Why this is rated as the lowest non-season 4 episode of "Six Feet Under," I can't say.
This episode essentially only has one fault (big enough to subtract two stars from what was otherwise perhaps a perfect 10), and it's David's ludicrous vision. While Ruth has a fantastic vision scene of her screaming at George (I'll get to the brilliant work done with them later in the review), David has what at first seems to be a sweet vision, with a bright red barn, Keith in denim overalls; a callback to his childhood, but then turns into something more sinister - and some of that is intentional - but it's a bit hard to take it seriously. "Six Feet Under" is rarely so literal, and I'm not a fan.
But besides that, there's so much to love about this episode. In fact, if that scene were omitted, it would be the perfect representation of what the show is like. Every character (except Claire, who gets the short end of the stick here, plot-wise) has a plot line here to love.
Rico's is perhaps the least great of the great story lines here, but it's still good. Rico's fighting with Vanessa in recent seasons has made it all the better to see them getting along again, even under the pretense of a terrible lie that Rico tells for the sake of his pride with a love that's already gone.
David, meanwhile, apart from his dream, has a great storyline this episode, even in the face of a supremely odd request from Keith. It's clear from the first moment that David isn't a fan, and the only fault is that the show feels the need to keep reminding us when we don't need to be reminded. Nonetheless, it makes for some good character moments between them, and what is one of the nicest things ever said on the show, in reference to his boyfriend wishing he could look at the child and see both of them, "hopefully, you still will."
Nate's storyline is a bit gimmicky, for two reasons, but it works to its advantage. First, a death serves almost as a reunion with one of his high-school buddies, and his storyline culminates in the fantastic scene at the bar, when Tom Wheeler gives a much-appreciated callback to "American Beauty," one of the greatest screenplays ever, and written by Alan Ball, creator of "Six Feet Under" himself. Wheeler talks about going through nearly exactly what Lester Burnham went through in American Beauty - he's having a mid-life crisis, and fantasizing about one of his daughter's friends (another callback - the daughter's friend from American Beauty, Angela, was played by the same actress who played Edie back in Season 4). What's more interesting here is Nate's reaction, and I give full credit here to Peter Krause. I think the teleplay was written one-dimensionally, not to its fault, as Nate honestly denies sharing any of that attitude. But Krause puts a fantastic spin on it, and throws himself into the face and voice that Nate typically uses when he's defensive, and when he's partially lying. That's something to think about, or I could be reading too much into it. But with a show like this, there's generally a lot to read into.
And finally, I've saved the best for last, with what is one of the best Ruth-episodes we've ever had. And the journey Scott Buck takes us on is amazing. We haven't witnessed George's outbursts since before he was treated for them, and so we've been led to believe that they've stopped happening. The treatment seems to have worked, and his daughter is elated. But Ruth is still being cold to him. So, we naturally think that she's the bad guy in the situation. She refuses to believe that George can evolve (Nate has similar thoughts about Billy, a parallel worth taking notice of), even though it looks like he clearly has. Watching this episode, I thought Ruth was perhaps having a maternity complex, where since George had, at one time, been her responsibility to take care of, she got an odd liking out of that feeling, and didn't want to believe that he was better. But then, when George discovers there's no more of his favorite flavor of ice cream, the tables turn on us, as he flips out over such a little thing. George isn't better at all, and that realization hits us with no warning at all. And we're forced to reevaluate. Ruth wasn't being a jerk at all, she had no ulterior motives. This has been happening consitently. We just haven't been seeing it. Ruth's been dealing with it, just not in front of the camera lens. And thus, we're taken on one of the biggest, greatest fake-outs that the show has ever given us - one of personality. Why they chose to fake us out, I can't say, but they did a damn good job at it.
This episode essentially only has one fault (big enough to subtract two stars from what was otherwise perhaps a perfect 10), and it's David's ludicrous vision. While Ruth has a fantastic vision scene of her screaming at George (I'll get to the brilliant work done with them later in the review), David has what at first seems to be a sweet vision, with a bright red barn, Keith in denim overalls; a callback to his childhood, but then turns into something more sinister - and some of that is intentional - but it's a bit hard to take it seriously. "Six Feet Under" is rarely so literal, and I'm not a fan.
But besides that, there's so much to love about this episode. In fact, if that scene were omitted, it would be the perfect representation of what the show is like. Every character (except Claire, who gets the short end of the stick here, plot-wise) has a plot line here to love.
Rico's is perhaps the least great of the great story lines here, but it's still good. Rico's fighting with Vanessa in recent seasons has made it all the better to see them getting along again, even under the pretense of a terrible lie that Rico tells for the sake of his pride with a love that's already gone.
David, meanwhile, apart from his dream, has a great storyline this episode, even in the face of a supremely odd request from Keith. It's clear from the first moment that David isn't a fan, and the only fault is that the show feels the need to keep reminding us when we don't need to be reminded. Nonetheless, it makes for some good character moments between them, and what is one of the nicest things ever said on the show, in reference to his boyfriend wishing he could look at the child and see both of them, "hopefully, you still will."
Nate's storyline is a bit gimmicky, for two reasons, but it works to its advantage. First, a death serves almost as a reunion with one of his high-school buddies, and his storyline culminates in the fantastic scene at the bar, when Tom Wheeler gives a much-appreciated callback to "American Beauty," one of the greatest screenplays ever, and written by Alan Ball, creator of "Six Feet Under" himself. Wheeler talks about going through nearly exactly what Lester Burnham went through in American Beauty - he's having a mid-life crisis, and fantasizing about one of his daughter's friends (another callback - the daughter's friend from American Beauty, Angela, was played by the same actress who played Edie back in Season 4). What's more interesting here is Nate's reaction, and I give full credit here to Peter Krause. I think the teleplay was written one-dimensionally, not to its fault, as Nate honestly denies sharing any of that attitude. But Krause puts a fantastic spin on it, and throws himself into the face and voice that Nate typically uses when he's defensive, and when he's partially lying. That's something to think about, or I could be reading too much into it. But with a show like this, there's generally a lot to read into.
And finally, I've saved the best for last, with what is one of the best Ruth-episodes we've ever had. And the journey Scott Buck takes us on is amazing. We haven't witnessed George's outbursts since before he was treated for them, and so we've been led to believe that they've stopped happening. The treatment seems to have worked, and his daughter is elated. But Ruth is still being cold to him. So, we naturally think that she's the bad guy in the situation. She refuses to believe that George can evolve (Nate has similar thoughts about Billy, a parallel worth taking notice of), even though it looks like he clearly has. Watching this episode, I thought Ruth was perhaps having a maternity complex, where since George had, at one time, been her responsibility to take care of, she got an odd liking out of that feeling, and didn't want to believe that he was better. But then, when George discovers there's no more of his favorite flavor of ice cream, the tables turn on us, as he flips out over such a little thing. George isn't better at all, and that realization hits us with no warning at all. And we're forced to reevaluate. Ruth wasn't being a jerk at all, she had no ulterior motives. This has been happening consitently. We just haven't been seeing it. Ruth's been dealing with it, just not in front of the camera lens. And thus, we're taken on one of the biggest, greatest fake-outs that the show has ever given us - one of personality. Why they chose to fake us out, I can't say, but they did a damn good job at it.
