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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

6FU - S4 - E4 - UK (spoilers to follow)

  
  

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Regrettable Juvenilia
11:56 / 08.09.04
My advice to Russell would be: "Good decision losing the beard. Now try cutting off most of your hair, and possibly your head."

My advice to Anita would be: "Call me."
 
 
Tryphena Absent
14:36 / 08.09.04
As for "Isn't it nice to be with someone who's your intellectual equal?" - way to drive her back to Nate, eh?

Well yes, Brenda's mother doesn't like Joe as much as Nate because she can't annoy him enough.
 
 
Yotsuba & Benjamin!
14:47 / 08.09.04
I loved the devloping art school storyline because it seemed as if the writers on the show payed attention to how fucking insufferable the workshop environment so quickly becomes when everyone is so hooked into how everyone else is feeling about shit, as opposed to looking evenly and crtically at artistic product.

I like Jimmy's development as well, mainly because Six Feet Under is probably the only venue for twenty-something actors to actually act like people in their twenties. Jimmy, Russell, Anita, and Claire are the most vivid and resonant examples of people I actually know/knew since Kicking & Screaming.

Case in point, as you mentioned, Fly, "Lucky". That was the most perfect encapsulation of that just barely post-adolescent desire to push your manufactured over the top Significant Life Moments into the Significant Life Moments stratosphere by playing the song that, whenever you heard it, seemed like it would just be the perfect song for your Significant Life Moment, whenever it decided to happen. Pointing your speakers out the window, DMB-style? The perfect capper.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
09:23 / 15.09.04
Never pick up a hitchhiker who looks like Ad-Rock from the Beastie Boys.

So 'That's My Dog' was the episode that made a lot of people say this show has jumped the shark: I don't necessarily agree (we'll see where things go from here), but I do understand people's annoyance. It seems almost as if the writers feel the need to even out the arbitrary disasters that have befallen some of the characters, and haven't really thought through what the cumulative effect of this on the literal credibility of the show in general will be. I'm not saying that I think 6FU should be or ever has been entirely realistic all the time, but still: it was getting a little far-fetched when Nate lost a wife not that long after his brain nearly went boom, and while I see the symmetry in the fact that both Fisher brothers have now had near-death experiences, we really have to draw a line under this kind of stuff. Yes, angst and suffering will always drive every season of the show to an extent. Yes, the show is largely about death and that will always impinge on the characters' lives. But unlike The Sopranos or Buffy or The Shield, 6FU is unable to use the explanation that the central characters' profession/calling is inherently dangerous and will inevitably lead to random violence and killing, so I think we have reached the limits of what the show's premise can stretch to.

(And seriously, what's with the whole 'struck-down-by-cruel-gods' morality thing this show has going with the Fishers? First Lisa disappears the same night Nate kisses Brenda, now David gets terrorised by a guy he's fantasised about being propositioned by - add in all the weird borderline-BDSM-only-scary-and-non-consensual shit and I'm really not fooled by the little "these things just happen, it's nobody's fault" meta-commentary that was going on elsewhere in this episode.)

At least there was other good stuff in this episode: the Claire stuff is best (Russell's creepy complimenting of her work was so cringeworthy and so true to life - those ill-advised exes are always still around when you're at Uni). Is the girl who asked "Is this more lesbian stuff?" a character we've seen before, or is she just a random Meta Girl?

Ruth continues to be funny and insane. George's dickishness is now both subtle (that hilarious stuff about bread and cheese and cutting it with an old pocket-knife, he's like this academic woodsman!) and not.

I do wonder why Brenda even goes for lunch with her evil mother.

Nate started off a real asshole this week, then we were reminded that he has reasons to be, but ultimately I wonder if that fire alarm was saying "okay, nobody doubts your grief is real and all-consuming, but you do NEED to move on now". I think we all know that David's trauma is going to force Nate to get a grip in one way or another, right?
 
 
Tryphena Absent
14:53 / 15.09.04
I do wonder why Brenda even goes for lunch with her evil mother.

Why do you see your mother? I think this is one of the best tools in the show because it's so obvious why Brenda goes to lunch with her mother, it's so identifiable. As an observer it really looks like they hate each other but they know each other so well that the animosity really shows something else up. I absolutely loved their conversation, they're so disgustingly competitive, I thought it was hilarious.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
17:43 / 17.09.04
Is the girl who asked "Is this more lesbian stuff?" a character we've seen before, or is she just a random Meta Girl?

That's Elise, and I love her. She's just a small recurring character. She exists primarily to be the person in the room who calls people on their bullshit, but is never rewarded or validated. Elises get annoyed by all the nonsense, and just get more and more bitter. I wish that I could talk to Alan Ball, because I'd beg him to include more of her in the fifth season. More interaction with Claire outside of the classroom would be fabulous - it'd be great for Claire to have to deal with this peer who thinks that she sucks as an artist for solid aesthetic reasons.
 
 
Warewullf
21:45 / 17.09.04
Urgh, that stuff with David and the hitch-hiker really upset me. It was really well done in that I had absolutely no fucking idea what was going to happen next. Right at the end I thought it was going to cut back to the first time David saw the guy and it ws going to turn out to be a day-dream. Thank fuck that's not what happened.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
13:34 / 22.09.04
Academic cocktail attire!

A curiously international accent!

A continuing obsession with dogs! "We should all work with dogs!"

Art kids on drugs in the middle of the day! Singing! Awkward group sexual activity! "My hair!"

Pumpkin mulligatawny! Another Fisher child on drugs at dinner! "Why do you deny yourself so much?" "He really gets it." "We should all work with dogs!"

Nettypots! Nasty little secrets! Screaming James Cromwell!

Nate: A Hero... Reborn!

Brenda: A Cheater... Once More!

A great episode.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
14:24 / 22.09.04
I don't think I've laughed so much in months. Claire is shaping up to be a bit of a matriach so beautifully- I think Edie's good for her, I adored her comments about the dishes.
 
 
PatrickMM
15:24 / 22.09.04
The Death Cab for Cutie singing scene was amazing, one of the most memorable things in season four. I love how this show uses music and really incorporates it into what's going on. Most shows or movies would probably play that song and use it in a montage, but playing it like they did allows them to have a much deeper exploration of what's going on with the characters. Great stuff.
 
 
Jack Vincennes
16:31 / 22.09.04
That was the best episode this series (so far, not that there have been many), and quite possibly ever. George is utterly dreadful, and I love the way he gets more weird by massive degrees with each week. 'The Japanese eat fish for breakfast' was a stunning example of a smug unhelpful comment. At that point I wished I had been sitting at that table, so I could have thrown a coffee mug at his head.

The dinner was brilliant as well, for Claire on drugs and the general American Gothic-ness of the Fisher family. 'Look, a gravy boat. Thank you.'
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
14:17 / 23.09.04
I'm so glad that you all liked that episode, it's my favorite too, possibly of the entire series to date along with "The Opening" from season 3 and the finale of season four.

I love when Ruth yells at George for hiding his "nostril pot," and when Claire convinces Nate to return to the funeral home. When he walks down those stairs, it's so sweet.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
14:52 / 23.09.04
I think one of the best things about this episode is that Nate is such a peripheral character for most of it, but at the end two huge things happen in his life.
 
 
Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!
15:53 / 23.09.04
Shit.

I missed this episode, can somebody please tell me every single thing that happened in minute detail? I wish C4 repeated this like nip/tuck, although I realise why they aren't, I guess.

Damn.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
15:57 / 23.09.04
There's a recap here...
 
 
Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!
17:01 / 23.09.04
Thank you, Haus! Increased workload is leaving me a little dazed, so I really appreciate this!
 
 
The Strobe
09:01 / 24.09.04
"Now all the women and people of color are clearing the dishes"

Probably the best Fisher-child-on-drugs-at-dinner episode, too, and certainly Claire's most entertaining trip. I'm beginning to understand just how dislikable George is like never before, though every now and then I see terrifying similarities between him and me.

I like the way the Brenda/Joe thing is handled and is going. Brenda's nightmare, about bedding... not disturbing or upsetting per se, but entirely not what she wants to be concerned about. I'm still working out whether Joe is just a bit subby and not fucked-up enough, or fucked-up in the wrong way. Everyone seems to need a certain amount of fucked-upness in their life. Too little is boring; too much is hard work. Billy & the rest of Brenda's family are too much. Joe isn't quite enough.

Nate is juuuuuust right.

(Also: stupid art kids on stupid drugs. They're such a bunch of losers. Russell! And like, even though they all hate Anita for being not-quite-cool-enough, they all want to bone her when they're high. Anita, for me, is the Summer of Six Feet Under: I completely hate her for her normality. The only difference is that Summer is meant to be the preferable choice in the OC, and that Anita is in no way preferable to anything.

Except Russell).
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
09:29 / 24.09.04
I find it very interesting how different people react to Claire's current crop of friends. I would imagine that the degree of animosity one feels might be indicative of how one feels about people who are 'like that' in 'real life' (apologies for the scare quotes).

Much like the clubbing episode of Spaced, I found this episode made me simultaneously nostalgic for not the last time, but some unspecified time when I took drugs, and yet also horribly embarrassed by it. See Russell and Jimmy's "no, I admire YOU!" conversation (Zoolander ref? - perhaps).
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
15:26 / 24.09.04
Anita isn't normal! What are you talking about? She's the ultimate passive aggressive artbitch, insidiously manipulating everyone around her. She's a mess of insecurities and selfabsorption! She instigates everything. That's the bait and switch - you think Edie is the Queen Bee at first, but it's Anita. It's always Anita.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
15:29 / 24.09.04
I love the way that they write Claire's weird clique of friends - the power dynamic shifts in almost every episode. Sometimes you think "oh, okay, Jimmy is the alpha male," but he's actually the most passive of the bunch. Russell is so much more domineering.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
15:32 / 24.09.04
And like, even though they all hate Anita for being not-quite-cool-enough, they all want to bone her when they're high.

Yeah, that's one of the great things about Anita. Almost everyone has a person like that in their life, whether they act out on it or not.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
15:43 / 24.09.04
Also: I would strongly recommend that people avoid reading Television Without Pity for synopses - they are extremely long-winded and kinda obnoxious. For simple, straightforward, informative abstracts, you should just go to the HBO site.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
07:28 / 29.09.04
"I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch
And all I do is cryyyyyy..."

This is the greatest television programme ever made.

I officially forgive Michelle Trachtenberg everything.
 
 
Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!
09:04 / 29.09.04
Boo hoo hoo! Boo hoo hoo!
 
 
Tryphena Absent
14:33 / 29.09.04
Anita is completely normal, she may be manipulative but hey she's an art student, they often are. She clearly just does what she feels like. I enjoy that about her.

I say bring back Kathy Bates permanently.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
14:59 / 29.09.04
It's Real!
 
 
Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!
22:00 / 05.10.04
I fucking love this episode of 6FU, I love George's bumbling housebound non-adventures of avoidance with an undercurrent of boyo.

Rico, you poor sap, even your storyline made me laugh this time. See: "I didn't [sleep with her] until last night! ... It's your fault!"

Ha ha ha.
 
 
Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!
22:35 / 05.10.04
Oh god, but there's so much more...

TELL HER, JOE!

And even Nate's total get out clause. Great.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
07:35 / 13.10.04
How great were: Rico's Fisher & Sons top, David's dream about Keith & breastesses ("Nice!"), Claire's little secret smile when Jimmy told Russell to go on ahead, and Nate/George/Rico fighting crime?

Very great.

But you know what was even better?

I think you do know.

One word. Say the name. Say it with me...
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
07:36 / 13.10.04
BILLY!!!
 
 
Warewullf
08:58 / 13.10.04
Fun episode. David with tits. Excellent.

David: "I'm going for a shower."
Keith: "Yeah, well, don't blow anyone while you're in there."

And, once again, poor Ruth!
 
 
Alex's Grandma
14:18 / 13.10.04
The bit when David came home to find Keith eating pizza and watching the game was just priceless I thought. Like a football father catching his son playing dress-up or something.
 
 
Regrettable Juvenilia
08:30 / 25.10.04
Y'know, if I didn't find myself identifying with at least four or five characters every week, I'd be really worried about the extent to which I identify with George. His reaction to Ruth telling him to try to be happy was spot-on.

David's fantasies/visions are always the best, aren't they? "Look, a Chineses baby!" - in the closet!

I am nervous now that there are only two episodes left. Nervous about Lisa's family, nervous about David's mental state, nervous about Claire and Billy.
 
 
The Strobe
09:19 / 25.10.04
Deep down, I like George. I mean, I know he's nuts, but he's a lot like my Dad and surprisingly like me. Even though he doesn't like people, Ruth really is his favourite person, and he's doing his utmost best to show that. It's just, you know, most other people's standards of affection are higher.

I loved David's baby-in-the-closet, too. The thing that's interesting me is that I'm finding art-school-Claire-on-drugs far less interesting than eighteen-year-old-Claire. She thinks she's more creative, but she always seems more stunted to me.

I think Billy and Claire will be OK, in a good way. I think David will pull through, but it's going to be slow, and I'm not sure it's going to be complete by the final episode. I think Lisa's family are utterly insane, and wish that her Mom would remember she died back on the Nostromo.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
09:43 / 25.10.04
They may be insane, but they're kind of in the right - are we even entirely sure that Nate remembered Lisa aright - was it a direct take from a previous episode, and if so how significant was it? By making it all about what Nate needs to feel he has done his bit, he is forcing Lisa's family, whom I desperately want to call the Rileys, to go through horrible, horrible situations and emotions. Basically, I think Joe nailed Nate as good as if not better than Brenda - he's a "depressing cripple", and he and Brenda are actually quite painful to watch:

He: Wow. Before when we hooked up one of us was always running away from something, or stoned, or otherwise not ourselves.

She: Yeah. Thank God this time we have total clarity, what with you having basically killed your wife by not liking her, and me being on the rebound from a relationship where we moved in together and then I used you as a lever with which to drive away the only nice, well-adjusted man ever to express any interest in me. If anyone needs me, I'll be working out how to bone my counselling client by the end of the series.

Hmmmmmm... nice.

I wish I had faith in Billy, but he always looks well-adjusted when he first turns up - remember Pa Chenowith's funeral? I realise that "Art teacher" in this show essentially means "I have no sense of ethics or boundaries", but even by those standards he's a bit special. Would have loved to have heard that interview.

I love working with kids. Well, on kids. In fact, I only a few years ago had a thoroughly inappropriate sexual relationship with a girl but a few years younger than the students I'll be teaching now. In fact, she was an artistic type. Claire Fisher? Oh, really! Wow. What a coincidence. Anyway, it's cool - actually, it was all about wanting to have sex with my sister, who was sleeping with her brother... Hey, who's this guy? Ow! Not the face!
 
  

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