Kefka - I have the same subtle doubts about Nate’s current state of… shall we say… existence. My wife missed the premiere last night so when she got home the first thing she asked was if Nate lived. I told her honestly that “I don’t know…”.
Oh… and at the beginning of the episode, when they went to the all too familiar white screen and Nathaniel Samuel Fisher 1965-2002 appeared black letters my neighbors must have become highly concerned for the state-of-affairs in the MeanJoe household as I screamed… THOSE FUCKERS!!!
MeanJoe
yeah, i totally agree… i’ve loved peter krause since sportsnight(which is so sweet on dvd, but i digress) and he’s frequently my favorite part of the show, that at the beginning when i saw that, i was like “oh my god, they didn’t.” i think maybe that’s why i was so cold to the rest of the episode… it’s like when a friend pulls a really mean practical joke on you, you’re still pissed at them for the next couple hours or so… i think for the first time ever, i was pissed at a television show for hurting my feelings or something… silly as it sounds, that’s about the only explanation i’ve got… crazy that a show can do that to me…
Who was doing the song that played during the closing scene?
it’s called “a rush of blood to the head” by coldplay
BTW, that was DOG that Keith pulled out of the pool. Not rats, not o’possums. He even referenced it in his rant about “now I’m pulling poodles out of swimming pools.”
Correction made, I hate Lisa. I miss Brenda already. Four more episodes is way too long for Nate to figure out that he’s merely high on new baby fumes and doesn’t love Lisa at all.
And, IMHO, they made it abundantly clear that Nate lives. At the beginning they show his birth-death dates. After they review all his “choices” they show that slide again, only the death date fades away.
As someone born in 1965, as the Nate character is, I was very glad to see the death date erased.
Too creepy for my tastes.
… the cynical side of me that thinks even the best television is usually abundantly predictable thinks that this episode (and maybe even the next one or two) represent what’s going on in Nate’s mind during the surgery, his visions/dreams/thoughts of what it would be like if he died, etc.
We’ll all keep tuning in to see what is really going on, though, won’t we? So even if it turns out to be predictable, they’ve got us all on board!
has anyone checked out the wake on hbo.com? it’s similar to last season but a little more strange. it’s cool though. there’s little hidden links embedded in the episodes too. www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder/
I thought it started out great, then got kinda blah. I think no Brenda really hurts the show (another Brenda lover here).
I really think that Nate’s domestic bliss will be very short-lived. After all, is anyone on this show ever “happy” for more than an episode or two? Presuming, of course, it’s really happening at all. 
First, it was definitely an opossum. Naked tail, pointy nose.
I’ve thought Nate was a goner ever since season one, even before his brain thing. One of the stiffs being prepped in the opening credits has hair that looks just like his…and in one of the season one episodes, he has a vision of his father playing cards with 3 other dead people (all naked, for some reason)–his father looks at him and says “we’ll deal you in later”.
Yeah, but jsc1953, everybody gets dealt into that game sooner or later.
Will somebody, anybody, who made a tape of last night’s opener (or who can tape one of the ‘encore presentations’) please please please please PLEASE send me a tape of it? I will pay. PLEASE send me an email if you’d be at all willing to do this. They shut off my HBO a couple months ago and I was lazy about re-ordering it, now it turns out I need to upgrade my whole house to digital and get new boxes and everything and I couldn’t get an installer to come out to my place until next week.
If anyone would take mercy on me and send me a taped copy of this episode so I can see the season opener I will be so grateful.
Eh, I join the people that think it would have been MUCH cooler if Nate died and visited his family as a ghost. A true first.
Was that the Rainbow Grill where Nate Sr & Jr were having a meal together?
Oh, and can someone tell me what that was Nate Sr said he was eating?
Add me to the list of people who were shocked when it looked like Nate was dead - even though now I’m not entirely sure he isn’t. I can’t stand Lisa either. Brenda was nuts, but at least she wasn’t boring. It will be interesting to see what happens when she comes back. It wouldn’t surprise me if Lisa didn’t have some hidden psychosis of her own. How sure are we that Mya is Nate’s baby? I missed some episodes last season, was there ever any kind of paternity test done?
Did anyone else know about the peanut butter thing? I knew you shouldn’t give babies honey or strawberries, but the peanut butter was news to me.
All in all, I thought it was a great episode. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
For more about peanut butter and babies, you can peruse this:
http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/nutrition/peanut_butter_controversy.html
I think Lisa has some psychoses, but those were apparent in her first appearance in the series. Besides, rarely does Lili Taylor ever play a character who doesn’t have some issues.
No, that was definately a possum.
Thanks BobT. As they say, you learn something everyday.
Wow. The first 10 minutes I felt like they hit me in the stomach…and I loved it. God, this is such good television. Six Feet Under is the only reason hyperjes lets me keep HBO.
I agree that it was a possum (or is that “an opposum”?) in the pool. Hey, this is the only concrete thing we got in the show, we have to argue about it, right?
Thoughts (spoilers) and predictions (in the box):
[spoiler]Did you notice that Nate doesn’t want to let the baby out of the family bed? Nate knows that Mya is the only reason that he is staying with Lisa.
Prediction: Brenda will show up in the first 5 minutes of episode 5…[/spoiler]
I have no idea what is going on in this show, and I love it. A purchase of the first season DVD set is inevitable.