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In some ways, HBO's Six Feet Under plays kid brother to the Sopranos: it's spunkier, less refined, chancier and a bit of a punk. Nevertheless, the show, set in the southern California mortuary Fisher and Sons, deserves its place in the pantheon of great television series. The initial series was a showcase for the most original characters, including tight-lipped brother David (Michael C Hall) coming out of the closet, emotionally trippy mom Ruth (Frances Conroy) and the most complex girlfriend on the face of the planet, Brenda (Rachel Griffiths). Slowly, the major force in series two 2 is the unassuming lead, Peter Krause. Part of the long line of good-looking actors who never get respect because they make it look too easy, Krause finds the perfect blend of optimism and wonderful, bittersweet anguish as Nate, the prodigal son. 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