Everything Ends

Queue creepy music. Go. Zoom in on wobbly gurney wheel. Stop. Pan back to silhouette of man disappearing in hallway. Go. Insert clip of foot with toe tag. Stop. Tight focus on eye being wiped with a cotton ball. Roll credits. Overlay red on small tree. Steady to crow flying horizontal.

Fade to white.

In case you don't recognize that familiar sequence, its the opening to what has become IMHO, the best show on television.



It was Home Depot Guy who originally recommended this show to me. We were supposed to watch the five season series together but then he up and moved to NYC. It was ironic but nonetheless enjoyable that he was back in town to watch the final episode with me last night.

I love The Fishers, this family in the business of grief management, leisurely strolling through the worst time in other people's lives, while they can barely keep their basic day-to-day from unraveling.

Its hard to describe what one thing made me love this series. The writing was phenomenal, the directing even better, and the acting was uniformly brilliant although Claire (Lauren Ambrose) started out and ended up being my favorite.

The juxtaposition of the living and the dead was interesting angle. Seems like every show you would see some character who died coming back to guide, play devil's advocate for or sometimes just console someone still living. Each time the reaction of the living was that of business-as-usual, at once de-mystifying death and bringing its inevitability to a palatable level.

The frequent use of minimal dialogue was also another creative twist. Sometimes a situtation would be just begging for a conventionally long monologue or detailed explanation but more often than not the sequence would just end with characters looking at each other in dead silence. Perfect, let the audience fill in the gaps!

The season finale was fantastic, particularly the last 15 minute sequence surrounding Claire's I-10 exit to a new life. I'd tell you how the show ends, but you already know - its the way every living thing ends.

Fade to white.

Six Feet Under
10/10