Six Feet Under ending explained: Breaking down the best series finale of all time

It’s a good week to be a fan of the show Six Feet Under because all five seasons are coming to Netflix U.S. on Wednesday, Nov. 1! The critically acclaimed drama created by Alan Ball premiered on HBO in 2001 and won over the hearts of audiences around the globe, introducing us to some of the best-developed characters on TV. The series follows a dysfunctional family living in Los Angeles who run a funeral home. After the patriarch, Nathaniel, passes away, he leaves behind the business to his two sons, Nate Jr. and David.

Six Feet Under explores the family’s dynamic, which also includes matriarch Ruth and her daughter Claire, as they navigate their new normal and deal with their own problems through adulthood. Throughout its five-season run, the series won nine Emmy Awards and in the years since has become widely regarded as one of the best shows ever. And the ending is at the top of most lists of the best TV series finales of all time. So let’s break down that emotional finale, titled “Everyone’s Waiting,” that still makes me cry at any given rewatch!

The Six Feet Under finale begins with a birth

Among other things, Six Feet Under is known to begin each episode with a death. This serves as the overarching plot for the episode, as the person’s loved ones then come to Fisher & Sons Funeral Home to begin the process of planning their funeral. However, the series finale is different from the rest because it actually begins with a birth, not a death. This would be the birth of Nate (who died a few episodes back) and Brenda’s daughter, Willa. She is born prematurely and Brenda is terrified of losing her. She continues to see visions of Nate which doesn’t help.

Brenda is not only dealing with the loss of Nate but also the fact that he had cheated on her with Maggie. And her concern that she won’t be a good mom to Willa doesn’t help her mental health. Fortunately, however, Brenda eventually has a vision of Nate and Nathaniel taking care of Willa, which is a sign to her that everything will be okay. She’s also able to get Maya back from Ruth, but that, sadly, sends Ruth into a darker state. Understandably, everyone is having a difficult time grieving Nate.

Ruth is able to find solace when she calls Maggie to talk to her about Nate, and Maggie tells her that Nate was happy his last night alive. This comforts her a bit as she comes to terms with what happened.

Claire moves to New York

Claire gets back into photography and is offered a job as a photographer’s assistant in New York, which is later revealed to be at Olivier’s recommendation. Though she wants to go, she realizes she’ll be leaving her mom alone and considers staying in Los Angeles to be with her. But Ruth knows Claire will regret it if she doesn’t go, and she urges her to do so. Unfortunately, Claire loses the job once the position becomes unavailable, and she’s unsure of what to do. But she sees a vision of Nate who tells her to go anyway and to not be afraid. This is enough to convince her to move to New York anyway to pursue her dreams.

David and Keith move into the funeral home

As for David, he returns home and is finally able to get past his inner demons. Although he initially agrees to sell the funeral home at Rico’s suggestion, he then changes his mind after having a dream about his father and brother. In the dream, Nathaniel tells him the funeral home is his birthright, and he eventually decides to keep it. He and Keith move in with their sons Durell and Anthony, and they buy out Rico’s share so he and Vanessa can start anew.

Ruth plans on moving in with George but ends up deciding against it, ultimately choosing to move in with her sister Sarah and their friend Bettina instead. She wants to open up a dog-sitting business and continues dating George, although they don’t live together. Fortunately, she seems very happy, at last.

The fates of the characters are revealed in moving flash-forward ending

The final minutes of Six Feet Under are incredibly emotional as they show us what the rest of the main characters’ lives look like. As Claire drives off to New York, we see what happens to everyone in the years to follow through a montage, including more death, marriage, funerals, celebrations, vacations, and other big life events. The song “Breathe Me” by Sia plays over the montage, making it a profound ending to a fantastic show.

Here’s what we learn from each of the characters:

Ruth

Ruth grows sick years later and sees a vision of Nathaniel and Nate before passing away in a hospital bed, with David, George, and Claire by her side. She dies in the year 2025 and is 79 at the time of her death.

Keith

Keith and David get married and their loved ones are there to watch, including Rico and Vanessa, Ruth and George, Brenda and her new love interest, Claire, and their two boys. Sadly, Keith ends up getting shot and killed while working at his security company. His death comes in the year 2029 when he is 61 years old.

David

David lives on past Keith, staying in close contact with his family and loved ones. At a family party one day, he watches a group of people playing football and sees a vision of Keith smiling at him, before falling over, presumably suffering a heart attack. He dies in the year 2044 at the age of 75.

Brenda

Brenda moves on from Nate’s death and raises Willa and Maya with a new love interest. She appears at all of the important Fisher family functions and presumably remains close with them. At the time of her death, she is still close with her brother Billy, and she dies during a conversation with him. The year is 2051 and she is 82 years old when she passes away.

In a 2015 oral history interview with Vulture, Alan Ball commented on Brenda’s death: “Billy just bored Brenda to death, finally.” The actor who played Billy, Jeremy Sisto, agreed: “Yeah. I talked her to death. I’m talking to her and she just has this like, ‘Uh, I’ve just given up.’ She’s given up trying to find her own life, I’ve beaten her down.”

Claire

Ted shows up at Ruth’s funeral and reconnects with Claire, and years later, they get married. Their wedding is attended by David, Brenda, and other family members and friends. Claire lives a very long life, ultimately passing away in the year 2085 at home with photos of her family members hung up all around her. She is an impressive 102 at the time of her death. The final shot of the series shows Claire continuing to drive through Los Angeles as she begins her new life, with a tear rolling down her cheek.

Editor Michael Ruscio spoke about the beauty of Claire’s death scene, telling Vulture:

"“The way that you see those old eyes when Claire dies, and then back to the young eyes … it’s like, even though you know as an audience all these deaths are to come, she is still gonna go down into the valley and live the life that you’ve just seen. That’s what’s great about seeing her there at the end: The “Isn’t this gonna be great, to have this life?'”"

It wasn’t Alan Ball’s idea to kill everyone off in the end

During that same oral history interview with Vulture, Alan Ball and other cast and crew members spoke at length about the show’s ending. Ball discussed the idea of killing everyone off in the end, admitting he cannot take the credit for that one:

"“I had always had an instinct that Nate [Peter Krause] would have to die, since his whole journey was coming to terms with his own mortality. But we didn’t want to end the final episode of the series like that. Once we figured out how to have him die three episodes from the end, suddenly it all started to fall into place. Somebody said, ‘We should just kill everybody’ — I wish I could remember which other writer it was who pitched this, because it wasn’t me — and everybody laughed. And then whoever it was said, ‘No, I’m serious. We should jump ahead in time and see everybody at the moment of their death.’ At which point I went, ‘Of course.’ I mean, that’s the perfect way to end this show. How else could you do it?”"

Michael C. Hall, who played David, weighed in on the finale: “It was such a simultaneously shocking and obvious way to end the show. And I think that’s why it was so effective.”

The Six Feet Under finale’s impact on TV

As TV fans know, it’s very tough to stick the landing when it comes to finales. We’ve seen so many disappointing series conclusions over the years, and at this point, people expect polarizing final episodes. To conclude a beloved show cannot be easy, but “Everyone’s Waiting” was so carefully and beautifully constructed that it now serves as a blueprint for how to end a series. The episode was written and directed by Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball, who was the perfect person for the job considering how close he was to the show.

The episode has been called one the best finales in TV history by publications such as TV Line, The Ringer, IndieWire, and more, right up there with The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and other huge favorites. Just this year, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin discussed his love for the Six Feet Under finale on his blog in response to a Vanity Fair list of perfect TV episodes from the last 25 years.

“If I had to pick one episode that was even more perfect than all the others on the list… it would have to be the final episode of Six Feet Under,” Martin wrote, weighing in on some of the other episodes included on the list. I’m sure many writers were incredibly inspired after watching the show’s conclusion. It’s so close to my heart and I don’t think I’m alone there.

Want to rewatch this incredible series? Six Feet Under starts streaming on Netflix U.S. on Nov. 1.