#9 Six Feet Under

Welcome to the newest member of the list. I caught a few moments of 'Six Feet Under' while channel surfing past Bravo a couple of months ago. The scene was just interesting enough to get me to hit the brakes. I finished watching the show and the next two that followed.

Sometimes channel surfing works!

It turns out I'm in the middle of season 3. I suppose I'll need to check out the first two years eventually, but suffice to say I'm completely absorbed right where I am. 'Six Feet Under' is a drama like no other that I've seen. It centers around the Fishers, a family that owns and operates a small independant funeral home. It's a slightly morbid premise, and one terrific aspect of the show is that it always starts out with a short scene showcasing the death of a random individual. Of course, it's an individual who will be brought to the Fisher's funeral home, but other than that, it typically has no connection with the overall narrative. But even though there's no connection, I find a profound meaning in the juxtaposition of random death vs. the chaotic life of the main characters. All of the drama takes place over the fragile surface of the possibility that life is meaningless. Brilliant.

[spoiler alert] Finally, I don't think a television show has ever moved me as much as when the character of Lisa went missing and then turned up dead. Lisa was a character that I didn't particularly like, but she became very real for me. When she disappeared I experienced a real sense of sorrow that I can't explain. I felt a strange pang of guilt -- they took her away without warning. I was still in the process of disliking her when it occurred to me that she might not ever come back. It was as almost as if I were wishing that my last thoughts of her had been kind, instead of negative. It was a powerful experience.