Episode Report Card Deborah: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Six Feet Under
By Deborah | Season 2 | Episode 11 | Aired on 12.09.2004
After the commercials, Helen comes down to the kitchen in her robe to find Kevin sitting at the table with four open containers of ice cream and a very large bowl full of it. Man, the Girardis sure like their ice cream, especially when they're depressed. Helen says she didn't think she'd find anyone still conscious. Kevin: "Beth on the brain. She isn't sure about us. She needs time." Helen looks sympathetic and says she's sorry. Kevin: "What do you think of that…needing time?" Helen says it's normal: "Means she really cares about you." She sits down at the table with a bowl of her own. Kevin wonders, "So what exactly happens during this…'time'?" Well, apparently you eat one heck of a lot of ice cream. Helen helps herself to some ice cream as says thoughtfully, "She searches her heart…and she…thinks about her life, and…what the future would look like with you and without you." Kevin: "Girls really think about all that, huh?" Helen: "We can spend two hours thinking about shoes." Kevin replies, "Man, guys are just, like, either into a girl, or not." They chuckle about that. He adds, "It's just…when I'm thinking about her, I…get this dull ache in my gut, and it only goes away when I'm with her." Helen calls this "the wound that can only be healed with the sword that inflicted it." Kevin doesn't know what the hell she's on about, so she elaborates, "It's the troubadours. They wrote that the only person who can heal that wound is the one who caused it." They eat ice cream in thoughtful silence. Apparently, those with HDTV could see a crew guy off to one side in this scene. I like to imagine it was God hanging around, waiting for Helen and Kevin to extract their faces from their ice cream bowls long enough to notice.
Joan's standing at the edge of a high diving board in plaid pyjamas, so we know this is a dream. From the back of the board, Judith calls, "You know you have to do it, JoJo." Joan replies, "Why? Have you been talking to God?" Cute Guy God walks up and stands next to Judith: "We know you can do it, Joan." Joan mutters, "I should have known." Judith tells her to "just let go" and seems to move toward Joan. But the camera angles go all screwy so it's hard to be sure. Joan lets herself fall backward off the board and screeches all the way down. When she hits the water, she awakens and sits bolt upright in bed, panting slightly.
She gets out of bed, and in the hallway, we hear the sound of a young male voice grunting and straining. Hard to tell at first whether it's Luke or Kevin. Joan hesitantly opens the door to Luke's room in the attic and asks, "Luke, you're not naked, are you?" Boy, that is a door I so would not have opened and a question I so would not have asked. I would have gone directly to the laundry room to pour bleach in my ears. Anyway, Luke says he's not, and as Joan comes up the stairs, we see him lying on his floor doing situps in his undershirt and pyjama pants. Frink's the first to notice: "What are those on his pyjamas -- dinosaurs?" I think they are. We're all chuffed about that. As Joan shuffles in, she remarks, "Wow. Dedication. You feeling better?" Luke grunts that he wasn't sick. Lying on his bed, Joan ventures, "Look, if you're still trying to prove yourself against Kevin…" Luke tells her Grace called him a coward. Joan: "Grace rags on everybody." Luke: "She's right." He admits, "I couldn't dive because I was afraid I'd look stupid." Joan: "Hey, if I let that stop me, I'd never do anything." Indeed. We wouldn't even have enough material for two episodes. Luke: "You know, I've structured my whole life to be risk-free -- never allowing for a situation where I might fail." Frink: "And this is bad…why?" Luke: "So I've cut out whole realms of experiences I want to be a part of." He starts to choke up. "I just…I just don't want to live half a life anymore." He sniffles and starts crying a little bit, quickly turning his back to Joan. She says softly, "Hey…" Luke: "Forget it." Joan: "Luke, it's not like it's over for you…" Luke: "Just go, okay?" He starts doing leg lifts, grunting and sniffling, as Joan leaves. Near the door, she decides to stay and do leg lifts with him. Luke seems a little surprised but doesn't shoo her away.