Grade: B | Genre: Drama Summary: This episode wasn't anything particularly special or extraordinary, which is strange considering it was the wedding episode. Six Feet Under is always understated so it really shouldn't be surprising they eased into this life-charging event very casually. So I wonder how living in a funeral home your entire life shapes you? I'd imagine that you would probably have a pretty skewed sense of humor, a whole library of stray thoughts on death and mortality and a jumbled psychological make-up that was grabbed out of the quirky bin. That is certainly the case for the Fisher clan which sign-in for their first step towards the TV show afterlife. After five brilliant, emotion filled, slightly bizarre seasons, the award winning HBO drama will bid us ado. There is no time for grieving or the deep settled "what ifs". There are a host of interesting lives dying to be lived and some ugly split plot lines to trim up. This episode is a look at new beginnings and the sadness and joy that can be rubbed from their passage.

Let's bring those of you up to speed who are floundering along like fish on the banks of the river. At the close of last season, Nate discovered Lisa wasn't alone when she mysteriously disappeared and was subsequently killed. She was having an affair with her brother-in-law and the revelation causes this shamed soul to take his own life. With odd timing, Nate races home to ask Brenda to be his wife. George completely flips over in his mental rocking chair. He's taken up permanent residence in a bomb shelter, manically talking to himself about the pollutants that are going to destroy us all. After Fredrico's affair and attempts to mend ways, his marriage is officially worm food, and he washes up on the doorstep of the Fishers where he takes residence. Claire starts getting lip locked with Billy who has a clean mental bill of health as long as he keeps choking down the meds. How long will this ticking time bomb remain silent you wonder?

So as we are accustomed to, every show starts with the death of someone. Hey got to keep those bodies rolling through the door in this sluggish economy. Could you imagine trying to explain a shortfall in profits to your shareholders if you were a funeral home conglomerate? "People just aren't dying like they used to. McDonald's is pushing healthy menus, kids are wearing safety helmets when they ride their bikes and we mustn't speak of that damn stem cell research." I digress. So this week it was a doormat that learns to stand up for herself through the wonders of therapy and ends up doing a head plant into an andiron. Yeah that's going to leave a scar.

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Keith and David are in the market for a baby themselves. The question is whether to adopt an existing child or find a surrogate mother to carry their child. It is a wrestling match where David doesn't want to "rent out a women's uterus like it was a storage locker" and Keith wants to have a child that is part of them. Claire and Billy are, surprisingly, still a viable item and there is talk of her moving in with him. Claire has developed into a certified hottie during the off-season. She's all grown up and terribly enticing with those red locks. Friction has been building between Claire and Ruth over Claire's taking a semester off of school, to the point where they are avoiding one another.

Ruth is dangling by a scant thread as the keepers of mental sanity cart George away, and his brain was detoxed via shock therapy treatments. Not the arcane practice of the 70's but still it's pretty serious when a disease has degenerated to the point where they have to take those extreme measures. She's overprotective of George as she would be a child and even slaps Claire when she takes a picture of him in what Ruth deems to be a compromising position. Ruth better grab hold of the reigns quick or the head police aren't going to be visiting just George next time. Federico is putting his toe in the Internet dating pool as Jenna Fischer takes leave of the front reception of the Office to pop into his love life as a dental hygienist.

This episode wasn't anything particularly special or extraordinary, which is strange considering it was the wedding episode. Six Feet Under is always understated so it really shouldn't be surprising they eased into this life-charging event very casually. This dose of Six Feet seemed to be cleaning episode, running around straightening up the mess they'd made of their world at the close of last season. They adequately setup our plot lines going forward and left us with a respectable show to discuss at dinner parties -- with those of shrewd taste that is. Alan Ball (American Beauty) continues to fascinate us with a series that won't be easily replaced even on a network like HBO that is known for leaping off ledges without looking. After Six Feet Under and Queer as Folk close out their seasons and series, there really won't be any reason to keep that upper echelon of cable channels anymore.

Catch the fifth season of Six Feet Under Monday nights at 9pm on HBO.

Original Airdate: June 6, Monday 9pm
Episode 52: "A Coat of White Primer"