I like this show. It doesn't suck me in the way I expect most good dramas to suck me in, nor are its characters particularly enjoyable, nor its plots very memorable. But whenever I put it on in the background while using my computer or playing my DS, I tend to really watch it. That shouldn't be surprising, but in the past I've been less lured in by much better shows; The Wire is something I could easily get sidetracked from in its early seasons, and although I blame myself for this and not the show, it's still worth bringing up as the one counterpoint to all the other positive things I have to say about the show. And on the other end of the spectrum, take a show like Carnivàle where I didn't care for it much to begin with, and watching it in the background only made it worse. My point is, there's something undeniably good about Six Feet Under, but I can't figure out what it is as I look at the show element by element.
I'm left with nothing else to attribute it to but the relatability of the characters and their situations. None of the characters are particularly exciting or endearing, but they deal with very realistic problems unlike the people on most TV shows. Employer-employee strife. Health problems. Aimlessness in life. Relationship issues. Petty lawsuits. Perhaps the reason it all works so well is because none of it is melodramatic or over-the-top. Two seasons in, I can't call this one of my favorite HBO shows, or even a great show, period. But it's solid, and thus far it has built up a foundation for its characters and its tone. The big question now is whether or not it can parlay all this into something bigger in the final three seasons. The all-time great shows can do that. But again, if this is Six Feet Under's apex, that's just fine.
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