Six Feet Under is now six feet under...

Some of you may know that I have no subscription to cable or satellite television. However, this has not stopped me from seeing every episode up through season three of the amazing and fantastic show, Six Feet Under on HBO. Granted, this has been through the miracle of DVD rather than as the episodes actually air. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not, seeing as how my wife and I have been known to pop in one of the discs and say, "OK, we should just watch one or two, but we really need to get to sleep before 4am this time". Sure enough, six hours later, we're half way through a season. The following night contains more of the same. We just can not stop. As Ralph Wiggum would say, it's unpossible. We heard about the show through my wife's sister, who watched it fanatically. We thought she was a little too nutty about the whole thing. Then I found the soundtrack. I needed a piece of music to represent visually for a design class project, and I stumbled across the Six Feet Under soundtrack in at the public library. I checked it out, popped it in, and was amazed at the incredible selection of great music. I listened to that CD on repeat for about a week. I thought that if the music was this good, I may as well give the show a shot. My sister-in-law's season one boxed set had been sitting on top of our TV for three weeks, untouched. Shame on me. Six Feet Under is one of the most brilliant shows I have ever watched. Most of the episodes are touching or meaningful, many are hilarious, some are almost too emotionally tough to sit through, and none of them have disappointed us. Oh sure, we didn't like what a character may or may not have done, but the show itself has yet to disappoint us. The writing by multiple authors, story lines, character development, and acting are top-notch. I have honestly never enjoyed a show as much as I have enjoyed Six Feet Under.

My wife and I are slightly more than halfway through the entire series. We have seen every episode through season three at least twice. We never watch it elsewhere lest we spoil a surprise by seeing things out of order. The worst moment of this sort came after a marathon viewing of season two. Unable to take the suspense of some event or another (most likely the outcome of the story about Nathan's head condition), my wife journeyed to HBO's official Six Feet Under website just to make sure Nathan was going to be ok. Lo and behold, we came across all sorts of info we didn't even know was a possibility, like Lisa's baby, Lisa's death, Brenda's help raising Lisa's baby... The Brenda thing didn't even happen in season three! We thought our heads were going to explode, it was just too much foreknowledge. That in itself is a testament to how incredible this series is, because I am the type of guy who asks how a movie ends because I'm going to see it anyway. Knowing stuff in advance never bothered me before, and it still doesn't bother me about any other show or movie. We have since steered clear of all the juicy goodness of which I am sure the website has to offer.

But now it's over.

It is with a sad and heavy heart that I say goodbye to our dear friend, Six feet Under. The very last episode aired on August 21st. Sadly, it may be a solid year or more before I ever have the chance of seeing it due to DVD release schedules. Thankfully, season four is being released way sooner in relation to season three than seasons three, two, and one were in relation to each other and their airing on HBO. Hopefully season five is already in the can. Or the casket.

Thanks for the great ride, Alan Ball & Friends!


Postscript:

We watch my sister-in-law's DVDs. She usually gets them from her parents as a birthday or Christmas gift. I see on Amazon.com that season four is already out. I can't believe we haven't seen it yet. At $70 (discounted) a pop for each season, we have yet to become the proud owners of our own Six Feet Under DVDs. If you want to snag a copy of your own, here is the Six Feet Under series page on Amazon.com.