Customer Reviews

Six Feet Under - The Complete Fourth Season

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

For some strange reason unbeknownst to me, many people seem to find this season "too depressing," "slow," "boring," etc, etc. I'm in complete disagreement with this.

In my opinion, while the season is a bit darker than the last three, it perfects the morbid, slightly-depressed and slightly-humourous tone the series always had. A little less humor, yes. A little more drama, you bet. But why is that such a bad thing when the drama is so good?

Personal highlights: When David finds unrelenting terror in "That's My Dog," Claire and her high antics with her artsy friends in "Terror Starts at Home," and the sinister atmosphere in most of the season finale "Untitled."

Highly recommended.

In My opinion, fourth season is by far the best season yet. The characters have never been so real. Anyone who ever had a troubled relationship with family/lovers can rely on this show. Because it feels so real, I think that makes of SFU, one of the best TV shows ever made. This is strong, funny, sad, full of hopes, full of despair, just like life is...
Too bad it's almost over for the Fisher family. Without givin' away plots for those who haven't watched it yet, all I can say about my favourite episodes is that...

"Falling Into Pieces" almost made me cry. Peter Krause has never been better!

"That's My Dog" proves that Michael C. Hall is really an amazing actor and the plot is so twisted I could not believe I was actually watching a SFU episode.

"The Dare" is one of the most "relationship-based" episode and has a really fine storyline with almost every couple running on a very thin line...

"Untitled" has the nicest and most shoking twist of the season. Also kind of let you think that it's time for Claire to get herself together.

Arrrf... Now we just have to wait...
Unfortunatly: "Everything. Everyone. Everywhere. Ends." :'-(

If you have not seen Season 4 yet, please be warned that many of the user reviews are FILLED WITH SPOILERS!!! Especially the August 25 review by Nicholas Y. B. Wong.

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In four seasons, I've come to love these characters like they're my dear friends. When a season ends, it's as if I've finished a really long, really fantastic novel that I wish never ended, and hate that I have to wait untold months until the next season. I subscribed to HBO in time to watch Season 5, and I'm very sad now that 6FU is now gone forever.

I'm very pleased to tell you that Season 4 is quite a bit happier than Season 3. Oh, bad stuff happens, people hurt, people suffer, just like in life. But you don't have to worry about Nate going through another downward spiral like in Season 3. Season 4 brings more of the dark, quirky, off-beat humor that seemed almost absent from Season 3 (look for the helium-inflated life-sized bimbo dolls!!).

Season 4 picks up immediately where Season 3 left off, with Nate, all beat up and bloody, at Brenda's door. Over the next 4-5 episodes, Nate is working through the grieving process, dealing with his pain, his loss, and his complicated feelings about Lisa and their relationship. His path to healing is uneven and rough, and he never quite gets over the loss (no one would). But Nate does get it together, and once again becomes the old Nate that we all knew and loved so much before the tragic events of Season 3.

Brenda is working through her own issues; her regret of mistakes she made in Season 2 influences her behavior in a new relationship; she wants desperately to have a simple, "normal" relationship. But she finds that leaving the past is not so easy.

David and Keith are still together. Unusual for 6FU, there's an episode that focuses almost completely on David and something rather intense that happens to him, that will have implications for the rest of Season 4 (and even Season 5). This episode is visceral - it really gets under your skin, and not completely in a good way.

The newlyweds Ruth and George eventually discover each other's warts, which the initial infatuation hid so well (as it often does in real life). Kathy Bates shows up again for a few episodes, providing a pleasant distraction for Ruth at a time when she really needs it.

Claire, on the other hand, is still suffering from the betrayals she endured in Season 3. One of my favorite characters in Seasons 1-3, Claire becomes much less likable by the end of Season 4.

Season 4 has a few notable guest stars. Kathy Bates returns for a few episodes. Mena Suarve (from American Beauty and American Pie - a very patriotic actress judging by the titles of movies she's in) appears for about 5 episodes as Claire's friend, influence, and maybe something more.... Nicole Richie even does a self-deprecating cameo as herself.

Most 6FU fans are not squeamish. Yet, I feel compelled to warn you: Season 4 contains images and scenes that are more explicit than anything I've ever seen on TV. Some of the bodies on Rico's table make CSI look like Sesame Street. There's also a scene where someone puts a gun in their mouth, pulls the trigger, and we see EVERYTHING. There's a scene where someone picks up a freshly used condom off the floor, holds it up for himself - and us - to see. And the most explicit man-on-man sex scenes 6FU has ever shown.

If you can stomach these kinds of things, and if you're even a casual fan of Six Feet Under, I highly recommend Season 4.

The fourth season of "Six Feet Under" is a bit darker than the previous three, if that's even possible. There is more turmoil in the character's personal lives where the earlier season seemed to focus more intently on the newly dead and the funeral business in general. I actually liked the fourth season a smidgen more because it goes deeper. Nate's grief is all pervasive and Ruth just keeps astounding me with her impulsiveness. I am drawn to this family, for better or most likely worse.
The series is a great one and the only one I feel a need to own. Some I just want or would like to have, this is an obsession and I am glad to see from other reviews, I am not alone.

Just when you thought this series couldn't get better...it does!
This is one of the few TV series that I quite happily watch over & over again.
Series 4 develops each of the complex, engaging & believable characters with some amazing twists & turns along the way. Episodes 44, "That's my dog", & 51, "Untitled" spring to mind as being particularly amazing/devastating.
If you haven't come across "Six Feet Under" before (Is that possible?!!), start watching it from the beginning of the 1st series...you'll be addicted, like me, before you know it!
Roll on August 23, 2005! This DVD box set will definitely be added to my collection.
Waiting patiently, here in Australia, for Series 5 (sob!) the last one!

Like so many others, I fell in love with this show from the first episode years ago. It was one of the best television shows I've seen for many years and it was a treasure that will be missed by myself and many others. This DVD is simply wonderful. This is only the second tv show that I have liked enough of all of the many, many tv shows that are now out, to buy the DVD of. It is worth every penny. For fans of the show, you will love this DVD. I can't wait for season five to come out!! To Alan Ball and the Fishers, thank you so much for one of the best shows to come along in a very long time. R.I.P. to a wonderful show. You were all wonderful, and I'll miss you.

When Six Feet Under's fourth season premiered in June of 2004, from the minute it began with a death from LSD until the very last touching scene with David and his father in September, it has been a long, winding, exciting and at times scary road for the Fishers, as they and those closest to them experience joy, grief, sadness and grace.

Each are on their own journey. Ruth is now married to George who has more secrets than she had expected. David and Keith are looking for ways to start over. Nate is experiencing what it is like to be a widower and a single parent. Claire begins experimenting with her sexuality during her sophomore year at high school. And Federico begins a secret affair unknown to his wife.

The only person not linked to the Fishers during this time, who has her own secret storyline would have to be Brenda Chenowith played by the fabulous Rachel Griffiths. Brenda now separated from Nate and her brother, tries to build a better life for herself by studying to become a therapist and seeing her neighbor Joe, played by Justin Theroux.

This 5 disc set, includes all 12 episodes from the fantastic fourth season which include:
*Falling Into Place
*In Case of Rapture
*Parallel Play
*Can I Come Up Now?
*That's My Dog
*Terror Starts at Home
*The Dare
*Coming and Going
*Grinding the Corn
*The Black Forest
*Bomb Shelter
*Untitled- Season finale directed by Alan Ball

The box set contains 7 audio commentaries with Alan Ball, writers & directors on episodes 1,3,5,6,7,11 and 12.

And the following bonus features:
*Cut by Cut: Editing Six Feet Under, a featurette on how a Six Feet Under episode is made.
*Costas + The Cast of Six Feet Under- an interview with the cast of Six Feet Under with interviewer, Bob Costas.

Savor this, because shows like this don't stay six feet "above" for very long.

Six Feet Under is a must-see series. I am sad to see the show come to an end after five seasons. There is nothing like it on TV today. The characters are real and interesting, and I can identify with David the most. He is a riveting character. Good luck to everyone when the show ends. This has been a great ride. Thanks for a fabulous show! I will own all five seasons and cherish them all.

I am moved to write this review based almost exclusively on the viewing of Episode 44, "That's My Dog", which, to me, ranks as the single greatest, most suspenseful half hour of television I have ever viewed. The guest actor of this episode, Michael Weston, should have no trouble finding future work, as his performance warrants nomination for an Emmy Award. I will not spoil you with the details of this episode, other than to say it breaks ranks with the format of other episodes of the series, the entire final half an hour focuses on a series of events that will leave the viewer drained by the conclusion of the episode. The other episodes of season four are also deftly written, and enjoyable, but nothing rises to the level of "That's My Dog".

If there is a bad episode of Six Feet Under, I haven't seen it yet. From the first season to the last episode I've seen ("Untitled," the finale of the fourth season) each episode kept me entertained, many of them making me weep and even more of them making me laugh. The simple fact is that Alan Ball and the staff of this show simply know how to make brilliant television that explores the nature of death and what it means to be in a relationship.

That being said, I think this season was certainly the weakest of the bunch. Don't get me wrong, as I said before, each of the episodes worked well and the overall season was great. There were even some brilliant standouts that would rival the best of Ball's work, such as "That's My Dog" (an evocative, shocking hour of television that I'd compare to Joss Whedon's masterpiece The Body) and "Untitled." I also feel that fans of the first three seasons of 6FU will like this quite a lot. What the season doesn't do, however, is step it up a notch like previous seasons did.

"Six Feet Under" has always been a show that defied my expectations, always carrying through with new, crazy, and poignant plots and keeping the drama at a consistently increasing level. While there are moments here and there in the plot that wowed me, but the rest of it seemed to be static and slightly predictable. The times when the narrative did "go there," especially in the instances of the George/Ruth relationship, it seemed a bit too out there to grasp. There were a few plots that fell off or were never developed enough--the character of George's son is the clearest example. In the beginning of the season, he only existed as a plot device to rationalize the hilarious scenes of excrement being found in the Fisher's mailbox, and later in the season, when they had the chance to re-introduce him as an actual character, all he does is act as a trigger to George's growing paranoia concerning conspiracy theories.

Overall, while this doesn't take the drama to the next level the way previous "Six Feet Under" seasons have in the past, it's still some of the best television out there. While a lot of it feels like set-up for the next season, it's still twelve episodes of television well worth watching.

8/10