Alan Ball’s HBO Drama Six Feet Under follows the lives of the fisher family as they operate their family owned funeral home. However, when the father is killed in an car accident, the family comes together to mourn and decide the fate of their cremation business. The pilot introduces the audience to the major members of the family, as they struggle to cope with the recent loss in their lives. By following each member of the family individually, audience is able to emotionally feel the grieve for both the family as a whole and all major individual members affected by the loss. This enables the spectators to sympathize with the family and understand what they are feeling.
Six Feet Under is very unique family oriented tragical drama show. Tragedy dramas force viewers to sympathize the family and relate to what they are feeling and dealing with. Six Feet Under exemplifies these conventions because it deals with tragic death, and how the characters cope with the loss and move forward. The high amount of tension makes this a very unique tragical drama. Tragical events force the viewers to humanize with the fisher family.
Basic character architecture of Six Feet Under’s pilot episode would be best classified as ensemble based cast. Ensemble cast is group of members serving the story as opposed to one main character, thus giving the viewers more family orientated feel. In the pilot, each member of the family showcases their life views and conflicts differently which creates great amount of tension. The episode changes focus simultaneously from each of the three siblings and to the mother, as they all cope through their own conflicts and death of Nathaniel Fisher. Each character of the show has a unique worldview, therefore ensemble architecture showcases the audience with different perspectives of each individual. Allowing the viewers to fully comprehend the emotional conflicts each character faces.
Due to the major tragic events that occur during the Pilot of Six Feet Under, the show kickoffs as an Premise pilot. In a premise pilot, a major event helps set the story in motion and help create the set of circumstances from which the series will build. This event helps start the plot of the show, and establishes the status quo for the entire show. The major event in Six Feet Under was the death of the father during the introduction. This situation helps establish the internal conflict each member of the family faces throughout the pilot, and the entire show.
As discussed earlier, the character architecture for Six Feet Under is ensemble which allows any of the main characters to carry the lead story each episode. During the Pilot episode, audience gets to understand the life style of many of the major characters. Nate Fisher, the eldest son of the family plays a major role in the pilot. He was waiting at the airport, expecting his father to pick him up however things did not go as planned. Instead he receives the news of his fathers death via a call from his mother. Nate was visiting the family for Christmas, but instead now it turns into a funeral for his father. Nate moved away from his family in hopes to discover himself, however he still does not know where he is going in life. In the pilot, he serves as the anchor for the family. As he helps support the family cope with the recent loss. In the concluding scenes, Ruth asked Nate to stay longer to help continue support the family. In addition, he also finds a women that is very intrigued by him, and wiling to go on a date. Death of his father shed a new light on Nate, which enables him to discover himself. Next, David Fisher is the younger of the two brothers. While Nate ran off the discover himself, David stayed at home and operated the funeral home with his father. David resents his father and Nate, because he was not able to go to law school instead he is an mortician. However, ultimately this was his decision. David is a very serious person, and often seems to be more focused on business than other major events. In addition, David also struggles with his sexuality, as he is secretly in an homosexual relationship. The audience is able to learn about his relationship struggles, however his family does not know because he fears their reactions. After his fathers death, David has to take full control of the family business. Davis is very serious and businesslike, which is a common personality trait passed on by his mother Ruth. Ruth Fisher is the mother of Nate, David and Claire. She is very much in shock after her husbands death. She is in deep grief for her husband due to the fact that she had an affair during their marriage. Ruth is weeping throughout the pilot over her husbands loss. Ruth is very oblivious of her surroundings, as she has no idea of her children’s internal conflicts. Lastly, Claire the youngest member of the family by quite a few years; uses crystal meth and many other drugs to not face the reality of her family. Ruth is very unstable emotionally. Ruth and Nate have a unique relationship, as she resents him for leaving. However, she knows that this is exactly what she has wanted her whole life. During the pilot, she did not look concerned about the funeral and wanted the process and mourning to just be done with. In the concluding scenes, it seems as if she has discovered David’s secret relationship. All in all, diverse background for each member helps cause greater tension throughout the episode.
All member of the fisher family have very distinctive world views and they affect their actions in the pilot greatly. The unique lifestyle each member lives causes many conflicts throughout the pilot. Nate’s history of running away cause conflicts because his siblings resent him for not being around at home. Forcing them to deal with their parents relationship and family business. In addition, Claire background causes major conflicts during the pilot because Nate discovers her addiction to drugs. However, she will not listen to Nate for leaving the family. Next, Ruth feels immense guilt because of her past affair and now its up to the kids to help her cope with that guilt. Background of each major character helps create great amount of tension during the pilot episode.
Nathaniel Fisher’s death connects the family tremendously, they see the people around them as actual beings, rather than as background players in their own personal dramas. During the pilot, we discover how the family sympathizes each other more after the loss, and stop resenting each other.