Six Feet Under: The Opening

September 7, 2019 8:38 PM - Season 3, Episode 9

A depressed woman shuts herself in her garage with the motor of her car running, and Rico and Nate relate to her shattered former partner. Claire has a piece in an art show, and all the Fishers turn out to support her: Ruth, who asks Arthur to join her; Nate and Lisa, who are on the verge of divorce; and David and Keith, who are on the lookout for another threesome opportunity. Also present are Billy, Margaret, and Brenda Chenowith, because Billy is also showing a piece.

The obituary from this episode:

Melinda Mary Bloch (1965-2003)

Melinda Mary Bloch of Beverly Hills passed away on Monday, May 19.

Ms. Bloch was a graduate of Emory University with a cum laude degree in Journalism. She was a contributing editor for several publications including Mademoiselle, Business 2.0 and House & Garden magazines. At the time of her death, she was launching her own publication Candid, scheduled to appear on newsstands in August.

Ms. Bloch is survived by her mother Barbara (Bloch) Knight, her sister Tracy (Paterno) and her brother, John. She will also be missed by Alex Gramm.

Donations may be made in her name to the Anti-Cruelty Society.

A memorial service will be held in her honor on Thursday, May 22 at 1PM at Fisher & Diaz Funeral Home.

posted by orange swan (1 comment total)

The obituary for Melinda Bloch makes it clear that Melinda had other things going for her -- talent, career success, an exciting new business venture -- and could have weathered the breakup of her relationship... if she hadn't been clinically depressed. Clinical depression is a terrible thing, and not always treatable.

Rico related to Alex because he has a depressed wife and Nate related to Alex because he's afraid of how Lisa might react if he should leave her. As is usual with him, Rico was less able than Nate to keep from crossing the line and making his conversation with Alex personal.

Vanessa is still struggling with depression, Rico isn't being all that helpful, although he's trying, and I want to kick that co-worker nurse of hers who gave Vanessa a handful of assorted drugs. For God's sake.

Russell's art piece was really beautiful, and Olivier totally put it in a back room so he could buy it himself. Jackass. He could have arranged to buy it in advance and put it in a better spot. Claire's photo was interesting (I enjoyed Keith and David's discussion as to what it meant, and how it segued into an argument as to which of them sees Claire more clearly -- this is the kind of thing good art generates). I do think she should have priced it higher. Russell's purchase of the photo was sweet, but I can't help feeling he did it out of guilt.

Ruth still hasn't clued in that she's barking up the wrong tree with Arthur. But at least the fact that she had a date for the opening seemed to shield her from any overtures from Olivier, who clearly and immediately developed the hots for her.

Lisa's not going to help her situation by pressuring Nate. Yes, it hurts and humiliates her that Nate loves Maya more than her, that he's only with her because of Maya, but then that is what she signed up for. She can ask him to change some of his behaviours, such as not introducing Maya before he introduces her, and he can and should do that, but demanding that he change his feelings isn't going to do anything but create more tension and resentment, because Nate can't change how he feels, and he really is doing his best to make their marriage work. They had a breakthrough at the opening: to give up on expectations of what their marriage should be and to just move forward with what it is. Nate does genuinely care about Lisa and they know each other well and get along pretty well day to day, so they could just go with that for the time being and maybe their feelings will evolve in a different direction in future -- as it does in any marriage.

It was good of Brenda not to give Lisa's little undercover operation away to Nate. If I recall correctly, she never does tell Nate about it. She was also honest and kind to Lisa when they talked about it in the bathroom. But leave it to Brenda to choose exactly the wrong moment to crawl into the pyramid when Lisa and Nate are in it.

Olivier, having struck out with Ruth Fisher, gets it on with Margaret Chenowith. And Brenda, walking in on them, sees something that can never been unseen.

Billy on sleeping with Olivier: "It wasn't a gay thing; it was a sex thing." Whatever, Billy. Also, HOW DOES OLIVIER STILL HAVE A TEACHING JOB WHEN HE IS SO GROSSLY UNFIT FOR ANY SUCH RESPONSIBILITY.
posted by orange swan at 12:01 PM on September 10, 2019