I started watching this show, Six Feet Under because I was really sad that Dexter ended. It was a desperate attempt to hold onto the idea of Dexter and while looking up other series Michael C. Hall has acted in, I stumbled upon this wonderful drama series.
In the beginning, for me, it was all about how Michael was acting and how successfully he had pulled off being gay. I even went back to the internet to read if he was actually gay!
As you progress from the first season on, you begin to get sucked into the Fishers' lives as if it were your own. Honestly, that happens to me a lot, every time I watch a show, I end up living with the characters during and even after the show has ended. It is an alternate reality that gives me great comfort and an immense sense of belonging. It is a lovely time, with every show, and I enjoy it a lot.
The first season finale left me wondering for a while why I was watching it, not in a bad way, but just that it did not have a climax or anything which made you go "Haww" and go on to the second season. At one point, my sister even said, "You are expecting too much from the show." But somewhere deep down I knew this was all leading to something awesome. As each episode progressed and as each season ended, I could not stop myself from switching on the next episode!
The very concept of being born and growing up around death and accepting it as a part of your own life is so unique and you know it is real and not made up. It is a fact that there are undertakers and funeral directors all over the world. I can only wonder if their life is anything like this!
I used to have a friend who was in this business. His father owns a family owned funeral home in Mumbai. I remembered a conversation which I found a little weird.
Me - So are there dead bodies always in your house?
Friend - Yes. Most of the time.
Me - Don't you get scared? Like what if one starts moving or something?
Friend - Over a period of time, you get used to it. You stop thinking of it as a body. It's just there. You don't have to bother about it. They are certified dead when they come to the office.
Watching the Fishers just gave me some perspective and insights into this particular friend's life. Things I am sure I did not understand in the past.
Six Feet Under Finale -
This is coming from a person who has seen around 50 - 100 shows and is very passionate about TV shows and analyses each one in detail.
This was the BEST FINALE and end to a TV show I have ever seen. None of the series finale will ever match this. It gave meaning to the whole show and to every character and to every small little thing in the show. It makes the show whole and perfect.
The fact that they chose to show the entire ending through Claire's eyes is so correct. She would be the last Fisher to die! The end makes us realise that death is what defines us. It gives us an age. It gives us an end, without which we would all be incomplete.
The show taught me a few things.
Death is not something to be scared of or sad about. It defines and gives you the time to live. It is most likely just a stop during a long journey. I have never believed in after life, but this show seems to have made me believe that there is either a journey ahead or that there is something which is there which might not be necessarily bad.
I was very happy to see Lisa pushing around Claire's aborted child in the church. This was such a nice scene. The show was saying that no matter how small the life is, or how old, it still had death. And this death was something which gave it meaning.
It remains a mystery to everyone. It does not make any sense to anyone. We do not know what happens to the life which existed in the body. How can it be that it just gets switch off like that, without any explanation. It is amazing how we all grasp this reality and still live on. I think most of choose not to confront death unless we are slapped with it. Shouldn't we know more about how this concept unravels or what exactly it is?
I will definitely be spending some more time reading and researching about this.
