finished the episode and thought wow that was good. then i skimmed through the episode to collect my thoughts and i started crying like a bitch. chat i’m not ready. [SPOILERS] i went into this episode hoping for an innumerable amount of things, and all of them were completely delivered on. i wanted to see the tone and dialogue finally be perfected, i wanted to see these characters season’s starting off strong with all soap-opera centered plots gone, and i wanted the entire cast to be properly utilized. but more than anything i wanted this episode to take advantage of the fact that this is the last season, that these characters are so different from when we first met them and that brenda and nate are FINALLY GETTING MARRIED. and oh my god the writers ACTUALLY DID ALLAT 😭😭😭😭😭 RIGHT OFF THE BAT we got the GREATEST flashback scene in tv, better than sopranos 6x9, monster x74, and ANYTHING from bcs season 6. you know when some guy in the writers room said “what if we show a recording of lisa and nate’s wedding 🐺🩷” that everyone went SILENT. LIKE THERE ISN’T EVEN ANYTHING I CAN ADD TO IT. ON PAPER THAT IS INSANE. IN EXECUTION IT IS EVEN BETTER. like bro claire’s holding the camera bro. she’s holding the camera BRO. and nate looks all mysterious the whole episode dude that was CRAZY. bro bro bro when it was revealed it was lisa’s wedding and not brenda’s i out loud went “oh” LIKE BRO. in a two minute scene there are a dozen moments where i want to give the episode a standing ovation. it’s like they spent a full day brainstorming for JUST this scene, because every moment of it is above and beyond your expectations in terms of its emotional punch. NATE BEING ALL QUIET. it’s just OHHHHHHH MYYYYYYY GODDDDD. this is insane because i wanted to just lightly cover that scene and i ended up rambling through a full paragraph. i was considering deleting the above ramble and introducing this episode differently, but i think the proper way to begin my thoughts is by showing how a flashback scene recorded on a shitty 2000’s home video camera can obliterate my ability to write an introduction paragraph, as long as the six feet under team is doing it. OKAY. it feels like the character’s arcs have all been perfectly steered to answer basically the ultimate starting questions of this show. what i love about six feet under’s story progression is how it starts off with these big, character defining questions like whether or not nate and brenda can actually work together, if ruth can take control of her life, even just if claire will be able to find herself. although these stay major themes of these characters forever, they’re essentially their seasonal-arcs of season one and season one only, outside for a few obvious exceptions. the show basically goes on multiple lengthy tangents with its characters past season one, forgetting the original questions and instead exploring them to the fullest even if it means, in nate’s case, killing their wife. we see how they love, how they learn and how they grieve, and now we’re back and focused on the central questions from season one. “i know it’s stupid to think in terms of happily ever after… but that’s what it feels like right now.” says lisa on her wedding day video. brenda nervously watches. the shows been putting it off but, can brenda and nate ACTUALLY work? we’ve seen them grow as people since their break-up in season 2 but we really don’t know if they’re compatible, and if nate is just rushing this wedding as he has before. the progress made during ruth’s original journey of learning to control her life is stripped away from her with george’s holding. this is clear from her first scene, where she drops a bag of oranges and one rolls under her car, unable to be reached. now that she has to take care of george, we’re left to ask, again, if she can take control of her life. this can be applied to essentially every character, can claire find her place in the world, can david and keith actually settle down (although that is clearly in its final phase of having kids). it’s not only how satisfying it is to see these major questions finally put back into focus, but it’s the way that the giant season 2 - 4 ramble has changed them. we’re not just looking at a young and rambunctious brenda and nate anymore, we’re looking at two adults with grief behind them and a major history in front of them, and we’re asking if they can love each other. we’re not just looking at a newly widowed ruth, we’re looking at a woman who slowly rekindled her love for living only to have it slip away from her, and we’re asking if she can get that fire back and fufill herself. every character has finally reached the final steps of their journey, and it’s thanks to this episode for setting everything back. i love you claire. very very strong 9