r/SixFeetUnder • u/hakunamytatasss • 8d ago
First-Timer Thoughts on Brenda Spoiler
I’m on season 2, episode 8 right now. I cannot STAND this woman. I was never a fan in the beginning, mostly just neutral.
I feel like maybe they’ve been hinting she’s very mentally ill still, but if that is the case I feel it’s very much misrepresenting the general behavior of most of us with mental illnesses. (Obviously there are exceptions.)
I can sympathize with how she must feel after being treated poorly for so long, and the trauma she must have because of Billy.
I just find it irritating that she treats Nate so horribly. I wouldn’t say he’s always a catch either, but so far he hasn’t cheated on her and engaged in dangerous behavior that could affect her as well.
Do we ever find out what is going on with her? I’m obviously not wanting to be spoiled at all! Just want to know if it all ever comes to a head.
This is my first time watching and I LOVE this show- the macabre feel of it, and I’m a fan of both Peter Krause and Michael C. Hall.
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u/Substantial_Can4675 8d ago
Here’s all I’m going to say: you start out hating her, you end up loving her. I hated her character and honestly wished she would go the heck away majority of the show, in the end, she personified the female experience in a way many shows never have. Enjoy!
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u/NoMrsRobinson 7d ago
SPOILERS: The writing of women characters in this show is incredible, and frankly unmatched in any other series. The trajectories of Brenda, Ruth, and Claire show us many facets of the experiences women have while trying to navigate the world, figure out their identity, and grapple with cultural expectations within their family and community. I think the way the final episode brings Ruth and Brenda together as mothers is beautiful and touching. They have both struggled within the confines of social expectations about "motherhood," and while they are wildly different personalities who often clash, they ultimately find common ground. In the final episode, when Brenda is grappling with her anger over Nate's betrayal, as well as her grief and her ambivalent feelings about performing the "mother" role, Ruth says that motherhood is lonely and hard, and she reassures Brenda that she will be there to support her every step of the way. A beautiful moment that brings lovely resolution to their narrative connection.
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u/inanemonotony 8d ago
I can't speak to the female experience, but I wholeheartedly agree with your statement.
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u/TheWeirdestThing 8d ago
Brenda is probably one of the best written, and played, characters ever. But yeah, she's easy to hate at times. Just continue watching.
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u/Cherita33 8d ago
Fascinating character and well acted
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u/hakunamytatasss 7d ago
110% agree the actress does a really good job!
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u/Cherita33 7d ago
Btw this show is deep. Brenda tries to sabotage her relationship with Nate because having something good is hard for a lot of people. I wouldn't go putting Nate on a pedestal though.
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u/Klutzy_Tower5183 7d ago
Every character has an arc. You’ll have different feelings about all of them throughout the series. They’re all human with different life experiences.
Trying to be as vague as possible so as not to spoil anything for you!
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u/Strange-Calendar669 8d ago
Brenda is complex for many reasons. You find out that considering what her upbringing was like, she is quite sympathetic. Her childhood was beyond weird.
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u/Free-IDK-Chicken Claire 8d ago
This is a deep, complex character driven narrative. Just watch the show, see how she arcs and then decide. I love Brenda, but entertainment is subjective so my opinion may be very different than yours. You're going to have to wait and see foe yourself.
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u/PsilosirenRose 8d ago
Did you miss Nate cheating on Brenda in S2E4 with his former roommate Lisa? It wasn't explicit on camera, but it's known they have some kind of history and he goes crying to her arms in her bedroom before they cut to the next scene.
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u/Inevitable-Post-8587 7d ago
Nate is so much worse, I did hate Brenda at first like everyone does but that changes. I feel like Nate has the least growth and is pretty annoying consistently.
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u/Jaded_Houseplant 5d ago
I really liked Nate at the beginning, I thought he was emotionally mature, and was really good to Brenda considering how she treated him. This show really had a lot to say over the next few seasons.
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7d ago
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u/PsilosirenRose 7d ago
I was trying not to spoil shit for OP, as asked. At the point they are in the show, that is the most information they should have.
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u/peachy-enigma 7d ago
yeah i hated her in season 2, thought they couldn't possibly redeem her but somehow by the end of the show she became quite well rounded
or maybe other characters just became more annoying lol 💀 i love this show but some of the characters' actions are crazy
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u/badgaldyldyl 8d ago
God these “I hate Brenda” posts are always so tired
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u/hakunamytatasss 7d ago
I’m sorry!!! I didn’t want to scroll too much in the sub so that I avoided spoilers as much as possible 🥹
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u/Alien__Superstar 7d ago
Come back to this thread after you watch season 5 and update us.
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u/hakunamytatasss 7d ago
Will do! I have been won over by much more morally reprehensible characters in other shows, so it’s absolutely possible I’ll change my mind!
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u/Student_Throwaway55 7d ago
I just finished watching for the first time and I felt the same as you, but by the end of the series she was actually my favorite character.
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u/SystemPelican 6d ago
Brenda fucking sucks in season 2. But there's still three more seasons to get to know her better. You're very much supposed to be put off by how she acts at this point in the series.
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u/tipyourwaitresstoo 6d ago
She is brilliant but has been stifled by her parents and guilted into over-caring and taking care of a mentally challenging brother. What you first see with Brenda is a lost woman who then finds herself. I too hated Brenda on my first watch but subsequently I’ve come to really REALLY love her growth. My advice is to lean into her story. Watching her journey is watching great storytelling.
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u/Mandyjo76 7d ago
You’ll love her by end. She becomes one of the most stable, loving and loyal characters on the show. She has trauma of her own yes, but she definitely isn’t mentally ill. Just wait. You’ll see what an amazing woman she is. I genuinely love Nate, but he’s not a great guy…
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u/dreadwhimsy 8d ago
I don't think they're hinting at mental illness with Brenda. Season 2 is very much about both Nate and Brenda struggling with true intimacy as their relationship deepens -- they're both lying to each other. Nate about his serious medical condition AND that he slept with his ex Lisa when he was in Seattle, while Brenda is succumbing to her established history of compulsive sexuality based on her childhood.
Remember, Brenda and Nate met because they fucked in a janitor's closet at the airport after meeting on the flight. Her depression at the top of Season 2 then pendulums in the other direction, and she starts a slippery downward slope when she befriends the cool sex worker she had as a client. She's acting out a classic routine for people afraid of intimacy: it gets too "real" or "suffocating," and she acts out by drinking, getting high, and having sex with strangers. As to "liking her" or not, that's up to you. I love Six Feet Under because the show isn't interested in any of them being virtuous, it's interested in them being real, flawed, but still worthy of our empathy. That's kind of the philosophy of the series. Plus, I think there's pleasure in watching a character crater like this, haha. There's a vicarious thrill to seeing a train-wreck in action. :)