Ecotone (Six Feet Under episode)

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“Ecotone”
Six Feet Under episode

Nate before undergoing emergency surgery.
Episode no. Season 5
Episode 9
Written by Nancy Oliver
Directed by Daniel Minahan
Original airdate July 31, 2005
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"Singing for Our Lives" "All Alone"
List of Six Feet Under episodes

"Ecotone" is the 60th episode of the HBO drama Six Feet Under. It is the ninth episode of the show's fifth season. The episode was written by Nancy Oliver and directed by Daniel Minahan.

Contents

[edit] Guest starring roles


[edit] Episode recap

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Moments after Nate's seizure, Maggie calls for an ambulance and is told that she will not be allowed to ride in the ambulance with Nate. Maggie then takes Nate's car keys and calls David to tell him about Nate as well as to ask if he will notify Brenda. David rushes to get to the hospital and alerts Brenda who is worried since Nate did not meet her at Quaker church service and has not returned home.

Meanwhile, shortly after their kiss Claire and Ted have their first date at a local eatery which Claire deems "a Republican nest". Ted takes offense to her comments about the Iraq war and the two begin to argue over politics which vary from the 2005 Iraqi elections and George W. Bush's presidency. Claire then receives a phone call from David about Nate's condition which causes Claire to wrap up the date so that she can go to the hospital.

At the hospital, Nate's condition is not very good and the doctors are preparing to perform an emergency surgery to remove a new AVM which had been developing prior to this. Before surgery, Nate has a vision of Maggie and himself making love similar to the event before his seizure, however, instead of Nate collapsing his arm just feels sore. Both Nate and Maggie continue to dress and soon kiss.

In the waiting room, the family tries to remain optimistic however things turn sour when Maggie and Brenda begin to argue about why Nate was at her house in the first place. Maggie begins to deny anything physical happening and claims they were just "talking". The family then receives word that Nate is in a comatose state and do not know when he will awake. While asleep, Nate later has another vision of him asking Brenda for a divorce. Brenda is devastated and tells Nate that he will never be happy and taunts him about his newfound desire to be a Quaker.

Nate awakes the following morning to see Brenda at his bedside and quickly tells the nurse that he is awake. Nate tells Brenda that they need to talk which she agrees to. Later, everyone returns to visit with Nate who is expected to make a full recovery and is doing well. Maggie apologizes about the evening before which Nate assures her was not her fault and was happy. Brenda then returns with Maya who had been staying with Margaret and Olivier to discuss the state of their relationship. Nate wants to walk away after his recovery which Brenda thinks is a mistake. Nate tells her that they have never been happy and he needs a change. Brenda upset at this revelation, leaves and calls him a "fucking narcissist".

Ruth, completely oblivious to what is happening in Los Angeles due to a lack of cell phone, is still camping in the woods with Hiram and is enjoying herself until she realizes that she made a mistake since Hiram tries to initiate more sex. Ruth feels uncomfortable over his insisting and leaves the tent to sleep outside for the remainder of the night. In the morning, while Hiram and Ruth are hiking, they begin to quarrel about their relationship. Hiram is disappointed because he was in a romantic mood and Ruth pushed him away. Ruth then decides to leave Hiram and finds herself walking through the woods by herself. Ruth then begins to daydream about her past loves Hiram, George, Nikolai, Arthur and Nathaniel and shooting each of them in a carnival style method. After wandering for quite some time, Ruth meets up with a group of Chinese campers and asks for a ride home on their bus. Ruth begins to talk to one of the other women about her relationship with George. The woman suggests "she sticks to the devil she knows" and to rekindle her relationship with George.

During the night, David and Claire keep Nate company as they talk about Ruth's mysterious absence. Claire then decides that she needs to take a shower and will return in a while. Nate tells David that he is going to sleep for a while and David decides to watch television. Nate then begins to dream about himself laying in his old bed at the Fisher home. Outside, a white removal van is beeping and a man is calling out for Nate. The man is revealed to be David, with longer hair and a beard. David calls for him to come inside since they are going to the beach to surf. While in the van, the brothers smoke pot and talk about what is going on. The driver, Nathaniel stops the car and threatens to separate the boys. He then jokingly says that "they are so fucking lost". They then see in front of them beach and waves. David, Nate and Nathaniel exit the van where Nate runs into the water. David calls out that there may be sharks and reverts to his normal self dressed in a suit. Nathaniel then taunts him about joining his brother in the water and offers him crack. David, who had also fallen asleep awakes to find that Nate has flatlined and died of a cerebral brain hemorrage.

[edit] Death of the week

  • Laurence Hall Matheson (1971-2005): attacked by a cougar while hiking.
  • Nathaniel Samuel Fisher, Jr. (January 8, 1965 - May 21, 2005). Died of a brain hemorrhage. (title card appears during closing credits)

[edit] Title reference

The title refers to Nate's use of the word ecotone, which is defined as two environments overlapping.

[edit] Chronology

The episode begins moments after "Singing for Our Lives" on Friday, May 20, 2005 and spans one day ending on Saturday May 21, 2005.

[edit] Music

[edit] Trivia

  • The episode was voted the Six Feet Under Fan Favorite episode by online users on hbo.com which gave viewers an oppurtunity to vote for their favorite episode of the series. The episode re-aired in September 2005 on HBO2 with a special introduction from creator, Alan Ball.


Preceded by
"Singing for Our Lives"		 Six Feet Under episodes Followed by
"All Alone"
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