So, who played Lisa’s sister? Real life sister maybe? Look just like her. Does Claire have braces now? Why does Russel look like a Johhny Depp knock off? hmmm do I have any questions that actual pertain to the show?
I have to say that the last two minutes of this episode were utterly heartwrenching to watch. I guess Nate felt he had to do it–out of love, out of guilt–that he owed it to Lisa.
Lisa’s mother? Oy. Who was it that called her a Hedra?
I was really thrown for a loop with the opening death. I didn’t get the connection until the end.
That was Nate quotting Lisa.
And why exactly did he have the ashes (or the body) from someone that died 30 years ago?
They were unclaimed remains, as mentioned by Arthur. Apparently they have quite a few of them.
Why why why why did Claire contact Russel? Ugh. Johnny Depp knock-off? The two of them should not be mentioned in the same sentence.
best show on tv.
I wondered the same thing.
Maybe that should have been cheap JD knock off. The way he had his hair in that pony tail and that moustache just made him look like he was going for the JD look, but it really didn’t suit him well.
Unclaimed remains, yes I remember now, Arthur was going to alphabetize them. How long do they keep them around for. Those would have been around since Dad was running the place.
Oh, and does anyone think we’ll be hearing more about what actually happened to Lisa? Does anyone wonder if Nate will some how be involved? Did he do it? Did he hire someone, he was rushing her out the door that day (and the fact that she called attention to it makes me even more suspicious). Mind you, I’m still coming down off Sopranos so I have to think this way.
Did I miss something? I didn’t think there was any tie-in, which is a trait they seemed to get away from after the 1st season, sad to say.
I knew as soon as Nate was the one taking Lisa’s remains to the crematory that she wouldn’t end up there. I didn’t foresee the unclaimed ashes swap, but I did figure he would just drive out and bury her.
Who was the young girl with Lisa’s family? Her sister? There seemed to be something very strange about her. Had we met/seen her before?
Everyone rolling their eyes while listening to George & Ruth having sex was a riot. Keith had the best response - “Good for them” 
The ashes that were given to Lisa’s parents were from the dead guy at the beginning of the show.
We didn’t actually see the switch being made. We saw Nate dumping ashes from a canister into a box and handing it to Lisa’s family. At the end we saw David throwing away the canister and the name on it was the guy who jumped off the building at the beginning. BTW I really like how we heard the body hit the ground while she still saw him floating. And yes, there was something strange about the girl. Not sure what though. It almost reminded me of the Shinning (except it wasn’t twins).
Ding Ding - the light goes on. I didn’t think about the death scene being in the past instead of the present. The name on the label just didn’t sink in.
I’m very glad they did a tie-in, guess they just needed to hit me over the head with a little larger hammer :wally
Am I the only one with some serious Veronica Cartwright love? Now that she’s entered middle age she’s even better at her trademark – hysteria. Nobody, I mean NOBODY cracks her voice better than she. Whether it’s body snatchers, or aliens, or the prospect of undignified burial – Veronica lets us know the situation’s critical.
She *is * pretty awesome. I’ll never forget her barfing cherry pits in Witches of Eastwick. Her crying was what got me crying in this episode - she’s a good actress.
I didn’t get that either - the death date was from the 70s, and I was confused as to how it was going to tie in, until Arthur said he was going to go alphabetize the unclaimed cremated remains. That’s when the lightbulb went off - “Oh! Nate’s going to give Lisa’s parents the ashes of that guy, and then go bury her out somewhere like she wanted.”
I was just surprised that David was involved as much as he was. He’s such a stickler for rules and such.
I think they have to keep unclaimed remains for a certain amount of time (a certain number of years) and then are allowed to dispose of them in a respectful manner, by scattering them somewhere or something like that. Certainly not by throwing them away. My husband works part-time in a funeral home. I’ll ask him later.
That one girl (Lisa’s niece) was kinda creepy. It was like they were going somewhere with it, but we haven’t seen the rest of the story yet.
I didn’t get why Claire felt the need to contact Russell, either.
I still think there’s something off about George. In the earlier shows he had weird explanations for why his 6 or 7 other marriages broke up, there was something weird about his book (no picture on the cover, and he changed the subject quickly when Ruth asked about it, remeber?), and then in last night’s show, when she asked about his kids.
Didn’t he say “hydra,” that monster from mythology with many heads?
I was waiting the entire show for the tie-in with the teaser, and when it came, it was great.
Overall, I thought this was a great season opener. I cried right along with Nate screaming at the end, probably because that is the very same reaction I tend to have when faced with untimely death. His horror, grief, and guilt were palpable. What a terrific job Peter Krause did.
It was a terribly appropriate and yet reckless thing for Nate to do. Typical Nate thing to do. I hope Lisa’s gone and that there is no future storyline planned where her body’s somehow found. That could get uncomfortable.
The episode started to seem a bit soap-operish, with people continually circling back to the same problems they’ve been whining about for ages. But the closing scene made up for it all. Nate’s screaming in primal emotional agony put everybody else’s issues into perspective.
Forgot to mention, I enjoyed the irony that the reason it’s illegal to bury somebody without a casket is because of lobbying by the funeral industry. In California, it’s even illegal for the family to scatter ashes on their own; you’re supposed to hire a professional, licensed ash-scattering service.
I was thinking they’d find it on an episode of CSI.
“Hmm, this body looks like it drowned, but how did it get buried out here in the desert? Let’s call Grissom!”
Yeah, I watch too much TV.
The bloom is certainly off that rose, as shown by the scene at the end where he’s snoring away and Ruth is slowly brushing her hair.
As for Claire, I think she’s just feeling completely overwhelmed by everything–the abortion, Lisa’s death, her mom’s marriage–and Russell is the only person she has that she can completely spill her guts to.
I was thrown by the ending–I thought Nate had Lisa cremated but then switched the ashes so he could scatter them in the forest or whatever. What a gruesome scene–it reminded me of Wuthering Heights where Heathcliffe digs up Cathy’s body…