Six Feet Under
Extra"Everybody knows about Television Without Pity."
The Jill Soloway Interview - M. Giant has a talk with Six Feet Under writer and co-executive producer Jill Soloway, and she's much nicer than he has any right to expect.
08.29.200508.29.2005
M. Giant
ExtraDead and Buried
Everyone's Waiting - The final episode wraps everything up neater than Nate's shroud. David faces his fears, and ends up co-owner and resident of the funeral home with Keith. Brenda realizes that her baby's going to be okay. Ruth gets past the worst of her grief and moves in with her sister, who we never see. Claire gets a new job in New York and heads east, even when the job falls through. And then they all die. Seriously.
08.20.200508.26.2005 A
M. Giant
ExtraIncest Is Best
Static - David's panic attacks continue, Ruth wants to keep Maya, Rico's preparing to bail, Claire's lost, and Brenda debates whether to embrace her inner square watermelon. You'll see what we mean by that.
08.13.200508.19.2005 B-
M. Giant
ExtraThat's a wrap for Nate
All Alone - We come to bury Nate Fisher, not to praise him. Which is good, because frankly we don't think we're up for that other thing.
08.06.200508.12.2005 B+
M. Giant
ExtraLate Nate, Jr.
Ecotone - So Nate's collapse last week wasn't his death scene; it was just a setup for his death scene, by which we mean this entire episode. Don't worry, though, because he does one last thing to help you not miss him as much.
07.30.200508.05.2005 B+
M. Giant
ExtraI Say Quakerism, You Say Aneurysm
Singing For Our Lives - Claire goes and visits her old art-school scene, and realizes how little she misses it. Ruth goes back to Hiram the Hairdresser, and we realize how little we missed him. Rico calls Vanessa out, Keith takes Durrell down, and Brenda opens up to Nate, who screws his stepsister and then has himself a potentially fatal brain-fart.
07.23.200507.29.2005 A
M. Giant
ExtraParenting Is Hard
The Silence - Nate and Brenda argue over therapeutic abortion, and David and Keith argue over supporting Durrell. Rico finally figures out he's home as a dad rather than as a husband, and Claire worries that her days of giving birth to great art are over. Ruth's just loopy.
07.16.200507.22.2005 B
M. Giant
ExtraPutting the "Wreck" in "Reconciliation"
Rainbow Of Her Reasons - Ruth and Claire make up. Vanessa asks Rico to come home. But George dumps Ruth, and Keith wants to dump the kids. Nate's just sad that his first love is dead and he's not getting any from Maggie.
07.09.200507.16.2005 B+
M. Giant
ExtraI'm Ready For My Hinky-Ass Close-Up!
Eat A Peach - Nate and Brenda argue about how and when to tell Maya her origin story, David and Keith's adoption vs. surrogate storyline undergoes the required weekly allowance of reversals, Ruth and Rico sell out their spouses, and Billy drafts his mom to help him get Claire back. Like she's such a prize right now.
07.03.200507.08.2005 B+
M. Giant
ExtraTempus Fuckit
Time Flies - It's Nate's fortieth birthday, he's just learned he's going to be a father again, and Brenda's throwing him a big surprise party. Naturally, he's in hell.
06.26.200507.01.2005 B
M. Giant
ExtraAmour-ticians
Hold My Hand - Nate gets fed. Brenda gets shoved. David gets denied. Claire gets disinherited, sort of. Ruth gets pissed. George gets sad. Rico gets some.
06.19.200506.24.2005 B-
M. Giant
ExtraAll Aboard The Crazy Train
Dancing For Me - Plenty of nuttiness to go around this week as Billy flushes his drugs, George acts like the nutjob Ruth insists on treating him as, Brenda surrounds herself with crackheads, David asks Claire if he can be the father of her child (sort of), Rico misses a twenty-one-snap salute, and Nate's at peace with his mortality. Has the whole world gone mad?
06.11.200506.17.2005 B+
M. Giant
ExtraBridezilla vs. Not-A-Mom
A Coat Of White Primer - Brenda loses her unborn baby the day before her wedding to Nate, and decides the only way she can handle her miscarriage is to go ahead and make it a missuscarriage. So the ghost of Lisa turns up to mock her pain. Way to marry into a family that talks to dead people, Bren.
06.05.200506.11.2005 A
M. Giant
ExtraUntitled
Untitled - This recap is such a piece of art that Djb can't even give it a name. People? He doesn't want to tell you what to think.
09.11.200409.15.2004 B-
Djb
ExtraOh Me, Oh Maya
Bomb Shelter - Nate comes clean about Lisa's remains, with unpleasant results. Everything else has unpleasant results this week, so why not that?
08.28.200409.03.2004 B-
M. Giant
ExtraSixty-Seven Weddings And Nine Funerals
The Black Forest - Or thereabouts.
08.21.200408.26.2004 C
Djb
ExtraOnce Upon A Time In Mexico
Grinding The Corn - The tub is lukewarm and the action is lukewarmer.
08.14.200408.16.2004 C+
Djb
ExtraLarge And In Sarge
Coming And Going - David's a top. Who knew?
08.07.200408.10.2004 B-
Djb
ExtraIt's Not A Toomah
The Dare - It's actually totally a toomah.
07.31.200408.03.2004 B+
Djb
ExtraSFU 406: The Apology
Terror Starts At Home - "Sorry about last week. We'll make a normal episode this week. So, how'd we do? How'd we do? How'd we do?"
07.25.200407.26.2004 B
Djb
4-5Recap
Someone Left The Crack Out In The Rain
That's My Dog - This show is permanently MacArthur parked in neutral. Or, as some guy without any screen time put it, "It just doesn't make sense. Something as stupid as that."
07.17.200407.19.2004 F
Djb
ExtraThe Real Slim Shady
Can I Come Up Now? - So won't the real George Sibley please stand up? Please stand up? Please stand up?
07.10.200407.12.2004 B-
Djb
ExtraPoo II: While Poo Were Sleeping
Parallel Play - George still doesn't care about all of the poo he's getting in the mail. Meanwhile, no one else cares that a little girl is dead and that her funeral doesn't seem to be planning itself.
06.26.200406.28.2004 B-
Djb
ExtraOh, Crap!
In Case Of Rapture - Someone hates George, y'all. And they really, really, really, really, really want him to know it.
06.19.200406.21.2004 A
Djb
ExtraThe Drowned World Tour
Falling Into Place - Lisa washes ashore and leaves her freakish Idaho family in her wake.
06.12.200406.14.2004 B
Djb
ExtraIt's a Dead Man's Party, Leave Your Body at the Door
I'm Sorry, I'm Lost - Lisa is dead. Gabe is dead. Ruth and George are married. David and Keith are slowly reconciling. Claire cries. Brenda dates. Rico cheats. The Late Nate counsels everyone. And The Live Nate is a complete and total wreck. It's all over but the bleeding, my friends.
05.31.200306.07.2003 B+
Aaron
ExtraIt's My Body And I'll Cry If I Want To
Twilight - Ruth is getting married, Claire is getting an abortion, Nate is having a breakdown, and David and Keith are having their semi-annual season-ending break-up. You would cry too if it happened to you.
05.17.200305.24.2003 A
Aaron
ExtraThe Lady Stays Vanished
Death Works Overtime - Lisa is still missing, and Nate is freaking out. David uses the crisis to avoid dealing with the issues in his and Keith's relationship; Ruth, typically, uses the crisis to avoid dealing with, well, anything. Claire rips Olivier a new one, then finds out that Russell has strong swimmers. Billy confesses his love for Brenda. Everyone in Rico's storyline needs to shut up.
05.10.200305.13.2003 B
Sars
ExtraCan anybody find them somebody to love?
Everyone Leaves - Alternate Title: Another One Bites The Dust. All four Fishers experience romantic difficulties this week, as Nate's wife vanishes, David realizes that he'll never be a full-fledged member of the K family, and Claire and Ruth dump Russell and Arthur for having both too much and not enough sex respectively.
05.03.200305.10.2003 A
Aaron
ExtraBotticelli
The Opening - An art exhibit featuring work by Russell and Claire gathers pretty much the entire cast (except for Vanessa, who's still in her blue period) in one place for the first time all season. And when Brenda is the sanest person in the room, you know you've got problems.
04.26.200305.03.2003 B+
Aaron
ExtraBody Shots
Tears, Bones And Desire - Head lice, love triangles, gay paintball, abdominal massage, threesomes, fivesomes, polygamous Mennonite concubines, and a May-December romance. Hit me again, bartender, and make this one a double.
04.19.200304.26.2003 B+
Aaron
ExtraGet out, Nate. Seriously.
Timing & Space - Brenda's dad dies, Nate takes Maya to the funeral, and Lisa goes ape.
04.12.200304.18.2003 B
Sobell
ExtraGotta Serve Somebody
Making Love Work - Nate and Lisa go camping, Rico and Arthur deal with an oversized corpse, Ruth sniffs a handkerchief, and Claire takes a guy's virginity. And no, it wasn't mine. Sigh.
04.05.200304.12.2003 A+
Aaron
ExtraThey'll never find the body
The Trap - Come on, Nate. You know you want to do it. And I promise they'll never find Lisa's body! Or at the very least, I promise it'll take them twenty-five years to find it. Elsewhere, Brenda has a new outlook on life, David goes shopping for a new tool, Claire finds a new job, and Ruth gets a new roommate. And as for Professor Olivier, well, he has germs. He deserves to die.
03.29.200304.05.2003 B+
Aaron
ExtraWho Rocks The Party That Rocks Your Body?
Nobody Sleeps - Ruth rocks the party that rocks your body! Ruth's birthday gives everyone a chance to get a little crazy, Claire's art seminar gives her the chance to find romance with Russell, David takes the death of this week's opera-loving DGDJ to heart, and Nate turns into his father. And who would have thought that all it took to shut up Rico was shaved balls and a pierced cock? Oh, if I'd only known!
03.22.200303.29.2003 A
Aaron
ExtraOur Bodies, Ourselves
The Eye Inside - Nate experiences the joys of self-pleasure. David still searches for self-respect. Claire gains some much-needed self-esteem, and Ruth helps herself to some shiny new lipstick.
03.15.200303.22.2003 C
Aaron
ExtraNobody Likes A Busybody
You Never Know - Nate resents Lisa because she's no good with a Q-tip. Lisa resents Carol because she's totally insane. Carol resents David because he's blocking her driveway. David resents Keith because he suddenly doesn't want children. Keith resents David because he skips counseling and uses nasal spray. Claire resents JP, but sleeps with him anyway. And Ruth resents the fact that she's wasted her entire life without the joys of Vicodin.
03.08.200303.15.2003 B
Aaron
ExtraTo Your Scattered Bodies Go
Perfect Circles - Nate dies. And then he lives a happy life. David sings. And then he feels shamed. Claire goes to school. And then she skips class to have sex. Ruth feels unloved. And then she gives peanut butter to a baby. Aaron recaps it all. And then he gives a physics lesson.
03.01.200303.08.2003 B
Aaron
ExtraDead End
The Last Time - The second season finale of Six Feet Under leaves big questions just twisting in the wind like so much pot smoke in an uncleaned chamber. Has Nate gone for the big bus ride in the sky? Can Claire's dance moves, dead father, and detachable limbs earn her a spot at art school? Why do David and Keith only ever have sex on the living room floor? And finally, where exactly is Brenda headed off to, and more importantly, did she pack her bongs and her Golden Globes in the same suitcase?
06.01.200206.10.2002 A
Aaron
ExtraDia De La Muerta
I'll Take You - All sorts of big things happen this week: Ruth breaks up with Nikolai, and discovers she's a grandmother. Claire applies to art school, and says farewell to Counselor George. Rico inherits some money, and reminisces about his father figures. And Billy somehow becomes the sanest person on the entire show, while Keith kan't kontrol his anger yet again. But then Nate finally discovers Brenda's Buttfuck-banging ways, and we're at long last treated to the break-up we've all been longing for so desperately.
05.18.200205.25.2002 A
Aaron
ExtraDog Dead Afternoon
The Liar And The Whore - Nate confesses to Brenda! And so she fucks two guys! David stands up to Keith! And now Taylor's their kid! Claire gets high on 'shrooms! And makes musical pants! Rico solves a murder! And gets Vanessa fired! Ruth pays off the mob! And wears jingly pants! Attica! Attica!
05.11.200205.18.2002 B
Aaron
ExtraI'm not dead yet! (It's just a flesh wound.)
The Secret - Everyone's relationships are on teetering on life support this week as David and Keith fight, Nikolai and Ruth clean, and Nate and Brenda attend orgies and abort scads of unwanted children. Plus, there's chanting! I've never been so happy.
05.04.200205.11.2002 D+
Aaron
ExtraDead as Folk? No. Dead as Fuck? Yes.
Someone Else's Eyes - The master himself graces us with an episode this week, and just like you'd expect from Alan Ball, it delivers exactly the opposite of what you'd expect from Alan Ball. So what happened? Well, Billy bared his butt, and Brenda boffed a bore in a bookstore bathroom. Also, Nate's expecting a newborn, Claire plays with a camera, David needs a dermatologist, and Keith can't sleep 'cuz he's caring for Karla. Of course, things could always be worse. At least I'm not recapping the Teletubbies.
04.27.200205.04.2002 C+
Aaron
ExtraZed's Dead, Baby. Zed's Dead.
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Six Feet Under gets all nostalgic on our asses this week, as a gang of bikers shows up to celebrate the life and death of Hell's own Santa on the anniversary of The Late Nate's demise. Meanwhile, in other blasts from the past, Billy is back! Taylor's mom is back! The annual Christmas car crash is back! Oh, and Nikolai is now the new gimp.
04.20.200204.28.2002 A
Aaron
ExtraDead Man's Hand
Back To The Garden - Instead of aces over eights this week, Alan Ball deals out a king jacking off, a single surprise queen, and a quite cold-hearted woman who wears a diamond and probably should be spayed. And since we know he always loves to win the pot, he also shows us that David and Keith are once again a pair, Ruth desperately desires a full house, and Claire's new stud refuses to poke her (Yeah. I know. I'm sorry). So here's your chance to ante up and click the link to watch Aaron give the whole damn thing a royal flush. And that's no bluff.
04.13.200204.21.2002 C+
Aaron
ExtraThe Naked And The Dead
In Place Of Anger - It's a festival of redheads this week, as Ruth's long-lost sister Sarah shows up to shake Ruth's foundations and renovate the blueprints for Claire's bedroom. Meanwhile, Nate and Brenda announce their engagement, David dumps the Little White Sex Dork, and the brothers extract their revenge on the new Kroehner girl by clogging the drain in her hot tub with Nate's chest hair. In other surprising developments, it now appears that the ebb is over, Claire is a closet artist, and Brenda is now offering her clients the occasional "happy ending." Oy. Mike Binder will follow me to my grave.
04.06.200204.13.2002 C+
Aaron
ExtraDead women tell no tales
The Invisible Woman - For an episode about someone with nothing, this one surprisingly ends up having something for everyone. Really. No, really. Brenda even dates a hooker, for God's sake! And then she proposes to Nate! Keith kills a junkie! And then he has sex with David! Ruth cries! And she blurts! There's even some oral sex! But wait -- there's more! David dates deliriously! Father Jack is back! Claire dumps DangerSlut! Rico ruins a restoration! And then I tell him to shut up! It's Plot-Tastic!
03.30.200204.06.2002 B-
Aaron
ExtraThings To Do In Seattle When You're Dead
Driving Mr. Mossback - When Nate and Claire jet off to Seattle to retrieve the eponymous Mr. Mossback, they end up encountering both Nate's past (Lili Taylor as a loopy ex-girlfriend) and his future (seizures, stuttering, and eventual death). Meanwhile, back in L.A., Brenda and her mom set up a stakeout, David takes care of Keith's lovably gruff niece Taylor, and Ruth still can't complete a sentence that doesn't include the words "blueprint" or "fuck."
03.23.200203.28.2002 B-
Aaron
ExtraSpeaker For The Dead
The Plan - This week Brenda insults the world, acts all sultry with a stranger, and generally sulks around Nate just like she always does. Then Mare Winningham drops by to point out that anyone who has conversations with people who aren't there is insane and worthy of your mockery. I know just how she feels. Elsewhere, Ruth "renovates her house" by saying "fuck" a lot, David gets closer to Keith (no fucking, though), and Gabe fucks up. Again. But hey, at least this time Claire calls the Big Black Sex Cops on his sorry ass. All in all, this may have been their funniest episode yet.
03.16.200203.24.2002 A
Aaron
ExtraDead Man Running
Out, Out, Brief Candle - It's all about the continuity of small things this week, as we finally meet Trevor The Ex, Gilardi meets his final fate, and old friends DangerSlut and Peanut Testicle head back to school. In other news, Rico needs a loan to buy a new house, Ruth and Robbie get assimilated into the Borg Queen's new collective, and Gabe fucks up. Again. But hey, at least Claire dumps him for it this time. And then in the end, we realize that everything old is new again, as this time it's Nate who has to come out to David, and not the other way around.
03.09.200203.16.2002 B-
Aaron
ExtraDead Again
In The Game - In Six Feet Under's season opener, things at the Formaldehyde Fortress appear to be pretty much right where we left them. In other words, Nate and Brenda still have issues, David is still pining for Keith, and Claire is still too good for Gabe. Meanwhile, the DGDJ gives new meaning to the phrase "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," and Mommie Drearest just wants to love her live gay son. Oh, and Nate gets really high and talks about the "flow." Welcome back to Alan Ball World, my friends, where every day is a day at the beach.
03.02.200203.09.2002 B+
Aaron
ExtraDeath Leppard
Knock, Knock - After brief DGDJ-related nod to Gilardi's pyromania, Ruth & Claire pour some sugar on Nikolai and Gabe (respectively), Tracy's hysteria turns out to have a deeper meaning, and David learns that love doesn't always have to bite. Oh, and Nate has spots like a leopard, only in his case, they're on his brain. It's the season finale, people, and I'm busier than a one-armed drummer in a room full of slot machines. Armageddon it?
08.18.200108.27.2001 B+
Aaron
ExtraYea, though he walk through the valley of the shadow of death
A Private Life - David shall fear no shame. I'll have the good grace to skip the obvious joke about the comforts of "thy rod and thy staff," and instead just tell you what happened in this episode: David comes out; Billy goes nuts; Ruth tells us more than we really needed to know; and Claire cleanses her soul, both figuratively and, in the greatest shower scene since Psycho, literally.
08.18.200108.25.2001 A
Aaron
ExtraA Matter of Life and Death
The Trip - On the eve of the birth of his new son, Rico's return to The Body Shop leaves him faced with the task of restoring a three week-old Dead (Baby) Du Jour. Meanwhile, Nate, David, and Brenda attend a convention in Vegas (baby!), Billy turns out to be an even bigger stalker than Aaron is, and Keith is called to witness yet another depressing demonstration of David's downward spiral. Elsewhere, Mary Gross teaches Mommie Drearest how to breathe from her crotch, and Claire spends most of the week declaring her love for a suicidal and hospitalized Gabe.
08.11.200108.16.2001 B+
Aaron
ExtraDeath takes a holiday
The New Person - Okay, it's actually the DGDJ who takes the holiday and vanishes after the first five minutes, but trust me, the episode was better off for it. David tries to get back with Keith! Rico reopens the Body Shop! Ruth discovers David is gay! We even see the Chenowiths' true capacity for craziness, as family secrets, secret photographs, and a psychiatrist's sins send Billy into a psychotic rage. Meanwhile, Claire gets her heart broken yet again by Gabe, Illeana Douglas stops by to play an embalmer who never shuts up, and Ruth goes out on a date with Nikolai, and actually comes off kinda cool.
08.04.200108.11.2001 B
Aaron
ExtraDeath, dumb, and blind
Life's Too Short - The death is a cute little kid, the dumb is anything dealing with Brenda, and the blind comes surprisingly not from being poked in the eye with more male nudity, but instead from Claire's evident inability to see that Gabe Dimas will never be a good guy. It's times like this that make me wish I had a sensory deprivation tank of my very own.
07.28.200108.04.2001 B
Aaron
ExtraDeath, dicks, dope, and a dancer
Crossroads - This week, Ruth is torn between the tender touch of her boring Begley boyfriend and the crazy Cossack carnality of Nikolai The Flower Guy. David, on the other hand, enjoys a virtual carnival of carnality by snagging himself a snazzy little dance instructor. Rico does a big job for Gilardi, and then he quits for keeps! Nate and Brenda, meanwhile, spend the episode fighting over Nate's marijuana-induced jealous hallucinations of the naked Australian guy who's sleeping in her bed. And finally, "The" Claire "Witch Project" takes a trip into the woods to try to find herself, but ends up finding herself a new best friend instead.
07.21.200107.28.2001 B
Aaron
ExtraI love a man in uniform
Brotherhood - The corpse of the week, a veteran of the Gulf War, can't tell his brother he wants a military funeral. Billy ruins Brenda's vacation plans with Nate. David decides to help his church exclude gay tolerance from its agenda. Mother Fisher gets laid and gets a job. Claire tries to ruin her future, thinking that it will add meaning to her life.
07.14.200107.21.2001 B-
Gustave
ExtraGive me Lauren or give me death
The Room - It's couples week on Six Feet Under, with almost the entire cast getting to pair off with one another. Nate reads up on Brenda, Billy gets down with Claire, and David tells off the Annoying Funeral Stalker Girl before getting it on with some guy he met in a bar. Heck, even Ruth gets some action. Meanwhile, a crotchety old guy mourns the loss of La Femme Morte de la Semaine, and Nate learns both more and less than he wanted to know about his father.
07.07.200107.14.2001 B+
Aaron
ExtraDeft, where ith thy thting?
An Open Book - This episode features porn stars; fart jokes; promos for Oz, The Gilmore Girls, and Arli$$; and a corpse dressed like Marilyn Monroe in a church full of naked men. But wait, there's more! Mysteries are revealed! Tattoos are explained! David comes out to Nate! Keith dumps him anyway! It's! Plot! Tastic! Oh, and Brenda is a genius. Whatever.
06.30.200107.07.2001 B+
Aaron
ExtraDeath be not proud
Familia - Nor be it a bitch, a punk, a pussy, or any other word you might reasonably expect to hear on an episode of Oz. Instead, this week death is a gangbanger with a heart of gold. Watch as he teaches Dave how to live, love, and be the true manly man we all know he can be. Meanwhile, Keith deals with bigotry, Gilardi gets scared, Claire is an arson suspect, and -- oh yeah, Nate goes down on Brenda. You won't want to miss this.
06.23.200106.30.2001 B-
Aaron
Extra'Til Death Do Us Part
The Foot - Yep. It's official. Alan Ball is precisely what would have happened if David E. Kelley's deal with the Devil had netted him an Oscar instead of Michelle Pfeiffer. Nate sells and then un-sells the funeral home, Gilardi's Fish-dar continues to allow him to track down family members any time he wants, Federico reassembles the Dead Guy Du Jour with a few extra pieces he found in the freezer, and David deals with pressure from the death-care conglomerate.
06.16.200106.23.2001 C+
Aaron
ExtraDeath: The High Cost of Living
The Will - Can buses cure grief? Do dead people care about germs? Would someone as hot as Tracy Middendorf really be broke for long? At what point in a relationship is having your significant other's name tattooed on your ass considered more romantic than creepy? And most importantly, is Aaron the only one who thinks this week represents the most precipitous drop in quality from a first episode to a second since The Bush begat The Shrub? He didn't think so.
06.09.200106.16.2001 C
Aaron
ExtraDeath in the Family
Pilot - The premiere episode has way too much exposition to fit it all into a blurb, but here's Aaron's best shot (and stop him if you've heard this one before): See, there's this family that owns a funeral home, right? When their dad dies, all the kids come back, and we're treated to an intimate look at their lives, loves, and a whole lot of corpses. And dream sequences. And also a ghost. And then Peter Krause takes off his clothes a lot. As for the rest of the family: the mother is a cheat, the brother is in the closet, and the sister is on crack. And now we've got thirteen weeks to see how it all turns out.
06.02.200106.09.2001 B
Aaron