Half-way through: Six Feet Under update.
So I'm exactly half-way through the 3rd season (and thus the entire series) of SFU, and I wanted to do an update on my attitude towards the characters, since my original SFU post was written about 5 episodes into the 1st season.
Ruth Fisher
She still makes me laugh a lot with her uptight, naive, control-freaky demeanour. Her outfits are still as awful awesome as ever. But... I'm starting to see a much more interesting side of her. She is incredibly lonely, and so easily influenced by what others think. It's nice to see her finally starting to come out of her shell a bit. Like when she takes some of her sister's confiscated Vicodin from Kathy Bates... or when they end up shoplifting together... or when she feels the need to tell her "this is my first time in a hammock," or "I've never had a massage before." Pffft. Please Ruth... never change.
Nate Fisher
Well, just when I was starting to love Nate (in season 2 he is hilariously awesome), he becomes robo-dad. I know, I know, this is being done on purpose as part of his character development... but still. I hate seeing him all agreeable. Just because you have a near-death experience doesn't mean you have to sacrifice everything dangerous to live a perfectly boring life. But I see why this is necessary in order to advance the plot... I guess. In the last few episodes I've seen, he is starting to crack under Lisa's ridiculous "perfect life" bullshit. I'm sorry, but I don't like Lisa. And the whole Lisa=Ruth thing (and Nate's squicky reactions to his little daydreams) is HILARIOUS. The Nate that coexisted with Brenda was at least INTERESTING... even though their relationship was all kinds of messed up in the end (what with her being a pot-head sex addict and him knocking up his ex-roommate). I'm actually excited to see her come back and spice things up. If I have to hear Nate say "You're right, I'm sorry" to Lisa in order to avoid a fight one more time, I'm gonna kick something. On a slightly related note, I advise all puppies to steer clear of me for the next few days.
Brenda Chenowith
She hasn't been in the third season at all so far. In the season 2 finale she packs up her house and... well, I don't know where the fuck she goes. I'm assuming we'll find out soon (since I'm nosy, and looked at the S3 DVD box. Her pic is on it, so I KNOW she must come back sooner or later). Anyway, at the end of season 2 I was ready to strangle her. She was incredibly self-destructive and apathetic (seemingly, at least). But it's hard for me to relate to her character, because she's so complicated and fucked-up that I don't understand why she does more than half the things she does. Still, when she and Nate break up (and when he tells her about his impending surgery) I felt worse for her than I did for him. This is most likely due to the fact that Rachel Griffiths is a fucking amazing actress... probably the strongest on the entire show.
Lisa Fisher
She's a speed-bump in Nate's storyline as far as I'm concerned, even though she is his wife. I also think she's a bit nuts... more so than Brenda even. She's terrified of being alone, big on double standards, and so passive-agressive that her face belongs right next to the definition of said term in every single psychology textbook ever written. She used her pregnancy and Nate's medical condition to subtly persuade him into marrying her, and I frankly can't wait until Brenda gets her nose all up in their disgustingly perfect business. Lisa's whole "we've never fought before" *insert sickening smile here* thing is ridiculous. They don't fight because Nate never lets it happen. He's so apologetic towards her that it makes me want to barf. Bring back Brenda (try saying that 10 times fast. lol)!!!
Federico Diaz
He's changed a lot since the first few episodes. We come to learn that even though he seems cute and friendly, he's got a lot of pent-up anger inside of him (his wife accuses him of worrying too much about "machismo bullshit", and because I watch Criminal Minds, I know exactly what that means now. Haha). He's an outspoken homophobe, which causes him to get into several arguments and awkward situations with David. He also has an extremely rigid set of morals that often cause him to butt heads with others. Nonetheless, I like how his character is slowly learning and changing through his involvement (and now partnership) with the Fishers.
Claire Fisher
I love that she's found her passion by going to art school. I love that she's stopped hating everything so much and has sort of emerged from her whole "teen angst" thing. I also love that she's starting to spend more time with her mother, who has been practically begging for her attention since the show started. Her taste in men is questionable (Gabe, Billy, Crematorium Guy, and now this Russell kid, who seems a tad creepy-stalkerish), but I'm assuming this is all just part of her character's progression, so I'm going with it.
Keith Charles
Was I right about the rage issues? I'd just like to say that yes, I was right about the rage issues *high fives self*. Well, it turns out that his dad was abusive, so now he equates anger with love... or something like that. I don't quite get it. But he's not ALWAYS angry, and I do like his character a lot. I like that he doesn't care what other people think. I like that he's not as uptight about being gay as David is. I really adored the storyline with his neice, and I'm not sure whether that's going to come back or not, but I hope it does, because they made cute "parents".
David Fisher
Still my favourite. I love him. He wants to be open and honest with people about who he is, but he's constantly struggling to do so. He's trying to find things about his life that he enjoys, and is trying to be more creative. He still feels like the responsible one, but he is slowly learning how to lean on others. He loves Keith, but he's constantly afraid of doing/saying anything that will set him off. The fact that he was willing to break up with Ben (who was very sweet) because he knew he was still in love with Keith (even though Keith was seeing Eddie at the time) made me cry. His overnight stay in the hospital with Keith's neice (when he and Keith weren't even together at the time) made me cry. His intense fear over Nate's condition, and Keith's lack of real understanding made me cry. Michael C Hall is BRILLIANT, and now I desperately want to watch Dexter when I'm done with SFU... just so I can keep watching him. :)
To wrap it up, I'll do a few little 10-word blurbs to summarize my opinions on a few of the minor characters:
Billy Chenowith: Is he still totally psycho, or has he actually changed?
Russell: I think he might cut off his ear for Claire.
Nikolai: I liked him with Ruth, but knew they wouldn't last.
Crematorium Guy: I don't remember his name. Claire's too good for him.
Arthur Martin: He dresses like Spencer Reid. Rainn Wilson is fucking epic.
Taylor: I hope they at least try to rejuvenate this storyline.
Bettina: It's about time Ruth made a friend who's actually fun.
Maya: I don't know... she's a baby. I guess she's cute.
So that's all. I'll probably only write one more of these... when I finish the entire series. We'll see if my opinions change yet again
Ruth Fisher
She still makes me laugh a lot with her uptight, naive, control-freaky demeanour. Her outfits are still as awful awesome as ever. But... I'm starting to see a much more interesting side of her. She is incredibly lonely, and so easily influenced by what others think. It's nice to see her finally starting to come out of her shell a bit. Like when she takes some of her sister's confiscated Vicodin from Kathy Bates... or when they end up shoplifting together... or when she feels the need to tell her "this is my first time in a hammock," or "I've never had a massage before." Pffft. Please Ruth... never change.
Nate Fisher
Well, just when I was starting to love Nate (in season 2 he is hilariously awesome), he becomes robo-dad. I know, I know, this is being done on purpose as part of his character development... but still. I hate seeing him all agreeable. Just because you have a near-death experience doesn't mean you have to sacrifice everything dangerous to live a perfectly boring life. But I see why this is necessary in order to advance the plot... I guess. In the last few episodes I've seen, he is starting to crack under Lisa's ridiculous "perfect life" bullshit. I'm sorry, but I don't like Lisa. And the whole Lisa=Ruth thing (and Nate's squicky reactions to his little daydreams) is HILARIOUS. The Nate that coexisted with Brenda was at least INTERESTING... even though their relationship was all kinds of messed up in the end (what with her being a pot-head sex addict and him knocking up his ex-roommate). I'm actually excited to see her come back and spice things up. If I have to hear Nate say "You're right, I'm sorry" to Lisa in order to avoid a fight one more time, I'm gonna kick something. On a slightly related note, I advise all puppies to steer clear of me for the next few days.
Brenda Chenowith
She hasn't been in the third season at all so far. In the season 2 finale she packs up her house and... well, I don't know where the fuck she goes. I'm assuming we'll find out soon (since I'm nosy, and looked at the S3 DVD box. Her pic is on it, so I KNOW she must come back sooner or later). Anyway, at the end of season 2 I was ready to strangle her. She was incredibly self-destructive and apathetic (seemingly, at least). But it's hard for me to relate to her character, because she's so complicated and fucked-up that I don't understand why she does more than half the things she does. Still, when she and Nate break up (and when he tells her about his impending surgery) I felt worse for her than I did for him. This is most likely due to the fact that Rachel Griffiths is a fucking amazing actress... probably the strongest on the entire show.
Lisa Fisher
She's a speed-bump in Nate's storyline as far as I'm concerned, even though she is his wife. I also think she's a bit nuts... more so than Brenda even. She's terrified of being alone, big on double standards, and so passive-agressive that her face belongs right next to the definition of said term in every single psychology textbook ever written. She used her pregnancy and Nate's medical condition to subtly persuade him into marrying her, and I frankly can't wait until Brenda gets her nose all up in their disgustingly perfect business. Lisa's whole "we've never fought before" *insert sickening smile here* thing is ridiculous. They don't fight because Nate never lets it happen. He's so apologetic towards her that it makes me want to barf. Bring back Brenda (try saying that 10 times fast. lol)!!!
Federico Diaz
He's changed a lot since the first few episodes. We come to learn that even though he seems cute and friendly, he's got a lot of pent-up anger inside of him (his wife accuses him of worrying too much about "machismo bullshit", and because I watch Criminal Minds, I know exactly what that means now. Haha). He's an outspoken homophobe, which causes him to get into several arguments and awkward situations with David. He also has an extremely rigid set of morals that often cause him to butt heads with others. Nonetheless, I like how his character is slowly learning and changing through his involvement (and now partnership) with the Fishers.
Claire Fisher
I love that she's found her passion by going to art school. I love that she's stopped hating everything so much and has sort of emerged from her whole "teen angst" thing. I also love that she's starting to spend more time with her mother, who has been practically begging for her attention since the show started. Her taste in men is questionable (Gabe, Billy, Crematorium Guy, and now this Russell kid, who seems a tad creepy-stalkerish), but I'm assuming this is all just part of her character's progression, so I'm going with it.
Keith Charles
Was I right about the rage issues? I'd just like to say that yes, I was right about the rage issues *high fives self*. Well, it turns out that his dad was abusive, so now he equates anger with love... or something like that. I don't quite get it. But he's not ALWAYS angry, and I do like his character a lot. I like that he doesn't care what other people think. I like that he's not as uptight about being gay as David is. I really adored the storyline with his neice, and I'm not sure whether that's going to come back or not, but I hope it does, because they made cute "parents".
David Fisher
Still my favourite. I love him. He wants to be open and honest with people about who he is, but he's constantly struggling to do so. He's trying to find things about his life that he enjoys, and is trying to be more creative. He still feels like the responsible one, but he is slowly learning how to lean on others. He loves Keith, but he's constantly afraid of doing/saying anything that will set him off. The fact that he was willing to break up with Ben (who was very sweet) because he knew he was still in love with Keith (even though Keith was seeing Eddie at the time) made me cry. His overnight stay in the hospital with Keith's neice (when he and Keith weren't even together at the time) made me cry. His intense fear over Nate's condition, and Keith's lack of real understanding made me cry. Michael C Hall is BRILLIANT, and now I desperately want to watch Dexter when I'm done with SFU... just so I can keep watching him. :)
To wrap it up, I'll do a few little 10-word blurbs to summarize my opinions on a few of the minor characters:
Billy Chenowith: Is he still totally psycho, or has he actually changed?
Russell: I think he might cut off his ear for Claire.
Nikolai: I liked him with Ruth, but knew they wouldn't last.
Crematorium Guy: I don't remember his name. Claire's too good for him.
Arthur Martin: He dresses like Spencer Reid. Rainn Wilson is fucking epic.
Taylor: I hope they at least try to rejuvenate this storyline.
Bettina: It's about time Ruth made a friend who's actually fun.
Maya: I don't know... she's a baby. I guess she's cute.
So that's all. I'll probably only write one more of these... when I finish the entire series. We'll see if my opinions change yet again