The second season of Six Feet Under really improved and deepened the characters on the already strong opening season and it ended with somewhat of a cliffhanger as Nate goes into surgery. The third season returns to this point and does so with Nate's death but then undoes it in the same opening sequence and he survives. It is an odd opening sequence and it threw me because it echoes through the whole first episode as we see him having flashes from life into the afterlife he saw; it didn't totally work for me and I found it a little confused and I was glad when it moved on from it even if I wished it had done it better. The season jumps forward after this opening and we find Nate and Lisa married with their daughter, David and Keith in couples therapy, Clare in art college and Ruth alone.
The third season is mostly about relationships and as such it falters a little bit because it isn't as strong as the previous season, becoming a bit too much about events and plotting which distracts from the characters rather than adding to them. Most of it is really good even if it is depressing at times. The interactions are mostly honest and recognizable even if they tend towards the more extreme; the script feels genuine and the characters remain who they are and the conflicts within the various relationships fit who they are – mostly. I say mostly because there are plot devices that don't work or maybe aren't used particularly well, so for example Ruth and Arthur seems odd and while it sort of connects to who Ruth is at that point, it doesn't make too much sense. Likewise the situation with Lisa isn't helped by the time jump into it and the manner in which it ends. These sorts of things limit how engaging the stories are this season and this is amplified a little by how little cheer there is in the season as a whole – a lot of things are falling apart and it isn't always clear that it is worth it in the balance of things.
The cast are strong though, just as they have been before. All of them convince in their characters even if some of their material is weaker. Season 3 generally doesn't live up to the previous season but it is still engaging. It is almost too dark for its own good and it has too many threads that don't ring as true as they should, which limit the impact, but it still works – hopefully season 4 can rediscover the strength of the previous two seasons though, and address some of the weaker aspects of this one.
The third season is mostly about relationships and as such it falters a little bit because it isn't as strong as the previous season, becoming a bit too much about events and plotting which distracts from the characters rather than adding to them. Most of it is really good even if it is depressing at times. The interactions are mostly honest and recognizable even if they tend towards the more extreme; the script feels genuine and the characters remain who they are and the conflicts within the various relationships fit who they are – mostly. I say mostly because there are plot devices that don't work or maybe aren't used particularly well, so for example Ruth and Arthur seems odd and while it sort of connects to who Ruth is at that point, it doesn't make too much sense. Likewise the situation with Lisa isn't helped by the time jump into it and the manner in which it ends. These sorts of things limit how engaging the stories are this season and this is amplified a little by how little cheer there is in the season as a whole – a lot of things are falling apart and it isn't always clear that it is worth it in the balance of things.
The cast are strong though, just as they have been before. All of them convince in their characters even if some of their material is weaker. Season 3 generally doesn't live up to the previous season but it is still engaging. It is almost too dark for its own good and it has too many threads that don't ring as true as they should, which limit the impact, but it still works – hopefully season 4 can rediscover the strength of the previous two seasons though, and address some of the weaker aspects of this one.