[mbriant]

PLEASE DON'T GIVE AWAY THE ENDING AS SOME HAVE NOT YET SEEN IT.

During the past few years, HBO has been addicting me to several of it's programs ( Sopranos, Carnivalle, Deadwood ) and Six Feet Under has been one of them. Despite it becoming more and more of a soap opera as time went on, it's writing and acting have always been first rate.

The bulk of last night's series finale seemed more soap operaish than usual, but I thought the last 5 minutes of the episode/finale was absolutely brilliant ... especially for that particular show. Bravo HBO. I'm going to miss SFU, but hopefully the series "Rome" will pick up the slack starting August 28.

Any other SFU fans out there?

 

[elmoe]

I am very much, its my favorite serie ever

I havent seen everything yet though, so I hope nothing gets spoiled in this thread.

 

[ken36]

Great endinng. No loose threads except: Maggie's Doctor appointment. Pregnant?

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

Great endinng. No loose threads except: Maggie's Doctor appointment. Pregnant?

Good question. I was thinking the same thing as that's what they seemed to be inferring...but they never did clarify it, did they?

 

[mjg]

Not giving away the ending, though i discuss the last few episodes and themes in characters, though i don't say exactly what happened, skip this if you like the show enough but haven't seen the end.

the ending was cool, but the tangent it went on got kind of stupid...

I mean, what jumped to mind was the finale of A.I. if anyone agrees with me.
Like casino ending style, but off on an odd tangent.

The redhead girl really usually isn't such a great actor, though her whimpering in the last episodes was maybe a bit more plausible at momments, i guess when she is be a b!tch to everyone the other elements of her acting ability were totally supressed. I think she stole the show in this one actually... I hope she gets another series to explore that more.

I liked the closure people get, though i don't think ruth necesarilly got any of it... Her character is just so damn bizaare that i cannot really relate or understand anything she does, the last few episodes all i can say is she's just a mess.

I think nates best acting might be done posthumous, but now i don't think when he was dead he was really an entity at all, i think he was just telling people what they want to here to feel more about something, so in nightmares he would be more horrible, and when he gave people enthusiasm they needed it and wanted it i guess (or maybe ready). I think the dead people talking are just symbolic, they aren't true characters just like a visage or embodiment of baggage to be handeled? Makes sense?

Oh yea, and i absolutely despise brenda, yet in the finale episode they do seem to leave it unclear about thiongs in the last episode, when the montage begins i don't recall understanding what exactly happens, i'll have to see it again to understand.

 

[mbriant]

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I think the dead people talking are just symbolic, they aren't true characters just like a visage or embodiment of baggage to be handeled? Makes sense?

I agree. I always thought they simply represented what was going on in the person's mind at that moment and I think the last episode proved that. Nate's Jeckle/Hyde attitude about the baby seemed to co-ordinate with Brenda's state of mind. When she was freaked out, he was nasty and negative but when she mellowed, so did his attitude.

 

[mjg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant I agree. I always thought they simply represented what was going on in the person's mind at that moment and I think the last episode proved that. Nate's Jeckle/Hyde attitude about the baby seemed to co-ordinate with Brenda's state of mind. When she was freaked out, he was nasty and negative but when she mellowed, so did his attitude.

did i give awqay too much? i'll take stuff out of my post if i ruined the ending.


More about Brenda's charcter.
Now that she wasn't a nympho maniac anymore, i feel her character was drained of emotion. Her character was rather underdeveloped, it was more about just pleasing herself int he begnining, now it seems towards the end she was dealing with her sins (self punishing, almost like masochism) her whole entire relationship with nate was a mistake, and she resents and hates everyone... especially her baby and herself.
I don't logically agree with how it was done it plot, because at times she is happy but her radically mood changes making her character development totally out of wack.. I think she was just mellowdrama and nothing complex (unless i totally missed it). Redemption is very important though and i guess somehow she arrives there. (redemption with herself? definatley her own mother who is totally weird and that scene where she threw the toy on the floor pissed me off, she's like where brenda got the b!tch skills from i think)

The best character i have to say is nate and red headed girl (whats her name) towards the end... Her b!tch shield going down actually shocked me, i always dislike her but with more color in her palate she does some interesting things with people, and her connection with mother seems to be really authentic (even though ruth still is so psycho and mushed around character).


How much juicer would the end of have been if that guy billy (brenda's brother) murdered umm claire is that her name (redheaded one).

That was my sisters call in the begining, and it did make sense, he did seem crazy enough.. Though at the end, they should've deployed him to be part of the shocking finale, atleast disturb the peace a touch more for a true tragedy style ending (had this been like shakespeare i guess eheh). I guess he's just a normal burnout, but wow they could've had him doing something wild, like the pianist guy did in the movie the village hehe.

 

[mariadoc]

In the Netherlands we (hopefully) have two series to go.

Hopefully, because the first 3 series were broadcasted by the NPS, which is a public broadcastcompany(don't know what the word for this is in English) and the goverment found the NPS too left oriented, and now they want to get rid of it.

ps. Isn't Rachel Griffiths, who's playing Brenda Chenowith in SFU, also playing in (EDIT

John Cusack's 'High Fidelity'?

 

[mbriant]

High Fidelity? Do you mean the movie starring John Cussak? I don't remember her in it, but that doesn't mean she's not.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

How much juicer would the end of have been if that guy billy (brenda's brother) murdered umm claire is that her name (redheaded one). That was my sisters call in the begining, and it did make sense, he did seem crazy enough.. Though at the end, they should've deployed him to be part of the shocking finale, atleast disturb the peace a touch more for a true tragedy style ending (had this been like shakespeare i guess eheh). I guess he's just a normal burnout, but wow they could've had him doing something wild, like the pianist guy did in the movie the village hehe.

It did seem he was being prepped for bigger and badder things at one point there, but nothing ever came of it. Part of the fun of watching these sort of shows is trying to predict where the story lines are headed. I don't know if they set us up with things like that to stir our imaginations, confuse us, and make us think the story's going in some direction, or whether they do it because they are planning to go in that direction but change their minds later on. Possibly they do it to give themselves options for future story lines. I found Deadwood was doing that sort of thing as well . Sometimes they'd leave you thinking something was going to develop, but then it never did.

 

[Trounce]

Remember that movie Beethoven? I wept (for some reason) when the poor hound got dog-napped, but I could justify it, as I was seven. I haven't since cried (or been really moved) by any work of art since then, I don't believe, though I've ingested my fair share.

I caught the show tonight, and the pathos overwhelmed me; it was not the catharsis I was hoping for, but a gash in my side. Since Claire and I are the same age, and have the same vocation (me a writer-to-be, her a visual artist) her moving to New York, and the finale being centred around that, was destructive in an unspeakable way. It was brilliant and sad, joyous and infuriating (oh, Brenda...).

I will miss this show so much, moreso than I realized, as I despised the 3rd and 4th seasons, despite consuming, and criticizing, them vigorously. The Fishers were a living, breathing organism, and I feel too like I have lost tonight.

Alan Ball didn't create the perfect show, but he created the perfect ending to one of the most inconsistent shows on television. Kudos.

 

[reynman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trounce The Fishers were a living, breathing organism, and I feel too like I have lost tonight.

Agreed. I only started watching this season. Looks like I'll have to catch re-runs or rent the other seasons when they come out on DVD.

I recorded the last scene and watched it a few times. Thanks to the power of the recordable HD and HBO, I recorded the entire episode early this morning. The wife is watching it right now, without me!!!

BTW - Was that Tori Amos singing?

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

BTW - Was that Tori Amos singing?

I watched it again tonight with a friend and specifically read through the credits to find out who did that song. Didn't see a credit for it.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

I liked the closure people get, though i don't think ruth necessarily got any of it... Her character is just so damn bizarre that i cannot really relate or understand anything she does, the last few episodes all i can say is she's just a mess.

Some day, when you become a 59 year old mother you'll understand.

I thought Ruth's character was convincing throughout her ups and downs. Until George entered the picture this season, she was the only character of her generation. Combine that with the fact she was old fashioned in many ways ( dress, attitude, moral values ) and that the series began with her becoming a widow and ended with her losing her son, it's no wonder she was a mess. She felt isolated and without purpose. Remember her wish for Clair ..." I want you to have hope for as long as possible". That was her way of saying she herself had lost hope. But in the end, this episode left me thinking she was pulling out of her depression...deciding to update her fashion style, opening a business, getting back with George under her own terms ... and finally something positive, including attitude, was finally happening for her. In fact, it seemed all the characters were able to if not shake their past demons, at least come to grips with them. A new beginning for everybody.

And then the years flew by .....

 

[bobeau]

One thing to be said about this episode is _The Man_ wrote/directed it. I knew it was going to be special when I saw that credit at the beginning.

My thoughts were they might kill off the whole cast. I mentioned to a friend maybe a nuclear blast, but they did it with great dignity IMO. And I agree about Claire, she really started to shine right at the end here, it wasn't over-acting as usual.

I came into this series as a big fan of American Beauty. It really did not dissapoint all in all. Thought it was jumping the shark in season 3 (re: soap opera comment above) but pulled it back in later in 4... Though I believe season 2 was simply legendary, just every episode was unbelivable.

Sad that it's gone. I've been with HBO series for quite a while, was a huge fan of Dream On (consider it the best comedy _ever_), Larry Sanders, Oz... had the same crushing feeling when those ended.

Fortunately Sopranos has what is essentially a Season 7 tacked on and The Wire is coming back at least one more time! Man, The Wire is simply the best, even my mom is a huge fan and she hates cop shows. She was totally upset the whole week after Stringer Bell was knocked off, kept on talking about it, lol.