Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Storming Versailles, or Why Six Feet Under is The Shit
I made a bet with a friend at work. It was over what happened to Nate's wife (Lili Taylor) on Six Feet Under. I won, 'cause Brenda be crazy, but she ain't kill-your-ex-boyfriend's-wife crazy. Now I get sweet, Cuban-y Versailles for lunch as prize for my TV saviness (although I never would've guessed Hoyt to be the jealous/murdering type.... by the way, if you watch the show and haven't seen the season finale, you should've stopped reading a couple sentences ago).
And for all 0 of you keeping track, I decided this season that I'm not leaving the show. We're bound through tough times. 'Cause there have been some. The first two seasons were honeymoonish (the show, by the by, is about a family who owns a funeral home, and tries to cope after the dad is killed by a bus). Then, last season, the characters got a little too dysfunctional and self-indulgent (which was forgiveable, since it is, after all, a show about death and how it affects the people who have to keep going). And occasionaly, it gave Dancer in the Dark a run for its money in tragedy, which as a viewer was sometimes rewarding, sometimes exhausting.
But this season it came around. Had more of a sense of humor about itself (save for a couple intense episodes... David Gets Car-jacked -- dizamn!). The dysfunctional and whiny, while still damaged, wised up. Which, coupled with everything else about it, makes it the smartest show on TV. For one, it deals in relationships and day to day existence, and what all that means in the grand scheme of things. But it's also just funny and clever as hell, and perfectly cast/acted/written/directed -- eerily accurate, Office-accurate, in its depiction of odd, fascinating people.
Okay. I think I'm only making it sound lame now. I'll stop. But here's more if ya want it.
I made a bet with a friend at work. It was over what happened to Nate's wife (Lili Taylor) on Six Feet Under. I won, 'cause Brenda be crazy, but she ain't kill-your-ex-boyfriend's-wife crazy. Now I get sweet, Cuban-y Versailles for lunch as prize for my TV saviness (although I never would've guessed Hoyt to be the jealous/murdering type.... by the way, if you watch the show and haven't seen the season finale, you should've stopped reading a couple sentences ago).
And for all 0 of you keeping track, I decided this season that I'm not leaving the show. We're bound through tough times. 'Cause there have been some. The first two seasons were honeymoonish (the show, by the by, is about a family who owns a funeral home, and tries to cope after the dad is killed by a bus). Then, last season, the characters got a little too dysfunctional and self-indulgent (which was forgiveable, since it is, after all, a show about death and how it affects the people who have to keep going). And occasionaly, it gave Dancer in the Dark a run for its money in tragedy, which as a viewer was sometimes rewarding, sometimes exhausting.
But this season it came around. Had more of a sense of humor about itself (save for a couple intense episodes... David Gets Car-jacked -- dizamn!). The dysfunctional and whiny, while still damaged, wised up. Which, coupled with everything else about it, makes it the smartest show on TV. For one, it deals in relationships and day to day existence, and what all that means in the grand scheme of things. But it's also just funny and clever as hell, and perfectly cast/acted/written/directed -- eerily accurate, Office-accurate, in its depiction of odd, fascinating people.
Okay. I think I'm only making it sound lame now. I'll stop. But here's more if ya want it.
