(Season 5, Episode 12 – Series Finale)
There have been a lot of great finales over the course of television history. I’m not going to make this post a discussion of the best of them. However, one of my all time favorite finales was for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It wasn’t that it was an outstanding ending, or a really great episode (though I think it was both of those things). It was the fact that it was the perfect ending for the show that made it so great.
This finale for Six Feet Under reached that level for me. It really was the perfect ending for this great show.
For most of the episode, it didn’t really blow me out of the water. Sure, it felt like a finale. There were a lot of changes coming up for the Fishers. Claire was getting ready to move to New York to follow her dream of being a photographer, the Diaz’s started their own funeral home, and David and Keith moved into the Fisher house.
I loved so many of these endings for the characters, but I think my favorite was Ruth’s. After five years of struggling against herself, she finally found some happiness. I love that she was able to find some peace with George as well, keeping him as a “boyfriend,” a situation that seemed to work for both of them just fine. I was also pleased to see her move to the canyon with her sister and Bettina, embracing a true freedom that seemed to scare her for so long.
For a show that, for five seasons, explored death, grief, and mourning, I thought it was a great idea that the series ending exploring the deaths of each of the main characters. Also, after five years of watching people die in creative and varied ways to start every episode, it was refreshing and a great touch that the finale started, instead, with a birth.
Upon reflection, I was trying to figure out what made the final moments of the finale so utterly perfect. The scene with the whole extended family having dinner together, recounting stories of Nate was probably the highlight for me. I think it marked the first family dinner where everyone was sober and in their right mind, and it was a beautiful moment. It was the first time that everyone really had closure with Nate’s death, and it was a tribute to the whole run of the show, with references to past episodes. Claire’s tearful goodbye the next morning was really a goodbye from all of us, the viewers, not wanting to say goodbye to the show.
The montage was great, the music was perfect, the cinematography was outstanding, and every scene had emotional impact. At the end of the day, however, it was just a montage that showed the future, wasn’t it? Hasn’t this been done before? I think it was so effective, and so much more than just a montage, because it was really a tribute to the five years of this amazing show. Without the depth and realism, without the life that was breathed into every one of these characters this ending montage could have been cheesy. Instead, it was perfection.
And yes… all my expectations, as lofty as they were, were met for this episode. And yes… I sobbed my way through the last half hour. How could you not?
I’m sorely going to miss this show and these characters. I’ve loved just about every minute of this show and it hasn’t quite sunk in that there is no more Six Feet Under for me. I guess I’ll just have to find another amazing show to fill the void….
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Aug 07, 2009 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
Exactly. The finale wasn’t anything different or unique, but the way it played, the way the characters ended, the music and the filming was all so perfect.
I also love the fan Billy bored Brenda to death talking about Claire and Jon, Jeff, whatever her husbands name was. lol
I’m really glad you felt it lived up to all the acclaim it’s been given. I may disagree with you on “Buffy” (that whole last season was quite bad) but I would definitely put “Six Feet Under” in the top 5 best series finales ever, and toward the top of that list, if not at the top.
I didn’t love the last season of Buffy, but I did love the finale and I know exactly what Bob was saying. It was a perfect ending for that series, and very well-executed.
So now, Bob, you have me wanting to watch 6FU — will I like it? This is how the whole Supernatural thing started, so now I’m nervous…. ;-)
*POST AUTHOR*
I don’t think you’ll like it, but if you’re curious, get the first disc through Netflix and check out the pilot. If you like the pilot, you’ll like the series.
I think it has too much drama for you.
I actually hated the first few episodes, so that’s not completely true. :)
Bob is right. I think it’s too much Drama for you Deb. At times it’s pretty hard to stomach especially when certain people die and some twists that are just pretty extreme.
But then again you just have to love the actors. I mean they are so extremely good at executing these weird scripts that you can’t take your eyes off the screen.
Six Feet Under : TV masterpiece for me. Enough said.
With The Wire and Veronica Mars (the latter is not perfect but i fall in love with, i can’t help it..) it’s my : Must see tv.
I finished Six Feet Under about two months ago and felt the same way about the finale. The majority was typical finale fare and Claire’s drive really brought it home.
Deb- Six Feet Under is filled with drama, and at times really heavy to the point where it is difficult to watch. By the end, you come away somber that the show has ended, but even moreso that you do not get to spend any more time with the Fishers. I think you should take a chance on it, I did and experienced some of the best storytelling there is.