30 Days of TV Meme - Day 22: Favourite Series Finale
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Six Feet Under Episode 5X12: Everyone's Waiting
Most season finales of Six Feet Under were incredibly good; I enjoyed the Season 3 finale, "I'm Sorry, I'm Lost", but the final episode is in my opinion the best series finale I have ever watched.
Three episodes before the final episode, the writers made a decision that was incredibly unconventional, and shocking - by killing off one of the main characters, Nate Fisher (played by Peter Krause). While he still appeared in the show as a ghost, his role was somewhat reduced; unfortunately the DVD commentaries do not make clear whether this was because he was too busy to have a big role in the last few episodes, or if it was merely to cause various other characters to suffer complete mental breakdowns. In all honesty, I would have loved it if Nate had started narrating the last three episodes in the way that Mary Alice does in Desperate Housewives!
The penultimate episode, 5X11: Static, contained almost nothing but angst, mainly from David (Michael C Hall) and Claire (Lauren Ambrose); it also ended with Brenda (Rachael Griffiths) going into labour with Nate's daughter.
The episode opens with Brenda in the delivery room, with Ruth (Frances Conroy) and a group of surgeons; the whole setup makes it appear that Brenda will actually die in childbirth, since almost every episode of Six Feet Under opens with at least one death. I actually thought for a moment at the end of the opening scene that the baby had been stillborn; however, nobody dies. As Alan Ball stated in his DVD commentary, he thought it would be a good idea to open the final episode of the series with a birth, not a death.
This episode deals with tying up a lot of loose ends and bringing the show to a satisfactory conclusion. David has started reliving a trauma from Episode 4X05: That's My Dog, where he was carjacked and had a gun shoved in his mouth; he starts thinking he sees the man who attacked him, but eventually manages to sort him out in a bizarre dream sequence where the hooded figure that has been haunted him attacks him, but he pulls back the hood and sees his own face - realising that the only person he is afraid of is himself.
Another thing I love about this finale is that, against my expectations based on the previous episode, this one actually becomes very optimistic, as you see the main characters starting to turn their lives around. The most touching moments involve Claire and Ruth near the end; earlier in the season there was a lot of conflict between the two characters when Ruth accused Claire of trying to throw her life away and froze her bank funds. At the end of the episode, Ruth tells Claire that she has to follow her dreams, and the entire cast is seen watching Claire drive away in her car.
What follows, interspersed with shots of Claire driving into the sunset, are flash-forwards, which show Ruth, Keith, David, Federico, Brenda and Claires' deaths. When I first read that they were all going to die, I was expecting to see some shocking tragedy, but this sequence is actually very moving. Most of the characters actually die very peacefully (except for Keith, who I think got shot in the back of a security truck and Federico, who falls over at a Spa); Brenda's death is surprisingly comical, as she is actually bored to death by Billy (Alan Ball's DVD commentary confirms that this is what is happening). In addition to the deaths of the characters, they also show flashes of siginificant moments of their lives, including David and Keith marrying, and they show their children. The ghosts of dead characters make appearances - Nate and his father both appear by Ruth's bedside as she dies, effectively giving the meaning of the episode title that the dead are waiting for the living to join them in the afterlife. The final scene shows Claire, aged 102, dying in her bed; she is surrounded by her own artwork, which gives a good insight about what a successful artist she was; this is followed by onf final shot of Claire in the car.
Truly an epic series finale.
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First t.v show obsession
Day 29 - Current t.v show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death
Six Feet Under Episode 5X12: Everyone's Waiting
Most season finales of Six Feet Under were incredibly good; I enjoyed the Season 3 finale, "I'm Sorry, I'm Lost", but the final episode is in my opinion the best series finale I have ever watched.
Three episodes before the final episode, the writers made a decision that was incredibly unconventional, and shocking - by killing off one of the main characters, Nate Fisher (played by Peter Krause). While he still appeared in the show as a ghost, his role was somewhat reduced; unfortunately the DVD commentaries do not make clear whether this was because he was too busy to have a big role in the last few episodes, or if it was merely to cause various other characters to suffer complete mental breakdowns. In all honesty, I would have loved it if Nate had started narrating the last three episodes in the way that Mary Alice does in Desperate Housewives!
The penultimate episode, 5X11: Static, contained almost nothing but angst, mainly from David (Michael C Hall) and Claire (Lauren Ambrose); it also ended with Brenda (Rachael Griffiths) going into labour with Nate's daughter.
The episode opens with Brenda in the delivery room, with Ruth (Frances Conroy) and a group of surgeons; the whole setup makes it appear that Brenda will actually die in childbirth, since almost every episode of Six Feet Under opens with at least one death. I actually thought for a moment at the end of the opening scene that the baby had been stillborn; however, nobody dies. As Alan Ball stated in his DVD commentary, he thought it would be a good idea to open the final episode of the series with a birth, not a death.
This episode deals with tying up a lot of loose ends and bringing the show to a satisfactory conclusion. David has started reliving a trauma from Episode 4X05: That's My Dog, where he was carjacked and had a gun shoved in his mouth; he starts thinking he sees the man who attacked him, but eventually manages to sort him out in a bizarre dream sequence where the hooded figure that has been haunted him attacks him, but he pulls back the hood and sees his own face - realising that the only person he is afraid of is himself.
Another thing I love about this finale is that, against my expectations based on the previous episode, this one actually becomes very optimistic, as you see the main characters starting to turn their lives around. The most touching moments involve Claire and Ruth near the end; earlier in the season there was a lot of conflict between the two characters when Ruth accused Claire of trying to throw her life away and froze her bank funds. At the end of the episode, Ruth tells Claire that she has to follow her dreams, and the entire cast is seen watching Claire drive away in her car.
What follows, interspersed with shots of Claire driving into the sunset, are flash-forwards, which show Ruth, Keith, David, Federico, Brenda and Claires' deaths. When I first read that they were all going to die, I was expecting to see some shocking tragedy, but this sequence is actually very moving. Most of the characters actually die very peacefully (except for Keith, who I think got shot in the back of a security truck and Federico, who falls over at a Spa); Brenda's death is surprisingly comical, as she is actually bored to death by Billy (Alan Ball's DVD commentary confirms that this is what is happening). In addition to the deaths of the characters, they also show flashes of siginificant moments of their lives, including David and Keith marrying, and they show their children. The ghosts of dead characters make appearances - Nate and his father both appear by Ruth's bedside as she dies, effectively giving the meaning of the episode title that the dead are waiting for the living to join them in the afterlife. The final scene shows Claire, aged 102, dying in her bed; she is surrounded by her own artwork, which gives a good insight about what a successful artist she was; this is followed by onf final shot of Claire in the car.
Truly an epic series finale.
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First t.v show obsession
Day 29 - Current t.v show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death