Jo watches "Six Feet Under"
I have a friend who has been trying to get me to watch Six Feet Under for about three years now, but I always forgot to take the DVDs from her every time I'd visit. Just before Christmas, however, I left her house with all six seasons shoved into my ridiculously large purse. Now I'm slowly making my way through the episodes, and I thought I'd do an "initial thoughts" post, since I'll probably be talking about this show quite a bit in the weeks to come.
So far I'm really loving the show. It's funny, clever, well-developed, and has a really interesting concept/structure. The characters are also pretty kick-ass:
Ruth Fisher: The matron of the Fisher clan is one of the characters who gives me the most laughs (she's not even trying to be funny most times, which makes her even funnier). She has the most horribly dumpy wardrobe, which is so dumpy it verges on epic. Her mary-janes and pulled-up socks make me want to give her an awkward high-five.
Nate Fisher: He's pretty easy on the eyes, I won't deny it, but so far he's probably my least favourite character. Not to say I DON'T like him, he just has to work harder if we wants to compete for the top spot.
Brenda Chenowith: I'm still not sure what to to think about her, and I'm sure this is sort of the POINT with her character. She is very mysterious, and this just seems to infuriate Nate as he tries to get to know her. I'm interested to see how her brother fits into the plot, too. And I REALLY want to know what "Charlotte; Light and Dark" is about. I have a feeling this will become clear by the end of Season 1.
Frederico Diaz: Hilarious, and totally cute. I love how, in the first episode, he takes such pride in his work... which makes Nate squirm. I also love the part where David asks him to talk to the Mexican gang leader, and Frederico gives him a lecture about how Puerto Rico and Mexico are miles and miles away from each other. That was yet another "I wish I could high-five a fictional character" moment.
Claire Fisher: One of my favourite characters. She's only 17 years old, she drives a lime-green hearse, and she doesn't give a crap what others think about her... until she's humiliated in front of her entire school. I love how she acts tough, but is really quite insecure underneath it all. She is also hilarious, and her sarcasm is epic to say the very least.
Keith Charles: Don't really know much about him yet, but I like how he's the stable one in the relationship. I like his confidence, and his "no bullshit" attitude when it comes to bigotry. I'm still trying to decide if he has rage issues or not (haha), but I love his relationship with David.
David Fisher: At the moment he's probably my favourite. While I identify with certain aspects of Nate's character (the "running away" from home at an early age, the search for a sense of "self", the lack of meaningful jobs/relationships), I probably identify with David's character on a more intense level. He is the one who tries to keep the family/business functioning after Nathaniel Sr. dies. He is the peacemaker, the people-pleaser, the one who keeps his emotions hidden. He is discovering a lot about himself and his strengths in the first season, and I like watching him slowly evolve. I also love his casual conversations with the "clients" of Fisher & Sons. He has the most active imagination beneath that seemingly bland exterior. Also on a a completely random note, Michael C. Hall and Thomas Gibson need to start up some sort of "imposing forehead" club. Seriously. It needs to happen.
As for ships, I haven't really gotten too far into the series yet, but so far I'd say I ship David/Keith. I'm hoping that their little fight doesn't last long (I just finished watching the episode where Keith asks David if he hates himself, and calls him a fucking coward), and I can't wait for what I see as the inevitable fallout when the Church finally finds out that David is gay. I DO like Nate/Brenda as well, but as I said, I'm waiting to find out what Brenda's "big secret" is... because I KNOW there's going to be one.
Yeah... that's it. Are there any members of my flist who watched/loved SFU in its heyday? I feel like I'm a bit behind the times (as usual. Same thing happened with Criminal Minds. It took me a 5 years to catch on to the awesomeness). Speaking of Criminal Minds, Happy Wednesday everybody! Only two more weeks until we get our new episode. Until then, I have SFU to tide me over.