5/5 Terrific Series About Life Thru Death
  by TSabonis (Sioux City, IA, USA)
"Why do people have to die?"
"To make life important."
Wow, so simple, yet so profound. This show is just full of stuff like this. The show begins traumatically with the death of the father right before a family reunion/Christmas dinner. We then follow the sons, Nate and David, the daughter Claire an the widow Ruth, try to restart their lives after such a loss. Each person has their own faults and try to work through everything. All of this takes place in the middle of the family business, a funeral parlor. Periodically they will have visitors who seem like ghosts, but who are not. Like the other great HBO drama, the Sopranos, this show is equal parts comedy and tragedy. Sometimes you laugh sometimes you cry. But is always enthralling.

About the DVD: Nothing too special about the special features. A few interviews and commentary tracks. The greatness of the show itself makes is so these little extras are not necessary.
T


5/5 Great story
  by skimama (San Diego)
Great service, quick delivery. Great story - really enjoy watching because there is nothing new on TV to watch.

2/5 Coming late to the party. Wish I missed it.
  by Tim Lieder (New York, NY)
One of the things I love most about Judd Apatow movies and televisions shows (espeically Freaks and Geeks - The Complete Series is the way he starts out with characters that seem bland and stereotypical, yet as the movie or series progresses they reveal themselves to have hidden depths and by the end of the series, they are both completely different and utterly the same. Why do I bring up Judd Apatow in a review of an Alan Ball series?

Because Alan Ball is the opposite of Judd Apatow.

He starts out with interesting well realized characters and somehow over the course of one season, he turns them into shrill little stereotypical idiots without personality. I'm not quite sure how he does it but somehow he manages. It's been over a year since I saw True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series) and every day I'm still pondering how a series that I eagerly watched every week marveling at the cool and interesting interactions came to a close leaving me with a feeling that I had just wasted 13 hours. Partially I blame Jefferson's transformation from amoral hustler to moralistic sermonizer who is somehow shocked that his one client is a hypocrite and a public bigot.

With this series, I'm less inclined to be taken in. The opening death sequences are both fascinating and haunting. I love the way they illustrate just how random death can be. The brothers are realistic in their conflicts and their problems. I initially liked Michael C. Hall's dilemma as a conservative businessman coming to terms with his emerging homosexuality. Every character is likeably messed up.

Only, it changes. By the penultimate episode where Hall is being told to COME OUT already by the ghost of the dead gay-bashing victim, I was getting tired of it. The whole Brenda/Billy dynamic seemed plausible at first but then over the top. Sure, Billy shows some guilt at the end to show why Brenda puts up with him, but I'm still not believing that Brenda would put up with him. Lauren Ambrose's depiction of Claire is worldly and heartbreakingly sincere especially when she is trying to take care of the messed up guy.

Ultimately, this thing has too mcuh going. The characters transform from interesting to tedious. It's like Alan Ball had nowhere to go with them so he just kept them going until they just couldn't sustain themselves without whining. And the BIG MESSAGE episodes are too much. Too many conversations began and end with "I am gay. But I can't accept it because..."

Good individual episodes but as a whole, nothing special.

5/5 A worm's eye view of family life.
  by James Ferguson (Vilnius, Lithuania)
It is refreshing to come across intelligent drama even if you have to go to an undertaker's house to find it. Six Feet Under offers a morbidly fine set of stories, filled with surprises and carried by an excellent cast. It is one of those rare shows where the actors inhabit their roles and make you feel part of the action. The first episode sets the stage marvelously with Richard Jenkins meeting his sudden fate and bequeathing his mortuary business to his sons, who couldn't be any further apart. Not to worry, Papa pays visits on his family to see how things are going, as Nate and David struggle to keep the business going against a powerful rival while Mama and Claire tries to re-establish themselves. The quirkiness of the pilot episode isn't quite matched in succeeding episodes. The undertakers' product ads were so funny and it is a shame that they didn't follow through with more of them.

Probably the most surprising element of this series is how frank Alan Ball is about David's homosexuality and his various relationships. Ball also explores a very dynamic relationship between Nate and Brenda and Brenda's brother, Billy. Claire's teenage angst is also dealt with sensitively, even if one struggles to find what she sees in Gabriel. And, Ruth makes for a very engaging mother as she tries to figure out what is going on under her roof while pursuing new relationships of her own. I can't remember when I last so such a complex set of emotions play out on television.

One of the things I like about HBO series is their compactness. At 13 episodes, you can take in the first season over the course of a couple weeks and enjoy the various stories play out. Each episode wraps nicely around itself like a well turned short story. Six Feet Under is quite simply one of the best dramas to come to television.

5/5 Perfect condition, fast shipping!
  by Shogirl (hollywood, ca)
Easy to purchase, arrived promptly and was in good condition. Can't ask for anything more!