Diary of a Six Feet Under virgin – Minor characters shine

(Season 2, Episodes 4-6)

As season 2 of Six Feet Under continues on, I can’t help thinking that it feels a whole lot like season 1. Not that that is a bad thing, but the transition was so smooth, and stories so fluid I don’t think I ever would have known the seasons changed if I were catching reruns.

This group of episodes happened to feature some great guest spots. Lisa, Nate’s former Seattle roommate was joined by the reappearance of Margaret, Brenda’s mother, and Mitzi Huntley, the harpy from Kroehner. Add in the introduction of Ruth’s sister, and this run was all about the guest stars.

“Driving Mr. Mossback”

I really love Brenda’s mom. Yes, she’s an absolute lunatic, but that’s why she’s so great. In this episode she was hunting down the woman that Brenda’s father was having an affair with, and it was hilarious. I think I actually laughed out loud watching her trying to pull the poor woman out of the window of her car. I certainly hope we get to see more of Margaret soon.

The other thing that stood out for me in this episode was Lily Taylor’s character Lisa. I thought it was interesting getting a peek into Nate’s old life in Seattle, and how different it appeared to be in comparison to the life that he has built for himself in LA with his family… and Brenda.

“The Invisible Woman”

So Nate and Brenda are getting married? That’s a bit of a scary concept. Their relationship still doesn’t strike me as a loving and lasting type of union, but I guess I’ll see where it goes.

This episode really belonged to the Fisher women. Ruth spent the episode championing a dead woman who had no one in her life. It’s obvious that poor Ruth feels like she could easily become that woman as she sees her family all drift away from her. The irony being that she seems to have dinner with her kids almost every night, and two of them are over thirty. I think that’s pretty unusual, but she feels them drifting apart anyway. Proximity does not always mean closeness.

I felt really bad for Claire in this episode too. I enjoyed Parker as Claire’s equally snarky friend, but it all came to a crashing halt when Parker got someone else to take the SATs for her. I can’t really blame Claire for freaking out.

“In Place of Anger”

There was a lot more Ruth drama in this episode with the introduction of her carefree sister. With Ruth struggling so hard to connect with Claire, it was sad to see Claire’s immediate infatuation with her aunt. It’s not hard to see why Ruth broke contact with Sarah, as it’s clear that she still harbors boat-loads of resentment towards her sister. There was a great moment between Ruth and Claire at the end of the episode, with Ruth showing Claire all of her old art projects that Ruth had saved.

It was great to see Mitzi back torturing the Fishers. If you can call whisking them away to a resort for drinks, lounging in the hot tub, and flying on a private jet torturing, that is. It was, however, all just a ploy to get the Fishers to sell their funeral home, which they still refuse to do. Good for them. I think.

Clacked by Bob Degon
on May 15, 2009 @ 09:01 EST5EDT