Six Feet Under - The second season of Alan Ball's sensational Six Feet Under ended Sunday on HBO. The Washington Post recently sat down with Ball while Salon reviewed the past season.

The point is well taken that these are some of the least likable, most fallible characters on television, and it's this unique perspective that distinguishes the show. Ruth Fisher, especially, seems so out-of-place both in the Los Angeles setting of the show, and on television in general. Most of the time, I can't stand her and that's why I admire the character. She is alternately tentative and headstrong, not always knowing how to approach her children yet storming ahead to organize a family dinner party when she sets her mind to it. A depressingly routine, emotionally guarded, excessively plain middle-aged character generally wouldn't be beloved by audiences, but the portrayal is so realistic, you can't help but think she's someone you might have sat next to on an airplane and completely ignored.

As for Brenda being "more gay man than straight woman," doesn't it seem like this recent cliché is getting a bit tired? We've heard it endlessly about Samantha and the girls on Sex and the City, but also about Patsy and Edina on AbFab. You can be a drugged-out sex addict and be straight. Nevertheless, no matter how "creepily blank" those surfers/stoners were, they were hot.