Chandler James Swanson, 1967-2001. Cracked his head open at the bottom of his swimming pool. He will be missed, primarily by debt collectors and repo men.
Talk about cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, this guy is (was, I guess I should say) a fraudulent creep of a salesman, on the other he’s leaving behind a young, beautiful wife and kids. Should I feel bad about this? I guess I should, but it’s difficult not to gloat just a teensy little bit.
It’s only the second episode of Six Feet Under, but already the series feels confident in its format. Other than the 1:1,33 screen format (the series only changes to widescreen later in its run), you couldn’t tell that this is early days for the Fishers. The characters very much feel like they’ve been around for decades before we started watching them, one of the great strengths of the series.
Of course, once the episode gets going, it’s clear that we’re in season 1. Nate Jr. hasn’t yet joined the family business, sticking around only – he thinks – until the reading of the will. Little does he know that he’ll be sucked in, and that his talents, when he isn’t being a dick to his brother David, are uniquely suited to the business. As Ruth says, “It’s Fisher & Sons, you’re the sons,” but somehow neither Nate nor David seem all that pleased – one because of what he feels is “blackmail beyond the grave” (Claire’s line, but it would seem to apply just as much to Nate), the other because of what he thinks is confirmation that Dad never thought he was up to the job.
What I’d forgotten since first watching the series is how in these early episodes Nate is largely our stand-in. He doesn’t know that much about undertaking beyond what he remembers from when he was a boy, so the whole business of picking up dead people and driving them around LA, of making a business of death, is as new to him as it is to us. The sights, the smells, the sounds – but more so the emotions, both those of the bereaved and his own.
It’s once David asks Nate to talk to Adele Swanson about her husband’s bankruptcy, once Nate starts comforting the weeping widow, that it sinks in: he’s good at this. He’s good at giving the bereaved the space they need to mourn. Whereas David can provide the structures that those left behind need to contain their emotions, Nate helps them feel them. It’ll take a while for the two brothers to figure out their place and function within the family business, but it’s quickly becoming clear just how well they complement each other.
Now, Nate only needs to learn that you can’t just re-sell coffins used for viewings… ’cause there’s seepage. There’s always seepage.
Stray observations:
- The plot line about the Kroeners funeral chain trying to buy out Fisher & Sons feels oddly TV in hindsight – an obvious, somewhat hamfisted attempt to create an antagonist to our dysfunctional heroes. Also, Gary Hershberger gives me Twin Peaks flashbacks, and not the good kind.
- It’s amazing how Brenda, in these early episodes, feels like the ‘normal’ one. It takes a while for the series to show us how deeply messed up she is, leaving most of the Fishers way behind. At least until season 3 or 4.
Quotes:
- Ruth: “Fine! Go to school! Stay out all night! Live in the streets! See if I care!” Erm, Ruth…? (Unless, of course, the SoCal school system is even worse than one hears.)
- Ruth: “Your father knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted everybody happy. We’ll be happy!” Happiness – not something the Fishers do all that well.
- Ruth: “I don’t like this bickering.” David: “Well, I don’t like you sleeping with hairdressers.” I guess he had that slap coming…
- Matt Gillardi: “In the death care industry now, it’s ‘Consolidate or die.’” However litte I like the character, that’s a great line.
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Matt K. is a survivor of academia. He's fanatical about good TV and movies. He lives in Switzerland, which means that he gets his chosen drug mostly in the form of boxed DVD sets. You can read more of his musings on TV, life, movies, books and video games at http:\\goofybeast.wordpress.com.