Filed under: Kalliel Unfiltered | Tags: bettina, billy chenowith, brenda chenowith, brenda/billy, claire fisher, david fisher, david/nate, ensemble cast, federico diaz, federico/vanessa, feminism, george sibley, it deals with realism, keith/david, maggie sibley, nakama, nate/brenda, nate/maggie, rico/vanessa, ruth fisher, sarah o'connor, season 5, six feet under, vanessa diaz
I loved so many things about these episodes that I don’t even know where to start. The waiting room cinematography during Nate’s surgery, for one. Brenda and Maggie purposefully removed from everyone–I especially loved the cuts where Maggie is in the foreground, with Brenda in the back, silent. The fact that Ruth was not there, was not there the one moment she really felt her child desperately needed her, after a lifetime of waiting idly by when they didn’t. Even though Nate is in critical condition (and then is dead), the ensemble doesn’t miraculously find this strength, this connection, this tolerance; what closeness they have must simply suffice.
The key to Six Feet Under is its ability to give rise to a plethora of emotion–5×09 embodied stillness. (Ironically, the same stillness Claire professed to feeling, and attempted to capture, back in art school.) Waiting. Moments where nothing was said and everything was understood, conversations that in the end meant nothing. One moment stretched over a hundred thousand hours.
Filed under: Kalliel Unfiltered | Tags: abortion, artist angst, brenda chenowith, claire/ted, david fisher, dr. wilson syndrome, ed, edie/anita/russel/jimmy, emotional responsibility, federico diaz, foster children, keith charles, keith/david, machismo bullshit, nakama, nate fisher, nate/brenda, nate/maggie, repressed emotions, rico/vanessa, ruth fisher, season 5, six feet under, vanessa diaz
It is nice to know that once in a while, everything is validated. The ensemble’s… fleeting moments of happiness are worth every minute of agonizing self-destructiveness and misery. I loved the first part of 5×06, where Rico comes to terms with his impending divorce with Vanessa. He acknowledges that he wants nothing more than to go back home and have everything as it was. But he accepts that he can’t have that; not through any manipulative bitchiness via the school principal, not through anything. He mentions that he’s on the market for a two bedroom apartment, so the boys can visit, because if he cannot have what he lost, he will rebuild something that is as close to that as possible.
And the will to do that is an admirable thing; and the maturity to move forward is certainly something he’s gained–because he certainly didn’t have it a few episodes ago.
And I loved that Sarah made a reappearance; the womens’ rendition of Calling All Angels, with the montage of the ensemble in their separate places, all alone (and in desperate need of angels) was touching as well. There was something deeply (atheistically) spiritual about it–and quite reminiscent of House, M.D., which utilizes the form frequently and masterfully.
In spite of all of the trauma and fragility of these characters, it feels like they are finally pushing towards something better than what they have.
Filed under: Digital Media | Tags: brenda chenowith, claire fisher, david fisher, edie/anita/russel/jimmy, edie/claire, federico diaz, george sibley, joe, joe/brenda, keith charles, nate fisher, nate/brenda, nate/david, rico/vanessa, ruth fisher, screencaps, season 4, vanessa diaz
Claire and Edie decorate the walls.
+ 4×06 Screencap Gallery (89 images).
Diaz family scenes are heavily emphasized here, which seems almost unfair, but as they are rarely emphasized anywhere else, it may as well be there. ‘Cap focus is on character expressions and portrait shots.
Filed under: Easter Eggs | Tags: backstory, claire fisher, david fisher, Easter Eggs, nate fisher, school, season 5
St. Bonaventure High School
In 5×02, Nate handles the funeral of one of his best friends from high school. (Ironically, he lives in Harvard Heights, the sub-district where I placed the hypothetical Diaz home in an earlier post.) He references “Bonaventure”–where David attended as well. Claire did not, as Parker once mentions her distaste for public schools.
St. Bonaventure High School is a Catholic high school in nearby Ventura, California. There’s nothing particularly significant about this; merely interesting fan trivia.
It gives you a better sense of what the Fishers were like long before the series started. Excepting the fact that they ran a funeral home and were all completely neurotic, they were pretty normal. Interesting that Claire would attend a different high school than her brothers, though I doubt she minds.
While on the subject of schools, one can assume David went to Cypress College and earned his AA in Mortuary Science (since that’s where Nathaniel sent Rico a few years later). Nate attended UC Santa Cruz for two years, but did not graduate. Claire attended LAC Arts College for two years as well, though presently (5×02) she is on a hiatus of indeterminate length.
Filed under: Internet Memes | Tags: billy/claire, claire fisher, david fisher, ensemble cast, ethnicity, federico diaz, feminism, homophobia, nate fisher, rico/vanessa, ruth fisher, six feet under
1. Made you laugh — The most completely random, awkward scene ever. Generally, I’d consider this too vulgar to be in good taste/to be rightly funny, but I couldn’t help laughing; their facial expressions killed me. Many things in SFU make me laugh, but this did when it shouldn’t have, so I’ll list it here.
David is trying to make Rico as uncomfortable as possible, because he is mildly irritated with him. Maybe he thinks verbal overexposure will burn him out of his homophobia? O_o;
2. Made you cry (1:40) The entirety of 2×13. Which is odd, because prior to watching I’d been thinking that it was quite odd that Six Feet Under hadn’t brought me to tears yet, in spite of how very much I loved it. Honestly, I’d have thought 1×11 would’ve done it. Dead babies always make me cry, as House MD is happy to capitulate on.
3. Made you squee (1:30) 2×02, when Rico and Vanessa go house-hunting. I must’ve watched this a dozen times. <3
4. Caused you distress. Sometime in Season 2, when Billy-off-his-meds comes to Brenda’s house at night with his “Isabel” tattoo slashed off and every intention of stripping Brenda’s matching “Nathaniel” from her body, as well.
That scene scared the shit out of me. And then it made me kind of ship Brenda/Billy.
5. You didn’t foresee (0:54) As Claire said, straight out of The Shining.
6. Amused you. 1×04: Familia.
Rico: I’ve worked here for years, and you don’t know a damn thing about me.
David: That’s not true.
Rico: You own an atlas?
David: An atlas?
Rico: Yeah, because if you did, you’d know there’s a 24-hundred-mile difference between Puerto Rico and Mexico.
David: You’re… Puerto Rican…?
7. Made you fall in love with a character (1:50) Made me somewhat ship Billy/Claire.
Billy: You are so– And I just wanna reach out and– But I also wanna be careful. Because I want to make sure I know you as long as I possibly can without fucking it up. Which is like like my… ‘special superpower.’ That’s why I don’t want to touch you.
8. If you have an OTP, reinforced your love for them (9:13) A two-week-old baby comes to the mortuary to be embalmed, days before Rico’s second child is due. Rico finds this extremely difficult. [This sequence of clips is extremely long.]
9. Reminded you of yourself (0:42) Claire goes on this long,rapid rant about how handkerchiefs were incredibly unhygenic–“Not all progess is bad! There’s Kleenex–hello!” I had this exact same rant once! This was Claire’s way of indirectly expressing her distress over her mother’s remarriage.
Though someone edited the hell out of this particular clip. >.>
10.You love, for whatever reason David’s birthday dinner.
Ruth asks Claire to help clear the table; Vanessa stands up to help.
Claire: But it can’t just be the women who clear.
Rico and Keith get up to help, too.
Claire: Now it’s just the women and the people of color.
Filed under: Kalliel Unfiltered | Tags: david fisher, federico diaz, federico/vanessa, nate fisher, season 1, season 2, season 3, six feet under, unfiltered
A few weeks back, I wrote a couple of ficlets exploring Rico in season three, going mostly off what I’d seen of season 2 and what I’d heard of season 3. I’ve now burned through S3, and it’s become wildly apparent that the timeline I assumed and the timeline the series actually follows is quite different–most obviously, the unexpected introduction of George Sibley.
What this truly brought into focus, however, is the massive progression the characters have taken since their introduction. A multitude of critics have a multitude of opinions regarding this–ranging from “masterful growth and development” to “random inconsistency.” I, however, merely accept whatever is presented and endeavor to come up with the logic behind it, if such is not immediately apparent. This is my entertainment; I will be entertained.
What I love about Rico is that so much of his story is left to your imagination; they present a scene, and somewhere there’s a beginning and an end, an entire network of actions and thoughts that builds up to that singular moment–
And it’s all hidden. It’s like Hemingway’s iceberg, and brilliantly played.
Filed under: Digital Media | Tags: claire fisher, david fisher, ensemble cast, federico diaz, federico/vanessa, icons, keith/david, nate/brenda, nate/david, robbie, ruth fisher, season 1, season 2, six feet under
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From “Season One Overview” and Episodes 2×01, 2×02.
HBO's Six Feet Under 