Six Feet Under is a black comedy/drama that aired on HBO. 

When the show opens, we are introduced to the astringent Nate Fisher (Peter Krause, Parenthood), who has just returned home to find out that his father, Nathaniel, Sr. (Richard Jenkins, The Visitor) has recently passed away. He has also just discovered that he has been named one of the heirs to the family business, Fisher And Sons Funeral Home.

Nate brings his new girlfriend, Brenda Chenowith (Rachel Griffiths, House Husbands), along with him. She is a struggling sex addict and even worse is her lunatic brother, Billy (Jeremy Sisto, Law & Order). 

David Fisher (Michael C. Hall, Dexter) has also just found out that he is the co-owner of the funeral home. David, the Fisher that likes to risk it all by dabbling in unsafe sex, illegal drug usage, and being a closeted homosexual does not make things go any smoother for him. 

The youngest Fisher, Claire (Lauren Ambrose), who has a strong mordant look on life, itself, is struggling to become her own, along with the sudden death of her father.

Ruth (Frances Conroy) just happens to be the mother of these three, who are totally different people. She is also struggling with the sudden death of her husband and lifelong partner. The dutiful mother has a big job ahead of her, which involves pulling her offspring together and encouraging them to lean on each other, when needed. She could possibly pull this off with the help of her husband’s ghost, but not without him.

Will they pull together and become a strong family unit or will they go their separate ways? 

Afterthought

This very original television series focuses on a very dysfunctional family. Each individual family member has hidden secrets that they hold very deep inside their souls. This is very much like American families of today, instead of becoming closer over time, they just seem to break apart more and more. Most of this occurs due to constant drug use, incarcerations, and divorce, which breaks families, to no return. This is a very deep show that will make you think about living and dying in a new and entirely different way. 

Review

Even though mortuaries and funerals are morbid, you should check this series out. It holds a lot of family disfunction that a lot of people can relate to. Each week a new funeral and deceased person is unveiled, but the true treat is how the main characters develop new personalities, gain new strengths, and gain more cognizance of life and living. All the actors were superb in their roles and brought them to life beautifully. This HBO series deserves an 8.5 out of 10.

The series is currently available to Amazon Prime members.