Six Feet Under: All Alone

December 6, 2019 9:04 PM - Season 5, Episode 10

The Fishers grieve over Nate's death, and proceed with his funeral and burial. Keith discovers Roger Pasquese secretly taped their out of court settlement of Roger's lawsuit. Brenda asks Ruth to take care of Maya for the time being.

The obituary for Nate:

Nathaniel Samuel Fisher, Jr. (1965 - 2005)

Nate Fisher died of natural causes on Saturday, May 21 at the age of 40. The Fisher family struggles with the profound loss of their beloved son and brother. Nate also leaves behind his wife Brenda Chenowith and his precious daughter Maya Fisher.

Nate was born January 8, 1965 to Nathaniel and Ruth Fisher in Los Angeles. His warmth, sense of humor, and adventurous spirit earned him friends everywhere he went. After graduating from Bonaventure High School and attending U.C. Santa Cruz, Nate traveled through Europe and later settled in Washington State, where he managed the largest organic food co-op in Seattle.

From a very young age, Nate searched to find beauty in the world. He had a deep respect for the earth and the people living on it, always striving for honesty in his relationships with others. Nate found an outlet for his natural gift of helping those in need when he joined his brother David to run the family's mortuary business in 2001.

A memorial Service will be held on Monday, May 23 at 2 p.m. at Fisher and Diaz 2302 W. 25th Street in Los Angeles. Private burial to follow.

posted by orange swan (2 comments total)

Whoever wrote this obituary goofed on the date of Nate's birth. The Nate's first obituary, from the "Perfect Circles" episode, gives his birthdate as September 30, 1965, and the date of his death as January 8, 2002. Clearly they took a too-hasty look at the first obituary and grabbed the wrong date. Also Nate was only assistant manager of that co-op.

We get a few more looks at Nate's less-than-stellar character in this episode: he says Kurt Cobain was "too pure for this world", he offers 11-year-old Claire pot, and he refuses to be interviewed for Claire's high school English assignment. Jackass.

It's devastating watching the Fishers' devastation. Ruth's grief is like something out of a Greek tragedy. Good on George for being there for her. His eulogy was so good -- both eloquent and insightful. He had a pretty good understanding of who Nate was, and was genuinely a stepfather to him. Poor David deals with his grief over his brother by getting into funeral director mode, and then experiences a return of his PTSD symptoms. He has Keith by his side, at least, and his beloved boys bring him breakfast in bed. Claire wisely turns to Ted, and less wisely gets high. Rico's feeling Nate's death too -- the loss of a friend and a colleague, as well as a reminder of his own mortality, of what might happen to his family if anything were to happen to him. Being Rico, he also has to bitch about how it'll mean he won't get his way at Fisher & Diaz. But like everyone except Brenda, he has a partner who helps him keep his balance. All Brenda has is Billy, and he couldn't even get back from Dubai in time for the funeral. At least he's medicated.

Brenda's is no ordinary grief. She's been married only six months, she's pregnant, and Nate died banging another woman and intending to divorce her. Nate's death is raising some buried feelings she would have had to overcome in order to become Maya's stepmother. Brenda does genuinely love Maya, and is an excellent mother to her, but Maya is still the daughter of the woman Nate cheated on her with, and whom he married instead of her. And then of course Margaret Chenowith, Narcissist Supreme, is helpful by going shopping for black dresses for both Brenda and giving Brenda a hug and sympathy -- and then of course makes it all about her. AND Brenda has to see the woman Nate cheated on her with at the funeral and cemetery. Brenda's look of ironic forbearance as Margaret dramatically sobs at the funeral is not to be missed, nor her expression of stone cold fury when Maggie cries on Ruth's shoulder at the graveside. She's handling everything as well as anyone could. I think being pregnant actually helps, because otherwise she might resort to substance abuse or promiscuity as she has at moments of stress in the past, but this time she has to keep it together for the baby's sake and for Maya's sake.

Maggie, showing up at Brenda's with a quiche was not a good idea. To be fair, she did just mean to leave it there anonymously, but who the hell would feel safe eating a quiche that just shows up at one's door?

Keith finding out that Roger videotaped their sexual congress and was playing it to get himself in the mood for other partners was a much-needed moment of comic relief in this episode. Roger is so lucky that all Keith in response did was yell at him and quit.
posted by orange swan at 6:01 PM on December 8, 2019 [1 favorite]

When Nate is on the slab there's a bit of CGI (I assume) that pulls his cheeks down, a la gravity, referencing exactly what I've noticed at open casket funerals that makes a dead person look subtly different than the living. It is one of the most amazing details I've ever noticed in any creative production in my life, it just blew me away.
posted by rhizome at 8:10 AM on December 11, 2019 [1 favorite]