Six Feet Under - Mother's Day

Cafe Society
1

OK - so one mother (Lisa) is still missing. One female is discovered to be a mother-to-be (Clare). One mother is busy singing Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” after heaving hubby’s ashes over the edge of the balcony in Westwood (Ma Chenoweth). One mother is on a ridiculous spending spree to temper her clinical depression (Vanessa). And another mother is blubbering into a stranger’s jacket when she just can’t keep a stiff upper lip about the fate of the first mother (Ruth). Not the greatest of days for the moms of the series.

And the boys are not faring all that well either: Federico is about to snap. David is just plain sad. Arthur is being stung by Federico. And Nate is coming apart at the seams.

Altogether a wonderfully well-acted episode made even better by the three Fischer children pulling together at the end. Can’t wait 'til next week.

Happy Rest of Mother’s Day, everyone.

2

Ya know, da missus and I have watched every SFU episode from day one. Tonight I’m befuddled…by Nate’s response to his missing missus. Lisa’s annoying as hell and I thought Nate was doing a good job of putting up with her…and I’m really surprised at how much he seems to care about her now that she’s gone.

Arthur seems to be slowly being written out of the story line…and now that Mom Fisher seems to have fallen for The Man Who Misplaced His Glasses (Next week’s preview…) who knows what’s going to happen. (Isn’t TMWMHG the farmer from “Babe”?)

Now Claire’s knocked up…and Billy telling Brenda he lusts for her…with only two episodes left? I detect another cliffhanger until next season.

3

This show started out being quirky and funny. Now it’s not so quirky and depressing. Brilliant acting and writing, so brilliant that I’m depressed for the rest of the night after watching it.

Haj

4

I agree that it does seem to be taking a bit of a downturn these days. I hope they can pull it up a little before the end of the season. They really need something good to happen for a change.

I’m anxious for season 2 to come out on DVD. I really enjoy watching 3-4 episodes at a time.

5

I really, really dislike Brenda and Billy’s thing. It was always a kind of weird, unspoken relationship between them that was best left untouched, I think. By having Billy fall in love with her, it pushes the show a little over the top. Better to have written Billy off for a few more episodes. Other than that, more fine drama from the best show on television.

6

Hmmm… interesting episode, I especially liked the three white-screen scenes.

Anyone catching a vengence motive in Vanessa’s sister over last seasons impetus for her divorce? (Rico discovering her husband having sex with another man.)

It seemed that once again Claire and Ruth took a step backwards in their relationship. This is becoming a pattern on the show - they discover each other as real people then slip right back to two strangers the next episode.

Poor Arthur… enough said.

I still hate Brenda… :slight_smile:

MeanJoe

7

Yup. James Cromwell. He’s also been known to play some really bad apples in feature films. I hope he’s not a bad apple in SFU.

8

What, technically, are “signs of foul play”? I find myself sharing Nate’s observation that a strange can of soda in the abandoned car, a missing backpack, the credit card report, and the presence of the wallet and cellphone in the glove compartment indicate something strange and untoward went on. It seems pretty foul to me. Peter Krause gave an exceptional performance in this episode, and really got me when he was so excited over the possibility of finding Lisa through the credit card.

I feel none of this will end well.

Although I did crack a smile when Brenda casually brushed her dad off the balcony. What a family. The three deaths were also pretty good, ranging from tragic (convenience store robbery gone wrong), ironic (healthy 20-something-year-old collapsing at the gym), and darkly comedic (telephone repairman electrocuted during the earthquake).

9

Great series, but this was certainly not the feel-good episode of the year.

Only two more episodes this season…and the writers don’t waste a word, so I can hardly wait to see what other little surprises they have in store.

Maybe they are going to leave Lisa simply missing, so she can suddenly re-appear out of nowhere and scare the bejesus out of us half-way through next season?
Maybe Russell will do something to Olivier to prove he is no longer a threat to Claire.
Whatever - I don’t think anyone should miss the first five minutes of either of the next two episodes. Might be some familiar faces.

10

The final episode won’t be on May 25. It will be the week after. HBO isn’t showing it on Memorial Day weekend.

11

Maybe I’m wrong here, but I don’t think the sister was part of that situation. I thought the guy was Rico’s cousin and Vanessa blew the whistle due to the friendship she had with his wife. The sister was the one who tried to lend them money for the new house, but Rico wouldn’t allow it (out of pride).
Can anyone confirm?

Pash

12

I heard (no cite) that the actor playing Arthur has a sitcom lined up for next season, and so either will leave SFU entirely or be a very irregular cast member.

13

Another sterling episode! Peter Krause rocked, too–well, they all rocked, but Peter really got to show his stuff, imho. As much as I have disliked the Lisa character, I really love Lili Taylor’s performance and actually am coming to like Lisa more, so will be upset if she has met her untimely demise. :frowning: I don’t know what to think might have happened to Lisa–I’m leaning to “she might have gone off on one of her vision quests” but can’t explain her not telling anyone anything nor leaving Maya and Nate behind. It will likely be carried over to the next season, leaving us hanging until then.

Everyone was snapping at everyone else last night–poor Arthur too, he’s really trying his hardest, imo. While he is strange, so is Ruth and honestly I was coming to like this couple; they had quite a bit in common and seemed to mesh well together. I hope that there is more to Arthur than what we’ve seen and that AB is going to explore it. I hope. (Alan Ball, are you listening? :))

Claire really let Olivier have it, and he gave back just as good! I wasn’t surprised at the result of her pregnancy test, yet am wondering if Russell is the father or could it be the guy from the crematorium that Claire was seeing for a while?! Poor Claire, she’s got a lot on her plate.

Mrs. Chenowith is, I think, sicker than Billy, but she’d never admit to it in a million years. Geesh, that woman is off the deep end–much further than I had thought Lisa was. :wink: As to Billy… all I can say (again) is EWW! and maybe BLECH! Jeremy Sisto is excellent in the role, though. :slight_smile:

Rico and Vanessa seemed a bit aimless last night; I think her sister is still mad about what happened with her husband; didn’t someone else mention that possibility? The sister and Rico really do not get along. Those large credit card purchases are definitely unhealthy for dealing with depression–that sister is -not- really helping. :frowning:

David and Keith seemed headed to the big bust-up, unfortunately. I really do like those two together; both of them have issues, though–not just David! LOL

Such a great show, and what a wonderful cast; too bad we only get two more episodes for the season. I’ll enjoy them to the fullest. :slight_smile:

14

taragon & pashnish,

I thought it was Rico’s brother-in-law, Vanessa’s sister’s husband, who Rico caught with the other guy. When Rico had to explain why he fired him to Vanessa, she went and told - the justification being that it was her sister and could not keep that from her.

Perhaps I am remembering incorrectly, it has happened on exactly 2 occassions before. :wink:

MeanJoe

15

Did anyone else think the big screen TV and new fridge scene was going to turn into Rico still working on the corpses, thinking about what his wife was going to do with the credit card? Especially after the scene where Lisa “returned.” I was pretty surprised when it turned out to be real. Seemed very bizarre (even for this show.)

I can’t imagine Lisa didn’t just jump - if I’m not mistaken, her car was still sitting exactly where it was when she called Nate and was staring out at the ocean. And that conversation had a very weird “this is good-bye” feel to it. And to leave her wallet and everything behind in the car as well. Then again, the missing backpack is the only thing that makes me think there’s a chance she’ll be back.

16

I think they’ll wait to bring Lisa back. She’ll come in when Nate and Brenda are happy together. In a show like this, no one is allowed to be happy for longer than one episode.

I know that some of y’all hate the whole Brenda/Billy thing, but I thought it was interesting to watch. I screamed “Oh my God, ew!” at my TV when he kissed her last time, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. Crazy Billy might be creepy, but he certainly has your attention.

I hope Arthur leaves. His character went from quirky to just annoying. He just doesn’t work with the rest of the characters.

And while Claire’s pregnancy is good for drama, I can’t see her character becoming a mother on the show. I’m assuming that she’ll miscarry or give it up or something. Claire’s not exactly brimming with maternal instinct, and I really can’t imagine that the show would benefit by adding another baby.

17

Misha77 - regarding Claire, it was also in reflection to her comments previously at discovering her mother was pregnant before getting married. I can’t see Claire keeping the baby - if it goes that far.

18

Re: Vanessa’s sister – she is NOT Ramone’s ex-wife. Ramone from last season, who was caught with the other guy, was Rico’s cousin . . . and his wife’s name was Gracialla (sp?). What was confusing is the sister – is this “Angelique” the actress from the first episode of season 2? If so, she’s gained weight and seems even snottier than before, for no real reason. I will have to review the tape and compare to last season. And Rico was furious at the dance club after the whole thing with the TV and refrigerator. Dancing with another woman – could this lead to other things???

19

Stinkum - Thanks for the clarification!

:smiley:

20

I always keep waiting for something big to happen regarding Arthur. He’s so mild-mannered and ultra-polite, that there must be something dark and sinister underneath. Maybe there’s more to be learned about his parents burning to death in the fire, or perhaps something interesting about his Aunt Pearl.

I really don’t see why Brenda flipped out so much over Billy’s kiss. She’s known for years that he’s mentally screwed up and is either on lots of medication or should be on lots of medication. Heck, after chasing her around the apartment with a box cutter so he could remove a tattoo, that kiss is just one more thing that makes Billy off-kilter. I didn’t think that anything from Billy would surprise her anymore.

I’d like to see the James Cromwell character stick around. It looks like he could be good for Ruth.