SIX FEET UNDER: BACK TO THE GARDEN (TV)
Summary
One in this series about the Fisher clan, a loving -- if dysfunctional -- family struggling to maintain a sense of normalcy in the face of the stressful day-to-day operations of the eccentric family business, a funeral home in Los Angeles. In this episode, one Jeffrey Shapiro accidentally hangs himself during a round of autoerotic asphyxiation, while elsewhere Keith has romantic dreams about David and then finally ends things with Eddie, exasperated with his attitude about Taylor. Ruth objects when Claire prepares to head for Topanga Canyon to visit her aunt Sarah, and Nate and David meet with Jeffrey's widow, who believes that her husband intentionally killed himself. Brenda meets with her mother, who has separated from Bernard because of his new girlfriend, and Margaret is highly skeptical when Brenda reveals her engagement, suggesting that Nate is not intelligent enough for her. Rico guesses the true cause of Jeffrey's death while preparing his body, and David is startled when Keith phones to inform him of the breakup and later asks him to dinner.
Brenda continues spending time with Melissa, hinting that she has based a character in her book on her and confessing that she recently "crossed a line" with a client. Nate arrives home and asks their opinions about Jeffrey's death, and Melissa senses the couple's tension. Sarah is surprised but pleased at Claire's arrival, explaining that she is having a Ginsberg-inspired "Howl Weekend" with some of her free-spirited friends, and Ruth is left to dine at home alone. Rico seems uneasy when Ramon arrives to continue the repairs on his house, and when a frustrated Nikolai tells Ruth that he cannot attend dinner, she invites Robbie to join her instead. At Jeffrey's traditional Jewish funeral, Nate imagines Brenda in the widow's place mourning his own death, and when Rico sneaks home early, expecting to catch Ramon and Vanessa having an affair, he is shocked to instead find Ramon with another man. Brenda attempts to comfort her mother when she realizes her deep hurt over the split with Bernard, but Margaret angrily tells her that she is "not Billy" and does not want her help. Nate confides in the female rabbi about his medical condition and his fears about death, admitting that he is unsure about his own religious beliefs. At dinner, Ruth grows exasperated with Robbie's Plan talk and tells him that she is through discussing it, and when Keith fails to arrive for dinner, David learns that he is at the hospital with Taylor, who is suffering from appendicitis, and he hurries to his side.
Claire bonds with a young man, Toby, whose parents are guests at Sarah's wild party, though she is taken aback when he explains that he is uninterested in casual-sex encounters without love. Nate admits that he has not told Brenda about his AVM, and the rabbi questions if she is truly the person who "makes his soul grow," while elsewhere Brenda has fantasies about other men. Nate assures the widow that Jeffrey did not truly want to die, and he later goes home to Brenda, who seems unhappy with their unexciting lovemaking. Keith is touched to see that David has waited overnight at the hospital with him, and Claire departs Topanga Canyon as Toby asks for her number and Sarah urges her to bring the rest of the family, especially Ruth, to visit. Ramon's wife Graciela, clearly oblivious, comments on Rico and Ramon's silly disagreement over "different kinds of tile," and though Ruth declines to ask Claire about her weekend, Claire spots her listening to Sarah's Joni Mitchell-themed mix tape, suggesting that she misses her sister after all.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: April 14, 2002 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:56:12
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:86520
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Comedy; Families; LGBT Collection
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2001-2005
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Alan Poul … Executive Producer
- Robert Greenblatt … Executive Producer
- David Janollari … Executive Producer
- Alan Ball … Executive Producer, Created by
- Bruce Eric Kaplan … Co-Executive Producer
- Scott Buck … Supervising Producer
- Laurence Andries … Supervising Producer
- Rick Cleveland … Supervising Producer
- Christian Taylor … Producer
- Jill Soloway … Producer, Writer
- Robert Del Valle … Co-Producer
- Lori Jo Nemhauser … Co-Producer
- Daniel Attias … Director
- Richard Marvin … Music by
- Thomas Newman … Theme Music by
- Peter Krause … Cast, Nate Fisher
- Michael C. Hall … Cast, David Fisher
- Frances Conroy … Cast, Ruth Fisher
- Lauren Ambrose … Cast, Claire Fisher
- Freddy Rodriguez … Cast, Federico Diaz
- Mathew St. Patrick … Cast, Keith Charles
- Rachel Griffiths … Cast, Brenda Chenowith
- Patricia Clarkson … Cast, Sarah O'Connor
- Joanna Cassidy … Cast, Margaret Chenowith
- Molly Parker … Cast, Rabbi Ari
- Ed O'Ross … Cast, Nikolai
- Joel Brooks … Cast, Robbie
- Justina Machado … Cast, Vanessa Diaz
- Aysia Polk … Cast, Taylor
- Kellie Waymire … Cast, Melissa
- Stark Sands … Cast, Toby
- Terrell Clayton … Cast, Eddie
- Sara Mornell … Cast, Jessica Shapiro
- Lee Garlington … Cast, Fiona Kleinschmidt
- Ricardo Antonio Chavira … Cast, Ramon
- Eric Bruskotter … Cast, Keith's Partner
- Chris Uffland … Cast, Jeffrey Shapiro
- Robert Pine … Cast, Basil
- Brett Paesel … Cast, Gourd Woman
- Tannoz Bahremand … Cast, Cantor
- Ben Davis … Cast, Doctor
- David Ackert … Cast, Truck Driver
- Maria Carmen … Cast, Graciela
- Moira Price … Cast, Toby's Mom
- Francisco Javier … Cast, Ramon's Buddy
- Jeffrey Ross … Cast, Shiva Comic
- Christi Lake … Cast, Porno Girl
- Benjamin Banks … Cast, Porno Guy #1
- Jason Daughtery … Cast, Porno Guy #2