Which brings us to this season, which more than any other dealt with mourning and the messy fallout that comes from it, and grace that comes when you make it through the pain to the other side.
Nate dies of a brain hemorrhage, leaving behind some messy loose ends. His marriage was on the rocks, his wife, Brenda, is pregnant, and he dies not long after having sex with his stepsister, Maggie (Tina Holmes). The finale, which takes place roughly four months after Nate's death, begins with a birth instead of a death: the premature delivery of Nate and Brenda's daughter, Willa.
And rather than feeling joyful, the Fishers are losing it, completely riven by grief.
David is scaring his kids with his crazy outbursts and wild-eyed, endless scanning of the room for a red-hooded phantom that haunts him. Claire's locked up in her room after crashing the family hearse, debating whether or not she should move to New York. Rico's getting a little greedy, dreaming of riches as he plots to take over the funeral home. And at home with her new baby, Brenda is tormented by the late Nate, who keeps popping in to tell her "helpful" things such as their "damaged-goods baby" has stopped breathing. As Ruth says: "Each day I feel worse, more empty, dead."
In many ways, this isn't the best episode of "Six Feet." At times the action is strangely flat. There aren't the crazy camera angles the show became famous for. It's strangely muted, painted in washed-out grays and greens. Claire is a little too maudlin and gets over her self-centeredness with a few too many Hallmark moments. There is the sense that Ball, who wrote and directed the finale, is trying to tie up too many ends too quickly.
And then, something happens, and the finale picks up momentum, recovering its mordant sense of humor coupled with pathos. This is largely thanks to the rather wonderful ending-within-an-ending, of which we can promise: You'll be left with no unanswered questions.
The first episode may have answered the pesky little question of whether there's life after death. With the finale, avid "Six" followers get the answers to these conundrums -- is Keith pushing David to get "help" just an excuse for him to dump his high-maintenance partner? Will art school dropout Claire fly the coop? What will she do with her "deeply unhip" but deeply caring Republican beau, Ted? Will Ruth reconcile with George? Will Rico get rich or die trying? Just five years worth of big, juicy questions. And for that we thank you, Alan Ball.
Six Feet Under (75 minutes) airs Sunday at 9 on HBO.
