Six Feet Under: Complete HBO Season 2 - Region 2 DVD

The opening series' happy ending is forgotten as relationships change, the business is still under fire from the evil conglomerate Kroehner, and a lively dream sequence is just around the corner. As with the first series, creator Alan Ball lets many others direct and write the show, but his stamp is all over it. The eccentricities of the characters are shaped, and not always suddenly. Take daughter Claire (Lauren Ambrose), who sheds her bad boyfriend only to find more complex relationships on her road to discovering her own groove. One person in the mix is Ruth's beatnik sister (Patricia Clarkson, in an Emmy-winning role). She's a joyous embodiment of thriving--if ageing--counter-culture. Another new character is Nate's old girlfriend, the granola-loving Lisa (Lili Taylor). With Brenda heading down another destructive course, Nate is at more than one crossroads by series' end. For fans who groove with the wild, serio-comedic world of the Fishers (and let's face it, many didn't), the second series goes down like a fine meal of fusion cuisine. --Doug Thomas