Season One.
The show centres around a dysfunctional family as they struggle to run an independent funeral home. After the death of the patriarch the family struggle to redefine the roles both in the society and within the family unit.
With the growing popularity in American TV we have been force fed a myriad of different clichés and caricatures masquerading as valid humanistic character types. Six Feet under goes to great lengths to obliterate and poke fun at these recent tropes and successfully creates a weird but grounded hyper real world. We watch as David (Michael C Hall) struggles with his faith and its impact on his homosexuality. We watch as Nate (Peter Krause) finally settles down with what seems to be the girl of his dreams. The almost obligatory teenage daughter character (Lauren Ambrose) here constantly fights the societal norms of her turgid, vapid high school. Lastly, we see the widowed mother of the family struggle to deal with her ever diminishing control over her family whilst trying juggle two new men in her life. There are various other plot lines which bleed into the central, anchored melodrama which help give the show a bustling and busy feel keeping the action and characters fresh throughout the 13 episode season.
Six Feet Under is a potentially divisive programme. It may superficially have the zip and kooky music which you would usually find in an episode of 'Desperate Housewives' but it is brazen and brash with its dealings with the human elements of its plotting. Here homosexuality is outed, proud and true. We see the gay characters interact properly, as if it were not just a novel plot weapon or a statement. Its refreshing to see such honesty on screen. Also, the shows deals intelligently with mental illness. We see it in its various guises and forms. Nate's new love has a past filled with psychiatric assessments and tests which have left her hardened and sceptical. Her brother is the shows main focus with regards to mental illness, he floats in and out of episodes, his bi-polar condition is painted as both dangerous and humorous. This duality is what ultimately gives the situations their humanity, there is a constant dialogue with the viewer and their expectations. It never pulls the rug completely from under you but it does tease and threaten to do so.
The episodes themselves function on a simple but effective arc. at the start of each episode we watch the death of the person the family will tend to in the funeral home. The death then informs the lives of the family both emotionally and structurally. the most effective use of this structure is in 'The Trip' in which Rico, a talented funeral home worker has to prepare a 3 week old baby for a funeral viewing. For anyone this would be a harrowing experience but it is especially poignant for Rico who is expecting his second child any day. it is this cyclical inner logic that drives each vignette. This is oppositional to other successful TV shows like 'Breaking Bad' which opts for a much more roaming continuous story.
It would be impossible to write about the show without commenting on the acting. It seems (to me at least) that we have to schools on show here. Both Krause and Ambrose conduct themselves with a certain freedom that is both endearing and involving. Ambrose constantly crows and sighs in between freight train hyperbole, it never looks text book but its still equally as effective. Krause is much more refined but still practices the same formlessness, he is understated even when faced with the gravest of strife. The thing that makes his performance so good, is his reactionary choices. It is how most of us would react, and not just how he SHOULD react as a dramatic character.
Michael C Hall is fantastic also on the other side of the coin, both he and his mother both provide the more comedic elements as we revel in their plight. They play it more straight (excuse the pun) and the humour comes out of watching them play off the other family members. Halls uptight David is constantly preaching etiquette by day and hitting gay bar and taking drugs by night. The mother figure is trying to hold her family together in a difficult time, whilst gallivanting with two separate men in secret. There is so much fun to be had watching their performances here, they both just eat up every scene they are in.
It is no wonder then that we live in a time in which cinema receipts are ever dwindling (or so we are constantly told) because the spaces between those tent pole blockbusters that seemingly everyone goes to are being devoured by engrossing shows like this. We don't then have subject ourselves to the possible social horrors of the cinema when we can just as easily get as much bang for our buck at home. The shows are not constructed to 2 hour forays into a tried and tested world either, due to the amount of hours an average season runs for, the film makers can explore every facet of a character or idea instead of giving us a small window in which to peak through. Its is no longer about getting from A to B, hell, there might not even be a B, its about the people involved. This is somethings that Six Feet Under exploits so well in its first season, you really get a sense of the characters and story growing in front of your eyes. Its a much more organic process than film often is and i cannot wait to watch more.
The show centres around a dysfunctional family as they struggle to run an independent funeral home. After the death of the patriarch the family struggle to redefine the roles both in the society and within the family unit.
With the growing popularity in American TV we have been force fed a myriad of different clichés and caricatures masquerading as valid humanistic character types. Six Feet under goes to great lengths to obliterate and poke fun at these recent tropes and successfully creates a weird but grounded hyper real world. We watch as David (Michael C Hall) struggles with his faith and its impact on his homosexuality. We watch as Nate (Peter Krause) finally settles down with what seems to be the girl of his dreams. The almost obligatory teenage daughter character (Lauren Ambrose) here constantly fights the societal norms of her turgid, vapid high school. Lastly, we see the widowed mother of the family struggle to deal with her ever diminishing control over her family whilst trying juggle two new men in her life. There are various other plot lines which bleed into the central, anchored melodrama which help give the show a bustling and busy feel keeping the action and characters fresh throughout the 13 episode season.
Six Feet Under is a potentially divisive programme. It may superficially have the zip and kooky music which you would usually find in an episode of 'Desperate Housewives' but it is brazen and brash with its dealings with the human elements of its plotting. Here homosexuality is outed, proud and true. We see the gay characters interact properly, as if it were not just a novel plot weapon or a statement. Its refreshing to see such honesty on screen. Also, the shows deals intelligently with mental illness. We see it in its various guises and forms. Nate's new love has a past filled with psychiatric assessments and tests which have left her hardened and sceptical. Her brother is the shows main focus with regards to mental illness, he floats in and out of episodes, his bi-polar condition is painted as both dangerous and humorous. This duality is what ultimately gives the situations their humanity, there is a constant dialogue with the viewer and their expectations. It never pulls the rug completely from under you but it does tease and threaten to do so.
The episodes themselves function on a simple but effective arc. at the start of each episode we watch the death of the person the family will tend to in the funeral home. The death then informs the lives of the family both emotionally and structurally. the most effective use of this structure is in 'The Trip' in which Rico, a talented funeral home worker has to prepare a 3 week old baby for a funeral viewing. For anyone this would be a harrowing experience but it is especially poignant for Rico who is expecting his second child any day. it is this cyclical inner logic that drives each vignette. This is oppositional to other successful TV shows like 'Breaking Bad' which opts for a much more roaming continuous story.
It would be impossible to write about the show without commenting on the acting. It seems (to me at least) that we have to schools on show here. Both Krause and Ambrose conduct themselves with a certain freedom that is both endearing and involving. Ambrose constantly crows and sighs in between freight train hyperbole, it never looks text book but its still equally as effective. Krause is much more refined but still practices the same formlessness, he is understated even when faced with the gravest of strife. The thing that makes his performance so good, is his reactionary choices. It is how most of us would react, and not just how he SHOULD react as a dramatic character.
Michael C Hall is fantastic also on the other side of the coin, both he and his mother both provide the more comedic elements as we revel in their plight. They play it more straight (excuse the pun) and the humour comes out of watching them play off the other family members. Halls uptight David is constantly preaching etiquette by day and hitting gay bar and taking drugs by night. The mother figure is trying to hold her family together in a difficult time, whilst gallivanting with two separate men in secret. There is so much fun to be had watching their performances here, they both just eat up every scene they are in.
It is no wonder then that we live in a time in which cinema receipts are ever dwindling (or so we are constantly told) because the spaces between those tent pole blockbusters that seemingly everyone goes to are being devoured by engrossing shows like this. We don't then have subject ourselves to the possible social horrors of the cinema when we can just as easily get as much bang for our buck at home. The shows are not constructed to 2 hour forays into a tried and tested world either, due to the amount of hours an average season runs for, the film makers can explore every facet of a character or idea instead of giving us a small window in which to peak through. Its is no longer about getting from A to B, hell, there might not even be a B, its about the people involved. This is somethings that Six Feet Under exploits so well in its first season, you really get a sense of the characters and story growing in front of your eyes. Its a much more organic process than film often is and i cannot wait to watch more.