The beginning of the end

Nate (Peter Krause) kicked it on tonight's episode of Six Feet Under, after looking like he was going to make a full recovery. Now there's only 3 episodes left, the next one being primarily about Nate's funeral. I have to wonder... what will come after that? The writers have set it up so that most of the characters will come through with a happy ending: David and Keith are settling in nicely into their roles as parents to their two foster children. Claire has met an actual nice, normal guy who doesn't make her crazy, and has made peace with herself in that she knows that life doesn't have to be all drama, all the time. Rico and Vanessa seem to be on the path to recovery, with Vanessa admitting that she still loves Rico, despite his infidelity. Even Ruth, who seemed to be on a steady downward spiral this entire season, has found some sort of self-empowerment, and in the last two episodes, shows signs of finally getting her shit together.

But then there's Brenda. She is now alone, pregnant with a baby girl who will most likely have special needs, probably responsible for Nate's toddler daughter from his former marriage, and left with only a memory of a husband who made it quite clear to her before he died that he didn't love her and he didn't want her anymore.

The other character given a raw deal is Maggie. Despite her obvious inclination to do good and be good, she slept with a married man, who then died soon thereafter. She's stuck in a city where she barely knows anyone because of her crazy father. And she is still obviously reeling from her son's death not so long ago.

It will be really interesting to see into what direction the writers decide to send these two women's respective story lines. You can't help but feel for them, and at the same time, pity them for ever having met Nate Fisher...