Six Feet Under is to die for.

Six Feet Under sounds like a fairly interesting concept. The story is about dysfunctional family which includes Nate, Ruth, Nate Jr., David, and Claire. Nate Jr. lives in Seattle until the first episode shown where he comes for a visit but while his dad, Nate Sr., is on his way to pick him up he gets in a car accident and dies. So far it sounds like your average family story but they work at a funeral home. It sounds cool but when you actually watch it, it is presented so perfectly that you will not believe your eyes.

The characters are extremely well done themselves. Nate Jr.(Peter Krause) is the brother who has AVM, a disease that can easily give him a stroke and is possibly fatal. David (Michael Hall) is the other brother who is gay. He is also in a way the leader of the business now since Nate Sr. died. Ruth (Frances Conroy) plays the lonely mother, she has hidden feelings of sadness over Nate Sr.'s death and none of her family members seem to want to have much to do with her. So she goes on a journey to get affection from others. Claire (Lauren Ambrose) is a depressed teenager who seems to like many messed up males. She had a fairly long relationship with Gabriel (Eric Balfor) but she finds out he robbed a store and on top of that he shoots at a man in front of Claire and runs away before the police can find him. Nate Sr. who is played by Richard Jenkins also appears off and on in dream sequences. Through out the story you learn that he has a light playful side to him that the kids never really saw till after his death. The family is wonderfully done but there are a few other important characters out side of the family.

There is Brenda (played by Rachel Griffiths and is my personal favorite character in the show), Nate Jr.'s girlfriend, who in the past was studied by clinics because she was a genious. She also had to waste her whole life taking care of Billy (Jeremy Sisto), her bi-polar brother. But in the end of Season 1 he gets so out of control that she has to send him to a institute. After Billy is out of the picture, she does not know what to do with her and meets up with a prostitute friend. Soon after meeting her she gets more sexually active with strangers and soon is a sexual addict. Then there is David's boyfriend, Keith (Matthew St. Patrick), who has to deal with Karla, his drug addict sister, as she always leaves her daughter Taylor with Keith. Taylor is a brat but has a whole lot of heart at the same time. However, her relationship with David and Keith changes as Taylor tells David that her mom ran over a homeless man. So David tells his cop boyfriend Keith and Karla gets arrested. The last character to note of is Federico (Freddy Rodriguez) who works on the bodies in the funeral home. He is a supporting role and very under-developed but he is close with his young son, doesn't have a great relationship with his wife, hates his brother since he had sex with a man in Frederico's house. Federico is also a homophobe so when David comes out to Federico, it is not a good thing.

This show is simply amazing. Every character has amazing personalities. Nate Jr. is caring but is emotionally stressed and sad from his disease, AVM. David is uptight and allows to be stepped on by others. He also in season 1 was insecure about his sexuality. Ruth is a very sad person as she needs affection but no one will give her some. In various scenes we see her eat alone or just break down and cry and we can't help but shed a tear for her pain. Claire doesn't like getting involved with others and will do what she wants. Brenda simply is a mess. She will do anything to find out about herself but she does harmful things to find out about herself. Federico is stressed out and is always about to explode in anger but he is also very happy about his performance on the bodies he does. Keith at first seems to be extremely caring and calm but in season 2 we learn that he is a bomb waiting to explode. He needs things to be perfect and he will not take the blame for anything. The personalities of these characters affect the relationships and are very evident.

This show has a serious story but it is also a black comedy. There are some awkward moments and a character will say something that will just be downright hilarious if you think about it. For example, Ruth tells Claire about how as a teenager she had a crush on Jane Fonda and Claire says "Well now she is single so she is all yours." How Claire says that will make you laugh for a few minutes. But bring a few tissues every episode because many episodes leave you to cry.

As I wrap this review up, I would like to say this is one large story, it is not a show with a different plot every episode. Every episode is one hour long and it airs on HBO on Sundays, 9-10 PM. There are only 3 episodes left on season 2 but there will be a season 3. It is written by Alan Ball who also wrote American Beauty. I highly recommend this show to everyone!

The show is rated TV-MA for graphic language, graphic sexuality, nudity, graphic imagery, and adult content. It is definately not a show for kids