Six Feet Under’ Delivers Brilliant, Bittersweet Ending

Tonight, HBO’s Six Feet Under concluded its five year run ending its final season with a finale full of multiple closures wonderfully befitting the series. Series creator Alan Ball delivered an emotionally powerful finale to a season that began quite plainly and, for a time, seemed headed towards undramatic plainness. That all changed several weeks ago with the sudden death of one of the main characters in an episode which, on its own, would have made a fitting finale but Ball pressed on, raised the bar and, in a nod to life’s inevitable finality, brought Six Feet Under to its death slowly, beautifully, hauntingly, painfully and eloquently. The series will be missed.

UPDATE: The intensely moving song which played during the final scene of the show is called “Breathe Me” by Sia and is available over at Stereogum.

Picture of Steve Hall

Steve Hall

RECENT ARTICLES

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

I spent years complaining about my life to anyone who’d listen while doing absolutely nothing to change it – and the day I finally understood why, I realized the problem was never that I didn’t know what to do, it was that staying unhappy had become safer than risking the unknown

I spent years complaining about my life to anyone who’d listen while doing absolutely nothing to change it – and the day I finally understood why, I realized the problem was never that I didn’t know what to do, it was that staying unhappy had become safer than risking the unknown

Global English Editing

The reason every family dinner with aging parents feels slightly performative is that both sides are pretending—the parents are pretending they don’t notice the visits getting shorter and the children are pretending they don’t feel the obligation—and the love is real but the honesty isn’t and everyone leaves the table carrying something they won’t name

The reason every family dinner with aging parents feels slightly performative is that both sides are pretending—the parents are pretending they don’t notice the visits getting shorter and the children are pretending they don’t feel the obligation—and the love is real but the honesty isn’t and everyone leaves the table carrying something they won’t name

Global English Editing

I retired expecting peace and got restlessness instead – until the morning I stopped trying to replace work with something equally important and just let myself sit on my porch and watch the street like it was the most interesting thing in the world, because that Tuesday morning, it was

I retired expecting peace and got restlessness instead – until the morning I stopped trying to replace work with something equally important and just let myself sit on my porch and watch the street like it was the most interesting thing in the world, because that Tuesday morning, it was

Global English Editing

I stopped biting my tongue at family dinners three years ago — and the silence that followed taught me that some people only loved the version of me that never disagreed with them

I stopped biting my tongue at family dinners three years ago — and the silence that followed taught me that some people only loved the version of me that never disagreed with them

Global English Editing

I’m 37 and I’ve already learned the hard way that nobody is coming to save you, nobody is keeping score, and the life you’re waiting for permission to start is the one that’s already passing you by while you stand at the door deciding whether you’re ready

I’m 37 and I’ve already learned the hard way that nobody is coming to save you, nobody is keeping score, and the life you’re waiting for permission to start is the one that’s already passing you by while you stand at the door deciding whether you’re ready

Global English Editing

I’m 73 and I made the mistake of telling my daughter I was lonely and she immediately started researching senior centers and activity groups and volunteer opportunities — and what I wanted to say was I don’t need a schedule, I need someone to sit with me on a Tuesday and not try to fix the fact that I’m sad

I’m 73 and I made the mistake of telling my daughter I was lonely and she immediately started researching senior centers and activity groups and volunteer opportunities — and what I wanted to say was I don’t need a schedule, I need someone to sit with me on a Tuesday and not try to fix the fact that I’m sad

Global English Editing