Six Feet Under (TV Series) A Private Life (2001) User Reviews

Best episode of season 1; about something that has to be focused on

[tv_is_my_parent · 10/10 · 4 May 2012]

This episode is very special to me, mostly because I'm gay. When I watch Marc's death scene at the beginning, something in my heart breaks and shakes me, it's something really deep that a person is being killed because of something he didn't choose.

I'm not a religious person, in fact I'm an atheist but David's struggle with faith and his sexuality and the conflict it creates are beautifully written and portrayed, because homosexuality and religion are two opposite and conflicting things. Kate Robin is one of my favorite writers of the series, she touches carefully such sensitive issues.

I also love the other story lines. Billy's getting more sick and Brenda's accepting his situations are too real. Very good performances from both Griffiths and Sisto.

I also love Claire and Gabe's relationship, it's something nice found in the ruins. A Private Life is one of the series' highlights. My point to this flawless, beautiful and very special episode is 10/10.

The episode can be hilarious, uncomfortable, infuriating and near heartbreaking all within an hour's span

[SLionsCricketreviews · 9/10 · 1 February 2018]

Note: I am currently going through 'Six Feet Under' for the first time so pardon any inconsistencies in this review.

Everything weird and wonderful about 'Six Feet Under' can almost be captured with this one episode. Being a dark comedy, the show has managed to ideally balance comedy and drama (often tragedy) with such remarkable precision and arguably nowhere is this more evident. On top of being an often hilarious and heartbreaking episode, I find "A Private Life" to be an immensely uncomfortable and often anxiety inducing experience as well as one that manages to be so effortlessly heartbreaking.

Everything about this episode is absolutely fantastic as far as I am concerned. To begin with performances, Michael C. Hall and Frances Conroy are absolutely fantastic in this episode. The former beautifully sells his internal emotional dilemma with such sincerity, nowhere more so than when he breaks down in the final moments of the episode and begs forgiveness, mercy and love from God to whom he so often attempts to give his life towards. Conroy on the other hand continues to be a revelation in the series, here as competent with the drama (see her powerful exchange of dialogue with David) as she has been throughout with comedy, often arising from nothing more than her often awkward demeanor.

There's a couple of scenes that really stand out to me. One is the unbelievably distressing and frankly horrifying midnight break-in scene where Billy confronts Brenda once more. It's the first real instance for mine at least where the shows dwells into an entirely new genre, that being horror, but it's the most undiluted and powerful sort of horror, completely uncompromising and raw in its presentation.

Even within that scene, I love what little detail and that's how Brenda makes the 911 call. Having disarmed her brother by knocking him unconscious, Brenda asks the 911 operator for ambulance services as opposed to police services, which almost anyone else given her position would have done so. It sheds a light on where her feelings are for her brother, even in as extreme and horrifying a circumstance as this. It is almost as if she views herself as the perpetrator and her brother as the victim.

Any scene so far in the series to do with Claire's appointments with the school counselor come off as so incredibly sincere that I could probably watch an uncut episode's length of interactions between the two characters. There's also the phenomenal mother/son confessional exchange late into the episode where David finally summons the courage to come out to his mother and both Conroy and Hall are magnetic in their roles that the entire affair translates as intensely moving and palpable drama.

And lastly, there's the portrayal of societal discrimination and hate against homosexuality and of all the things that leave me lost for words as someone who cannot fathom such cruelty and lack of compassion from people (people obviously being those who launched violent slurs against gay people in this episode), no moment left me as heartbroken for some reason as the victim's parents receiving such vile hate from the scum-ridden crowd at the funeral.

This entire episode was one complete, relevant, beautiful, disturbing, frustrating and all out magnificent experience. I am absolutely enamored by 'Six Feet Under' and this episode is as good as any so far in the series.

A very sad reality for many

[mattiasflgrtll6 · 10/10 · 31 July 2019]

The death at the beginning is by far one of the saddest. A perfectly fine, sweet young man is murdered because of one very simple, but unfair reason: Being gay. Scared of what might happen if he comes out as gay himself, this relates very personally to David. He's constantly struggling with guilt, questioning if his sexuality is sinful and worried he might suffer the same fate as Marcus. It's handled with great care, and says something about how fearmongering attitudes makes people scared to be themselves, not even able to go out on the streets safely. David unable to open up about his sexuality since he's afraid his friends and family members will stop loving him, or love him but with reservations is something many people go through, including some of my closest friends. Things don't go so well for example when Federico makes a homophobic comment and David follows that up by saying he's gay. Federico's reply that you should just keep it to yourself and not talk about it if you're anything but straight is shocking coming out of the mouth of such a likeable character, but it shows that even those who generally act like good people can still have bigoted views. Ruth responds to David being gay much more lovingly, but is still disappointed he didn't tell her earlier. Both of their perspectives are understandable. David has good reason to not want to admit it to her, pointing to how unaccepting his father would have been of it, while Ruth puts you into the role of the parent whose child is becoming a stranger to them, who doesn't confide in them as much anymore.

The ending with David in bed still pondering how his sexuality conflicts with his religion, praying for God to help him is very beautiful.

The subplot with Brenda's brother spiraling out of control is excellent too. I've loved Jeremy Sisto as an actor since One Point O, and his role as Billy is possibly the best. This guy creeps your f'ucking guts out more and more each episode, this time threatening Nate personally and trying to carve off a piece of Brenda's skin to remove a piece of memorabilia. Your feelings range from frustration to empathy. You're frustrated at Brenda because she lets Billy off the hook all the time, letting him ruin her relationship with Nate and ignoring the fact that he's dangerous. It's not until he attacks her that she finally sees how serious the situation is and submits him to a psychiatric institution. Yet when you see the pain her eyes as she tells Nate she's done what's neccessary with Billy, you emphatize with her since at the end of the day, he's still her brother. Nobody likes to admit their brother is capable of violent and possibly even murderous actions. Rachel Griffiths portrays Brenda's internal conflict perfectly.

Poor Nate though. He's been getting toyed with enough, it must be hard on him dealing with Brenda's ups and downs. She must have broken up with him then regretted it and given him another chance at least three times now.

Six Feet Under at its most gripping.

"I am not okay with this!"?

[thelastelvenprincess · 9/10 · 10 May 2021]

Did Claire just say the script for "I am not okay with this" in her guidance counselor Gary's room? As a comic she drew for the school newspaper? That's incredible. I am watching it again after 20 years and this magnificent detail has fascinated me. This may be true, does anyone know about it? Charles Forsman?