStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyAn egocentric husband is killed with a frying pan after his wife finally has enough of his mouth.The Fishers need to replace Rico and they hire outstanding but outspoken embalmer, Angela. *
Brenda and Nate's relationship faces a mounting crisis when her brother, Billy, includes in his art exhibit a portrait of an unsuspecting Nate urinating against a wall. *
Finding Billy off his "meds" one time too many, Brenda's parents think he should be sent away for treatment.
David orchestrates a meeting with his ex-boyfriend, Keith, which ends with David coming on to and being rejected by Keith, who is seeing someone new. *
Claire finds herself enmeshed in a deep relationship with Gabe, but it may be shallower than she thinks when he lies to her about going to visit his father, who Claire later finds out died when Gabe was four.*
David fires Angela for breaking one of his mother's wine glasses, and on her way out, Angela reveals to Ruth that her son is gay.*
Nate tracks down Rico, and he agrees to return to Fisher & Sons temporarily because of his new-found unhappiness at Kroehner. He also informs Nate that Kroehner set the house across the street on fire in order to collect insurance money, and they are not through with their take-down of Fisher & Sons. *
8.3 (Solid)
Nate: [to Brenda] OK, no offense, but your family's fucked up beyond comprehension.
Angela: I've never worked in a funeral home that was more depressing.
Ruth: Thank you. I've had the best time coming to this funny little restaurant and having you yell at me in the bathroom. - DirectorMichael EnglerStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyNate and Dave travel to Vegas in order to attend a convention for funeral directors. A newborn child dies from a case of SIDS.David, Nate and Brenda attend a funeral directors' conference in Las Vegas where David successfully speaks on the role of independent funeral homes as he faced the "suits" from Kroehner. *
David's fellow funeral director friends pay for a female stripper to give David a lap dance, and he is forced to reveal that he is gay. He calls a male prostitute and is later arrested for having sex in public.*
David calls Keith to bail him out of jail. Keith is able to have the charges dropped, but he is disappointed that David was having unprotected sex with a prostitute.*
Brenda and Nate are disturbed to discover that Brenda's psychotic brother, Billy, followed them and broke into their hotel room to photograph them naked and asleep in bed.*
Meanwhile, Rico has rejoined the firm and faces a tough emotional challenge with his first client, a three-week-old infant who died of SIDS, which causes him to worry about the impending birth of his own child.*
Ruth attends a class to make her flower arranging less funereal after a suggestion from Nikolai.
Claire finds out that Gabe overdosed on heroin and visits him in a hospital. The episode ends with Claire and Gabe professing their love for one another, and with the birth of Rico and Vanessa's son, Augusto. *
8.3 (Solid)
Stripper: [during a lap dance] Aren't you enjoying this even one bit?
David: Yeah, I'm loving it. Why?
Stripper: Well, your dick isn't responding. - DirectorRodrigo GarcíaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA gay couple is attacked and one of them is killed, causing controversy among the family and a confession to be made.The homophobic killing of a young man forces David to re-examine his lifestyle and his family relationships. Ruth suspects that David is gay. She asks Robbie, her homosexual co-worker, how he came out to his mother, and he tells her that it is not her business. At the funeral, Keith is on patrol to protect the family from homophobic rioters. David assaults one of the rioters in retaliation, and Keith covers for him. Eventually, David comes out to an accepting Ruth and a disgusted Rico.****
Claire is concerned that Gabe's overdose was not accidental and is concerned for his well-being. **
Brenda is trying her best to break from her brother, Billy. Nate goes to pick up a body when in reality, Billy had lured him there, where he displays pictures of himself kissing Nate's sister, Claire, and of Nate and Brenda having sex. He threatens Nate with a knife, but Nate is able to escape. Brenda then breaks up with Nate, telling him she needs space. Later, Billy breaks into Brenda's home, showing her that he has removed his tattoo on his lower back of the name "Isabel" by cutting off his own skin. He tries to remove Brenda's matching tattoo, but she is able to knock him unconscious and call an ambulance. She decides to have Billy committed, and she and Nate reunite. ***
8.9 (Great)
Claire: Everyone is too obsessed with what everyone else thinks about them to think about anyone else!
Protester: God hates fags!
Nate: [to protester] God hates morons!
Protester: God killed Marc Foster, and I'm here to celebrate.
David Fisher: [punches fundamentalist] God just shoved your stomach into your lungs, and I'm here to celebrate!
David: Please, God. Help me. Take this pain away. Please fill this loneliness with your love. Help me, God, please, help me. - DirectorAlan BallStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA simple game of golf results in the death of a woman.Tracy Blair arranges a funeral for her aunt but keeps changing her mind and refusing to sign an official contract leading to a revelatory conversation with Nate. *
Nate and Brenda work past their problems and recommit to each other. *
Nikolai fires Ruth from the flower shop out of jealousy, but later, after Hiram broke up with her, they make up, passionately. *
David is thrust into a conflict with the other church deacons when Father Jack officiates at a lesbian wedding. Later he is verbally comforted by Keith. **
Claire attends a wild party with Gabriel but it seems he's becoming more unraveled.
Brenda visits her brother Billy in the mental hospital. *
The season ends in joy as Federico holds a christening party for his son Augusto at the Fisher residence. **
8.7 (Very Good)
Tracy Blaire: Why do people have to die?
Nate: To make life important. None of us know how long we've got, which is why we have to make each day matter. - DirectorRodrigo GarcíaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA drug-addicted actress dies from a cocaine overdose and leaves her fellow cast and crew members to set up the funeral.Rebecca, a young coke-addicted actress, overdoses and dies at the premiere party for her new horror movie. Her boyfriend knows Federico's sister-in-law. *
Nate and Brenda, who is still traumatized from the car accident, face some difficulties in their sex life.
Claire has difficulties with Gabriel.
David finds out he has gonorrhea; later he returns to Keith's church to find Keith happy with his current boyfriend. *
Ruth researches homosexuality and holds a dinner in David's honor. Nate gets high accidentally from the ecstasy in the aspirin bottle and embarrasses himself. **
Later he finds out that he finally passed the licensing exam. *
8.3 (Solid) - DirectorKathy BatesStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA famous football player dies of dehydration during a strong training session, and the family is hired for the funeral services.A college football player dies of heat stroke.
Ruth attends a session of a self-help group called "The Plan" with her coworker Robby.
Nate battles with keeping his arteriovenous malformation (AVM) secret but eventually tells David. *
Brenda stresses about having dinner with an ex-boyfriend and his new family, but they turn out to be far from perfect.
The Fishers invest $20,000 on a casket wall to raise profits, much to the chagrin of Rico who had asked for a loan to buy a new home. Vanessa goes against Rico's wishes and accepts money from her sister. *
Dave and Keith get closer while spend time with Keith's drug addict sister and her neglected daughter. *
Claire rages at Gabriel for stealing embalming fluid from her family. *
7.9 (Decent)
Mitzi Dalton Huntley: [David hands her a cup of coffee] Y'all didn't put rat poison on in here, did ya?
Nate: Drink it and find out.
Nate: What would you rather have, some overly-educated gas bag like Trevor, or a semi-literate fuck-machine like me, come on.
Nate: [preparing to confess he has AVM disease] ... I have something to tell you.
David Fisher: What have you done now? - DirectorRose TrocheStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA man dies after a long battle with cancer, and his psychic widow discusses the funeral arrangements with the family.The funeral for a psychic's husband raises many interesting questions.
Ruth attends "The Plan" self-help seminar and tries to make "renovations" in her life, but ends up deciding it's all nonsense and telling the whole seminar group so. ***
Dave and Keith continue to bond while Keith frets about his absent addict sister and her daughter. *
Claire tries to help Gabriel as the cops close in on him for armed robbery but he shoots a driver in a fit of rage. ***
As Mrs. Piper transitions her husband into the afterlife, the ghost Nathaniel questions his sons about their beliefs. *
8.8 (Great)
Claire: You know, it's polite for the first person downstairs to make the coffee even if that person has a penis!
Nate: Well, you know, it's also polite for the first person who uses the bathroom to spend less than 45 minutes in there even if that person has a vulva.
Ruth: [entering] Oh goodness, everyone's here.
David: With all their genitalia.
Ruth: You want me to complain? Alright then, Fuck this. Fuck you; fuck all of you and your sniveling self pity, and fuck all your lousy parents. Fuck my lousy parents while were at it. Fuck my selfish, bohemian sister and her fucking bliss. Fuck my legless grandmother. Fuck my dead husband, and my lousy children with their nasty little secrets. And fuck you Robby for dragging me to this terrible place and not letting me have a snickers bar. I'm going to get something to eat!
Nathan: The only god I know is a mean-spirited comedian in ugly pants whose every joke has the same damn punchline.
[...] Brenda: Yeah, that's physics. Energy affecting matter. Talking to dead people is delusional.
Nate: So you definitely don't believe in any kind of a life after death?
Brenda: I think people live on through the people they love and the things they do with their lives … if they manage to do things with their lives. [...] - DirectorMichael CuestaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyNate and Claire go to Seattle to pick up the body of a man who died on a public bus.Nate and Claire travel to Seattle and stay with Nate's ex-girlfriend Lisa before retrieve the body of an old man (Mr. Mossback) who died on a tour bus after his surviving children insist that he must be driven and not flown. While there, Nate has an attack related to his AVM and reconnects with Lisa. **
David babysits for Keith's niece after her mother disappears. **
Brenda's mother becomes obsessed with her father's infidelity. *
Ruth tries to make amends with people from her past in line with "The Plan" with mixed results.
8.3 (Solid)
Nate: Yeah, I'll have a double dub – uh – uh – a – a Chubby – a double Chubby – a Chubby Chubby – a double double – a double chubby – a chubby chubby – a chub – I'll have a doub – I'll have a double Chubby cheeseburger. [scrunches eyes, having a major headache] Oh, fuck me! - DirectorJeremy PodeswaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA middle-aged woman chokes to death in her apartment, and is found dead a week later.Emily, a solitary woman, chokes to death in her house.
Ruth takes an interest in her as she died without any family or friends. **
Nate continues to deflect questions about his health. *
Keith, in the midst of trouble with both his niece and his boyfriend, is forced to shoot a man in the line duty. *
David starts to date a new man but makes love to Keith when he comes by after the shooting. *
Brenda has trouble starting a novel and turns to a prostitute friend for inspiration, going with her on a date. **
Later, Brenda asks Nate to marry her. *
8.4 (Good)
David: Maybe Emily Previn was autistic. I read an article once about a high-functioning autistic person who didn't need people. She just had a job designing these big cattle slaughterhouses. At night, she came home and sat in a machine that made her feel like she was being hugged. And that was all the intimacy she needed.
Nate: That's really upsetting.
Claire: I don't see why this person has to be mentally ill just because she had a life that doesn't conform to some familiar image that we have in our heads. Maybe she was living the life she wanted. The life without the hassle of other people. - DirectorMichael EnglerStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyWhile at a boat party, a drunken man falls overboard. The family tries to convince his widow to use their funeral services.Matthew, a drunk businessman, falls off a boat and drowns. *
Nikolai stays overnight with Ruth and tries to make himself part of the family. *
Brenda masturbates a massage client.
Ruth's sister Sarah visits unannounced causing tumult throughout the family and making Ruth tremendously uncomfortable. Nate and Brenda announce their engagement to the family. *
The Fishers are visited for a second time by Mitzi Dalton-Huntley who offers them a huge payout to sell. *
Matthew's wife insists on seeing his body and reveals that he abused her. *
8.2 (Solid) - DirectorDaniel AttiasStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyJewish executive Jeffery Shapiro accidentally hangs himself while masturbating with asphyxiation.A young man, Jeffrey, dies from autoerotic asphyxiation. His Jewish funeral leads Nate to question the Jewish view on death with a female rabbi. *
Claire visits her aunt Sarah on the weekend of a big party despite Ruth's strong misgivings. **
Keith dumps Eddie and starts seeing David again. His niece has an emergency appendectomy. *
Rico suspects his cousin Ramon is sleeping with Vanessa, but when he comes home early he catches Ramon with another man. **
Brenda's erratic divorcing mother makes Brenda question her upcoming marriage. *
8.3 (Solid) - 2001–20051hTV-MA9.0 (2.2K)TV EpisodeDirectorAlan TaylorStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyChristmas Eve - and the one year anniversary of Nate and Brenda's meeting and Nathaniel Fisher's death - is approaching, and this year, the Fishers are requested by bikers to allow the funeral home to be open on Christmas Day so they can have a party/memorial service for Jesse Ray Johnson, who was involved in a motorcycle accident on his way to his part-time job as a mall Santa while greeting some kids. The family (and Rico) each remember their last moments with Nathaniel and, in most cases, regret what they didn't do for him before he died. On Christmas Eve Brenda's mother invites Brenda and Nate over for dinner with a "special guest", who turns out to be Billy. Ruth prepares to take Claire to church with David out to visit Keith and Taylor, but they never make it when they enter Nikolai's shop to see it robbed and him shot in the legs with both now broken. Ruth decides, to the chagrin of the family, that he'll stay with them until he can walk, since he has no insurance. Nate is forced to confess his AVM to Brenda when he has a seizure as they sleep together. On Christmas Day, Marrilyn Johnson offers Nate a motorcycle as a gift so he can live every day to the fullest. Toby, Keith, and Taylor are invited for dinner that evening. Rico has a good holiday with his family - until his cousin Ramone arrives to attack him when he's forced to tell Vanessa he's gay and she told his wife. Also, Claire's holiday takes an interesting turn when Toby calls her "hostile" and she drives him away, though she does enjoy keeping in touch with Billy Chenowith.Jesse, a seasonal Santa, dies in a motorcycle crash. His family puts on a big flamboyant Christmas funeral. **
Christmas signals the one year anniversary of Nathaniel's death, causing everyone to reminisce. **
Brenda and Nate visit Margaret and are shocked to find that Billy is living with her. *
Nikolai is beaten and mugged on Christmas Eve.
Brenda continues having brief sexual encounters with men and writing about them.
Claire brings her new boyfriend Toby to dinner but an argument causes them to break up. *
Karla returns.
Nate has a seizure while with Brenda. **
8.6 (Very Good) - DirectorMichael CuestaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA construction worker's metal lunch-pail falls from his perch on the building and strikes Dwight Edgar Garrison on the head - resulting in a major family conflict between his current wife and her 2 stepdaughters from his first marriage, on whether he should be buried with his late wife or the widow. Besides having to deal with that, Nate remains unaware that Brenda is still seeing other men but wonders whether she still wants to marry him, or just does out of pity...and whether he should wed at all when Lisa meets him and announces she's pregnant with his child. Claire has doubts about her relationship with Billy, who's also throwing Brenda and her perspective on most of her relationships into confusion. David's relationship with Keith is strong, but Keith's life is troubled when Karla relapses into drugs. Meanwhile, just about everybody finds Nikolai to be a pain while Ruth's working - even Rico loses his sandwich to him. But Ruth is more concerned with the fact that he's in debt to Yuri, a loan shark.Dwight, a random pedestrian, is killed by a falling metal lunchbox from a high-rise construction site. His wife and daughters argue about his funeral.
Nate learns through a chance meeting that Lisa is pregnant with his child while Brenda has sex with a stranger in a bathroom stall. *
Keith checks up on Karla finding her high again and forcing her back to rehab. *
Later, he invites David to move in together, at David's biggest pleasure. *
Nikolai continues to recuperate at the Fisher's, inconveniencing everyone.
Later Ruth discovers that he is hiding out from the gangster loan sharks who broke his legs.
Claire agrees to help Billy with a project and discovers a talent for photography. *
8.4 (Good) - DirectorAlan PoulStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyBenjamin Srisal suffers a heart attack at home, requiring a Bhuddist service at Fisher & Sons that Nate gets a crash-course in how to conduct, but he's still got no answers as far as what should be done concerning Brenda and Lisa. Lisa apologizes for her outburst in the store but requests she have full custody of the child, causing him to be haunted by visions of the first child they conceived, as well as all the others he lost to abortion. David and Keith begin to argue again, especially after Karla accidentally hits and kills a homeless man on the street, and Taylor is too shaken to actually keep it secret and tells David under the pretense that it's a joke - David is troubled enough to tell Keith, but feels too guilty to report to the police as Keith does. After hearing her "soul-twin" parents have chosen to remarry, Brenda attends an orgy with Melissa where she sleeps with more than one man but then chooses to blame Melissa for her infidelity so breaks contact with her. Claire considers attending an arts college. Ruth returns Nikolai to his apartment prematurely at his request, but invites him to move in with her.Benjamin, a retiree, dies in his driveway and requires a Thai-Buddhist funeral. *
Nate signs away his parental rights.
Nikolai finally leaves the Fishers' house.
Brenda realizes that she has a problem and sees a therapist, but later she has sex with a couple at a swingers' party.
Brenda's parents get back together.
Karla commits a hit-and-run on a homeless man and tries to cover it up but her daughter tells David. *
David and Keith fight incessantly. *
Claire illegally takes portraits of the deceased for a school project but her work is rejected by her teacher and an incensed Nate.
7.9 (Decent) - DirectorMiguel ArtetaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyEdith Kirky is the 4th patient of the year to be brought to Fisher and Sons from Bay Breeze Hospital where Vanessa works, so David predicts Rico's usual pride over the fact...but no one predicts him, suspicious about her neck-markings, to discover a whole hot dog wedged down her esophagus. When informing the authorities, Fisher and Sons is forced to allow them to bring Vanessa and her partner to be examined since they failed to find the hot dog themselves. Rabbi Ari encourages Nate and Brenda to be honest with each other, but Brenda reacts badly when Nate informs her he's going to be a father (though fails to mention she's unfaithful to him) and he later talks about it with Rabbi Ari, who introduces him to a Jewish client, Aaron Buchbinder, who needs a pre-meet since he has pancreatic cancer. Brenda's reaction after criticizing Nate is to get high and sleep with a pair. At Brenda's bridal shower, Bernard Chenowith asks Ruth what she's done as far as Claire's depression, but when Ruth visits Gray Deitman to see if she is depressed, the answer comes as a different sort of shock. David encourages Keith to stand up to his father when he and his mother ask that Taylor come to San Diego to live with them, and David himself is forced to find some inner strength of his own to get Catherine Collins, supported by Mitzi Dalton-Huntley, not to sue them for "emotional distress" after Nate's showing her husband's mutilated body at her request. He doesn't have any qualms about becoming angry with Ruth, though, after she pays all of Nikolai's debt to Yuri just before David and Nate have need of the money themselves.Edith, a cranky old woman, dies in hospice care due to Vanessa's negligence which costs her job. *
David and Keith have difficulty taking care of Taylor but refuse to let Keith's dysfunctional parents take custody. *
Ruth pays Nikolai's $87,000 debt, enraging him.
A lawsuit from a previous client backed by Kroener turns out beneficial. **
Nate tells Brenda about Lisa's pregnancy after Rabbi Ari recommends they be honest with each other before moving forward with marriage. She later screws a pair of strangers before professing her love for Nate and forgiving him. ***
8.5 (Good) - DirectorMichael EnglerStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyThe Diazes' friend and former neighbor Leticia Perfecta Perez dies in her sleep at a beauty parlor and leaves his family a large sum of money, causing Rico to remember how he lost his father and got into the funeral business to begin with. However, she also leaves behind a son, never close to her in life, who wishes to give her a more expensive casket than her pre-meet's choice and is jealous of Rico. Nate and Brenda attend her parents' remarriage, he goes to cheer up Aaron Buchbinder, and Keith, David, and Taylor are visited by a social worker. Nikoai responds indifferently when Ruth tries to plan what days they'll meet, and while watching a separate movie than he is, she breaks up with him. Claire likes the prospect of attending LAC Arts school but is disappointed that Gary Deitman is about to transfer jobs. The news that Kroehner is bankrupt and undergoing a federal inspection is overshadowed by bad news for both David and Nate - Keith is found innocent for his shooting, but hours later attacks an argumentative abusive husband he investigates and is judged guilty; and Nate reads Brenda's story then recognizes it's not fiction when one of the subjects Brenda slept with from the night before comes by. Nate breaks off his engagement with Brenda just before Lisa calls to inform Ruth his daughter has been born.Leticia, an 80-year-old grandmother and Rico's neighbor, dies peacefully in a salon unexpectedly leaving $149,000 to Rico. **
Ruth breaks up with Nikolai who seems not to care. *
David and Keith greet a social worker. *
Brenda's parents renew their wedding vows.
Nate discovers Brenda's infidelity after reading some of her manuscript resulting in an explosive breakup. **
Keith beats up a suspect in a fit of anger. **
Lisa gives birth to a girl two weeks early at first shocking, then delighting new grandmother Ruth. ***
8.7 (Very Good) - DirectorAlan BallStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyAaron Buchbinder passes away painfully shortly after Nate arrives to visit (after he argues with Ruth about her visiting and photographing his daughter Maya). Kroehner's last act against the Fisher & Sons funeral home is to hire an inspector to examine the place, and they're fined for the problematic drainage system. Nate has a bleed requiring a cranial surgery to cure. Vanessa encourages Rico to ask for permission to be a partner since he has the money to pay the fine, and he's given 25% of it only when Nate reminds David he may need a replacement for Nate. Ruth quits her job at Nikolai's since she feels they can't easily share an environment. Claire goes to an interview at LAC but remembers her father's loss was the reason she began artwork, so cries for the first time since his death. Nate goes by to see Brenda one last time to attempt reconciliation and announce he'll be getting surgery, and finally tells Ruth about the surgery and its cause on their way back from seeing Maya. Ruth, still trying to keep control, insists Claire and David go to the gradation Claire doesn't care about rather than be with Nate. At the hospital, Nate receives anesthesia and dreams that he's running in the desert when a bus pulls up next to him. He boards it to find it's empty and doesn't start moving...yet.Aaron, a young acquaintance of Nate's, dies after a battle with pancreatic cancer. *
Keith gets suspended, gives Taylor to his parents, and fights with David. **
Fisher & Sons has an unannounced inspection allowing Rico to invest his new inheritance in the company and become a partner. **
Brenda goes to a sex addicts anonymous meeting. *
Ruth quits her job. *
Nate undergoes a high-risk surgery for his AVM and his family anxiously awaits the outcome as Brenda packs up her house and drives away. ***
8.9 (Great) - DirectorRodrigo GarcíaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyThe surgeons are dismayed when Nate's blood vessel ruptures and he suffers a hemorrhage, and his blood pressure continues to rise, then Nate dies...At least, the family and Rico are in shock, grieving, while Nate himself is dining in a hated restaurant with his father, impatiently waiting to get to his own funeral. He arrives early, sick of the food, and sees his funeral (open-casket, not a memorial service after cremation as he wished)...then hears David speaking to him from the next room where he sees himself paralyzed and with speech problems struggling to relearn. He continues through the home and witnesses himself completely healthy living with Lisa and Maya; at Christmas dinner with his family, including his father, who never died; living with a woman he has yet to meet and their son; spending his time lazily, watching TV and drinking beer with a woman. Returning to the funeral room, he meets his father again, who doesn't give him a straight answer on whether he's alive but suggests he just traveled through parallel worlds and must open a white coffin to get his answer....7 months later: Nate, Lisa, and Maya live with Lisa's self-absorbed actor boss Carol, where Lisa is a cook. David and Keith, now a reluctant security guard, are in therapy to find a healthy relationship, and David is advised to find an activity for himself so applies to the Gay Men's Chorus. Claire is attending LAC, enjoying it less than she anticipated, and starting a relationship with rock-band member Phil. Nate learns an interesting secret about his own life from Ruth and all the while sees scenes shown in his surgery that make him wonder if this life is meant to be.During his surgery Nate hallucinates various futures and alternate realities. **
Seven months later, Nate has recovered from his operation and is happily married to Lisa. The two live with their daughter Maya. *
Fisher & Sons is now Fisher & Diaz.
David and Keith attend couples' counseling. **
Ruth becomes obsessed with her granddaughter, clashing with Lisa. *
Nate grates against Lisa's neurotic, overbearing boss, Carol. *
Claire is working hard at college but believes the work is pointless. She sleeps with a crematorium worker, Phil, who also plays in a band.
Keith hates his new job in security. *
David auditions for the Gay Men's Chorus. *
8.4 (Good) - DirectorMichael CuestaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyTelemarketers Andrew Wayne Milne, Matthew Clark Hazen, and Martin Jacobs are shot by their insane former co-worker Daniel Grant Showalter who then commits suicide. Fisher & Diaz gets both the Milne and the Showalter funerals - but Rico objects to having the killer's, especially on the same day his victim's is to be held, so makes David's life miserable by refusing to pick up his body or do his job quietly. Stuck picking it up himself, David misses therapy with Keith, and Frank Mushler encourages him to view his own feelings about David without him around to defend himself. Lisa and Nate manage to invite David and Keith over for a barbecue dinner for a while before Carol barges in and literally demands Lisa's attention, but it gives Keith and David plenty of time to reflect on what problems their relationship has. Though she claims their own marriage is wonderful, Nate's dream of whether it was meant to be begin to crumble as several minor arguments arise with Lisa. Ruth's trip to Tapenga Canyon to give Sarah some Vicodin turns interesting when she learns her sister is addicted to it, and she befriends her spirited friend/caretaker Bettina.Four telemarketers are gunned down by a former employee who then shoots himself. **
David and Rico are at odds over taking the shooter's body. *
Lisa and Nate hold a dinner for David and Keith which is crashed by the narcissistic Carol. *
Ruth comes to help her supposedly sick sister Sarah and finds Bettina detoxing her from Vicodin. **
Claire gets closer to Phil romantically and befriends a classmate, Russell.
Strain starts to show in Nate's marriage.
8.1 (Fine) - DirectorMichael EnglerStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyCallie Renee Morimer flees a group of jeering young men calling to her as she walks alone in the dark, who turn out to be some joking friends, but stops in the street and is hit by a car upon realizing it. David enjoys singing in the choir but turns down an opportunity to go to a member's open house - he and Keith are spending the weekend at a hotel out of town, but from the moment they get there David worries about seeming too obviously gay in front of the straight couples. Carol finally crosses a line when blaming Lisa's family for not allowing her to give her constant perfect emotional support, so Lisa quits and she, Nate, and Maya are forced to temporarily move in with Ruth. For her own part, Ruth is happy to have them, and happy in general, with Bettina instructing her in the arts of receiving massages, shoplifting, and just enjoying life. Claire continues to accept Phiil's player attitude until it gets in the way of their personal schedule, so leaves him, and is intrigued by the unorthodox artist teaching her class in place of the one she took it to see.Callie, a 19-year-old student, is struck and killed by a car. **
David and Keith go on a much-needed vacation and have a great time. **
Claire and Russell are challenged by a new teacher, Olivier. *
Carol blows up at Lisa, who quits her job forcing her family to move in with Ruth.
Ruth has fun at the mall with Bettina, who shoplifts several items. *
Claire decides she's not happy with an open relationship and breaks up with Phil. *
7.9 (Decent) - DirectorAlan PoulStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyRobert Lamar Griffin's rare heart disease finally takes its fatal toll, leaving behind his boyfriend Kevin Lamb, a scene-designer of the opera company where he was a lighting-designer, who requests Fisher & Diaz to allow him to create a Chinese opera set for the funeral. David suspects Rico's views of homosexuality are narrow and defends it, while the couple's having been together so long offer new insight to his relationship with Keith. With Ruth's birthday approaching, Lisa prepares to throw her a party despite Nate's warning that she prefers her birthdays without any celebration. But with fun-loving Bettina invited and at Lisa's insistence, Ruth breaks her own standards of not using the best china or dancing. Claire is the only one not to attend the party; she's out watching the introduction of ultra-radical artist Scott Philip Smith, and is invited to dinner with Russell by Olivier and Smith, later learning what her potential may come to and wondering what it will be. After a while, Nate retreats from the party, too, disturbed by the growing similarities between Lisa and Ruth. He dreams that his father hints that between the wife he married by default and his hated inherited job, Nate may soon wish to use the old apartment he used to escape from the same things, and Nate retorts that he's less secretive, he loves his family, but Nathaniel wonders...why shouldn't he have loved his own, if he remained with them?Robert, a middle-aged gay man, dies after a long illness; his lover arranges an operatic tribute. **
Lisa arranges a birthday dinner for Ruth despite warnings from the entire family, but Bettina shows up and hijacks her plans. **
David yearns for the closeness Robert had with his lover in his relationship with Keith. **
Nate starts showing signs of depression and worries he is becoming like his father. **
8.7 (Very Good) - DirectorJeremy PodeswaStarsPeter KrauseMichael C. HallFrances ConroyA lost pair of hikers discover the wrecked remains of a car with the skeleton of the driver, William Aaron Jaffe, inside. Nate is surprised by the son who never knew him not seeming to be troubled by it, and worried by the remarried widow's remark that they weren't right for each other and married too hastily - his own relationship with Lisa has become strained when she encourages him to cut back on his spending and considers staying home with Maya for a few years, without even letting him be the first to know. Things are further complicated when Nate runs into Brenda, and Lisa suspects the drinks they had together weren't just for catching up and apologies. David's enjoyment of the choir is overshadowed by one of the members recognizing him from a shameful experience several years before. Claire's invitation to go with Russell to his brother's wedding is forgotten when Olivier asks her to be his assistant - which turns out to mean his driver. Keith is ready to quit his job. Rico convinces David to hire an apprentice, despite Nate's and Ruth's doubts, to assist in Claire's place, and hires nerdy Arthur Martin, who turns out to be oddly like Ruth. Later, Nate is accused of living in a marriage that will surely fall apart and be bad for their offspring the way Will Jaffe's would have, but Nate rejects the prediction...without convincing himself.A hiking couple find the body of a 24-year-old man who died in 1975, leaving many mysteries for his remaining family. *
Ruth sets ground rules for new live-in apprentice Arthur. *
Brenda returns to apologize to Nate. **
David encounters a man from his past with whom he had anonymous bathroom sex. *
Claire and Russell get closer but their teacher, Olivier, seems to also be interested in Claire and offers her a job. *
Tensions between Nate and Lisa increase over money. *
8.0 (Fine)