Six Feet Under: Rest in Peace

Can it really be over?

I simultaneously couldn't wait to see the final episode of Six Feet Under --

-- and I almost couldn't bear to watch it.

As the ads remind us:  "It's time to let go."

I'm not sure I can...

I didn't love this show from the moment I saw it.  I watched a few episodes at first, found it a little odd, watched the Emmy submission tapes, then I got to meet the cast at the TV Academy when we did a panel while I was chairman there.  So I started watching again and got hooked.  Haven't missed an episode since.

Writer/producer and showrunner Alan Ball did a fantastic job and it was a pleasure seeing HBO give him that rare creative opportunity to bring closure to his own vision.  Several members of the crew became friends from running into them at various events:  Matthew St. Patrick and Freddie Rodriguez -- great actors and equally fine people.

It's quibbling with genius, then, to nit-pick the last show.  The thing I might have done differently, though, would be to lose all the Nate appearances.  It felt like he was being used as some kind of metaphysical guide/healer which is an established show convention, granted, and can be an effective writing/directing tool.  On the other hand, given the show's subject matter, and the specialness of this final episode, for me, death would better have been represented by his complete absence, forcing characters to carry on with nothing from him.  I really would have preferred to see Claire figure out her future for herself without dead Nate offering his advice.  I realize he was only a device to show her internal dialogue, but still...

Like most of us, I've lost more than a few important people in my life -- from parents to friends to co-workers. My experience is that when people go, they go and there's no chance to have a chat after the fact.  So, despite the device of talking to dead people, it  always felt like the reality of death was Six Feet Under’s power.  Wherever they go, they're not with us.  Enjoy them here while you can.

I really loved seeing at the end what happened to these characters I'd grown to care so much about and how they all died and when.  That was moving and fun and, as they say, helped bring about "closure."

So, I won't be posting any more about this show I've loved so much.  It's time to let go.  I get that now...sadly...