Alan Ball/USA/2004; R4, (5-disc)
Warner Bros, NZ$74.95 | Reviewed by Tim Wong

LET'S GET something straight here: I like Six Feet Under. I like the bit where someone dies at the beginning of every episode. I like its psychosexual tendencies. I like how a dead porn star can suddenly come to life on the mortuary table, and start talking about her perfectly formed breasts. This does not make me weird. It just makes me interested.

And it is interesting, even if Season Four slithers predictably into dysfunctional limbo while dispensing with much of the black humour that typified the first three seasons. Nate (Peter Krause), still mourning the death of Lisa (Lili Taylor), finds himself back with the irreparable Brenda (Rachel Griffiths); together with daughter Maya, there's the prospect of building an actual family unit. Now part-owner of the Fisher & Diaz funeral home, Fererico (Freddy Rodriguez) dabbles in adultery to the disgust of his wife; similarly, Claire (Lauren Ambrose) dabbles in art school pretension and a lesbian fling. Perpetual gay lovers Keith (Matthew St. Patrick) and David (Michael C. Hall) continue to riff the modern homosexual relationship; the terminally frumpy Ruth (Francis Conroy) continues her infinite misery despite a new marriage to George (James Cromwell). Meanwhile, the show's pedigree guest star roster remains intact: standouts include Mena Suvari as Claire's bisexual attraction, and the awesome Patricia Clarkson, returning as Ruth's Vicodin-addicted, Allen Ginsberg-adoring sister Sarah.

If this sounds a little pedestrian by Alan Ball standards, things take a vicious turn midway through when David is abducted and nearly killed – the trauma of which imbues the season's subsequent episodes with a harder, lingering edge. Overall though, Season Four is less dark than it is simply dramatic; this penultimate outing more of a transitional phase if anything, shunting the Fishers and co. into the breach of the fifth and final season (currently screening Thursdays, 9.30pm, TV1) – an apparent return to the really fucked up days of Six Feet Under. Some things never change though: the show's legendary obituaries. Deaths include a spaced-out hippy who believes he can fly, a man struck by lightening, and a woman hit by a car after chasing a bunch of "floating inflatable sex dolls" she's convinced are angels into oncoming traffic.


THE twelve-episode season is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic (a bonus to its normal full screen broadcast), and comes spread across five discs topped with various extras. These include seven audio commentaries, all excellent, particular Alan Poul's insight into the controversy behind the "That's My Dog" episode he directed. Also present on disc five: "Cut-by-Cut", a film editing/screen writing primer for anyone interested in the process of making films; a Charlie Rose-esque interview with cast members Krause, Hall, Ambrose and Conroy; three deleted scenes from episode four; and a playable "remixed" version of the Six Feet Under title theme.