Episode Report Card Aaron: B | 1 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Death in the Family
By Aaron | Season 1 | Episode 1 | Aired on 06.02.2001
David Chase: Look at you getting all freaky with the commercials and the dream sequences and stuff. How delightfully meta of you.
Alan Ball: I know. I'm clever. I can't help it.
David Chase: Clearly.
Alan Ball: Quit it. I mean, it's not like I've got a singing fish up there.
David Chase: Yeah, we don't like to talk about that one.
Now it's finally time for the funeral. We pan up a rose-covered casket to see Nate Sr. laid out. All things considered, he looks pretty good. David stands in his usual place by the coffin, while Nate Jr. and Claire sit on a couch, chatting about how weird the whole funeral experience has been. He also asks if she's still high, and she threatens to "jump out of her skin." "It's been three days," she whines, "and I'm still trapped in zombie world." "This is all happening to you," he gripes in a very Casey McCall tone of voice. He then goes on to do a little venting of his own: "I live in a shitty apartment that was supposed to be temporary. I work at a job that was also supposed to be temporary until I figured out what I really wanted to do with my life, which apparently is nothing. I have lots of sex, but I haven't had a relationship last more than a couple of months. I don't even have the self-discipline to floss daily. I've had four root canals. Four. I'm thirty-five. I've had four root canals." Well, all-righty then. On the one hand, this does make me feel better about just having moved to a very non-temporary place, but on the other, I'm twenty-seven and I've already had two root canals, so the numbers don't look good. Claire tries to cheer him up, but they're interrupted by a woman who tells them she's sure their father "is in a much better place." "You are so right about that," snarks Krause, before asking, "Who the hell was that?"
Up in her bedroom, Mom (her name is Ruth, by the way) is putting on her jewelry. It's now her turn for a quick visit from beyond, and The Late Nate appears in the mirror, solemnly telling her that he "knows everything."
Back downstairs, the "better place" lady is chatting with Federico, who proudly informs her that he was the one who sewed her Aunt Shirley's ear back on. On the other side of the room, David is surprised to see that Keith has arrived. Keith is a cop, by the way. He just stopped by to pay his respects to David's father, but Dave points out that he's never even met the man. "Exactly," replies Keith, "And you've met my parents how many times? Christ, we just spent the weekend at their house." David doesn't really think that this is the best time or place for that particular conversation, which angers Keith even more. "What is this?" he wonders. "We can fuck each other, but I can't be a shoulder to cry on? Am I just sex to you?" Given that what I know about the day-to-day realities of gay life barely manages to reach Will & Grace levels of superficiality, I'm probably not qualified to make this judgment, but I gotta believe David has good reason to be upset here. Whatever your feelings on closet cases, a father's funeral is not an appropriate place for an involuntary outing. Things get even worse for Dave when Mom arrives on the scene. Upon seeing a police officer, she asks if anything is wrong, and he's is forced to introduce Keith as a friend he plays racquetball with. "You're friends with a cop?" Mom asks incredulously, and then requests to see her husband's body.
After just a brief glance into the coffin, Ruth is overwhelmed with tears, and David quickly hustles her into a small curtained-off room. Over on the couch, Claire wonders who the cop is, and Nate grumbles that removing the crying people shows too much concern for the rest of the guests. He relates a long anecdote about the time he was in Sicily and saw a family of Italian women wailing over the casket of a loved one. The point he's trying to make is that letting out all your emotions is healthier, but I think it was really just an excuse to shoot a flashback without the stubble. Claire couldn't care either way; all she's noticed is that the cop is hot.